One of my must have kitchen tools is a Crock Pot (also known as a slow cooker). We have a household of five busy people! We are always on the go with scouting, sports, or other activities, and need to keep fed too. I love the option of throwing a meal together and letting it cook throughout the day to be ready for us to dig into a hearty meal. Are you with me? Letting all the flavors and spices mingle and deepen as the meat and vegetables render down to a fork tenderness, is just divine!
Crock Pots Take The Hassle Out of Cooking
Slow cookers are great for many solutions. Mine gets extra-duty on game days when I make up my Low Sodium Buffalo Chicken Sliders. I will also use it to make my Low Sodium Guinness Beef Stew, Southwestern Turkey Meatloaf, and Low Sodium Goulash. There are so many more recipes, from chili, to wings that you can do in the crock pot. It is not only for meals, but comes in handy when entertaining or for tailgating.
Low Sodium Apple Cider Pork Chops
Today we are using up some of the fall harvest items in the pantry: sweet potatoes, red potatoes, yellow squash, carrots, celery, and apples. The protein I love to pair with apples is pork. Pork chops and applesauce has been a thing since Peter Brady made it iconic in an episode of the Brady Bunch.
Swaps and Hacks To Make It Healthier
I update this classic for the crock pot, instead of applesauce, I use apple cider and ginger beer. Ginger beer is a fuller flavored ginger ale, and is non-alcoholic. It can usually be found with the sodas and mixers. Pork when purchased fresh and minimally processed, is also one of the lowest sodium proteins you can find. Especially if you can source it locally from a butcher that is knowledgeable.
Another benefit I receive when using my slow cooker for this recipe,is that I can go with a rough chop, which speeds up prep time. When foods cook down in the slow cooking process, even big pieces are tender and will break apart with a fork when done. You may want to accompany this with a hunk of homemade low sodium bread to mop up the sauce. It is that good!
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The Recipe For Low Sodium Apple Cider Pork Chops
Low Sodium Apple Cider Pork Chops
Ingredients
- 6 small Red Potatoes halved
- 1 large Sweet Potato cubed
- 1 medium Onion
- 2 medium Carrots sliced
- 1 medium Yellow Squash sliced
- 2 stalks Celery diced
- 4 cloves Garlic minced
- 2 whole Apples (Green or Braeburne) cored and quartered
- 6 4 oz Pork Chops
- 2 cups Apple Cider
- 1 12 oz serving Ginger Beer (like Gosling's)
- 1.5 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth I use Swanson's Unsalted
- 1.5 cups Water
- 2 sprigs Rosemary diced
- 1 tsp Ground Black Pepper
- .5 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
Instructions
- In the bottom of your slow cooker layer the potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, onion, apples, carrots, and celery.
- Lay the Pork Chops flat over the root vegetables
- Add your liquids: apple cider, ginger beer, broth, and water
- Use the seasonings to taste. Check every hour while cooking and add more if needed: Rosemary, Black Pepper, and Red Pepper.
Nutrition
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Hi Christopher – I searched your site but couldn’t find an answer, so I’m commenting on your most recent post in hope you could help me. I’m desperately looking for low sodium ravioli to buy at the store, but so far I’ve failed miserably. Is there a brand you can recommend?
Hey Molly! Both DiGiorno and Buitoni make a fat free cheese ravioli, but in all honestly they both taste like sawdust in pasta. I will dig up my recipe and post it. There is a really decent one on the Sodium Girl website.
Thank you!