Slow Cooker Pork Normandy

Pork Normandy is a classic French dish of pork braised slowly in cider.

With celery, shallots and apples, it's packed full of vegetables and has extra flavour from some smoked bacon lardons too.

The slow cooker does the hard work, so you can enjoy this as a delicious weeknight meal or fuss free and easy entertaining idea.

Creamy and satisfying, this is definitely a recipe to come back to.

Bon appétit!  

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why you will love this dish
• 🥘 Ingredients
• 🍽 Equipment
• 🔪 Instructions
• 💭Slow cooking tips
• ⏲️ Slow cooking time
• 🥗 Side Dishes
• 📖 Variations
• 🍣 Storage
• 🤔FAQs
• 📋 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

With the price of food and fuel at an all time high, I love to use the cheaper cuts of meat that become so tasty and tender in the slow cooker.

The best thing is that pork shoulder is the traditional meat in Normandy pork and it becomes meltingly tender while it takes up all the apple flavour from the apples and cider.

Of course, one great thing about slow cooked stews is that they taste even better when they are reheated, as the flavours have a chance to develop. So, it makes sense to make a big batch and freeze or reheat leftovers and save energy costs.

Serve this as a week night meal with mash or rice, or jazz it up with some French side dishes to make a delicious meal for friends.

❤️ Why you will love this dish

• Just add potatoes or rice for a complete meal.
• Budget friendly pork shoulder.
• Lower cooking costs.
• Great for entertaining.
• Tasty and creamy.

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🥘 Ingredients

• Pork - pork casserole meat or pork shoulder cut into cubes. It's best to use a cut that has a small amount of fat running through it like pork shoulder. This helps to keep the meat tender.
• Bacon - ideally smoked pork lardons. This is just cubes of belly or streaky bacon. They add so much flavour.
• Apples - as the apples will be cooking for a long time, it is better to use a firm apple or cooking apple. Use a Braeburn,or Gala for example.
• Celery - this adds so much flavour to the sauce.
• Shallots - small round shallots. These have a mild flavour.
• Garlic - garlic cloves. The sauce won't be overly garlicky but they add the the overall flavour.
• Crème fraîche - this adds xreaminess without making the sauce too heavy. I tend to use the reduced fat version.
• Flour - plain or all purpose to thicken the sauce.
• Tarragon - fresh or dried tarragon.
• Oil - vegetable or olive oil for frying.
• Cider - any cider of your choice.
• Mustard - Dijon mustard, which goes so well with pork.
• Salt - cooking or kosher salt.
• Pepper - freshly ground black pepper

The printable recipe card with full ingredient quantities and instructions can be found at the bottom of the article.

🍽 Equipment

• 3.5 litre /5.3 pint capacity slow cooker
• chopping board
• sharp knife
• wooden spoon
• large skillet or frying pan
• slotted spoon

🔪 Instructions

Peel the apples, garlic and shallots.

Cut the celery into pieces and cube the apple.

If the shallots aren't too big they can be left whole.

💭 Top Tip

• If you need to cut the shallots in half, only trim the root end slightly. Leaving the root as much as possible will mean the the shallot halves stay intact while cooking.

Put a tablespoon of the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and add the shallots, celery and lardons.

Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until the bacon is pink and the onions lightly coloured.

Add the garlic and tarragon and cook for a minute.

Transfer the vegetables to the slow cooker with a slotted spoon.

Add the remaining oil to the pan over a medium to high heat.

Season the meat and sear all over in batches.

💭 Top tip

• It's easier to sear the meat in batches without crowding the pan. . This ensures that the meat is nicely caramelised rather than steamed.
• Put the meat in the pan and leave for a few minutes. Use tongs to turn the pieces over.
• Transfer the seared meat to a plate with a slotted spoon, then continue to cook the next batch of meat. Add more oil if required.

When all of the meat has been seared, return it to the pan.

Sprinkle over the flour and cook for a minute, stirring so that all of the flour is absorbed by the liquid.

Gradually add the cider and stir in the mustard.

Bring to a simmer, stirring all the time. The sauce will thicken.

Pour the mixture over the vegetables in the slow cooker.

It may seem that there isn't enough liquid at first, but the vegetables will release more liquid as they cook.

💭Slow cooking tips

• Preheat the slow cooker while you are preparing the ingredients.
• Vegetables can take a long time to cook in a slow cooker, so always place large pieces at the bottom. A slow cooker with a larger capacity cooks vegetables more evenly.
• Make sure that there is at least 2 centimetres of space in the bowl when it is full.
• Do not remove the lid in the first half of the cooking time, as valuable heat will be lost and cooking time will need to be extended.
• All stock should be boiling when added at the beginning of cooking.
• Slow cookers may need more or less time, so make sure that the meat is tender before serving.
• It's not a problem if the slow cooker beef and ale stew is left to cook for a few extra hours.

⏲️ Slow cooking time

Cook on HIGH for 4 - 5 hours, or LOW for 7 - 10 hours.

Check the seasoning and stir through the crème fraîche 30 minutes before serving.

• It's important not to let crème fraîche cook for too long in the slow cooker as it can separate. The same happens with milk or cream. The aim is to just warm it through.

🥗 Side Dishes

Of course you can add vegetables to the dish to make it go further, but try some of these potato side dishes with the pork Normandy.

• Crispy Potatoes Pavé
• Confit Potatoes
• Fondant Potatoes
• Parmentier Potatoes
• Roast Potatoes
• Confit Potatoes
• Sarladaise Potatoes
• Potatoes Parisienne
• Chateau Potatoes
• Potatoes Rissolé
• Duchess Potatoes
• Potatoes Aligot

• Shallots - use any other onion except red onions. Cut into wedges add cook following the exixting instructions.
• Crème fraîche - use double cream (heavy).

📖 Variations

• Herbs - swap the tarragon for parsley or sage. If you want to use fresh herbs, substitute the teaspoon of dried for a tablespoon of chopped fresh herbs.
• Meat - this dish would be equall delicious using boneless and skinless chopped chicken thighs or rabbit meat.

🍣 Storage

• Refrigerator - cool, cover and store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
• Freezer - cool and pack into a container and freeze for up to 3 months.
• To reheat - place in a covered casserole dish in the oven at 180 C / 350 F / 160 FAN / Gas 4 for 20 to 30 minutes until piping hot. Alternatively place in the slow cooker.

• Slow cooker casseroles like this often taste even better the next day. If you want to make it in advance don't add the crème fraîche until you are reheating.

🤔FAQs

More pork dishes

• Pork Confit
• Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin
• Tuscan Roast Pork
• Slow Roast Belly Pork
• French Trimmed Pork Rack Roast
• Pork Rillettes

📋 Recipe

More pork recipes

Food Safety

• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
• Wash hands after touching raw meat.
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
• Never leave cooking food unattended.
• Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
• Always have good ventilation when using gas.