Pork Tenderloin – How to cook pork tenderloin, roasted to a juicy perfection in the oven. Easy recipe for a delicious dinner with simple seasonings and potatoes.
Growing up in a meat and potatoes household, I have a love relationship with meat and potatoes, even though we don’t always eat the second part of that equation. My guys love meat too, so we occasionally gravitate toward pork for dinner.
Pork tenderloin is the best of both worlds because it’s super easy to make and doesn’t take quite as long to make as our more typical slow cooker pork roast. It’s also delicious with a good side of mashed potatoes, green beans, fried rice with pork or even a colorful salad. Sometimes I even top it off with a fresh batch of mango peach salsa or regular fruit salsa.
Who doesn’t love an easy dinner the whole family will eat? And it’s healthy to boot. Kind of like these family favorite baked chicken drumsticks!
Oven roasted pork tenderloin usually takes less than half an hour to bake. There’s hardly any prep time either.
It’s the perfect solution if you’re wondering what to make for and everyday dinner or even a big family dinner on Easter.
If you love this tenderloin recipe, you may also enjoy our oven roasted pork roast recipe and maple pork chops with apples and onions.
WHERE CAN I FIND THE RECIPE FOR PORK TENDERLOIN?
If you’d rather skip all of my cooking tips, important cooking info for this recipe, and similar recipe ideas – and get straight to the pork tenderloin recipe – just scroll down to the bottom, where you’ll find a printable recipe card.
FIRST, LET’S TALK ABOUT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PORK LOIN AND PORK TENDERLOIN
Because yep, there is a difference. Don’t feel bad if you didn’t know, because I didn’t realize it either; I thought they were one and the same.
I share this with you because I want to make sure you get the right cut of meat for this recipe.
As it happens, pork loin is speaking about more of a pork roast, while pork tenderloin is more of a boneless filet. Pork tenderloin is that longer, thinner piece of pork that almost looks like a long roll.
The Kitchn actually has a really helpful explanation for the difference between pork loin and pork tenderloin.
TIPS FOR HOW TO COOK PORK TENDERLOIN
This pork tenderloin recipe is really simple, and we actually only use a couple of seasonings that you likely already have in your kitchen.
- Your first step is to dry the pork tenderloin with a paper towel. It’ll likely have a little bit of water in the package with it, so just pat it dry.
- Then rub it down with the olive oil.
- Sprinkle the salt and pepper over the entire pork tenderloin, and rub it in well.
- Sear the meat in a large skillet (preferably a skillet you can also bake it in), being sure to turn it so that both sides slightly brown.
And now you’re ready to roast it.
Note: You’ll want to parboil potatoes and veggies just a bit, so they get completely cooked in the short amount of time they’ll cook with the meat.
PORK TENDERLOIN COOKING TIME
How long to cook pork tenderloin really depends on a number of factors, including both your oven and the size of your tenderloin.
We cooked ours for about 25 to 30 minutes.
You want to make sure that it reaches the recommended internal temperature for pork, which is 145 to 160°F. We prefer not to mess around with pork and always let it come to temp before eating.
MORE PORK RECIPES YOU’LL ENJOY:
We love making these sweet chili baby back ribs in our Instant Pot. Pineapple honey glazed ham is one of our go to ham recipes for special occasions and holidays.
Make a slow cooker apple cider pork loin with this recipe from Mommy Hates Cooking. Mmmm, this recipe for a Maple and Brown Sugar Pork Tenderloin in the Slow Cooker, from Sidetracked Sarah, looks so delicious.
KITCHEN TOOLS YOU’LL NEED TO MAKE ROASTED PORK TENDERLOIN
Large Cast Iron Skillet – You can sear and bake right in this one skillet, making cleanup easier too.
Cute Pot Holders – Ok, so they don’t have to be cute, but it certainly doesn’t hurt anything.
PORK TENDERLOIN RECIPE
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Simple and Delicious Roasted Pork Tenderloin
Ingredients
Pork Tenderloin:
- 2 pounds pork tenderloin *
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons smoked sea salt
- 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
Potatoes (Optional):
- 5 whole potatoes chopped
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped or minced
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 400°F.
- If you want to roast potatoes or veggies with your pork tenderloin, now is the time to prep them and get them ready.**
- Pat the pork tenderloin dry with a paper towel.
- Rub it down with olive oil.
- Sprinkle the smoked sea salt and black pepper over the tenderloin, rubbing the seasonings in.
- Sear the meat in a large skillet (preferably a skillet you can also bake it in), being sure to turn the tenderloin halfway thru searing, so that both sides slightly brown.
- Place the parboiled potatoes and veggies in the skillet with the tenderloin, sprinkling olive oil, salt, and black pepper over the veggies.
- Bake everything at 400°F for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until it reaches the recommended internal temperature of 145 to 160°F with a meat thermometer.***
- Optional step: In the last 5 to 10 minutes of baking, sprinkle parsley over the entire skillet.
- Once the pork tenderloin is fully cooked, remove it from the oven.
- Slice the tenderloin and serve with the potatoes and veggies.
My first time making a pork tenderloin. Very easy and came out perfect! I had small red potatoes I parboiled and baked with the pork. Very good!
Thank you so much, Margie! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe.