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Pomegranate Pork (aka Pom’d Pork)

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It’s Holiday Food Fest time once again! The recipe I’m sharing today is Pomegranate Pork, or Pom’d Pork, as I like to say. Our theme is Holiday Dishes: Mains, Sides, Soups … really any holiday dish.

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Now for my recipe … while many of us have another round of turkey and ham for our upcoming holiday dinners, some of us like to change things up a bit. We always spend Christmas Eve with my side of the family. We get together in the afternoon and rather than a sit-down meal, we have an informal buffet of appetizers and desserts.

For this gathering, I’m planning to make a variation of a dish I made not that long ago—POM’d Pork. I tested it today.

All things pomegranate have been on mind since I attended the POM Wonderful Blogger Harvest Festival in California back in October—all expenses paid. I was not paid to write this post, but the POM Wonderful product used was given to me. I am a huge fan of POM products because I like their quality, nutritional benefits, and taste.

My starting point was the Pomegranate Beef recipe that Stephanie shared over at A Year of Slow Cooking, which actually originated as Grass Fed Beef in Pomegranate Sauce by Karina, the Gluten-Free Goddess.

As soon as I received Stephanie’s fabulous new slow cooker cookbook, Make It Fast, Cook It Slow:  The Big Book of Slow Cooking, I zeroed in on this recipe. I made it using pork and made a few other adjustments based on my own personal tastes and what was in my pantry.

The first time around, I used pork tenderloin. It turned out very well. Frankly, the incredible aroma emanating from the crockpot at the end of the day just about had me convinced how good this dish was before I even took my first bite!

The POM Wonderful juice along with the other ingredients gives the pork amazing flavor and tenderness. It’s somewhat sweet, but not too sweet.

Mr. GFE raved over this POM’d Pork. He said I needed to go on the road selling the stuff.

Seriously, he did. I don’t make this stuff up folks. He really says these things and he’s sincere, so I can’t get too annoyed when he goes on and on.

The first night I served the pork in slices with basic, but appealing sides (baked potatoes and steamed broccoli). But, after that, I decided I wanted the pulled pork effect and I semi-shredded the meat, added a tad of Tasty Sauce (which we always enjoy on pork), and served it as barbecue.

“Cole slaw” and a few chips completed the super easy meal. (The cole slaw was actually my cheater version, which is a little poppy seed dressing on cole slaw mix—i.e., cabbage and carrots.)

This evening I went for some Great Salad with my Pom’d Pork. The two make a wonderful combination of flavors.

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Pork tenderloin is wonderful, but it usually doesn’t feed a big crowd. Even if you buy a large tenderloin, you’re still unlikely to have lots of leftovers. I wanted leftovers this time.

Specifically, I wanted some to stick in the freezer for a ready meal after we return from our trip to Key West as the holidays come to a close. Plus, in all honesty, I didn’t want to go out and buy pork tenderloin at full price.

Pork butts can be a great bargain—if on sale—and are so flavorful and versatile for cooking.

Pomegranate Pork aka Pom'd Pork
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POM’d Pork

Adapted from Karina Allrich, Gluten-Free Goddess and Stephanie O’Dea, A Year of Slow Cooking and Make It Fast, Cook It Slow!

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 large yellow onion, sliced thin
  • 3 pounds (or larger) pork tenderloin or pork butt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 4 garlic cloves (whole or minced)
  • 1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chiles
  • 1 cup pomegranate juice (I used POM Wonderful pomegranate juice)
  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup

Instructions

  1. Use a large slow cooker. (I used my large programmable oval Crockpot.) Pour olive oil in slow cooker; tilt so olive oil is evenly coating the bottom of the stoneware. Place onion slices over olive oil.
  2. Place meat in slow cooker. Rub the spices over the surface of the meat. Top meat with garlic and whole can of tomatoes with green chilies. Mix pomegranate juice, balsamic vinegar, and maple syrup, and gently pour over the meat so that the diced tomatoes and green chilies remain on top.
  3. Cover and cook on low for about 8 hours, or on high for approximately 5. The meat is done when it has reached desired tenderness. For pork tenderloin, I like it sliceable. For pork butt, I like it to pull apart easily with a fork.
  4. Serve on buns or with a complementary side. 

Notes

The photo of all the ingredients shows two cans of diced tomatoes with green chiles; however, I decided one would be sufficient after I poured it over the pork butt. Feel free to vary ingredients to your liking. Look to the original recipe for more ideas.

