Creamy Pork Casserole - tender pieces of pork loin in a rich creamy tomato sauce with mushrooms and butternut squash.
Creamy Tomato Sauce for Casserole
I love a good ole casserole, but it has to have a good sauce or gravy. So when I had some pork loins that needed to be used up, I had a real craving for a yummy creamy tomato sauce. The kind of sauce you can literally eat on its own with a spoon.
This sauce does not disappoint and has so much flavour from the added vegetables such as butternut squash and mushrooms. The butternut squash adds a lovely natural sweet taste and removes some of the acidity of the canned tomatoes. Perfect!!
Best Cut of Pork for Casseroles
So you may be wondering what is the best cut of pork to use for a pork casserole. Well, my favourite is Boneless Pork Loin Rib Chops, they really absorb all that flavour in the sauce and stay nice and tender.
Other cuts that are good for this are:
- Chump End/Chops
- Tenderloin or Leg
- Pork Shoulder
Just be aware that you need to trim off any visible fat and some cuts are much fattier than others.
Can I use other meat or protein?
That's a great question and if you don't like pork, this works just as well with boneless skinless chicken thighs. Chicken breasts will work too, but I prefer to use thighs in casserole dishes as the meat stays much more tender and absorbs more flavour.
Hey, you could even use some fillets of white fish in this creamy sauce or even prawns (shrimp).
Just be aware that whatever you choose for your protein base it may have a slightly shorter cooking time than the pork.
You could even make this vegetarian, by adding in quorn pieces or something like chickpeas or cannelini beans instead of meat. Yum!!
Sides for Creamy Pork Casserole
You may be wondering what sides work well with this casserole dish. Some of my favourites are:
- Pasta
- Rice
- Crushed Roast Potatoes
- Garlic and Herb Roast Potatoes
- Mashed Potatoes
- Sour Cream and Spring Onion Mashed Cauliflower
- Perfect Oven Baked Chips
- Garlic and Herb Potato Wedges
and if you are wondering on some choice for a vegetable side, a few of my favourites are:
- Fresh Baby Spinach
- Sauted Shredded Garlic Brussel Sprouts
- Roasted Broccoli
- Roasted Cauliflower
- ROSEMARY ROASTED POTATOES, PARSNIPS, CARROTS AND ONION
- MAPLE GLAZED CARROTS
or head on over to my Full Recipe Index with over 900 delicious Slimming Eats and Weight Watchers friendly recipes all fully searchable by meal type, ingredients, value and smart points etc
Can I use Quark instead of Cream Cheese?
It's a question I see often and there are a few things to consider.
Quark is much more sour tasting that cream cheese (like Philadelphia) so you won't get that yummy creamy taste with quark.
Secondly, quark doesn't cope well with heat, unlike cream cheese which melts into a creamy goodness. If you overheat the quark it will split resulting in a not very pleasant looking sauce.
Lastly, it really isn't that many for the amount of cream cheese used when you divide up into portions.
That aside if you really can't bear to use up some points, be all means use quark, just take into account what I have mentioned above.
I recommend spooning some of the sauce into the quark to slowly warm up and never use straight from the fridge. Then remove the pan from the heat when you stir in the quark into the whole dish.
Originally created on the 26th January 2012 and updated on the 31st March 2020
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Recipe Card
Creamy Pork Casserole
Creamy Pork Casserole - tender pieces of pork loin in a rich creamy tomato sauce with mushrooms and butternut squash.
Ingredients
- 800g (28oz) of Boneless Pork Loin Rib Chops (remove visible fat), sliced into smaller pieces
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 150g (5.5oz) of cremini mushrooms, sliced thinly
- 250g (9oz) of butternut squash, peeled and cubed small
- ½ tbs of paprika (not smoked)
- pinch of mixed herbs
- 400g (14oz) can of chopped tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon of tabasco sauce
- 1 cup (240ml) of chicken stock
- 5 tablespoons of low-fat cream cheese
- cooking oil spray
- Salt and black pepper
- fresh chopped Italian Parsley to serve
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180c (fan 160c) or 350f, gas mark 4
- Spray a cast-iron casserole pan or ovenproof deep frying pan with some cooking oil spray. Lightly brown the pieces of pork in batches, seasoning with salt and black pepper as you do and remove and set aside.
- Add the onion and fry until softened, use a little bit of the stock to deglaze the pan and stop any sticking, scraping up any food that is stuck to the bottom.
- Add in the mushrooms and continue to fry for a few more minutes.
- Add the garlic, butternut squash, mixed herbs and paprika, and stir to coat.
- Add in the chopped tomatoes, tabasco and chicken stock
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat slightly.
- Stir in the cream cheese until melted.
- Add in the pieces of pork ensuring they are fully covered with the sauce.
- Place in the oven covered and bake for 40 minutes, remove the lid for the last 15 minutes
- Top with some freshly chopped Italian parsley
- Taste and season as needed with salt and black pepper.
- Serve with your choice of sides
Notes
Please see below for full nutritional info and additional details about recipe:
- Calories - scroll down to nutritional info box
- WW Points and other Slimming or Weight Loss programs - due to plans regularly changing and updating, we recommend calculating with the official tools you get as a member to those plans to ensure accuracy of values.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 4 Serving Size 1 SERVINGAmount Per Serving Calories 314Total Fat 15.1gSaturated Fat 4.5gCholesterol 117mgSodium 704mgCarbohydrates 15.1gFiber 3.5gSugar 7.5gProtein 43.1g
Jenny Robinson says
pretty good had it with rice, doesnt even need the pork. kids managed it too
Tammi says
Could this be done in the slow cooker?
mike duffield says
what can be used in place of butternut squash, have a job getting it at the moment.
Michael George Duffield says
Going to try it in Slow Cooker
Michael George Duffield says
Did it in the slow cooker, it was superb.
Alison says
Can you freeze this?
Martin says
Amazing - fed family of 5 during the 'lockdown'. Absolutely delicious.
Jenny says
Far too much cream cheese, if I made it again I would only use half amount of cheese
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
Make sure you are using accurate measuring spoons and always level off, where it gives a tablespoon measure, the amount of cream cheese is definitely not too much, it will not be creamy if you use any less.
Georgina Reese says
As above really - can you freeze this or would the sauce split?
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
If you check the notes sections of the recipe box of my recipes. It will tell you whether suitable for freezing. I freeze this all the time and have no issues.
Samantha says
Has anyone made this with dairy free cream cheese?
Wondering how it woukd come out.
Danielle says
Can you freeze it with the cream cheese already added?
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
Hi Danielle, yes the recipe freezes fine, just make sure you are using cream cheese and not quark.
John Duffus says
What a fabulous recipe. Tender pork in a creamy mild tomato sauce with just a hint of heat. I didn't have Tabasco Sauce so I used a teaspoon of Sriracha instead and I loved it. This has been added to my favourite recipes to be used again and again.
Gemma says
Hi is the calorie value correct? According to my pork packaging, theres 1550 calories in the whole pack, so pork alone works out at 387 calories per portion?
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
you need to ensure you are using lean pork with fat removed for this, otherwise the calories will be a lot higher.
Lynne says
Made it today for lunch. Delicious
Sharon says
Could you make this with pork shoulder? I only came across this when looking for a recipe to use up the pork shoulder steaks we picked up on this weeks shop