I’ve had this glorious pork loin recipe bookmarked via Pinterest for a long while. It’s all over the Pinterest realm. Pinned and pinned and pinned again. Could something that has been pinned at least a hundred million times live up to the hype?
Um, yes. This pork loin certainly did just that.
Not only is it one of the simplest recipes in the universe to prepare (hello, slow cooker, how do I love thee?), but the juicy, succulent pork is elevated beyond words when drizzled with the thick and sweet balsamic glaze.
Really. This just might be one of my favorite pork recipes of all time. Served with simple baked brown rice and a steamed vegetable, this meal had success and love and repin-immediately all over it.
One Year Ago: The Best {Magical} Frosting
Two Years Ago: Oatmeal Pancake Mix
Three Years Ago: Chicken Tikka Masala
Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin {Slow Cooker}
Printable Version with Picture
Printable Version
*Note: This recipe is easily doubled – increase all the amounts (for the pork or the glaze) if making a larger roast.
*Serves 6-8
INGREDIENTS:
Pork:
2 pound boneless pork loin roast, trimmed of large fat pockets
1 teaspoon ground sage
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 clove garlic, finely minced or crushed
1/2 cup water
Glaze:
1/2 cup brown sugar, light or dark
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
DIRECTIONS:
In a small bowl, combine the sage, salt, pepper and garlic. Rub the spices all over the roast. Place the pork roast in the slow cooker and pour in the 1/2 cup water. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Near the end of the cooking time for the roast, combine the ingredients for the glaze in a small saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce and let the mixture simmer, stirring occasionally, until it thickens.
Remove the pork from the slow cooker, shred and place on a platter or plate. Drizzle the glaze over the pork and serve.
Recipe Source: adapted slightly from C&C Marriage Factory (bookmarked via Pinterest)
{ 56 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh Mel I’ve had this one Pinned for a long time too. In fact I won’t be surprised if I find I repinned it from your board.
I’ve been wanting to make it and now I have a better excuse to do so. You did a fabulous job with this.
it’s yummy! the balsamic sauce is such a nice change from ketchup based bbq~ thanks for sharing all your recipes! i’ve made several dishes from your blog and have never been disappointed~
I have to do a little research to understand what the expression “pinned” means. On the other hand the pork roast recipe is completely captivating (although I’ll have to do it in a slow oven – no slow cooker in our house).
i just printed this recipe off of baked bree to make next week. i’m glad to hear it’s good. i’m going to try the baked brown rice. that sounds good.
I have been addicted to balsamic lately – got to try this one asap!
Not only does this look absolutely delicious, but it’s made in a slow cooker- you can’t beat that!
Mmmm I have made something similar to this before and it is wonderful. I have two venison tenderloins pulled out of the freezer right now trying to figure out what to do with them. I wonder if it would be just as wonderful with that. I think I will try it!
It’s beautiful, too! I cannot figure out the Pinterest thing, but glad you did cause I am definitely making this!
Ha! I just pinned this one. Looks so easy, and perfect for a work night meal. Set it, and forget it. Great photos!
My husband doesn’t like pork, but this looks SOOO good! Do you think it would work with chicken?
This recipe couldn’t have come at a more perfect time. Ironically enough, I had a 2 lb pork loin sitting in the fridge and was wondering what to do with it today for our Sunday meal. The sauce was great! Thanks!
Made this recipe last night – OMG….was it ever good!! Liked the glaze so much that I doubled the recipe; plan on having pulled pork sandwiches with the leftover pork and use the glaze as sauce. This will definitely be put into my monthly recipe docket – thanks for sharing the recipes.
I made this yesterday. Yum! I thought the sauce might be a bit too strong for my little guys, but they actually asked for more sauce! This was so easy and so good.
Rachel – I’m not sure if this would work with chicken since I’ve never tried it that way but the way the flavors played out – I think it could stand a chance of doing just fine! If you try it, watch the slow cooker time and temp to make sure the chicken doesn’t dry out.
I made this for our Sunday meal. It was just as good as it looks! I loved the flavor of the sauce and that the meat didn’t have to be smothered in it to have wonderful flavor. (Although it was so good I might have smothered just a little!). So easy too! My husband had some salmon from a restaurant and used some sauce on it. That was fabulous too! Thanks for the recipe.
That was fabulous! Even my super-picky 2 year old loved the sauce on rice. She remains an adamant vegetarian. *sigh*
three cheers for the slow cooker! and that glaze–niiice touch, mel!
Heavenly! My husband raved about this and my picky daughter even asked for the recipe. I tried the bake brown rice and it was so good, too. Plus, the clean up was slick as a whistle for both, especially if you use a crockpot liner. Can’t beat that!
