Cherry-Glazed Pork and Potatoes
Shelf-stable pork with a sweet-spiced cherry glaze, built over instant mashed potatoes in one pot.
- calories
- 780
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 130
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 10 min
- total time
- 15 min
- water
- 500 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Winter / snow
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Freeze-dried or canned pork | 3 oz | a shelf-stable pouch of pulled pork works; canned chicken is the backup |
|---|---|---|
| Instant mashed potato flakes | 3/4 cup | |
| Chicken bouillon | 1 tsp | |
| Brown sugar | 2 tbsp | 1 tbsp for the rub mix, 1 tbsp for the glaze |
| Smoked paprika | 1 tsp | |
| Chili powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Onion powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Italian seasoning | 1/2 tsp | |
| Salt and black pepper | 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper | |
| Dried tart cherries | 1/4 cup | chopped small at home so they rehydrate faster |
| Honey | 1 tbsp | in a small squeeze tube |
| Cider vinegar | 2 tsp | a dropper bottle, or a vinegar packet from a deli |
| Cinnamon and nutmeg | a pinch of each | |
| Butter powder or olive oil | 1 tbsp |
Method
- Boil about 200 ml of water. Drop in the cherries, honey, vinegar, 1 tbsp brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- Simmer on the lowest flame you can hold for five minutes, stirring, until the cherries plump and the liquid goes syrupy. Pour it into a mug or your lid and set it aside.
- Add the remaining 300 ml of water to the pot with the bouillon, the spice mix, and the pork. Bring it back to a boil, then kill the heat and let it sit two minutes so the meat rehydrates.
- Stir in the potato flakes a spoonful at a time until it thickens. Fold in the butter powder or oil.
- Spoon the cherry glaze over the top and eat.
This started as a slow cooker roast, which is four hours and a refrigerator you do not have. The pork tenderloin becomes a shelf-stable pouch, the broth becomes bouillon, and the mashed potatoes that were a side dish become the body of the meal. The spice rub survives the translation unchanged, since it was already dry.
The glaze is the part worth the extra pot time. Dried cherries, honey, and vinegar reduce into something with real acid in it, which is what keeps a bowl of starch and salt from tasting flat halfway through. Make the glaze first and hold it aside. If you build the potatoes first they set up while you fuss with the cherries.
Packing
Spices, brown sugar, bouillon, and potato flakes go in separate bags: the potato flakes need to stay dry and the glaze mix gets used first. Honey and vinegar ride in leakproof squeeze bottles inside a ziplock.
Variations
- Dried cranberries stand in for cherries. Add an extra teaspoon of sugar, they are sharper.
- Skip the glaze entirely and you have a spiced pork and potato dinner in six minutes.
- A pouch of chicken swaps in without changing anything else.
https://mealswithmaria.site/how-to-cook-pork-tenderloin-in-a-crockpot