Brined Roast Pork Tenderloin

This brined roast pork tenderloin is an easy recipe that will feed a crowd. or provide a few different meals with the leftovers. With this one we made some Cuban sandwiches on day two. I’ll put that recipe up sometime soon also.

Here we are staying at home during this Covid-19 crisis. Honestly I am losing track of time. I hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy. I think this is week 6 or 7 of us pretty much staying at home except to go out for essential supplies. We are trying to be creative with our cooking, especially on weekends. This week we decided to brine and roast a pork tenderloin.

Brining really infuses flavor and moisture into the roast and make for a great fork tender texture. A simple brine is equal parts sugar and salt and enough water to cover the meat. Let it sit in the fridge for several hours, remove to dry and roast.

For this roast pork tenderloin we added some apple whiskey, coriander and bay leaves to add nice flavor to the recipe. The mustard and brown sugar make a nice glaze for the pork and the dripping get down into the veggies to give them a nice sweet mustard flavor as well. We like to serve this with a little homemade applesauce.

I hope you give this one a try. Please leave me a comment to let me know what you think.

Print Recipe

Brined Roast Pork Tenderloin

Simple brined roast pork tenderloin

Prep Time8 hrs

Cook Time1 hr

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: apple, Brine, brown sugar, carrots, mustard, sweet potato, Whiskey

Ingredients

• 1 pork tenderloin (3-5 lbs)

Brine

• ½ cup brown sugar packed
• ½ cup kosher salt
• 6 bay leaves
• 1 ½ tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp black pepper corns
• ½ tsp fresh ground black pepper
• ½ cup apple whiskey (optional) could substitute cider or apple juice
• 2-3 cups water

Veggies

• 5-6 carrots cut lengthwise
• 4-5 sweet potatoes quartered
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• ½ tsp ground black pepper
• ¼ cup brown sugar

Roast

• 2 tbsp coarse dijon mustard (can use regular mustard if you don't have dijon)
• ½ cup brown sugar

Instructions

Brine

• Combine all of the brine ingredients and stir to dissolve the sugar and salt.
• place Pork tenderloin in a large zip-top bag and fill with the brine mixture.
• Let the roast sit in the fridge to brine for 6-8 hours.

Roasting

• Remove the pork from the brine and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour.
• Preheat oven to 375°. Pat the roast dry with paper towel.
• slice the carrots and sweet potatoes, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper.
• Place pork loin with fat layer on top in the middle of the baking sheet. Surround it with oiled up carrots and sweet potatoes.
• Generously brush the entire surface of the pork with dijon mustard. Press ½ cup of brown sugar into the mustard, all over the roast.
  
• Bake at 375° for 30 minutes. After the first 30 minutes sprinkle the veggies with ¼ cup of brown sugar.
• Return the roast to the oven and continue cooking for another 30 – 40 minutes until the internal temperature reads 145°.
• remove the roast to platter, cover with foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes. While the roast is resting turn the oven up to 425 and continue to roast the vegetables to get a little extra color.
  
• Slice the roast and serve with carrots and sweet potatoes.
  

Notes

You can adjust the brine to infuse whatever flavors you want.  For this version we used a little apple whiskey, coriander, etc, but it really can be customized to fit your desired flavor profile.