Brown Sugar Balsamic Pork Roast – A delicious, slow-cooked savory-sweet pork roast that will make your day (and your dinner).
Well, let’s just get this out of the way: this is not a Meatless Monday post.
While we’re clearing things up, let me also add the following: this is delicious.
My family didn’t really eat a lot of roasts growing up, so I don’t come from a long and lustrous line of roast recipes. I entered marriage with a pretty well-laid foundation of cooking knowledge and favorite recipes, but woefully lacking in the meat department. Michael, bless him, is very understanding as I’ve learned and practiced techniques (like cooking steak for the first time and loooving it), and we’ve come to a good balance.
When it’s his birthday, or Father’s Day, or a celebration of some sort, I do always try to throw a something extra- meaty his way. This year’s birthday meal was brown sugar and balsamic glazed pork roast. It was delicious, and tender, and flavorful. And we enjoyed the leftovers for about three days.
Paired with some roasted sweet potatoes, green beans, and a salad, you’ve got yourself one fine meal.
Brown Sugar and Balsamic Glazed Pork Roast
- Yield: 6-8 1x
Ingredients
For the pork roast:
- 1 (2-3lb) pork loin roast
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/2c water
For the glaze:
- 1/2c brown sugar
- 1/2c water
- 1/4c balsamic vinegar
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce*
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
For the roast:
- Place roast in a slow cooker. Rub with salt, thyme, garlic powder, and pepper. Add 1/2c water around the edges (so you don’t pour off the rub you just put on the pork). Cook on low 6-8 hours, or until pull-apart tender. During the last 30 minutes or so of cooking, prepare glaze.
For the glaze:
- Combine brown sugar, water, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce (or tamari, if using), and cornstarch in a small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until glaze thickens. Brush over roast 2-3 times during the last 30-minutes or so of the cook time. Serve with remaining glaze.
Notes
*for gluten free, use gluten free tamari, such as San-J brand.
Recipe adapted from C+C Marriage Factory
This recipe is a regular in our monthly menu plan. I do it a bit differently (I cook it in the oven, with the sauce from the beginning; 30 minutes @ 200C, flipping halfway through), but use the sauce recipe as well as the spice rub.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoy it Mellie! You absolutely made my day with your review. Thanks so much for taking the time to share!:)
This recipe is amazing! It’s been on the monthly rotation for a while now and my family can’t get enough of it.
I don’t have a slow cooker, so I had to improvise for oven cooking. Basically I rub in the spice mix, sear the meat to seal it off, then bung it and the glaze in an oven dish and bake it for about 45 minutes or so, turning the loins over halfway through. After it’s cooked, I reserve the glaze and serve the loins with green beans and mashed potatoes, ladling the glaze over everything.
I’ve watched my spouse tip leftover glaze straight from the serving bowl into their mouth. It’s that much a favorite.
YUM! I’m so glad to hear that! This totally made my day.
This was the best pork roast I’d ever had. So delicious. My teenage boys devoured it. I’ve already shared this recipe with several people. Thank you for a great recipe that we’ll be making again.
Oh my GOODNESS! Thank you Pam! You absolutely made my day!
And you made ours with this delicious recipe. Thank you again!
🙂 🙂 🙂
I decided to give this a try with pork chops in the oven. Quicker cook and different cut of pork. Another great success. My 13 yo was enticing my 15 yo with “mmm, glaze”, lol. My 15 yo proceeded to eat 2 chops. Thanks again.
Oh, how wonderful! I’m so glad to hear that!
I rarely cook pork tenderloin for the simple reason my wife isn’t very fond of it. I’ve tried a few recipes over the past 9 years only to not accomplish my goal, to receive praise from my wife on a tenderloin.
She loves everything else I cook and because I’m a competitor, I want everything I prepare to be the best she’s ever had.
I can honestly say that with this recipe I accomplished the goal! I did not slow cook it but rather Power XL pressure cooked it for 45 minutes at 70 kPa. I seared it in olive oil first after rubbing it with my secret arsenal of spices (very close to your recipe ingredients) and used 3 cups of chicken stock in the pressure cooker along with a medium diced up onion.
After preparing the glaze (which is fabulous by the way) and the 45 minutes elapsed from the pressure cooker, I transferred the pork to a baking dish and drenched it with the glaze. From there I placed it in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes allowing the glaze to cook to the tenderloin.
Goal Accomplished!!! The best tenderloin ever and now I’ve received orders from the wife to add this to a monthly rotation moving forward.
Super Cheap, Super Easy and Super Delicious!!!
Thank You Emily!
WOW! That sounds absolutely incredible! Thank you so much for your comment and for all your tips! I’ll have to try that!
Made this today and it was AMAZING!! Was short on time so cooked in crock pot on high for 3 hrs and was PERFECT. SO JUICY. I added 1 cup of the drippings to the remaining glaze and made an awesome gravy. Will definitely be adding this to my menu regularly. Thank you so much.
Oh, I’m so glad you enjoyed it Karen! You MADE MY DAY!
Made this today, and it was a big hit! Thank you for the great recipe!
This recipe was amazing! I rubbed all the spices on the pork and seared it on high heat before putting it in the crock pot. I also added some dried onion to crock pot and a T of fresh thyme because I had it in my garden. It was so juicy and even my 6 year old ate with no complaints. I might just double the sauce next time so there’s more to serve with the leftovers.
Yum! Totally trying the dried onion trick next time!
This roast is really good. I pressure cooked for 90 minutes, slow release then put potatoes and carrots around the roast, topped all with prepared sauce, quick release.
Ooh! Thank you for the pressure cooker directions!
Did you try it in the electric pressure cooker XL?
This was AWESOME!!! Made the recipe exactly as is and it was a success. The sauce could be put on a shoe and it would be be delicious! I’ll definitely make this again and again. I served it with roasted potatoes and tomatoes.
Best review ever! I’m so glad you liked it! It’s one of our favorites.
Made this tonight. It was very good. My family enjoyed it. Had a slightly Asian flavor. The only thing I did different was adding an additional tsp of corn starch as it did not thicken enough with just 1 tbsp. I will make it again.
Sounds great. I put in 8 ounces of Concentrated Orange juice in the slow cooker and browned the roast to help seal in the juices. Then I went a bit Rambo and started sprinkling a bit of everything else on the roast: onion chops, garlic salt, chili powder, lemon pepper, etc.
Easy and delicious. Wouldn’t change a thing. Definitely will be making regularly!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Wondering how this would transpose into a pressure cooker? Any help would be appreciated!
Found this recipe while searching Pinterest, looking for a sweet glaze for the roast I was cooking. I am so glad I found it! It’s now the only way I make a pork roast. In fact, I have one in the crock right now, just waiting for it’s glaze 🙂 Thank you so much for the awesome recipe!
I just bought a new crock pot and this was the first recipe I made in it! I also added extra brown sugar to make it just a bit sweeter, and it was delicious! Love this recipe!
Yum! I love throwing things in my slow cooker…and I especially love one that would make a great Sunday dinner! I will have to add this to my rotation – maybe for Mother’s Day since it would require only a little work on my part. And as a side note, my birthday is in 10 days and I am looking forward to making myself your awesome banana cream pie.
This was AMAZING! It was an easy meal to do for Mother’s Day. Also, everyone here loved the banana cream pie I made for my birthday/mother’s day treat. Thanks for the awesome recipes!
Cynthia – SO glad you loved it! Happy birthday/Mother’s Day!!!
Trying this on Thursday night!
Ohhhhhh, this looks and sounds so yummy!
This sounds like a great recipe! Derek loves balsamic vinegar so I bet he’d love this!