A beautiful view of the red tint the cranberries gave this Crock Pot Paleo pork tenderloin served with balsamic and cranberry au jus

So who is looking for a new, easy and healthy crock pot meal? I am, I am! Well if you are as desperate as I am to find a new recipe that is good enough to keep serving it at your dinner table, then look no further. This recipe was inspried by one of Sarah Fragoso’s, Everyday Paleo, recipes. I recently met her in person (and she is the cutest person EVER) and I told her about my transformation of her recipe. Sarah’s response was, “Why didn’t I think of that? I am going to try that for sure.” That moement was honestly one of the happiest moments of my short blogging career. Anyhow, cooked all day in a tangy balsamic and cranberry sauce, this Paleo Crock Pot Pork Tenderloin is so tasty and rich that there were no left overs. And Ladies and Gentlemen that does not happen often in this house.

I served this succulent pork tenderloin with creamy and garlicky mashed cauliflower. For those of you who follow my blog religiously (and for those of you who don’t, what are you waiting for? You are missing out), know that when in doubt I serve ALL my main dishes with my no grain cauliflower rice. Well today I decided to switch it up and mash the cauliflower. I forgot how good cauliflower is mashed. I made it like you would mashed potatoes with a little garlic powder, olive oil and a splash of milk (in this case I used almond milk but you can use cow’s milk if you aren’t paleo-ish) and it was so good. Try it and see for yourself.

The other thing I could not get over about serving my cauliflower mashed was how much cauliflower my husband and I ate. I steamed 2 bags of frozen cauliflower and after it was all said and done, we probably had two servings left over of the garlic mashed potatoes. And no my kids didn’t touch the cauliflower (they missed out for sure). But when you think about it, Ben and I almost ate an entire bag of cauliflower to ourselves, EACH for dinner. How amazing is that? Look at all those vegetables I ate instead of a starchy and carb infested potato.

4.3 from 6 reviews

Paleo Crock Pot Balsamic and Cranberry Pork Tenderloin

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

8 hours

Total time

8 hours 15 mins

 

Cooked all day in a tangy balsamic and cranberry sauce, this Paleo Crock Pot Pork Tenderloin is so tasty and rich that there will never be left overs.

Author: Our Full Plate

Recipe type: Dinner

Cuisine: Paleo

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• For the Pork Tenderloin in the Crock Pot:
• 1 pork tenderloin (about 1½ lbs)
• 1 cup of chicken broth
• ¼ cup of balsamic vinegar
• 1 cup of dried cranberry, cranraisins, cherries, etc
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of dried rosemary
• For the Garlic Mashed Cauliflower:
• 2 heads of fresh cauliflower, chopped or 2 bags of frozen cauliflower
• 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of almond milk (or your choice of dairy creamer)
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Add your olive oil to an already hot frying pan and brown your pork tenderloin on both sides. It should take a few minutes on each side. Don't rush this step. Although I usually loathe recipes that ask me to brown meats first (which is due solely to pure laziness because I do not have a crock pot that browns inside the crock pot and I am forced to clean another pan when I have to brown), browning locks in a lot of the juices in the protein and the meats ALWAYS comes out so tender. So after the fact, I usually realize that the extra pan to clean is so worth it. But hey a girl can complain on the internet, right? If not what else are we good for? Kidding!
2. Put the browned pork tenderloin in the bottom of the crock pot and pour all the remaining ingredients under the "For the Pork Tenderloin in the Crock Pot" list above.
3. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. That's it folks, it doesn't get much simpler than that.
4. For the accompaniment, about 15 -20 minutes before you are ready to serve dinner, steam your cauliflower for about 10 minutes until tender.
5. Once cauliflower is soft throw it in your food processor with the garlic powder, olive oil, almond milk and salt and pepper and blend that baby up! Your result will be beautifully, whipped cauliflower that will stand any taste test and most people will think they are mashed potatoes! I tried using fresh garlic cloves in this recipe originally but I don't know if it was because I didn't roast the garlic first, but the fresh garlic was overpowering and somewhat bitter in the mashers. This is why I opted for garlic powder over fresh cloves.
6. Serve pork with cranberry sauce over the mashed cauliflower and prepare to be wowed!

Notes

Special Kitchen Appliances: Vegetable Steamer and Food processor

3.2.1215

Paleo Crock Pot Balsamic and Cranberry Pork Tenderloin Ingredients

Searing or browning the pork tenderloin first allows you to lock in the flavor and juices of your pork

Added the browned pork tenderloin with broth, balsamic vinegar, rosemary and cranberries to the crock pot.

Right before you are ready to serve, steam your cauliflower until soft.

Ready to puree the cauliflower with garlic, olive oil, and almond milk to make your creamy no grain mashed cauliflower

Pureed mashed cauliflower. Who needs mashed potatoes? Once you eat these creamy mashers, you will never go back!

Final Product: Creamy Garlic Mashed No Grain Cauliflower

Crock Pot Paleo Balsamic and Cranberry Pork Tenderloin is ready to eat. Love the red tint from the cranberries in the sauce

Crock Pot Paleo Balsamic and Cranberry Pork Tenderloin served with creamy, garlic mashed cauliflower. Doesn’t that look AMAZING?

You can also serve this Crock Pot Paleo Pork Tenderloin with balsamic and cranberries with my Paleo carrot and parsnip puree. How about that for another grain alternative?  Yum!

So what do you think? I don’t know about you but cranberries always gets me in the mood for Thanksgiving. Isn’t this a great Paleo alternative? How did it fare in your home? Please share 🙂