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 If you haven’t been following Holiday Food Fest or need to catch up, you can find the hostesses and themes for the previous weeks here. Visit each blog to get wonderful recipe ideas from some of the best bloggers—Amy of Simply Sugar & Gluten Free, Alta of Tasty Eats at Home, Liz of Hoosier Homemade, Phoebe of Cents to Go Debt Free, Jessica of Life as Mom—and all our amazing blogging friends! Next week is the last week of the Holiday Food Fest and the event will be held at the Life as Mom blog with Jessica, a.k.a. Fishmama. The theme is Holiday Desserts!

If you need a dessert idea before then or just love drooling over desserts 24/7 these days (hey, I’m with you on that!), please be sure to check out the Gluten-Free Desserts Progressive Dinner Party that’s going on this week. You can find all the links here.

Remember that the Holiday Food Fest is an all-inclusive event. Some recipes will be frugal, some gluten free, some sugar free, some raw, and so on. Use the gfe approach … go for recipes that are naturally gluten free, look at easy ways to convert others to be gluten free, or just look to recipes for inspiration. Add your holiday dish below!

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Comments

  1. What a fabulous recipe! I never thought of using POM with pork but I’m sure that it’s a fabulous marriage of flavors. Thanks for hosting this week, Shirley.

    I love your hints for making all food gluten-free easily! It’s so true that we can eat whatever we choose and we can easily adapt ‘regular’ recipes to gluten free when we have an open mind.

    Reply

  6. I love how creative that recipe is! I would never think to use POM in making a meat dish…

    I have classes all day, but I’ll be back later to link up with a quiche I’m working on. 🙂

    Reply

    • Hi Iris–Flavors like POM can really enhance a meat dish. 🙂 Looking forward to seeing your quiche recipe! BTW, I haven’t forgotten the raw pie … just ran into some glitches. Soon, I promise.

      Thanks!
      Shirley

      Reply

    • Hi Linda–Cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning breakfast sound like the stuff that fairy tales are made of! 😉 Tidings of comfort and joy … I could go on and on. I haven’t eaten cinnamon rolls since going gf, much less made them. Thanks so much for joining in the HFF!

      Shirley

      Reply

    • Hi there, Kim–We’re enjoying that pork a lot. But, I really need to put most of it in the freezer to stick to my plan! 😉

      So glad you are excited about the coconut oil giveaway! Many thanks to Tropical Traditions for sponsoring it. 🙂 Best of luck to you,

      Shirley

      Reply

  13. POM’d Pork is such a cute name!! I just lovvve it!! This is awesome you are featuring your adaption of the Pomegrante Beef recipe!! Because it just so happens to be in my crockpot as I type this!!!! Glad to know it will be a winner of a dinner 🙂 I have been a bit obsessed with Stephanie’s blog as of late. With my health how it is right now I don’t have a lot of extra time to be making my hubby separate meals so I have been using the crockpot nearly every other day and she has yet to fail us with a bad recipe. He has loved them all. I picked out the pomegrante beef because she had it listed as one of her fav’s for fall. What a fun little surprise you had it here too!
    I was thinking I hadn’t visited GFE this week, so here I am and not only do I get affirmation my husbands dinner will be delish I get to enter a coconut giveaway. Too much fun!
    I love that your side of the family does appitzers and desserts for Christmas Eve. What a fun change so you don’t get bored with the same-ol same-ol. I plan to bring my *special* cookies to Christmas this year but I’m not telling anyone that they are free of everything. I’ve learned that when you hand someone a healthy treat and say “this has no sugar, no gluten, no soy, yada yada yada….” they kind of freak out and are less likely to try or enjoy the treat. Rather than say nothing and let the cookie do the speaking for itself 😉
    I am definitely going to try this with pork next time!

    Reply

    • Hey Em–What a happy coincidence! I haven’t done an official review of Stephanie’s cookbook, but her recipes rock, don’t they? So glad they are making your life easier and hubby’s tummy happy. 🙂 Note: If you use a pork butt, it will make even more liquid than beef I expect because of the fat content. A pork tenderloin probably creates about as much liquid as the beef.

      I’m so glad you stopped by gfe and happened on the recipe and coconut oil giveaway—a great giveaway indeed!

