Slow Cooker Jalapeno Pineapple Pork with just six ingredients is crispy with a sweet, sticky, spicy glaze and meltingly soft pineapple chunks.
Slow Cooker Jalapeno Pineapple Pork wasn’t actually supposed to make an appearance on the blog this soon. I was saving it for later because the blog has had so many slow cooker recipes recently. The pictures had been hanging out on my memory card for a couple of months (I cook and shoot pictures pretty far ahead of time because life is so unpredictable – as well as light!) and I figured I would post it towards the summer when it was more pineapple season friendly.
Then we made the Slow Cooker Jalapeno Pineapple Pork again for dinner last night. My husband said, “this must have like a hundred thousand hits on your blog” and I told him I hadn’t posted it yet. Yeah. He looked at me like I was an alien and said, “you need to bump this up to the front of your schedule.” It is so rare for him to comment on my posting schedule, so I’m going to run with it and bump my one pot creamy chicken dish back in the schedule to bring this to you all today! 
It’s a bit hard to believe this dish only has six ingredients, but if you mix things up here are some ideas:
- Add bell peppers (similar to my Slow Cooker Hawaiian Pineapple Chicken, the mix of bell peppers and pineapples is delicious)
- Add garlic or ginger – this will give it a deeper, more savory flavor with a bit more of a punch
- Add hoisin sauce instead of dark brown sugar – this will give it a more Asian vibe but preserve sweetness since hoisin is like a bbq sauce
- Add sweet onion instead of yellow onion – if you want to cut back on savory and stick to sweet and spicy.
Looking for more slow cooker pork recipes?
- Slow Cooker McRib Sandwiches
- Slow Cooker Barbecue Ribs
- Slow Cooker Cuban Mojo Pork
- Slow Cooker Bacon Garlic Pork Loin <—- SUPER POPULAR
- Crispy Cracklin’ Pork Shoulder (Slow Cooker & Oven)
- Hawaiian Luau Slow Cooker Pork
Tools used in the making of this Slow Cooker Jalapeno Pineapple Pork:
Low Sodium Soy Sauce – I find regular soy sauce much too salty, remember you can always add salt but you can’t subtract it. Starting with low sodium allows you to alter to your tastes if necessary.
Dark Brown Sugar – You can use regular light brown sugar but the dark brown adds molasses which gives a deeper flavor to the pork. I’d recommend using dark brown sugar if at all possible.
Fat Separator: If you are draining the fat from the pork before serving this is a handy tool that makes it easy for you.
Spice Rack – I buy spices in bulk from local grocers and from Penzey’s. It’s less expensive and significantly higher quality than buying the jars individually but I ended up being left with tons of little bags of spices. Enter the spice rack.
Slow Cooker: Love this slow cooker and how programmable it is, it has been a workhorse for me… until…
My New Slow Cooker: This recipe was made in this slow cooker. For larger roasts I also brown the meat in the insert and not lose a bunch of the flavor by transferring the meat and leaving the browned bits behind. If you’re thinking of a new slow cooker, consider it if your budget is open.
Ingredients
- 6 pound pork shoulder roast
- 1 yellow onion , diced
- 2 jalapenos , 1 sliced thinly for garnish and one diced
- 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 pineapple , peeled, cored and cut into 1" chunks
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro or parsley for topping
Instructions
- In a small bowl add the yellow onion, diced jalapeno, soy sauce, brown sugar and pineapple chunks and stir to combine.
- Put the pork in the slow cooker, fat cap side up.
- Pour over the pineapple-jalapeno mixture.
- Cook on low for 8-9 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.
- If you'd like to reserve the liquids at the end remove the pork and pineapple pieces then drain the liquid into a glass measuring cup.
- Let the fat settle to the top and spoon it off or let it chill in a refrigerator and then just scrape it off the top.
- If you'd like this pork to taste like crispy carnitas you can crisp it up in a pan with a spoonful of the fat on medium high heat, or just spread it onto a sheet pan and put under the broiler for 45-60 seconds.
Nutrition
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This recipe was just delicious!! Extra family members were visiting from out of town. Decided to take a chance on making a new recipe without testing it ahead. I was not disappointed! Everyone loved it! We will definitely make this again, and soon!!6
This looks delicious, will be making it tomorrow. The slider for adjusting the portions is handy, however, the measurements change to things like “0.1 cup brown sugar”. What is 0.1 cup? I’m sure I’ll figure it out (or guesstimate) but it would be more helpful to have (so to speak) real-life measurements. Also, the cook time doesn’t indicate if the time is for low vs. high setting. Not meaning to sound picayune but these are the little details that stump me with some recipes. Thanks!
Hi Cindi, thank you for your support on this recipe and your ideas on the blog. Sorry for the confusion, I will work on that!
Before rating, I’ll have to make this again. I cooked in my Instapot on the Slow Cook setting for 8.5 hrs. The meat was still tough and it was not appealing.
Next time I’ll put the pork shoulder and sauce as written in a Dutch oven, cooking at 310 for 4 hrs, which is how I make carnitas and it turns out beautifully. I’ll update this review with results. Great potential here!
I just made this using not so tender pork tenderloins. It was easy to make and looked delicious when I put it in my Dutch oven for slow cooking. Can’t wait to taste it.
is there a way you could do videos of you actually cooking the recipes. I learn better with visuals.
I have some on the site or you can also access them on our Facebook page. Still working on adding more to the library though.
Would this recipe work if I browned the pork first? I like the richness searing can provide.
Thanks for the help and your blog, I’m addicted!
