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Dinner Crockpot Pork
4.7 from 29 votes

Crockpot Cuban Style Pork Tenderloin

Jump to RecipePrintRate
By: Joanna Cismaru •1/12/23 47 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

pin for crockpot cuban style pork tenderloin.

Slowly cooked to tender perfection in a delicious sauce composed of zesty citrus, savory soy sauce, fresh garlic, and herby oregano, this incredible Crockpot Cuban Style Pork Tenderloin is bursting with flavor! It’s an unbelievably good weeknight meal that is ridiculously easy to make!

sliced cuban style pork tenderloin on a plate with mashed potatoes and gravy.
Table of Contents Open
  • Easy Crockpot Cuban Style Pork Tenderloin
  • Why You’ll Love This Cuban Style Pork Tenderloin
  • Ingredients You’ll Need
    • Tenderloin
    • Gravy
  • How To Make Crockpot Cuban Style Pork Tenderloin
    • Prep The Pork Tenderloins
    • Make The Sauce
    • Slow Cook The Pork
    • Make The Gravy
    • Serve And Enjoy
  • What Temperature Should Pork Be Cooked To?
  • How Do You Keep Pork Tenderloin From Getting Tough?
  • Expert Tips
  • Storage
  • Other Delicious Crockpot Recipes To Try
  • Crockpot Cuban Style Pork Tenderloin
    • Ingredients
    • Instructions
    • Equipment
    • Notes
    • Nutrition Information
  • Did You Make This?

Easy Crockpot Cuban Style Pork Tenderloin

I know I’ve mentioned my love of cooking pork! Yet, then there is pork slowly cooked in the crockpot, which I think I love even more because it’s just so darn easy and comes out perfect every time. Some of my favorites are my Crockpot Pork Carnitas and Crockpot Pork Loin Roast. But this crockpot Cuban style pork tenderloin recipe is right up there too! It’s just as good and even easier to make!

In fact, this recipe is so easy you won’t believe it! It seriously took me under 5 minutes to toss everything into the crockpot and turn it on. Then I just walked away and let the slow cooker do its magic. No standing over a stove, flipping, searing, or attention needed. This recipe is truly effortless. 

And aside from the recipe being super easy peasy, it’s incredibly good! The sauce, which is a mixture of orange juice, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, and soy sauce transforms the tenderloin into something impressive. These ingredients blend together perfectly to create classic Cuban flavor. Because if you didn’t know, soy sauce is pretty much a staple in most Cuban kitchens these days after it was introduced by Chinese immigrants. The Cuban people realized that the umami powers in the soy sauce only made their meat dishes taste even better!

sliced crockpot cuban style pork tenderloin with gravy on a white serving platter.

Why You’ll Love This Cuban Style Pork Tenderloin

  • Effortless Recipe! This tasty simple pork recipe only requires a few basic ingredients and the crockpot does all of the hard work for you leaving you with very little cleanup.
  • Classic Cuban Pork! The tenderloin is slowly infused with citrus, soy sauce, garlic, and oregano which are all classic Cuban ingredients that make the pork extra tender and super flavorful.  
  • Easy Weeknight Dinner! You can whip this recipe together in just 5 minutes! Then turn the crockpot on and return to a ready to eat main course in just about 4 hours.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Tenderloin

ingredients needed to make crockpot cuban style pork tenderloin.
  • Pork Tenderloin – I used 2 tenderloins that were each about one pound.
  • Orange Juice – Adds a bit of sweetness and flavor to the pork. You can use the orange zest too if you like. 
  • Lemon Juice – The touch of acid blends well with the soy sauce to create an addictively good umami flavor. 
  • Chicken Broth – I prefer to use low-sodium or no sodium added chicken broth to control the level of salt. You can also use vegetable broth if you prefer.
  • Soy Sauce – I always use low-sodium soy sauce. I do this to prevent the dish from becoming too salty. However, regular soy sauce will work too as well as gluten-free tamari.
  • Garlic – Always use fresh minced garlic cloves for the most intense flavor.
  • Oregano – A popular herb in Cuban cuisine that infuses loads of flavor.
  • Salt – All meat dishes need a bit of salt to bring out all the natural flavors. 
  • Black Pepper – Use freshly ground black pepper if you have it on hand. 

