Pork Tenderloin seasoned with a rub, seared until golden then oven baked in an incredible Honey Garlic Sauce until it’s sticky on the outside and juicy on the inside! A quick and easy pork fillet recipe with high returns for very minimal effort.
Pork tenderloin recipe
Pork tenderloin is like chicken breast – it’s a lean, tender cut of meat and when cooked just right, it’s juicy and succulent.
It is also easy to overcook, and overcooked tenderloin = dry and bland.
Hence the beauty of this pork tenderloin recipe. It’s unbelievable when the pork is cooked perfectly.
But if you go slightly over, no one’s going to notice with this outrageously delicious honey garlic sauce!
What you need
VERY few ingredients! This is another one of those recipes with high returns for low effort – minimal ingredients, less than 10 minutes of active effort for incredible flavours!
How to cook pork tenderloin
The best way to cook pork tenderloin is to start it on the stove and finish it in the oven. Sear the pork first to give it a nice crust (remember, colour = flavour 🙌🏻) then finish cooking it in the oven.
Can’t it be cooked entirely on the stove??
Yep, it sure can, but the outside ring of the tenderloin will be cooked more than ideal by the time the centre is just cooked. Reduce this uneven cooking by bringing the pork to room temperature before cooking.
What about in the oven?
Again, yep, you sure can, but you won’t get the same colour on the surface of the tenderloin so you’ll notice a loss of flavour. But with a sauce this good, it’s forgivable to skip the initial sear! 😇 Directions in the recipe notes.
Look at that sauce glazing the pork!!! Doesn’t it look incredible??!
The Honey Garlic Sauce used in this pork tenderloin recipe has made an appearance in various forms on my website, such as with Salmon, Chicken Breast and as a dipping sauce for the crispiest ever Baked Chicken Wings.
It’s just one of those terrific back pocket sauces that works with virtually every protein. Just a few ingredients that totally transforms when simmered on the stove into a savoury-sweet sauce.
It’s inevitable that it will make yet another appearance one of these days!
What to serve with pork tenderloin
Though you cannot see it properly in the photo above, that yellow/green blur in the background is this Lemon Potato Salad which I added steamed green beans to. A two-in-one carb + veg side that keeps for days, I’m a big fan of those! Here’s a few more:
-
Kale and Quinoa Salad and Garlic Butter Rice with Kale (kale is a nutrition powerhouse and these are 2 seriously tasty ways to eat it!)
Otherwise, serve it with a fresh garden salad tossed with a fresh vinaigrette like French, Italian or the everyday salad dressing used in this Cabbage Salad.
I’d also recommend something to slop up the sauce with – bread, mashed potato, or Cauliflower Mash. What looks like mash in the photo below is actually Mashed Cauliflower. Carb free, creamy smooth indulgence – you’ll see it in the recipe video! ~ N x ❤️
Watch how to make it
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Pork Tenderloin with Honey Garlic Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 pork tenderloin (pork fillet), 500g/1lb each (Note 1)
- 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil (or butter)
- 3 garlic cloves , very finely chopped
Pork Tenderloin Rub:
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Honey Garlic Sauce:
- 3 tbsp cider vinegar (Note 2)
- 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce, light or all purpose (Note 2)
- 1/2 cup honey (or maple syrup)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
- Mix Sauce ingredients together.
- Mix Rub ingredients then sprinkle over the pork.
- Heat oil in a large oven proof skillet (Note 3) over high heat. Add pork and sear until golden all over.
- When pork is almost seared, push to the side, add garlic and cook until golden.
- Pour sauce in. Turn pork once, then immediately transfer to the oven.
- Roast 15 - 18 minutes or until the internal temperature is 68C / 155F (Note 4).
- Remove pork onto plate, cover loosely with foil and rest 5 minutes.
- Place skillet with sauce on stove over medium high heat, simmer rapidly for 3 minutes until liquid reduces down to thin syrup.
- Remove from stove, put pork in and turn to coat in sauce.
- Cut pork into thick slices and serve with sauce!
Recipe Notes:
- Cider vinegar - white wine vinegar, rice vinegar or champagne vinegar. OR 2 tbsp normal white vinegar.
- Soy Sauce - Use light or all purpose. Do not use dark soy sauce or sweet soy sauce.
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
I love the robe so much, I got another one and put his name on it. Poor boy, now he’s been named and shamed….😂
So I accidentally used pork loin instead of pork tenderloins, mind you I’m not familiar with cuts of meat. It still turned out great! My MIL is keto so I subbed the honey for a keto maple syrup. I cut the pork loin into 4’s (only used a half cut in half), seared it, placed it in the oven for 30-40 mins and it turned out perfect. Juicy and flavourful!
Thank you! Xx
I’ll have to use an actual tenderloin next time hah
I forgot to mention I served it with cauliflower garlic mash and steamed Brussels + green beans 🙂
Sounds delicious Monica! N x
I’m just wondering what to serve as side for this amazing Pork Tenderloin with Honey Garlic Sauce
I usually serve this with deez nutz
I’ve just made this recipe for the first time, served with oven roasted gnocchi and boiled fine beans…I over did the gnocchi, so I would go for new potatoes and but every time. Sauce worked, just a little sweet for my tastes…
My SOB and I loved this recipe and ate it up maniacally (spell checker suggested that word instead of like maniacs and I’m going to start using it all the time…)
The SOB pointed out that it could have used less time and he’s been sick to his belly ever since (probably from the poison I gave him for making a negative comment about a recipe from Nagi – Just Joshing…I stopped poisoning him years ago – come to find out…he stopped taking his acid reflux medication a couple days ago and he’s so used to being on acid that it went haywire)..I have to admit he was right and I’ll do 20 minutes less in Instant Pot [IP] next time…I used a 3.42 loin trimmed of about .22 pounds of silverskin which then equaled 3.20 pounds (and I thought I didn’t know how to do math – squirrel)…So I would do just one hour high pressure next time…
Oh – I did come up with a great way to get all that honey out of my two plastic honey bottles. I put 1/2 the apple cider vinegar in each one and shook it up…
Anyway – I went back and forth and back and forth on what Nagi meant regarding timing in the pressure cooker and IP direction notes and read every single comment and decided to go with my gut and I was right-ish…I would just suggest less time like my SOB suggested…He’s feeling better by the way and he’s on acid
Oospsie daisies forgot to push 5 million stars!
Ok you are too funny…assuming the spell check also swapped Son for SOB??!! 🤣 N x
Oops. I forgot to give the words for the SOB acronym….It stands for Significant Other Boyfriend