      I’m sure your cookies will be loved, but as long as you know folks don’t have other food intolerances that require everything to be spelled out (e.g., substitutions), then absolutely just present your wonderful cookies sans explanation. 😉

      Thanks so much for the long, lovely comment, Em!

      Shirley

      Reply

      • Oh heavens no, I would never feed something to someone with allergies/intolerances and not tell them what was in the cookies! I am so glad you clarified that because I did *not* mean to imply it’s good to not tell someone with allergies what is in their food! That would be a BAD idea (I should know)!
        I was saying this because “luckily”- I just hoarded all the allergies to myself for my entire family and not one relative has a single allergy (that they know of anyway) so I am the only one eating the “weird” food, lol. It’s not weird in my book!!!

        I always read your blog Shirley, but I guess I’m just in a talkative mood today because I usually try not to comment to save time (actually it’s because I don’t have any homework now! Yay for break!!) xoxo

        Reply

        • Gosh, Em, I should have worded that differently. I added that note for the benefit of others, not that you would do that. I know you are probably the most caring and cautious of anyone given your own food issues. LOL on the hoarding the allergies and others not knowing though. That makes me think of how I am somewhat amused when I hear that a single person in a large family is celiac or gluten intolerant—nope, not likely.

          We’re so glad you are on break and have time to chat! I completely understand about no being able to leave comments all the time. I try to comment when I read blogs because I know it shows other readers that the blog is well read, but it’s not always possible given time constraints. We all need another couple of hours per day just to keep up with our blogging buddies, huh? 😉 Thanks so much for giving up some of your wonderful free time to comment!

          xo,
          Shirley

          Reply

  15. Your pork dish sounds great- would not have thought about using pomegranate juice! I made a slow cooker pulled pork with apple cider recently that was pretty great, though, so same idea…sort of.

    I linked to my potato pancakes recipe for Hannukah…naturally gluten-free if made without the optional flour!

    Reply

    • Hi Winnie–You’re right … that is a very similar idea. Both flavor and tenderize the meat. 🙂 I’m betting that apple cider pork was fabulous! Will go to your blog and check out the recipe—thanks for mentioning it!

      Potato pancakes are such a lovely dish. Thanks so much for mentioning the easy gluten-free variation!

      Shirley

      Reply

  16. I just found this site from Stephanie O’Dea’s site
    “A Year of Slow Cooking”. I just bought her book, too; and I have marked about a hundred recipes to try. Now I have this one to look forward to as well. My slow cooker gets used more often than any other appliance in my kitchen, including my bread maker, Kitchenaid, and the ice cream maker. By the way, your Honey Cinnamon Grand Marnier Ice Cream is genius! I made it yesterday, and it’s just too good for words! I also love Coconut oil. I would like to try this brand. Do you like it better than others on the market?

    Reply

    • Hi Junecutie–Welcome to gfe! LOL on the hundred recipes … I know exactly what you mean. I’ve made several over the last two years and they have all been winners. 🙂 The slow cooker is an amazing kitchen tool. I have to agree with you on its use compared to my other appliances.

      Oh, I’m so tickled that you made my latest favorite flavor of ice cream! I’ve been so pleased that just a few ingredients can turn into a fabulous ice cream. That Grand Marnier adds a special touch to that one. I used some peppermint schnapps in an ice cream last month (that I still need to post) and was very pleased, also. It’s really fun to experiment with flavors!

      The coconut oil. I haven’t used coconut oil enough to give a proper review. I will say this … I think Tropical Traditions has a lot to offer. It’s virgin coconut oil. It’s USDA certified organic. It works really well for baking and cooking from what I’ve seen so far and so many others love it. (BTW, signing up for their emails is a great way to find out about their other products and specials, which they run frequently.) I did go through a period where I was eating a spoonful of coconut butter daily for its health benefits and for that purpose, I used Artisana Coconut Butter. It contains coconut meat, not just butter and is considered a whole food. It’s absolutely wonderful to eat, but would impart a true coconut flavor when cooking, which might not be good depending upon the recipe. Hope that helps!

      Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! Hope you’ll stop by gfe again. 🙂

      Shirley

      Reply

    • Hi Hallie–So good to see you again. 🙂 I agree that Holiday Food Fest is a blast … I, too, love everyone joining in with the best of their fall and holiday dishes. We have so many to choose from now AND there’s one week left! Next week, we’ll be over at Jessica’s (Life as Mom) for everyone’s favorite ending—desserts! 😉

      Shirley

      Reply

    • Hi Sandy–Welcome to gfe! Thanks so much for your kind words, too. Yes, the POM’d Pork is pretty yummy and, of course, easy since you let the slow cooker do most of the work. 🙂

      So glad you stopped by … hope to see you again!

