This pork and cider casserole with apple makes an easy, tasty and comforting meal. It's a tasty mix of flavors, a little sweetness with savory. Deliciously cosy-feeling.

pot of pork and cider casserole with spoon to one side and apple above dish.

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Pork and apple are a common combination for good reason, and this tasty dish has a double dose of both. This dish combine pork, bacon, apple, and carrot, all cooked in (hard) apple cider.

It's a hearty, comforting dish that's packed with autumnal vibes. What I have shared here is a bit of a combination of dishes from the West Country of England - Somerset pork - and Brittany in France - Normandy pork. Both areas big apple-growing regions, and pork-producing, too. These dishes were popular with farmers during harvest season, though it's a delicious combination any time.

close up view of pot of pork and cider casserole.

Somerset v Normandy pork

While both dishes combine pork, cider and apples, they do have a few variations. The British dish generally doesn't include bacon, but you might add in some mushrooms or other vegetables. The pork may be chops or diced pork such as shoulder.

Normandy pork more typically adds bacon, and you might add some creme fraiche to the sauce, and possibly some Dijon mustard as well. Vegetables are less common in the sauce, other than onion/shallot and maybe celery.

In terms of seasoning, thyme or sage is more typical in the British dish, and tarragon in the French version. Though both may have no herbs at all, and rely on the apples and pork themselves.

dishes of diced pork, bacon with apples, carrots, onion and can of cider around.

Neither has a hard-and-fast set of ingredients and so I have drawn on both in creating this dish which to me, has the best of both. I've used shoulder, and cooked it low and slow to be nicely tender. Then you add extra flavor from the bacon, some color from the carrot and sweetness from the apple.

I have used pork chops in a variation on this before, and while it cooked quicker, I think it's easier to get a more consistent flavor (and not overcook chops, which is never good) with shoulder.

About the cider...

Just to be clear for particularly North American readers, by cider I mean hard apple cider, not the non-alcoholic pressed juice kind. While you can use sweet or dry here, I would probably tend towards a semi-dry or dry cider myself, but use as you prefer and have.

However, steer clear from any with added flavors in them - this should be all about the apples.

simmering pot of meat and sauce with herbs floating on top.

Making this dish

This is an easy dish to make which has layers of flavor. The first is from browning the pork in a little oil - be sure to do this in batches so you get a good sear which won't happen if you overcrowd the pan.

Set the pork aside while you start the bacon and onion cooking. Add the carrots, cook briefly then add some flour to absorb some of the excess fat. Pour in the cider and stock and add back the pork. Stir in the tarragon, season then cover and pop in the oven.

The cider keeps the pork moist and gives a tasty flavor. I added tarragon, which comes more from French-style dishes but you could also use thyme or sage which pair well. Though sage can take over so go easy if you switch.

What type of apples to use

You are best to use an apple with a good flavor for this, and also one that doesn't fall apart too easily once cooked. So suggestions include Honeycrisp, Braeburn, Pink Lady of Cox's.

While you could add the apples into the pot towards the end, I prefer to cook them separately to get them just tender and give a little extra flavor from browning in butter. Add them into the pot at the end, along with the cream to give a smooth finish.

Serving ideas

This dish makes a lovely sauce that you'll want to make sure you mop up! So pair it with something like mashed potato or rice to soak it all up. To balance out the relative richness, if you want some extra vegetables try some greens or green beans alongside. You could also add some sauteed or braised cabbage which also pairs well.

This pork and cider casserole with apple makes a tasty, hearty main that's also easy to make. It has a lovely mix of sweet apple, the slight tartness from the cider in the sauce and savory pork and bacon. Give it a try and enjoy.

overhead view of pot of pork and cider casserole with apple above pot.

Try these other tasty, cozy meals:

One pot lemon garlic chicken with vegetables
Apple, squash and pork skillet
One pot braised lamb shoulder chops with vegetables
Plus get more main course recipes in the archives.

And if you're looking for another less typical braise, try my milk-braised pork recipe too.

pot of pork and cider casserole with spoon in top.

Print Recipe

4.67 from 3 votes

Pork and cider casserole with apple

This one dish meal is hearty and comforting. Full of autumnal flavors.

