Slow-Cooked Pork and White Bean Cassoulet
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Dutch-oven braised pork with white beans features rich, fork-tender meat and Tuscan-style seasonings. Absolutely delicious served family style with pasta or crusty bread!
This low and slow-cooked pork recipe checks all the tastebud buttons.
Think of it as Italian cassoulet — a rich, hearty dish with fall-apart-on-your-fork meat, tender white beans and seasonings like rosemary, fennel and tomato.
I love to serve this over pasta, ragu-style, but it’s just as delicious with just a hunk of warm crusty bread alongside.
Cooking tender braised pork shoulder
Like my recipe for slow-cooked beef with red wine , this boneless pork shoulder cooks in the oven in a heavy pot such as a Dutch oven.
But it’s easily adaptable to a Crock-Pot or other electric slow-cooker if that makes life easier for you.
Slow-cooking has an almost magical ability to make a home cozier and bring the family together.
Factor in the crazy-good smells that waft from the kitchen all day and it’s a good bet that everyone will eagerly gather at the table for dinner.
This recipe makes enough pork and beans for next-day leftovers. Just add a little water or stock when reheating.
Slow-Cooked Pork and White Bean Cassoulet
Ingredients
- 3 pounds (1.35 kg) boneless pork shoulder, trimmed of excess fat
- Kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons (45 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large yellow or white onion, chopped
- 2 leeks, white and light greens parts chopped
- 1 cup (250 ml) dry white wine, such as pinot grigio
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 dried red chile pepper such as chile de arbol, or 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 2 tablespoons (30 g) tomato paste
- 1 28-ounce (800 g) crushed tomatoes
- 2 cups (500 ml) chicken broth
- 2 14-ounce (800 g) cans cannellini or navy beans, drained
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 head garlic, trimmed of excess papery skin and halved crosswise
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 450 (225C) degrees.
- Cut the pork into 4-inch chunks and season all over with the 1 tablespoon of the kosher salt.
- Put the pork on a rimmed baking sheet and put in the oven. Roast for 20 minutes to sear and render some of the fat. Remove from the oven and reduce temperature to 325 (160C) degrees.
- Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion and leeks and cook until softened and lightly golden.
- Pour in the wine and let it bubble for 1 minute. Add the remaining ingredients plus 1 -1/2 teaspoons salt and stir. Nestle the reserved pork into the pot and cover the pan.
- Place the pot in the oven and cook 3-3 1/2 hours. The meat should be very tender when prodded with a fork.
- Serve the pork and beans over cooked pasta or with warm crusty bread.
Karen’s Notes and Tips
- To make this recipe in your electric slow cooker: Sweat the leeks and onions until softened, and then sear the pork in a stovetop-safe insert or in a large skillet. Another option is to sear the pork in the oven as in the recipe before adding all the remaining ingredients to the slow cooker. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
- Serve over pasta or with crusty bread and a salad.
Nutrition
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Creator of Familystyle Food
I’m a food obsessed super-taster and professionally trained cook ALL about creating elevated dinners with everyday ingredients. Find simplified recipes made from scratch and enjoy incredibly tasty food! Read more about me here.
Is there an acceptable substitution for the white wine? My family are not big wine drinkers and I’d rather not buy a large bottle just for the recipe.
Thanks!
Hi Kristina – Instead of 1/2 cup wine, use 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar.
Excellent recipe. I followed the instructions fairly closely, until I reached the inevitable, inescapable snag: “crusty” bread. Some of us don’t have teeth. How about a soft Rosetta? And why do recipe-writers specify “crusty” bread in the first place? Is it because everyone else does it?
Hi Gerre – I’m glad to hear you made the recipe! I define “crusty” bread as a type similar to a sourdough or country loaf, that usually has a thicker, chewier crust. They can be harder to chew for that reason. You can certainly use a softer style bread if that’s what you enjoy most.
Thanks, Karen. I know I can use a softer bread — I was just having some fun. It’s just that so many cooks end their recipes with “crusty bread”, it seems like the punch line of a joke. The recipe is very good, by the way.
🙂
This turned out amazingly Karen. The halved garlic bulb and the Fennel really added a nice punch to the savoury flavours. I shall reminisce on this dish for days to come.
Thank you
Did you strain this at all? I’ve made it in a crock pot and found there was so much liquid, it was almost like a soup! Tastes great though 🙂
Ameila -I didn’t strain the liquid when I made it in a Dutch oven as some of that liquid evaporates. Slow cookers tend to produce more liquid because of the condensation. Next time you make it in your slow cooker, use half the amount of stock. If you still find it too loose, you can strain the broth into a saucepan and reduce it on the stovetop. I’m going to adjust the recipe accordingly. Thank you for letting me know!
This is in the oven now and smellin’ terrific! Even though it’s August, it’s cloudy, breezy and “sweater weather” here and this is a perfect weekend meal. I used a bunch of cherry tomatoes I had to find something to do with. Feels like being in Tuscany! Cheers…
Sounds wonderful- enjoy it Mark!
This food saved my life
I need this in my life right now! this sounds so amazing, hearty and warm. What a lovely recipe 🙂
Thanks Albert! My family loves this dish. Let me know if you make it!
This looks and sounds absolutely wonderful!
XO
I was just wondering if you know how to make a chai spice blend for a pork shoulder slow cooker recipe
Yum, yum; tagging this right away, thanks.
Love the new (to me) look! Wow!
Hi Lisa – Thanks! I hope you enjoy it.
Now this sounds great!!! Im saving this recipe to try soon.
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Beautiful blog and wonderful recipe–I will pass this on to my mom–she would love it!
Thanks for stopping by, Rebecca. Enjoy!
As I am writing this we are expecting 10 inches of snow tonight…ugh! This slow cooked pork looks like the perfect comfort food to stave off the snowy weather.
A big bowl of pork and beans is perfect for a snowy night. Gotta love spring snowstorms! I like that last hit of winter, knowing that summer is just around the corner.
This is a delicious and filling looking meal, I like that it practically makes itself and has a ton of hearty ingredients :).
silly question, perhaps. you say remove the excess papery skin and halve the garlic head, but you don’t actually peel the cloves? you put them in the crockpot with the “skins” still on?
Hi Lee – Yes, you can just put the cloves in skin and all. The garlic will soften and scent the pork. When the pork is finished cooking, you can pull out the garlic. Or, if you love garlic, squeeze it out on some toasted bread for an extra yum factor.
you know what you should try for your hands? vapor rub. it smells weird and feels weird to do, but if you slather it on and put on some cotton gloves, it heals cracked skin like nobody’s business.
WOW this looks incredible! Great job
yum
I may have to buy a crockpot so I can make this recipe!
Sounds delicious for a cold day like today!
Stacey Snacks