      Shirley

      Reply

  20. Hello! I saw your ice cream recipe posted on another site. It looks delicious! I saw this post about the Holiday Food fest, so I thought I would share my mom’s turkey recipe. I will look through all of the other past posts!

    Reply

    • Hello Yadi–Welcome to gfe! First, thanks so much regarding the ice cream! Second, it’s wonderful to meet yet another gluten-free blogger. 🙂 With over 97% of individuals with celiac undiagnosed (about 3 million) and others gluten intolerant or gluten sensitive, we can’t have enough ways to promote awareness. Thanks for sharing your path and enlightening others!

      Unfortunately, the link you added is not working. I’m new to Mr. Linky so I don’t know what to do to fix it instantly, but I’ll figure it out. I did go on your site and find your Mom’s Turkey recipe so in the mean time folks can click this link to see your recipe. I was pleasantly surprised that your mom’s recipe contains some of the same key ingredients that I use for my Special Turkey Breast. 🙂

      Thanks so much for participating in Holiday Food Fest! Hope to see you again, Yadi!

      Shirley

      Reply

  21. The POM’d pork looks great. I’ve never tried POM before but it sounds like a unique addition. If you get a chance Shirley, be sure to check out the giveaway I have posted on my blog. Take care.

    Reply

    • Hi Brian–I think you’d enjoy drinking and cooking with POM. 🙂 Thanks so much for adding your coffee cake recipe. I know a lot of folks will add that to their holiday plans right away! I always love how you give your butter and sugar warnings. 😉 And, I love the step-by-step photos, too.

      Now that giveaway … wow, Brian. When you do a giveaway, you do a giveaway! I know lots of people will be dreaming about those prizes instead of visions of sugar plums. LOL I’m sure you will get a fantastic turnout.

      Shirley

      Reply

  22. Shirley, thanks for another wonderful recipe and awesome giveaway. We LOVE coconut oil at our house — and it is SOOO good for you too 🙂

    Reply

    • Hi Jennifer–Happy Friday! 🙂 Thank you very much, but I have to totally thank Stephanie and Karina for the basis of that recipe; the POM Wonderful folks for their juice that is wonderful; Amy who is our Holiday Food Fest hostess, and who arranged all the giveaways; and finally, the folks at Tropical Traditions who graciously provided their coconut oil. Nice teamwork. 😉

      Shirley

      Reply

    • Hi Jessica–Nice to see you this Friday evening! I think I’ve decided I like the pork tenderloin version best myself. POM does really well with pork so I know your pork chops and mushrooms dish was fantastic. I think I remember you saying you were going to make that combination.

      Hope you have a wonderful weekend, too! 🙂 Thanks so much,

      Shirley

      Reply

  24. I just won a bunch of POM – what great timing! This sounds yummy. I submitted Lamb Moussaka – not that it’s a traditional “holiday” dish, but it was a dish someone brought at our Thanksgiving holiday this year, and I loved it so much, I’d like to make it a tradition!

    Reply

    • Alta–Congrats on winning the POM! You’ll really enjoy experimenting with it or just plain drinking it. I mixed half POM juice and half pineapple juice earlier and it was a delicious drink. 🙂

      Your Lamb Moussaka was beautiful. I’m so glad you shared it with us all for the Holiday Food Fest. Many of us are looking for some different dishes for a change. With the holidays stretching out over several days, I think there’s room for traditional dishes and something new and exciting! 😉

      Thanks so much,
      Shirley

      Reply

  25. Hi, Shirley! I just found your blog through Tropical Tradions. I haven’t be using coconut oil very long but I love it, especially when I make popcorn. I also just started a GF diet so I’ll have to check your blog out some more. Thanks!
    Deb

    Reply

    • Hi Deb–I’m so glad you found me and gfe! Ooooh, popcorn made using coconut oil … that sounds so good and I’m not even a big popcorn fan usually (although I did like those gooey popcorn balls back in the day!). Mr. GFE loves popcorn though, so I’ll definitely have to make some using the TT coconut oil for both of us to try.

