This recipe is very easy, totally delicious and we rate it as pure comfort food. Fork tender pork tenderloin with pinto beans in a delicious gravy AND it all goes together in the crockpot!!
I like to serve this over rice, but it is also tasty stuffed into warm flour tortillas, or over a bed of toasted tortilla chips and smothered with cheese, avocado and sour cream. The possibilities are ENDLESS which is a (very) good thing at our house.
I like to use a 2 pound pork tenderloin for this recipe because it is nice and lean, but any LEAN 2-3 pound pork roast will work.
My crockpot is a big oval one and it tends to run a little hot, so the pinto beans in this recipe are soft and the pork is "fall apart tender" in 5 hours on the LOW setting.
Depending on YOUR crockpot, it could take as many as 7 hours on LOW, but that is unlikely, just start checking for meat tenderness after
5 hours.
2 pounds pork tenderloin (thawed)
1 1/2 cups DRY pinto beans (rinsed, but DO NOT soak)
1 (4 ounce) can of MILD green chilies (I use Ortega)
3 teaspoons chili powder (2 if you are serving children)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dry oregano
1 clove garlic minced
1 cup chopped sweet onion
Brown the pork well and put it in the crockpot. Saute the onions and garlic in the same pan and then put it in the crockpot, a long with the DRY beans, spices and canned chilies.
Pour some water over the meat and beans (just enough water to MOSTLY cover everything) it should look like this:
After cooking everything on LOW for a few hours, check the liquid level in the crockpot and add a little more water if necessary, but not TOO much.
Cook on LOW for 4-6 hours (or until the pork gets fork tender), take the meat (only) out of the crockpot and set it aside while you thicken the gravy. If you are using a pork roast, remove any fatty sections and bones. Pull the meat apart just a little.
Turn the crockpot to HIGH and thicken the broth and beans with a slurry of cornstarch and water, then put the meat back in the thickened gravy (to heat it back up)
NOTE: A word about the heat or spice level in this recipe. My hubby does not like a lot of (hates) "heat" in his food. He likes strong flavors, but he just doesn't like "fire" as he calls it. If you like a little "heat", just add 1/4+ teaspoon of cayenne to the cooking liquid.
NOTE: If you have any beans left over after dinner, they make DELICIOUS refried beans. Just mash them in a hot/greased cast iron frying pan with a little of the "gravy", and fry them for a few minutes. You will never buy refried beans in a can again!!
1 1/2 cups DRY pinto beans (rinsed, but DO NOT soak)
1 (4 ounce) can of MILD green chilies (I use Ortega)
3 teaspoons chili powder (2 if you are serving children)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dry oregano
1 clove garlic minced
1 cup chopped sweet onion
Brown the pork well and put it in the crockpot. Saute the onions and garlic in the same pan and then put it in the crockpot, a long with the DRY beans, spices and canned chilies.
Pour some water over the meat and beans (just enough water to MOSTLY cover everything) it should look like this:
Make sure the liquid gets
under the meat too!!
After cooking everything on LOW for a few hours, check the liquid level in the crockpot and add a little more water if necessary, but not TOO much.
Cook on LOW for 4-6 hours (or until the pork gets fork tender), take the meat (only) out of the crockpot and set it aside while you thicken the gravy. If you are using a pork roast, remove any fatty sections and bones. Pull the meat apart just a little.
Turn the crockpot to HIGH and thicken the broth and beans with a slurry of cornstarch and water, then put the meat back in the thickened gravy (to heat it back up)
THIS IS THE BEST-BEST-BEST GRAVY!!!
IT's DINNER TIME !!!
NOTE: If you have any beans left over after dinner, they make DELICIOUS refried beans. Just mash them in a hot/greased cast iron frying pan with a little of the "gravy", and fry them for a few minutes. You will never buy refried beans in a can again!!
ENJOY !!!