Gravy

ingredients needed to make crockpot cuban style pork tenderloin.
  • Unsalted Butter – Always use unsalted butter unless a recipe states otherwise. This will help to control the level of added salt.
  • Flour – A bit of simple all-purpose flour is needed to thicken the gravy. 

How To Make Crockpot Cuban Style Pork Tenderloin

Talk about tossing everything into a pot and walking away! That’s exactly all you need to do to make this recipe. Just make sure to use fresh juice and garlic for the best results.

Prep The Pork Tenderloins

To begin, remove any excess fat or silverskin from the tenderloins if needed. Then place them in the crockpot and move on to the next step.

Make The Sauce

process shots showing how to make crockpot pork tenderloin.

Next, make the sauce that will infuse the tenderloins with flavor as they cook. To do this, whisk all the remaining tenderloin ingredients together in a medium bowl. Then pour the marinade cooking sauce over the tenderloins in the crockpot making sure that both tenderloins are fully coated.

Slow Cook The Pork

process shots showing how to make crockpot pork tenderloin.

Now that everything is in the crockpot, it’s time to start slow cooking! Put the lid on the crockpot and then cook the pork on low for 5 to 6 hours or high for 3 and a half hours. Then you can go about your day and let the crockpot do all the work. 

Make The Gravy

process shots showing how to make crockpot pork tenderloin.

When the pork is done, strain the remaining sauce that is left in the crockpot. Then melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Next, add about ½ cup of the strained sauce and the flour to the pot while whisking quickly. Now, continue whisking often for about 3 minutes or until the gravy thickens. Then taste for salt and season if needed.

Serve And Enjoy

Once the gravy is made, slice the Cuban style pork tenderloin and then transfer it to your platter of choice. Then pour the gravy over the meat and serve it immediately with some rice and black beans if you like.

sliced cuban style pork tenderloin on a plate with mashed potatoes and gravy.

What Temperature Should Pork Be Cooked To?

It used to be that, like chicken, pork needed to be cooked to 165°F (74°C). However, new food safety guidelines say that pork only needs to reach 145°F (63°C) for it to be safe to eat. Using a digital instant-read thermometer is the most accurate way to test your pork. 

How Do You Keep Pork Tenderloin From Getting Tough?

The key to juicy and tender Cuban style pork tenderloin is salt and moisture. The salt helps to break down the protein fibers, which allows the pork to retain more moisture and stay tender. 

sliced crockpot cuban style pork tenderloin with gravy on a white serving platter.

Expert Tips

  1. Watch the salt. Because the soy sauce is salty as well as the chicken broth you don’t need to add too much salt to the sauce mixture. 
  2. Keep the pork warm. Some slow cookers have timers which are really helpful. Yet, for food safety make sure your pork doesn’t stay in the crockpot too long once it’s done cooking.
  3. Make it spicy. Cuban food tends to be less spicy. But you can easily add some heat to the pork if you like by adding a sliced jalapeno in with the sauce. 

Storage

Cuban style pork tenderloin leftovers will keep in the refrigerator for 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months in an airtight container or sealed freezer bag.

To reheat, simply put the sliced pork covered with a damp paper towel in the microwave for about 3 minutes on medium power. You can also reheat it on a sheet pan in the oven at 350°F (176°C) for about 10 minutes. However, if it’s frozen, you will want to let the Cuban pork tenderloin thaw out in the fridge overnight before reheating it the next day.

sliced cuban style pork tenderloin on a plate with mashed potatoes and gravy.

