A lovely comforting dish, this pork stew is slow cooked with cider and stock in the oven. It’s finished with a good dollop of cream and a sprinkling of crispy bacon lardons.
I like to serve it with Creamy puree For dinner everyone asks for seconds!
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It’s kind of my Friday dinner when it’s raining and miserable all day and you just want something really tasty to warm you up from the inside.
I would happily scoff every part of this dish, but that sauce over mashed potatoes? Yes, I could eat this all my life and not get bored.
The meat is browned and then slow cooked with stock and cider until it’s nice and tender. I like to throw some vegetables in – just to make it a little healthier, then it’s served over creamy mashed potatoes, and finished with a crispy fried bacon lardon or pancetta.
Sometimes referred to as Somerset Pork Casserole (usually made using dry Somerset cider, with added apples in the sauce – this is my version of Somerset Pork Stew) or Norman ham (made using French cider or brandy, apples, crème fraîche and lardon bacon, sometimes also Dijon mustard), I like to pick a few flavors from both. So for me it is:
- Dry cider (alcoholic version)
- Cream and not crème fraîche (sometimes crème fraîche can split, so I prefer to use cream – but make sure it’s double/heavy cream – the higher the fat content, the less likely it will split).
- Crispy Bacon Lardons – They’re often crispy, then cooked in the stew with the pork, but I prefer to sprinkle them in at the end so they retain all the crispy saltiness.
- I sometimes make it with apple slices. If so, just add them for the last 15-20 minutes of cooking so they don’t get mushy.
📋 What do we need?
- I use Pork shoulder steaks Because they have a bit of fat running through them – which keeps the pork nice and tender. Cut off any large chunks of fat, then slice the rest into bite-sized cubes
- You can also use a Boneless pork shoulder joint and chop into bite-sized cubes if you prefer.
- Cider – This is an alcoholic dry cider. You can replace with dry apple juice or a mixture of dry apple juice and stock (in addition to the rest of the stock in the recipe) if you wish.
- mushrooms – Use your favorite. I like chestnut mushrooms, because they have a nice flavor.
- Bacon – You can use rolls/cubed pancetta, or chopped streaky bacon.
📺 Watch how it is prepared
Full recipe with detailed steps on the recipe card at the end of this post.
👩🍳Professional tip Instead of adding the cooked bacon fish to the dish, sprinkle them at the end. This helps them retain their salty crunch. The heat of the stew will reheat them if they have cooled too much.
🍽️ with what to serve
As long as you clean this lovely sauce with something – that’s the main thing. You really don’t want that sauce to go to waste!
Pork stew is a really good meal to prepare in advance and reheat later. It’s also great when you’re cooking for a lot of people – a large dish that everyone can put on their plates is ideal. In addition, it can easily be prepared gluten-free (using gluten-free stock and cider).
🍲 More fantastic pork recipes
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Slow Cooker Creamy Pork Stew
A lovely comforting dish, this pork stew is slow cooked with cider and stock in the oven. It’s finished with a good dollop of cream and a sprinkling of crispy bacon lardons.
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 170C/325F.
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Heat half a tablespoon of oil in a large pan, over high heat, until it is hot.
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Add the pork, salt, pepper and celery salt and brown on all sides – it should take about 6-8 minutes.
500g (1.1lb) pork shoulder, diced ¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper, ¼ teaspoon celery salt
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Lower the heat to medium and add in the onion. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens.
1 onion
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Add the mushrooms and cook for another two minutes.
12 baby mushrooms
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Add the carrot, cider, stock and dry thyme. Increase the heat and bring to a boil. Mix and scrape all the parts that may have stuck to the bottom of the mold.
2 carrots, 250 ml (1 cup) dry cider (hard cider if you are in the US), 420 ml (1+¾ cups) chicken or vegetable stock, ½ teaspoon dried thyme
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Place a lid on the pan and put in the oven for two and a half to three hours*, until the pork falls apart when pressed with a fork. Check a few times during the last hour of cooking and add a splash of water or stock if it starts to look a little dry.
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Just before the pot comes out of the oven, heat the remaining half tablespoon of oil in the pan and cook the bacon until they are crispy. Turn off the fire.
150 grams (half a cup) lardon bacon or chopped striped bacon
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Remove the stew from the oven and stir in the corn and water mixture to thicken, if necessary.
1 tablespoon of cornstarch mixed with 3 tablespoons of cold water
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Mix in the cream. Taste and season with a little more salt and pepper if needed. Sprinkle the lardons with bacon.
60 ml (¼ cup) double (heavy) cream.
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Serve with green vegetables on top of mashed potatoes. Sprinkle some chopped parsley before serving.
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
✎ Notes
Cook the ingredients to the point where it is just about to go into the oven. Then transfer to a slow cooker at this stage and cook for 6-8 hours on low or 5-6 hours on medium.
forward
Prepare the recipe (except for frying the bacon) and mix in the cream, then cool, cover and refrigerate or freeze.
If freezing, thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
reheat
Heat in a pan over low-medium heat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it is hot throughout.
or in a preheated oven, in a covered dish, b 170C/325F for about 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until hot throughout.
Scale
Scale up this recipe to serve 8 people by doubling the ingredients. You will likely need to cook in the oven for the full three hours to ensure the pork is tender.
The nutritional information is for one serving of this recipe and does not include serving suggestions for mashed potatoes and green vegetables.
diet
Calories: 671KKLCarbohydrates: 13Gprotein: 28GFat: 54GSaturated fat: 23GCholesterol: 135mgsodium: 1121mgpotassium: 861mgfiber: 1GSugar: 5Gvitamin: 5490IUVitamin C: 7.3mgcalcium: 61mgiron: 1.9mg
This recipe was first published in March 2017. Updated in June 2022 with some new photos, a video and some housekeeping.
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equipment:
in order to do so Slow Cooker Creamy Pork Stew Recipe you will need:
