
Thai Pork with Peanut Sauce
I’m lucky. My kidlings are tweens/teens now and are completely capable of entertaining themselves, so a snow day (or two) doesn’t seem to be the challenge that it once was when they were younger. We hang out in our PJs, they make their own snacks, and it’s all quite low-key if I can keep the squabbling to a minimum.
Then and now, when we have a snow day, I tend to reach for comfort foods and well-loved slow cooker recipes, the kind that you put together in the morning with little fuss and with ingredients that I generally have in my pantry.
This, my friends, is one of them, and the mild peanut sauce is a favorite even with my fussy eater. (Most days.) It is one of my kiddo’s most requested meals, and (I kid you not) he will pack the leftovers in his lunchbox thermos all week. I roast some snow peas in the oven with olive oil and salt, and heat up some yummy veggie pot stickers, and call it dinner!
Thai Pork with Peanut Sauce
Adapted from Cooking Light Serves 4
One 2-lb boneless pork loin, fat trimmed
1/2 cup teriyaki sauce with sesame seeds (I like Soy Vay Very Very Teriyaki, but any will do)
2 TBSP rice vinegar
1 tsp red pepper flakes (more if you like a bit of kick)
2 cloves of garlic, mince
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 large bell pepper, seeded and cut into strips
For Serving:
1/3 c chopped green onions
1/4 c chopped dry-roasted peanuts
Lightly mist inside of (medium round or oval) slow cooker with non-stick spray.
(Note: I LOVE those nifty slow cooker liner bags that make the cooker so easy-peasy to clean. BUT. I implore you: please skip it with this recipe, as I find that the teriyaki sauce cooks differently when I use the bag and the taste becomes a bit bitter. It’s worth it to wash out the slow cooker pot for this recipe).
Measure the teriyaki sauce into a glass measuring cup, then add the next three ingredients. Stir well.
Cut the pork loin into four pieces and add to the crock pot. Pour the teriyaki mixture over the pork loin. Cover and cook on low approximately 7 hours. Add sliced red peppers and cook an additional hour until fork tender. (You may want to add those peppers in at the start, and you can, but they will cook down completely. As in, mush. I prefer a bit of texture to my peppers. AND if you have a fussy eaters, firmer peppers are easier to pick out!)
Remove pork from slow cooker and shred. Add the peanut butter to the liquid in the cooker and stir well to blend. Return the pork to the sauce and toss to evenly coat.
Serve over jasmine rice* with green onions and chopped peanuts as garnish.
*I LOVE Trader Joe’s frozen jasmine rice and PF Chang’s frozen brown rice for when I’m feeling really lazy.
Ingredients
- One 2-lb boneless pork loin, fat trimmed
- 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce with sesame seeds (I like Soy Vay Very Very Teriyaki, but any will do)
- 2 TBSP rice vinegar
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes (more if you like a bit of kick)
- 2 cloves of garlic, mince
- 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 large bell pepper, seeded and cut into strips
- 1/3 c chopped green onions
- 1/4 c chopped dry-roasted peanuts
Instructions
- Lightly mist inside of (medium round or oval) slow cooker with non-stick spray.
- (Note: I LOVE those nifty slow cooker liner bags that make the cooker so easy-peasy to clean. BUT. I implore you: please skip it with this recipe, as I find that the teriyaki sauce cooks differently when I use the bag and the taste becomes a bit bitter. It's worth it to wash out the slow cooker pot for this recipe).
- Measure the teriyaki sauce into a glass measuring cup, then add the next three ingredients. Stir well.
- Cut the pork loin into four pieces and add to the crock pot. Pour the teriyaki mixture over the pork loin. Cover and cook on low approximately 7 hours. Add sliced red peppers and cook an additional hour until fork tender.
- (You may want to add those peppers in at the start, and you can, but they will cook down completely.
- As in, mush. I prefer a bit of texture to my peppers.
- AND if you have a fussy eaters, firmer peppers are easier to pick out!)
- Remove pork from slow cooker and shred. Add the peanut butter to the liquid in the cooker and stir well to blend. Return the pork to the sauce and toss to evenly coat.

Do you have a go-to recipe for cold, snowy days?
