SUPER EASY SAVORY RANCH CROCK POT PORK LOIN

Well, that weekend sure did fly by!  Hope you had a good one!  I attended our state Baptist Ministry Wives conference and had a blast catching up with old friends scattered all over our state.

Yesterday I made a Sunday lunch that is becoming one of our favorites, and I thought you might like it too.  My friend Denise shared it with me several years ago when we were both rocking babies on Sunday mornings in the nursery.  She shared the original recipe on her blog, but I tweaked it just a little and I'll share my version with you today.   If you have 2 minutes, and a few ingredients that are probably already in your pantry, you're all set!

Ingredients:
2-3 lb. pork loin (or pork roast, or pork chops)
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 packet dry ranch dressing mix
1 can mushrooms (drained if desired)

You could totally just use 2 cans of one kind of soup if you prefer one over the other.  I like the mix or just use whatever I have on hand.  The COC does give a good flavor mix with the pork, though.

It would probably taste even better if you browned your meat first, but I never do for this recipe (I think that defeats the purpose of quickly dumping everything in the crock pot sometimes!).  So, put your meat in the crock, then cover with soup and sprinkle the ranch mix on top.  Cover and cook around 4-5 hours on high, 7-8 hours on low.  I add the mushrooms in about 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time, but I'm sure you could put them in at the beginning too.   If it's not apparent, this recipe is pretty forgiving and flexible.

It's not really necessary to add any water, but I like to stretch the sauce a bit further, so I add 1/4 to 1/2 cup in with the ingredients at the beginning.

The meat should be falling apart tender when it's finished.  I like to separate it into smaller chunks and mix it together with the sauce well to serve.  There are several side options to serve the meat and sauce with... rice, egg noodles, or I would have used couscous yesterday if I had it.  This really reminds me of a version of beef tips, so there are lots of options!

So, there you go!  A quick dinner idea if you need it this week!  And I guess I've been cooking with pork more often... I shared a simple, great marinade here if you missed it.

And remember, the Fall Style Challenge kicks off on The Apron Blog from Home Depot today!  My friend Kristin from Bliss at Home is up first with her outdoor Harvest challenge.  I've been dying to see it, I know she knocked it out of the park!  They should be announcing the rest of the schedule soon and I'll let you know what day I'm up!