Juicy Flavorful Easy Pork Tenderloin

A pair of Whitt’s Place pork tenderloins rubbed with warm spices, seared hard on both sides, brushed with a honey, balsamic and Dijon glaze, then finished in a hot oven.

Pork tenderloin is the cut I reach for when I want something that looks like I fussed over it and absolutely did not. It is lean, it is tender, and it cooks fast. The only real way to ruin it is to walk away and let it go past done, and a thermometer solves that.

This one gets two layers of flavor. The rub goes on dry, and the sear sets it into a dark crust, in a heavy skillet or out on the Blackstone. Then the honey, balsamic and Dijon glaze goes on before the pan goes in the oven, so it tightens and caramelizes around that crust while the pork finishes.

Grab a couple of tenderloins from Whitt’s Place and this becomes a weeknight dinner that is just as at home in the middle of a spread for company.

Serves 6 to 8.

Ingredients

For the rub:

• 2 pork tenderloins from Whitt’s Place, about 1 to 1 1/2 lb each
• 2 tablespoons avocado oil
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons onion salt
• 1 teaspoon salt

For the glaze:

• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons coarse-ground Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

Instructions

1. Heat the oven: Set it to 400°F and line a sheet pan with foil. The glaze caramelizes hard, and the foil saves you the scrubbing.
2. Rub the pork: Pat the tenderloins dry and trim off any silverskin. Rub them all over with the avocado oil, then season every side with the paprika, chili powder, onion salt and salt. Work it in with your hands so the whole surface is coated.
3. Let them sit: Leave the rubbed tenderloins on the counter while the oven comes up to temperature. Meat that starts closer to room temperature cooks more evenly.

4. Whisk the glaze: In a small bowl, stir the honey, balsamic vinegar, Dijon and thyme together until it is smooth and pourable.

5. Sear: Get a heavy skillet or the Blackstone good and hot. Sear the tenderloins with just the rub on them, 3–4 minutes per side. Two sides does it. A tenderloin is flat enough to take a good crust without chasing every angle. No glaze yet. Honey on a surface that hot would be black before the pork was anywhere near done.

6. Glaze: Move the seared tenderloins to the foil-lined sheet pan and brush them all over with the glaze. All of it goes on the meat.
7. Roast: Roast 18–20 minutes, basting once or twice with the glaze that runs into the pan, until a thermometer in the thickest part reads 145°F.

8. Rest, then slice: Move the tenderloins to a cutting board and let them rest 10 minutes before slicing. Skipping the rest is how the juices end up on your board instead of in the meat.
9. Serve: Slice about 1/2 inch thick, fan the slices out on a platter, and spoon the glaze and juices left in the pan over the top.

Tips

• Use a thermometer. Tenderloin is lean and there is a narrow window between juicy and dry, and it is not something you can eyeball.
• Pull at 145°F. It carries over a few degrees while it rests and stays faintly pink in the middle, which is exactly where you want it.
• Get the pan properly hot before the pork goes in. A weak sear steams the rub instead of setting it, and that crust is the whole point of searing first.
• Slice across the grain and keep the slices thick enough to hold together on the platter.
• Cooking for a crowd? Two tenderloins fit on one sheet pan and four fit on two. The rub and the glaze scale straight up.
• Leftovers slice cold into sandwiches, or warm them gently with the pan juices so they do not dry out.

Rub it, sear it, glaze it, roast it. Come see us at Whitt’s Place in Tazewell for a pair of tenderloins and dinner is handled.