Other Delicious Crockpot Recipes To Try

  • Crockpot Beef Stew
  • Crockpot Pork Loin Roast
  • Slow Cooker Short Ribs
  • Crockpot Pork Carnitas
  • Crockpot Cilantro Lime Chicken

Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.

sliced cuban style pork tenderloin on a plate with mashed potatoes and gravy.
4.73 from 29 votes

Crockpot Cuban Style Pork Tenderloin

Prep 5 minutes minutes
Cook 3 hours hours 30 minutes minutes
Total 3 hours hours 35 minutes minutes
6
Rate Recipe Print Recipe
Slowly cooked to tender perfection in a delicious sauce composed of zesty citrus, savory soy sauce, fresh garlic, and herby oregano, this incredible Crockpot Cuban Style Pork Tenderloin is bursting with flavor! It’s an unbelievably good weeknight meal that is ridiculously easy to make!
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Ingredients

For Crockpot Cuban Style Pork Tenderloin

  • 2 pounds pork tenderloin (2 tenderloins about 1 pound each)
  • ¾ cup orange juice
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • ½ cup chicken broth (or vegetable broth, low sodium or no sodium added)
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 5 cloves garlic (minced)
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • salt and pepper ( to taste)

For Gravy

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.

Instructions 

  • Place the pork tenderloins in your crockpot.
  • Combine the orange juice, lemon juice, chicken broth, soy sauce, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper in a bowl and pour this sauce over the tenderloins in the crockpot.
    process shots showing how to make crockpot pork tenderloin.
  • Set the crockpot on high and cook for 3½ hours or on low for 5 to 6 hours.
    process shots showing how to make crockpot pork tenderloin.
  • To make the gravy strain the remaining sauce. In a small sauce pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter and add about ½ cup of the sauce and the flour. Quickly whisk and after the sauce thickens, add the remaining sauce, whisk and cook for about 3 minutes.
    process shots showing how to make crockpot pork tenderloin.
  • Serve the pork tenderloin with gravy and a side of mashed potatoes.

Equipment

  • 6-Quart Programmable Slow Cooker

Notes

  1. Watch the salt. Because the soy sauce is salty as well as the chicken broth you don’t need to add too much salt to the sauce mixture. 
  2. Keep the pork warm. Some slow cookers have timers which are really helpful. Yet, for food safety make sure your pork doesn’t stay in the crockpot too long once it’s done cooking.
  3. Make it spicy. Cuban food tends to be less spicy. But you can easily add some heat to the pork if you like by adding a sliced jalapeno in with the sauce.
  4. Leftovers will keep in the refrigerator for 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months in an airtight container or sealed freezer bag.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1servingCalories: 255kcal (13%)Carbohydrates: 8g (3%)Protein: 33g (66%)Fat: 9g (14%)Saturated Fat: 4g (25%)Polyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 108mg (36%)Sodium: 278mg (12%)Potassium: 719mg (21%)Fiber: 0.4g (2%)Sugar: 3g (3%)Vitamin A: 188IU (4%)Vitamin C: 19mg (23%)Calcium: 27mg (3%)Iron: 2mg (11%)
© Author Joanna Cismaru

Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.

sliced cuban style pork tenderloin on a plate with mashed potatoes and gravy.

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Joanna Cismaru

Joanna Cismaru

I’m Joanna (Jo for short) and this is my blog where I share with you my culinary adventures. Through Jo Cooks, I invite you to join me in my kitchen as we explore delicious recipes from around the globe, celebrate the joy of cooking, and make every meal a memorable one. Happy cooking!

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47 Comments
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Danielle
Danielle
Posted: 6 days ago

Can I use a cornstarch slurry instead of flour?

0
Reply
Joanna Cismaru
Joanna Cismaru
Author
Reply to  Danielle
Posted: 5 days ago

Certainly, you can use a cornstarch slurry as a gluten-free alternative to thicken the sauce. Just mix equal parts cornstarch and cold water, then stir it into the liquid about 30 minutes before the cooking time is up. Keep in mind that cornstarch is a more potent thickening agent than flour, so you may need less of it.

0
Reply
Karen (I know)
Karen (I know)
Posted: 1 month ago

5 stars
This is delish!

0
Reply
Daneille
Daneille
Posted: 5 months ago

3 stars
The jury is out for us on this one. The resulting sauce is good but lacked a bit of punch. Perhaps an addition of more pepper or a bit of chilli next time. We questioned the use of pork loin. Such a tender and lean cut of meat to start with it just collapsed after 6 hours on low in the slow cooker and the texture wasn’t great (a bit spongy). Certainly couldn’t achieve the elegant looking slices in your photo. Still the taste was nice and the citrus flavours infused the pork. I am planning to try this again but maybe use chicken breast, thigh or even duck. We also thought pork shoulder might work, though I wonder if it would make the sauce too fatty. Anyway made a nice meal even if (for us) it wasn’t very photogenic.

0
Reply
Ruth
Ruth
Reply to  Daneille
Posted: 1 month ago

Maybe if the crock pot were set on high for 3.5 hours?

0
Reply
Reyna
Reyna
Posted: 7 months ago

5 stars
Great recipe! Everyone loved it and went back for seconds! The gravy is definitely the star of the meal!

0
Reply
Susan Shafi
Susan Shafi
Posted: 7 months ago

5 stars
We thought this was amazing! I did the prep work the night before and in the morning it was “easy peasy” for 6 hours on low. I served it with your Mushroom Rice recipe…which my hubby says is to die for also!

0
Reply
Cathy Marinacci
Cathy Marinacci
Posted: 7 months ago

5 stars
This recipe is amazing. The gravy is so delicious. The only thing I would do differently is to sear the meat before adding to the crockpot. It would be much more visually appealing.

1
Reply
Mimi
Mimi
Posted: 7 months ago

I’m kinda at a loss. For maybe the 1st time ever, I made this exactly as written…even measured the oregano. We get our tenderloins in a 2 pack and mine was nearly 3lbs. So I used the low for 6 hours. Well, yes it is easy, yes it makes the best smell in the house, yes the gravy was yummy but as usual, using a crock pot, the meat was basically boiled meat. Could not get a clean cut on most of the meat, it just shredded. Meal was okay but even with the gravy you still got the texture of boiled meat. Sad.

1
Reply
Reba A
Reba A
Posted: 8 months ago

5 stars
This recipe is very tasty and not to spicy. I love crockpot cooking, it frees up so much of my time. This recipe was easy to make, convenient, and tasty as all get-up. KOODOS lady.

0
Reply
Joanna Cismaru
Joanna Cismaru
Author
Reply to  Reba A
Posted: 8 months ago

So glad you enjoyed it!

1
Reply
Judy
Judy
Posted: 8 months ago

Can I make this in my Instapot?

1
Reply
Joanna Cismaru
Joanna Cismaru
Author
Reply to  Judy
Posted: 8 months ago

Yes, you can. Here’s a recipe similar to this one that can help you with cooking times, etc. https://cravinghomecooked.com/instant-pot-pork-tenderloin/

0
Reply
June
June
Posted: 8 months ago

Can this be made in Air Fryer?

0
Reply
Joanna Cismaru
Joanna Cismaru
Author
Reply to  June
Posted: 8 months ago

Probably not because of the sauce.

0
Reply
CHRISTINE SMITH
CHRISTINE SMITH
Posted: 1 year ago

i know i will love this recipe…i love all the recipes i try of yours …could i do this with boneless pork chops…

0
Reply
Joanna Cismaru
Joanna Cismaru
Author
Reply to  CHRISTINE SMITH
Posted: 1 year ago

Sure, but it may take a little bit less time to cook them. 🙂

1
Reply
Justin S
Justin S
Posted: 2 years ago

5 stars
Great recipe. Was worried about it having too much of a citrus flavor with all that orange juice but it was very balance and not overwhelming.

2
Reply
Shay
Shay
Posted: 2 years ago

5 stars
I give this recipe! Easy and very flavorful!

0
Reply
Nicole
Nicole
Posted: 3 years ago

This was absolutely fantastic! The pork was super tender and the gravy was unreal. Thank you so much! I wonder if the gravy would work with a gluten free flour.

0
Reply
Nancy
Nancy
Posted: 3 years ago

5 stars
This is such an easy recipe to make and the results are really delicious. The meat was really tender and flavorful.

0
Reply

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I’m Joanna (Jo for short) and this is the place where I share my passion for easy and delicious recipes. From comforting classics to global flavors, I believe that cooking should be fun, approachable, and most importantly, rewarding. Join me on this culinary journey and let’s get cooking!

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