      I think if you look around at the gfe site, especially the gfe’s tip sheets on the sidebar, you’ll see my approach to gluten-free eating. I only use a handful of gluten-free specialty items. The rest of the food and ingredients I use are all things I can buy at a basic grocery store, farmer’s market, etc. There is no need to load up on expensive gluten-free specialty food. That can be not only expensive, but very disappointing in terms of taste, texture, and nutrition. So many main dishes and sides are gluten free naturally and flourless and crustless desserts can provide the majority of one’s sweet needs. You’ll see what I mean by looking at the tip sheets and looking around the site and the recipes here. But, don’t hesitate to email me if you have any questions … about my site, recipes … or just being gluten free, in general. There definitely is a learning curve at the beginning and it helps to have an experienced ally!

      Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! FYI–You can subscribe to all the posts at the top right of my header—either by email or RSS feed. 🙂 Hope to see you and chat with you again!

      Shirley

      Reply

    • Hi Deb–Welcome to gfe! “super useful” giveaways are the kind I believe in. 😉 Best of luck with the random number generator!

      Love your blog name! It sounds friendly and endearing. I took a quick peek … very diverse and interesting topics and discussions.

      Shirley

      Reply

  28. I absolutely L-0-V-E coconut oil. I use it for EVERYTHING! Cooking, moisturizing and even used it to remove painted decals from
    flip-flops! I am so happy you are offering this great giveaway!

    Reply

    • Hi Donna–Welcome to gfe! Ah, this real food giveaway is for you then. Food and, uh, other things as you said. LOL I actually use coconut oil as my moisturizer, too. It’s fantastic! No weird chemicals to contend with and it works beautifully. You’re welcome, but thanks to Tropical Traditions for graciously providing their quality coconut oil and thanks to Amy of Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free, the hostess of our Holiday Food Fest, for working with TT to arrange the giveaway. I’m just the facilitator at the end. 😉

      Best of luck in the giveaway!

      Shirley

      Reply

  30. Now this is a giveaway I can believe in! I am obsessed with coconut oil and exploring oil pulling to deal with dental and health/heart issues.

    Reply

  32. My holiday recipe that is similar is that I make Cornish Game Hens with Chambord (Rasberry Liquor).

    The research on Coconut Oil keeps getting better, it’s been very misunderstood.

    Reply

    • Hi Elaine–Oh my goodness, Cornish Game Hens and Chambord—that sounds absolutely divine! I would love that recipe. I haven’t made Cornish Game Hens in a long time and I’m just imagining the flavors of that combination. Yum.

      Yes, I know what you mean about coconut oil being so misunderstood. If it was being marketed as a drug, it would be lauded all over the place. Instead, I’ve read the traditional doctor columns in our local newspaper saying don’t take it, it will highly elevate your cholesterol, etc. It was one of the first things that my functional medicine doctor told me would heal my gut after she diagnosed me with gluten intolerance. And, I know several folks who’ve taken it/cooked with it to lower their cholesterol and it’s worked beautifully. (Of course, everyone is different … have to add that caveat. But, it’s good stuff.)

      Thanks for commenting and welcome to gfe!

      Shirley

      Reply

  36. Hi- I just found out today that I have a dairy and gluten allergy. I have to say I panicked and my first thought was “What am I going to eat?” So I was relieved and excited when I found your website! I can still eat great food!! Thank you and I am excited to try out some of your recipes!! Happy Holidays!!
    🙂
    Kelly

    Reply

    • Hi Kelly–Welcome to gfe! Thanks so much for the kind words. Yes, you can eat great food. You can actually end up eating some of the best food ever once you go gluten free. I hope you’ll find my site helpful (be sure to check out gfe’s tip sheets on the sidebar. The easiest way to eat gluten free (and dairy free) is to focus on eating foods that are naturally gluten free and making other dishes that can easily be made gluten free (like dishes that are flourless, crustless; making ice cream with coconut milk). Please don’t hesitate to email me with questions/concerns. Starting out, one can be uncertain about A LOT, so I’m happy to help. For the dairy-free part, Alisa of Go Dairy Free (also of One Frugal Foodie) is another great resource for dairy free. Many of her recipes are naturally gluten free, too.

      Hope you have a wonderful holiday season as well! 🙂

      Shirley

      Reply

  37. I like the taste of the coconut oil! Thanks for sharing! I want to win it but, I don’t think so…..

    Love,
    Miss Hannah

    Reply

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