I have a couple go to recipes for pork tenderloin, but I am always on the hunt for more since hubs is not a big fan of chicken. If you ask him if he’s enjoying his chicken dinner he will tell you, “It tastes like chicken”…LOL. He will eat it but he’s just not a big fan. Can’t have beef all the time, so cue the pork! This cut of pork is an amazingly tender cut of meat and when cooked correctly, it literally melts in your mouth.
The secrets to this flavorful recipe?
- Brining the pork.
- The plethora of herbs and spice
- Searing it to obtain a nice browned char.
- Finishing it by roasting in the oven .
I stumbled upon this recipe while on the hunt for pork recipes. I have to give a HUGE shout out to Jennifer at Carlsbadcravings.com for this amazing recipe!!! It’s packed with flavor and I will break down the steps for you today so that it’s easy enough for anyone to make!
Start by placing two long pieces of foil on a baking sheet, and set aside. You will be wrapping each tenderloin in the foil, so make sure each piece is big enough to wrap around the meat completely.
Pork tenderloins are typically sold in packages of two. This recipe makes enough to prepare two tenderloin roasts.
Next, it’s time to make the brine.
In a large mixing bowl, combine Kosher salt (be sure to use Kosher salt and not regular table salt) and brown sugar with warm water.
Stir until dissolved.
Add the apple cider vinegar, and ice. Stir until ice has melted.
Place pork tenderloins in a large gallon zip lock bag and add the brine. Seal bag, pressing out excess air.
Brine pork for 20 minutes. Smush it around in the bag a couple times to ensure the brine works its magic. After 20 minutes, remove pork from the brine and discard the brine. It has done its work.
Don’t let the pork sit in the brine for more than 20 minutes. The goal is not to tenderize the meat (it’s already a tender cut) but to infuse moisture into it.
Rinse each pork tenderloin under cold water and pat them dry with paper towels. Don’t skip this step or the end result will be too salty.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
In a small bowl stir together chili powder, garlic powder, salt, onion powder, smoked paprika and pepper. Set aside.
Using your fingers, massage the spice mix onto each tenderloin, covering them completely with the spices.
In a large cast iron skillet, heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and 1 tablespoon butter over medium high heat. When oil is hot add a pork tenderloin.
Sear each side of the pork tenderloin until golden brown. Transfer to one of the foil pieces on the baking sheet. Repeat with second pork tenderloin. Cook just long enough to sear each tenderloin, not to cook it completely. Searing the meat adds another layer of flavor. The meat will finish cooking in the oven.
TIP: To prevent burnt spices, wipe out the pan with a damp paper towel after searing the first roast. Add more oil and butter to the pan, then sear the second roast.
In a small bowl combine the herbs; parsley, basil, oregano, and thyme.
Evenly sprinkle herbs onto each tenderloin and rub into the pork using your fingers.
Top each tenderloin with pats of butter.
Drizzle lemon juice onto each tenderloin.
Bring up the sides of the foil to completely enclose each tenderloin. Seal the foil by crimping the edges together to form pouches.
Bake until pork reaches a temperature between 145 to 150 degrees F at the thickest part. This will take between 15-25 minutes depending on the thickness of each tenderloin.
After 15 minutes, check the temperature with an instant read thermometer. Carefully unwrap the foil to check temperature. Rewrap and return to the oven if it needs to continue baking to reach the correct temperature.
When pork reaches the correct temperature, open each foil pouch to allow steam to escape and wait 5-10 minutes before slicing.
Season with additional salt and pepper if needed.
Reserve the lemon butter sauce from the foil pouches and spoon it over each roast to serve.
Are you on the hunt for other delicious recipes for pork tenderloin? Here are a couple of my all time favorites. You can never go wrong with this classic German favorite, Wiener Schnitzel. Or this recipe for Mushroom Pork Loin Medallions. It’s one of my personal favorites and if you love mushrooms you will love this recipe!
This Lemon Butter Roasted Pork Tenderloin has become a new family favorite! It will be showing up on the menu often!
It’s moist, tender and delicious that makes its own lemon butter sauce as it cooks. Clean up is a breeze…just toss the foil pouches! It’s a wonderful, easy way to cook up a pork tenderloin roast!
Give this one a try, I promise…it won’t disappoint!
Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Lemon Butter Sauce
Equipment
- aluminum foil
- Gallon sized zip lock bag
Ingredients
- 1 pkg pork tenderloin roast
- ¼ cup kosher salt
- 4 cups warm water
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 cup ice cubes
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp pepper
- ½ tsp dried parsley
- ½ tsp dried basil
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- 4 tbsp butter, cut into pats
- 2 tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
Instructions
- Place two long pieces of foil on a baking sheet, set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine salt and brown sugar with warm water until dissolved. Once salt and sugar are dissolved, add apple cider vinegar and ice.
- Place pork tenderloins in a large gallon zip lock bag and add the brine.
- Brine pork for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, remove pork from the brine. Discard brine.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Rinse pork under cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
- Rub the spice mix onto each tenderloin, covering them with the spices.
- In a large cast iron skillet, heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and 1 tablespoon butter over medium high heat. When oil is hot add a pork tenderloin. Sear each side of the pork tenderloin until golden brown. Transfer to one of the foil pieces on the baking sheet. Wipe out frying pan and repeat with second pork tenderloin.
- Evenly sprinkle each tenderloin with the parsley, basil, oregano, and thyme and rub into pork.
- For each tenderloin, drizzle lemon juice, then top each with pats of butter.
- Bring up the sides of the foil to completely enclose each tenderloin.
- Bake until pork reaches a temperature between 145 to 150 degrees F at the thickest part. This will take between 15-25 minutes depending on the thickness of each tenderloin.
- Check the temperature after 15 minutes with an instant read thermometer by carefully unwrapping the foil. Rewrap and return to the oven if it needs to continue baking.
- When pork has reached the correct temperature, open each foil pouch to allow steam to escape and wait 5-10 minutes before slicing.
- Season with addtional salt and pepper if needed and serve with reserved lemon butter sauce.
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