I love to cook a pork tenderloin because it's tasty and a change from chicken, but not tough like pork chops sometimes are. This Pork Tenderloin with Savory Sauce recipe is one of my favorite main dishes, because my entire family loves it. The result is moist and tender, but the best part is the sauce. It's is made up of the drippings, marinade, and some broth and butter, and is so good I just want to eat it with a spoon!
Some people confuse pork loin and pork tenderloin. Make sure you are getting a tenderloin for this dish.
This recipe starts on the stovetop, to help give the final dish a tasty, more robust flavor. Once you've browned it on all sides, you simply transfer it to the oven to finish. Cooking pork tenderloin in the oven is easy since it doesn't take much "babysitting". You just let it stay in the oven until it's done!
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Ingredients
This dish is lovely for a busy weeknight, because it has only a few ingredients, and most of them get dumped right into the marinade!
- Pork Tenderloin - the main star of the dish
- Olive oil - allows the marinade to coat the meat, and also protects and enhances the meat while browning
- Lemon - adds tang and brightness
- Soy sauce - gives a lovely umami flavor
- Red wine vinegar - adds to the unique taste of the marinade/sauce
- Worcestershire sauce - makes the sauce more complex
- Mustard powder
- Garlic
- Chicken Broth - forms the base of the sauce, along with the marinade itself
- Butter - thickens the sauce and adds flavor
Instructions
A few hours before you plan to cook, mix up all the marinade ingredients. This is everything except the meat, the chicken broth, and the butter. Place the meat in a container and cover with the marinade. You could use a small dish, but a plastic zip-top bag works well too.
Marinate in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours - or as long as time allows. I'll admit I have done this with only 30 minutes of marinating time, and it was still pretty good. But a longer marinating session will give more time to let all the flavors really soak into the meat.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. While the oven heats, remove the meat from the marinade and brown it on a hot skillet. Make sure not to discard the marinade!
When the oven is ready and the tenderloin has been browned, put the meat into an oven-proof dish and cook for 30-40 minutes, or until the internal temperature has reached 145 degrees Fahrenheit.
While the meat cooks, deglaze the skillet by adding the chicken broth and scraping up all the bits that stuck to the pan while you were browning the meat. This makes the base of the sauce, and helps to clean the pan at the same time! Add in some of the reserved marinade and bring to a boil. Continue cooking for a few minutes until the sauce is reduced and has thickened.
Remove from heat and stir in the butter until melted.
Top Tip
When you prepare this dish, make sure you don't overcook the pork. Roasted pork doesn't have to be cooked to as high of a temperature as chicken, and it's safe to eat even if it's a little pink inside. The National Pork Board advises us that 145 degrees Fahrenheit is a safe temperature for pork, even if the interior is slightly pink. Just make sure to test the meat with a thermometer in several locations to make sure it's cooked completely through.
Equipment
You'll need just a few things for this dish. The first is a container to hold the meat while it marinades. Then you'll need a large skillet for browning the meat, and an oven-safe dish for cooking it. A meat thermometer is helpful to make sure you've cooked the pork to a safe temperature.
If you have a pan that can cook on the stovetop and go into the oven as well, it makes everything even easier! Once you finish browning, put the entire pan into the oven. Let it cook, then remove the pan from the oven and transfer the meat to a cutting board. Then, finish the sauce in the same pan. Just make sure you don't grab any hot handles (I've totally done that, and more than once, too.
Storage
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight dish in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. For best results, store the sauce separately.
Serving Suggestions
I like to serve this dish with fresh vegetables, such as broccoli, asparagus, or green beans. Because the sauce has a little bit of an umami flavor, milder side dishes suit it well. If you prefer a starch, it would be perfect with cilantro rice or buttered noodles, or simple rolls. I like King's Hawaiian rolls too, since they're a little sweet and they offset this dish well.
Is Pork Tenderloin Healthy or Not?
In my opinion, pork is not unhealthy, and many people can eat it - unless you have religious objections or health concerns specific to pork, of course. Pork is a good source of protein and several vitamins including niacin, B6, B12, iron, and zinc. The pork tenderloin is a lean cut of the meat, so unlike bacon and other pork belly products (which are delicious but less healthy), the tenderloin has its place in many healthier diets.
Recipe
Pork Tenderloin with Savory Sauce
Equipment
- Baking dish
- Meat thermometer
Ingredients
- 1-2 pounds pork tenderloin
Marinade
- 1 lemon juiced
- ½ cup olive oil
- ⅓ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons mustard powder
- 4 cloves garlic peeled
Savory Pan Sauce
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 2 teaspoons butter
- 3 tablespoons reserved marinade
Instructions
- Squeeze the juice from the lemon. Place the juice and all other marinade ingredients in a bowl and mix well.1 lemon, ½ cup olive oil, ⅓ cup soy sauce, ¼ cup red wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, 2 teaspoons mustard powder, 4 cloves garlic
- Pour marinade over pork tenderloin and marinate in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours1-2 pounds pork tenderloin
- When you're ready to cook, preheat the oven to 350 degrees
- Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, remove tenderloin from marinade and sear 2-3 minutes on each side. (Do not discard marinade)
- Place tenderloin in baking dish, uncovered, in the oven and cook for 30-40 minutes. The internal temperature should be 145 degrees.
- In the skillet where you browned the meat, add the chicken broth and 3 tbsp of marinade. (The rest of the marinade can now be discarded)½ cup chicken broth, 3 tablespoons reserved marinade, 2 teaspoons butter
- While it heats, use a spatula to scrape of any remaining browned pieces of meat from the skillet. Bring to a boil.
- Boil for 3-4 minutes until reduced to a thicker sauce.
- Remove from heat and add butter, and stir until melted and combined
- Slice tenderloin against the grain and serve with sauce poured over it or on the side.
Nutrition
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Jean DeVincentis says
1 Lemon? ? Juice from one lemon? Zest from one lemon?
Susan says
Hi Jean, thanks for catching that! It should be the juice, and I have corrected the recipe to explain that.
Martha Daniels says
Delicious