It’s been awhile since I’ve done a new Crockpot Tuesday recipe for you, but I have a super simple and delicious, not to mention frugal, one for you today. The inspiration for this meal was Spanish Pork Stew with Potatoes from About.com, but I changed it up a bit to fit my cooking style and what I had on hand.
Here’s what I used for my version of Italian Pork Stew.
- 1 1/2 to 2 lbs Pork Tenderloin – I buy the whole Tenderloin when it’s on sale for $1.77/lb and have the butcher cut it into chops about 3/4 to 1 inch thick. A serving size for my family is 7 to 8 chops.
- 6 Medium Potaotes – washed and sliced
- 28 oz Can Petite Diced tomatoes with Garlic and Basil – (had in my stockpile from a sale)
- 1 Green Pepper diced – on sale this week for 99 cents/lb
- 2 TBSP Vinegar
- 2 TBSP Vegetable Oil
- 14 oz Can Chicken Broth (could also use water and chicken bouillon)
- about 4 tsp Garlic Powder – I say about because I didn’t actually measure it, but just eyeballed it
- Onion Flakes – I sprinkled them all over the top of the crockpot. You could also use a diced onion. I saved some time by using the flakes.
My inspiration recipe called for you to cut the pork into large chunks and brown it. I skipped both these steps and instead put the pork in frozen.
Then I layered the rest of the ingredients on top in order listed. Another change I made was to leave the skins on the potatoes. They provide some great nutrition and I didn’t have the time to peel them. I put this whole meal together 10 minutes before I had to walk out the door.
Another change I made from my inspiration recipe was cooking time. I only had 5 hours for my food to cook instead of the recommended 9 to 10 in the recipe. So I turned my crockpot on HIGH.
About 30 minutes before we ate, I opened the crockpot and with a spoon broke apart the pork into bite size pieces.
I served up my Italian Pork Soup with some Italian Bread I got on sale for $1 and a sprinkle of cheddar cheese. I have found my kids will try eating pretty much anything if I put some cheese on it.
Once they tried it, they all declared that it was really good, even my daughter who doesn’t like pork. So this is definitely a pork recipe I’ll be making again.
