Roasted Pork Tenderloin

This is one of the most delicious, yet simplest recipes you can make. It takes about 5 minutes to prep, about 25-30 minutes to cook, and it tastes amazing. Be on the lookout for this to go on sale. It can be quite pricey, but if you find it less than $3 a pound I often buy several and freeze them for later.

Start out by preheating your oven to 325. Get your tenderloin out of the package and rinse it off. Be careful handling pork. You can get all kinds of unspeakable things by cross-contamination with raw pork. After you rinse it make sure you wash your sink, any utensils, and hands very well. It’s also a good idea to have one cutting board reserved for meat, and another for vegetables and anything non-meat. I use a plastic-based board for use with raw meat, and a bamboo cutting board for everything else. The hard plastic is easy to scrub with a scratch pad, and also goes into the dishwasher after for sanitation. You can’t put bamboo into the dishwasher.

Place your tenderloin on your cutting board and remove the silverskin. This is tough, and practically inedible.

After removing the silverskin, coat your pork in the seasoning rub.

Place your pork on a rack and the rack on a baking sheet. Put into your preheated oven, and cook for 20-30 minutes, or until the internal temperature is at least 145 °F. If you cook it to a higher internal temp you will lose some of the juiciness and it may become dry and tough. 145 °F is the USDA recommended temp, and it’s what I stick to.

USDA Recommended Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures

• Cook all raw beef, pork, lamb and veal steaks, chops, and roasts to a minimum internal temperature of 145 °F as measured with a food thermometer before removing meat from the heat source. For safety and quality, allow meat to rest for at least three minutes before carving or consuming. For reasons of personal preference, consumers may choose to cook meat to higher temperatures.
• Cook all raw ground beef, pork, lamb, and veal to an internal temperature of 160 °F as measured with a food thermometer.
• Cook all poultry to a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 °F as measured with a food thermometer.

After you’ve let the tenderloin rest for 3-5 minutes, slice it on a bias and serve with your favorite sides.

Roasted Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients

• 1 pork tenderloin, 2-3 lbs
• 1/4 – 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp thyme

Cooking Directions

1. Mix together all seasoning and spices for the spice rub mixture and set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 325.
3. Rinse pork tenderloin, pat dry, and remove silverskin.
4. Coat with the spice rub well, and place on a baking rack over a baking pan.
5. Bake at 325 for 25-30 minutes, or until the internal temperature is at 145 with a thermometer.
6. Remove from oven and let rest for 3-5 minutes.
7. Slice on a bias and serve immediately.