Yes, you can totally add that step. Enjoy!
Lady some of your recipes have my group drooling. This is on our agenda for next week along with the garlic brown sugar bacon chicken. Thanks for some wonderful sounding ideas
Haha, thanks Maggie! I hope you all enjoy them.
Did I miss something? Where is this portion slider?
Right under the star rating on the recipe card there is a part that says “Yield: 10 Servings”. If you hover over the 10, a slider will appear where you can adjust your servings and the ingredients will adjust along with. Hope this helps!
Hi. Planning on making this, but 6 lbs is too much for my family. Thanks for putting the portion slider in there so I can adjust to 3 lbs. Should I keep the same cooking times or cut them in half too? Thanks.
You don’t want to cook it for 1/2 the time, but you will want to shave off an hour or so. I would check it at 6 hours (low) and 3 hours (high).
And yes – that slider is great!!
Can this be cooked in the instant pot? If so, for how long?
I haven’t tested it using an instant pot so I’m not sure. You might be able to find a similar recipe online to use as a guideline. Good luck!
This is a good base recipe I think but it was almost entirely flavorless. It SMELLED really good but there just simply wasn’t enough seasoning. 6 pounds of meat it a lot for having a small amount of low sodium soy sauce as the only source of salt. And then no additional flavor other than sugar? Cuz I know those couple of jalapeños didn’t do anything. I really wish I’d listened to my gut and added a bunch of other stuff. I just figure I’m not a chef so what do I know? In the end I did reheat it all with a ton more Jalapeno, pepper, garlic and ginger.
Glad you were able to customize it to your liking upon reheating.
I haven’t tried this as yet, tho I’m enxious to! How could I cut this down to serve 4 Persons?
Adjust the serving size using the slider tool in the recipe card. 🙂
Made this tonight! I found there was a little too much liquid at the end, but it was great! Also without adding the fresh jalapeño at the end it wasn’t very spicy. Would you recommend adding more jalapeño in the cooking process to spice it up a bit?
Either that or not removing the seeds from the jalapeño. The seeds are what give the most kick. Enjoy!
Could you substitute canned pineapple chunks here, drain the can or include in the slow cooker? Thank you!
Yes 🙂
How many cans of pineapple chunks would you use in place of a fresh pineapple?
An 8 ounce can is equal to about one cup of pineapple chucks, or 1/5th of a medium sized pineapple. A 20 ounce can is about 2 1/2 cups, or 1/2 of a medium pineapple.
Would a sirloin pork roast work instead of pork shoulder?
I’m afraid it might dry out quickly and not be the perfect cut for this recipe.
I made this tonight but cooked in dutch oven at 250 for about 6 hours. Broiled the pork for additional 10 minutes to brown. Served with coconut rice and it was delicious.
I can’t find pork shoulder roast at my local grocery store, suggestions? I found: sliced pork shoulder, pork shoulder blade steaks and pork shoulder country-style ribs.
I usually don’t recommend using sliced pork in the slow cooker for fear that it’ll dry out. If these are your only options, I would suggest the country-style ribs. Try packing them as close together as possible in the slow cooker. My first choice would be pork shoulder or pork butt though.
8-9 hours seems like a really long time. Do you think 5-6 hours would still be fine?
I suggest cooking it on high 4-5 hours if you need a short cooking time.
Made this yesterday. My husband and I really liked it. Love the kick of spice from the jalapeño.
So glad you both enjoyed it!
Can canned pineapple be substituted for fresh? Thanks!
Definitely, just make sure to drain it before putting it in the slow cooker. Enjoy!
Thanks!!!
How many cans would you suggest?
Does the roast have to be thawed? Could the cook time be adjusted for frozen?
Yes, you want it thawed. If it’s frozen, it’ll produce too much liquid while in the slow cooker.
My wife doesn’t eat pork would you think chicken would be an alright substitute and how much would you use?
YES! I’d use chicken thighs, bone in, skin on. Use half as much of the marinade, still brown the chicken on both sides before adding it to the slow cooker. I should make this for the blog, it would be delicious with chicken!
I’m always on the lookout for new slow cooker recipes and this looks great! One question though – can it be frozen and re-heated later?
Yes, you can definitely freeze and reheat later. Just have it thaw in the refrigerator and reheat on the stove.
Made this with my special slaw as a side, posted a pic on FB, my friends went nuts!!! Good stuff for sure!!
Awesome! Thank you so much Michele!
This looks delicious and I plan to make it tonight. When swapping the brown sugar with the hoisin sauce do you keep it at 1/4 cup? Thank you!
Thank you so much! I would substitute with 2 tablespoons of hoisin for the brown sugar.
Made this tonight. It was simple and delicious. Thanks for a new recipient to put in rotation.
You’re very welcome! Thank you for taking the time to come back and let me know.
At what point do you cut the pork into chunks?
After being in the slow cooker for 8-9 hours on low, the roast will easily come apart. 🙂 No need to cut it, just shred it into the size chunks you desire.
This looks amazing! Cannot wait to try it!
Thanks Brandy!
My husband would love this jalapeno pineapple pork, too! He loves spicy meat dishes!
Perfect!
That looks so good and I love that it’s made in the slow cooker!
Thanks Kimberly!
I have a feeling this pork is gonna become a family favorite. What a fabulous combination of sweet and spicy!
Thanks Erin!
“Sticky, sweet, and spicy” You are talking my language! The flavors sound amazing!
We definitely speak the same language 😉
Anything with jalapeno and I am all in! This looks so good!
These flavors!!! I am drooling over this combo!