Prep Time10

Cook Time2 20

Total Time2 30

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: British, French

Servings: or more if smaller servings

Calories: 486kcal

Author: Caroline's Cooking

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Ingredients

1 ½ lb pork shoulder trimmed weight - see notes
4 oz smoked bacon streaky; approx 4 slices/rashers
1 onion medium
2 carrots
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup hard apple cider suggest semi dry/dry
1 cup chicken stock
¼ teaspoon black pepper or a little more or less, to taste
2 stems tarragon
1 ½ apples or a little more if smaller
1 tablespoon butter
¼ cup heavy cream double cream, or can use creme fraiche

Instructions

If not already chopped, cut the pork into large bite-sized pieces, trimming and removing excess fat and sinew off the pork as you go. Cut the bacon in thin slices. Dice the onion and peel and cut the carrots into large bite-sized pieces.
Preheat the oven to 340F/170C.
Warm the oil in a heavy based Dutch oven or similar pan/pot over a medium-high heat. Sear the pork on all sides in batches so that you don't overcrowd the pan, cooking a couple minutes each side to let it brown. Remove once browned and repeat with the next batch until all of the pork is browned.
Add a little more oil, if needed, and onion, cook a minute then add bacon to the pan. Cook for a couple minutes until the onion softens and bacon is cooked but not yet crisp. Add the carrots to the pan, stir through and cook a minute or two then add the flour to help absorb the fat (it will also help the sauce thicken).
Pour over the cider to deglaze and and stir to mix in any browning from the pan. Add the stock, season with pepper and add the tarragon. Add back the pork. Mix everything and bring to a simmer then cover and place in the oven.
Cook in the oven for approximately 2 hours until the pork is tender. As the pork is nearing being done - around 15- 20 minutes before - cut the apples into slices and remove the core - if you cut the apples in quarters, remove the core at this point then slice the quarter into around 4 slices, depending how large the apple is.
Warm the butter in a large skillet/frying pan over a medium heat and once bubbling, add the apple slices in a single layer. Cook for a few minutes on both sides until gently brown and the apples are soft.
Once the pork is tender, remove the pot from the oven and add the cream. Mix it through well. If you prefer the sauce to be a little thicker, you can add a little more flour or corn starch (cornflour) mixed with water to form a paste and mix in well. Add the apple slices, mix through and serve.

Video

Notes

If you buy ready-trimmed and diced pork, you can probably buy just the amount you need, but if you buy a piece of pork shoulder and need to trim, make sure you buy a bit extra. You will likely end up discarding around up to ¼ of the weight you buy, so round up accordingly.

You could also make this with pork chops instead of diced shoulder - the process is similar in terms of browning, but you will need much less time in the oven, an hour at most.

Instead of tarragon, you can use thyme or sage. Here I added the whole stems so the flavor is very delicate as you remove them later, but you can also dice the leaves and add so the flavor is a little stronger. Instead of fresh, you can add a little dried herbs - around ⅓ volume so around 1 teaspoon for the recipe as written should be fine.

Instead of carrot, you can use other root vegetables like rutabaga (swede) and/or parsnips which I had in an earlier version of this recipe (I updated mainly as carrots hold their shape slightly better and give that pop of color).

Nutrition

Tried this recipe?Please consider !

I use my Le Creuset Cast-Iron Oval French Oven to make this dish which works well (affiliate link).

See some of my favorite cooking tools and ingredients in the Caroline's Cooking Amazon store.

This post was first shared in February 2017 and has been updated with a few recipe tweaks, added information and new photos.

Pork and cider casserole with apple

Somerset v Normandy pork

About the cider...

Making this dish

What type of apples to use

Serving ideas

Try these other tasty, cozy meals:

Pork and cider casserole with apple

Ingredients

Instructions

Video

Notes

Nutrition

Remember to pin for later!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Somerset v Normandy pork

About the cider...

Making this dish

What type of apples to use

Serving ideas

Try these other tasty, cozy meals:

Pork and cider casserole with apple

Ingredients

Instructions

Video

Notes

Nutrition

Remember to pin for later!

Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply