Comfort in a bowl! This Latin dish is a cross between a stew and a soup. If you want to eat it as a soup, serve it with some fresh avocado on top. If you prefer to have this over rice, try it with my Latin yellow rice (I had it both ways!).
Slow Cooker Pork and Gandules (Pigeon Peas) Stew
Slow Cooker Pork and Gandules (Pigeon Peas) StewThe inspiration for this dish came from the signature Puerto Rican dish Arroz Con Gandules. A combination of rice, pigeon peas and pork,
cooked with Puerto Rican-style sofrito. All the same flavors made easy by cooking it in the slow cooker and leftovers freeze well.
Gandules (also known as pigeon peas) are one of my favorite legumes which can be purchased canned or dried, for this recipe I used Goya canned.
Yum! This is loaded with flavor, tons of vegetables and it’s SO so good! This is a keeper in my book. If you don’t eat pork, chicken breast would work great too. Enjoy!
To see more Skinnytaste crock pot recipes, you can click this link.
And since so many are asking, although I have and love my Instant Pot, I still love my slow cooker! I have the 6 Quart Hamilton Beach Set ‘n Forget Programmable Slow Cooker (affil link). I love it because you can adjust the time you want it to cook, and it automatically turns to warm when it’s done. It also has a probe for meat that automatically shuts off when done. I hated my old crock pot, it burnt everything and my food had a weird taste. This slow cooker is so great, I actually own several!
Slow Cooker Pork and Gandules (Pigeon Peas) Stew
Ingredients
For the pork:
- 1 lb boneless pork tenderloin cubed
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1/2 tbsp dried oregano
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- juice of 1/2 lime
- 1 1/2 tsp sazon seasoning I used homemade
For the stew:
- 2 cans 29 oz total gandules
- 1 small onion chopped
- 4 garlic cloves crushed
- 1 cup diced red pepper diced
- 1 tbsp diced jalapeno
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce
- 2 tbsp olives w/brine
- 1 medium potato peeled and diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 1 carrot diced
- 1 celery stalk diced
- 2 cups of greens such as escarole chopped kale or baby spinach
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Marinade the pork with oil, oregano, cumin, salt, pepper, lime juice and sazon.
- Refrigerate overnight for best results.
- Transfer to the slow cooker along with the remaining ingredients.
- Cover and cook 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low.
This was a wonderful comforting dish. I came home to it being ready after a long day at work so it was even more enjoyable! My husband is from Puerto Rico so I keep gandules on hand. I totally forgot to add the greens and I didn’t serve it with avocado either. It was great though! Everyone cleaned their plate, and I will definitely make it again!
Hi, I want to make this recipe with dry pigeon peas, do I need to soak them first before cooking them in the slow cooker?
Thanks!
I made this before but don’t remember what I did. This time,I drained the granules. Do I need to add water?
I love all of these ingredients so I’m so excited to have this tonight! I just have one question! Did you drain and rinse the beans?!
This was fabulous. I loved it my husband loved it…and my picky teenager conceded that it smelled good. We served with crunchy rolls and used baby spinach in it. I added more veggies because I love carrots and celery…and potatoes.
I served it this like a stew over the Latin yellow rice. Both were excellent but I thought it was even better leftover! I served it with a side of twice fried tostones (plantains) lightly fried in coconut oil & topped with salt.
Awesome
I made this tonight for my 100% Puerto Rican husband. He loved it! He said it tasted just like his mom’s cooking & can’t wait for me to make it for her. The only differences I made was at the last hour of cooking I added 2 packets of Goya sazon (I did marinate the pork with Gina’s homemade sazon,), some adobo and chopped cilantro. Thank you Gina for allowing me to introduce my husband to a Puerto Rican dish even he has never had before!
Awesome!!
I’m going to make it for a larger crowd and eight servings won’t make it. If I want to serve 12 people or 16 people do I just double it and what about the cooking time?
You can double the recipe ( all the ingredients) cook time stays the same.
Looks like Gina or anyone on her behalf has stopped answering questions. 🙁
Love your recipes, Gina…just wish some of these more recent questions could be answered. (Such as: any adjustments for using a LeCrueset Dutch oven, since my slow cooker recently died. 😞)
Gina, what do I do with the pork lion after the eight hours? Do I shred it? I am making this tonight. Thanks!
Should already be cubed
Do you recommend chopping the olives first? I already have the pork cubed and marinating for tomorrow night!
Made this on the stovetop today and it came out good with some seasoning modifications (added more of each listed and included a few Tbsp homemade sofrito). Love that we have another way to use gandules now! Thank you!