We tried this last night and everyone loved it. My husband was excited to take the leftovers to work! Thank your for this recipe it was great! I will be making this again soon!!
Wow this was so good! I loved that you put the sauce on last, so the picky eaters don’t have to have it if they don’t want.
This is one of our family’s all time favorites! We’ve found quite a few of our favorite recipes here. We tried the Cheesy Basil Stuffed Chicken Breasts recently and those were amazing! Thanks for sharing so many delicious meals that my children will actually eat.
Made this tonight and it was awesome! Wow… that glaze! Thanks for another great one, Mel
This was excellent and so easy! Love the sage flavor for a change and the glaze is awesome. Husband devoured it and my almost-two-year-old ate everything I gave her – even a little glaze. I didn’t make the rice, but plan to next time. I will also be doubling the glaze. It didn’t make enough for our leftovers.
Made this recipe tonight. Yum! It was delicious. Will double the recipe from now on, it was so good.
Made this for dinner tonight………SO WHOA YUM!!!! Thanks for posting! : )
I made this for dinner tonight. I put it on and left the house for about 7 hours. When I came home, there was NO liquid in the slow cooker. Is this how it is supposed to turn out or should I add a little bit more water next time?
Jenifer, no, there should be liquid in the slow cooker with the pork all the way through the cooking time. Is it possible that your slow cooker releases a lot of steam/evaporation through the seal of the lid? I have an older crockpot where this is the case and I usually cover it with foil, lid and all, to prevent moisture from escaping. If you don’t think that is the case then yes, add a bit more water/broth at the start of cooking.
My mom lives on the other side of the country. I was talking to her the other day on the phone and she started telling me about the pork she was going to make for dinner. I knew right away where she had found the recipe! I decided I needed to make it too this past weekend. My family loved it–especially my very picky and practically vegetarian 4-year-old. She made sure that I saved some leftovers for her lunch the next day. Then she woke up the next morning and asked for it for breakfast. Amazing. Thank you for all of the wonderful recipes you post! I haven’t tried anything off your website that we haven’t liked.
I made this last week and loved it. I froze extra pork and glaze. I reheated the sauce in the microwave and the pork on the stove-top. Thnx for the freezer cooking inspiration. I posted the recipe today!
SERIOUSLY….AWESOME…EASY…SOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!!! Can’t wait to make it again. You’re awesome my friend!
made this for dinner tonight… YUMMY!!!! Oh my it was so good! Thanks so much.
So I came to your site today to look at the hot chocolate truffle balls. I really liked your commentary, so I decided to rifle through a few of your older posts, and I came across this one, which I had happened to find on Pinterest last week and made it last night for dinner!! I didn’t even realize when I came to the site for the hot chocolate balls that you also had the recipe for the pork.
The pork was DELISH! I couldn’t believe how good the sauce was. I think our pork was way overcooked, but it’s because my husband didn’t get home from work at the time he thought he would, and the pork was in the crockpot for like…11 hours. But it was so good that we devoured the entire thing!! I love that sauce!!!
this was fabulous. i am a sucker for balsamic so i knew i’d love it. i was thrilled that although the glaze was pretty strong by the spoonful ( i had a few before i shredded the pork
) it completely complimented the pork without being too strong for my husband who is not such a big fan of vinegar. this will definitely be in the rotation! thanks mel 
Made this in a slow oven, and it turned out GREAT
I made this in a slow oven & it was great!!!
This is my new favorite pork recipe. My mom made it for dinner and we loved it. She sent us home with leftovers and it was even better cold out of the fridge the next day.
I was sort of prepared not to like the pork on its own because I’m not a huge sage fan, but it was really delicious before the sauce. Once you add the sauce, forget it, I was in heaven. It reduced quickly into this syrup-y glaze and I like how you could serve that on the side and use as much or as little as you want. I’m making meals for my friend who’s on bedrest for the rest of her pregnancy and want to invite myself over the night she serves this one just to have it again
I made this tonight in my new Wolfgang Puck Pressure Cooker. I used a 3 1/2 lb. Boston Butt roast. I followed the basic directions that are in the cookbook that came with the pressure cooker for bbq pork to know how to modify your recipe. I sliced the meat into 1/4 ” slices, browned it, first & then put in 3 cups of beef broth & set the timer for 40 min. The meat came out incredibly tender–totally falling apart. I served it with this glaze. AMAZING! I’ve made it in the slow cooker before, but it was SO MUCH MORE TENDER in the pressure cooker. I’ve found my new favorite kitchen toy. (BTW, I made your beef roast in it last week, the one w/ enchilada sauce. It also turned out perfectly in the pressure cooker.)
Oooooh yeah, we lovvvved this recipe! I’m not a huge balsamic fan, but this was soooo good! I doubled the glaze recipe but didn’t have enough vinegar so I ended ip using 2/3 the amount—- I think that’s why I loved it so much since the balsamic wasn’t too overpowering. I’ve never made my pork with sage before and I lovvvved that as well!! It reminded me so much of a turkey breast! Our roast made a ton, so we enjoyed two days of leftovers served on your delicious French Bread Rolls with the sauce on top—- Sooo yummy! I’m not usually a fan of new recipes the first time, but this was an immediate add to the file recipe!!!! Thanks Mel, I’ve loved every recipe so far!!! (I made your Grammas French Bread with half whole wheat and sesame on top for a birthday dinner yesterday and it got rave reviews! They were SHOCKED it was homemade— nO one in my family has ever made homemade bread before and you made me look like a PRO! lol. )
Oh, I meant to add that the sauce with less balsamic was very Asian-inspired tasting— I plan to make it thinner and use it as a stir fry sauce. My husband loves that sauce so much he said he would dip ANYTHING in it (including the buffalo chicken pretzel bites he had leftovers of!). Now THAT is a good sauce!
I made this for company on Saturday and the house smelled heavenly all day and the balsamic glaze is to die for! When I confessed that it was the first time I had tried the recipe (I’ve done this to these friends LOTS of times–the last one was your feijada recipe) they asked how I was always successful with new recipes. I told them it was because I could always trust the recipes on your blog! It’s true. Thanks for ANOTHER winner!
Wow, that glaze is fantastic, when my family chooses that over gravy, you KNOW it rocks, thanks so much for sharing!
I’ve got a quick question…I’ve been seeing this all over Pinterest and was thinking about making it tomorrow….but there are conflicting answers, should I use a pork tenderloin or a pork loin? Anytime I’ve put the pork tenderloin in the slow cooker it’s been a tough mess at the end…
My husband’s new favorite! Thank you.
Jess – I’ve only ever used the type of roast listed in the recipe ingredients on my particular post – I use a pork loin roast not a pork tenderloin.
My five year old said, “that was basically like candy” and my three year old said, “can we have this for dinner again?” My one year old is eating it too! And it was really, really easy! Served it with steamed broccoli and jasmine rice. A lovely dinner!
I wanted to love this, but it didn’t turn out quite as fabulous as everyone else’s. The sauce didn’t go far enough, and was sweeter than I expected, with the balsamic. (Packed brown sugar, not loose, right?) Maybe it would be helpful to identify how “thick” the sauce should be when it’s done? (As in, when you scrape a spoon across the bottom, how quickly does it fill back in, or what is a similar consistency…)
Keep ‘em coming. 
It was good, but not superb. :\
Thanks for the ideas anyway, Mel.
Donna – yes, the glaze is fairly sweet. I pack the brown sugar but you could definitely measure it loosely to get less sweetness. My sauce is the consistency of maple syrup, give or take a little thickness. Hope that helps a little – sorry you didn’t love it.
Loved this recipe! I follow a lot of food blogs and yours is easily the most reliable. I am never disappointed with your recipes!!
I want to make this for Easter dinner tomorrow. If I am making 2 roasts, Do you think I will need to cook it longer? Thanks!
Hi Janis – if you can fit them both in the same crockpot and the crockpot seems overly full then you might need to increase the cooking time by an hour but overall, it shouldn’t change drastically.
Another stupendous success! Our Easter dinner was made very special and when asked how many of the dishes came from Mel’s kitchen, I had to say all but the carrots! Loved this pork and the sauce was great. Was very tender and not dry, despite being on low for about 10 hours. Thought I needed to make 1.5 x for the extra guests but in the end should’ve made just the recipe because it would have been plenty. Fine by me as I’ll be having pork sandwiches on rosemary bread (yes-yours!) for the next couple of days.
I had family in town for Easter and I tried this for the first time. It was so tender and amazing. We all loved it. My baby couldn’t get enough and he was licking the plate after his meat and potatoes and sauce were all gone! Best way to eat pork tenderloin yet. The rest of our meal were other recipes also from your site. Thank you!
YUM! I’ve made this two times, and it’s a wonderful recipe! Thanks so much, Mel. Definitely a family favorite now.
I love this site! I have followed for a while and need to comment. I have made this recipe many times and making it by request for a family party tonight. You are my go to gal for a great recipe that always turn out awesome. Thanks for your time and wonderful recipies!
I frequently use a Boston Butt for the cut of meat in this recipe. I find it cooks up a lot more tender than a regular pork loin roast. It will fall apart and shred very easily.
I’ve been meaning to leave you a comment because I LOVE your site. I came across it when looking for recipes at Easter and the Twice Baked potatoes were a huge hit! Just put the pork in the slow cooker for this recipe because it was such a success the first time. My family and I LOVE your recipes!
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