Skip to main content

Balsamic-Garlic Crusted Pork Tenderloin

Know what I like about pork tenderloin?
You can make it fancy, or you can keep it simple.  You can slice it and put it on a platter and serve it as a nice sit-down dinner, or you can slice it and throw it on a roll and serve a platter of casual sandwiches.  It's usually reasonably priced, and you can often find it on sale.  It's a great main dish for feeding a crowd, too.  Over the holidays, I had a dinner and we grilled six tenderloins.  Once again, I found a keeper on Pinterest - seriously, I never should have started with that, but anyway....  Here's the original post, to give credit to the artist.


Balsamic-Garlic Crusted Pork Tenderloins

4-5 garlic cloves, finely minced or crushed
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (I might up this a bit.... we drizzled the cooked meat with more)
2 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 pork tenderloins (about 1¼ pounds each)
2 tablespoons canola oil (if preparing in oven)

Stir together garlic, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and olive oil in a small bowl. Rub the paste all over pork, and marinate overnight, or as long as you can before cooking.

Freezer Meal prep:
(Kind of obvious, but just to make it official...) Complete the steps above, and then freeze in a Ziploc bag.  Thaw in fridge, then prepare on the grill or in the oven.  You COULD brown it, and then put both loins in a foil pan, cover with foil, and freeze that way, if you want to make it an oven meal.  For me, that's too much fuss.

Grill prep:
Sear the tenderloins on all sides, then grill for about 20-30 minutes, rotating every 10 minutes, until the internal temperature is 160 degrees. Tent with foil and let the meat rest before slicing - it's worth the wait.

Oven prep:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Heat canola oil in a large, heavy saute pan over medium-high heat.  Working in batches if necessary, add pork, and brown all over, about 4 minutes.  Transfer pan to oven. Roast pork, turning occasionally, until the internal temperature is 160 degrees, about 20 minutes. Transfer pork to a cutting board, and try to let it rest 10 minutes before slicing.

Popular posts from this blog

Layered Mexican Trifle Salad

So this is awesome.  It's a lot of work, but it is awesome.  Feeds a crowd, looks cool, tastes great.  What more can you ask for?  I first had this at a party, and then tracked down the recipe - I believe it was originally from Pampered Chef.  You can mix it up, but I really like this combo.  It's easy to double or whatever is needed, based on the serving dish.  The one pictured was MASSIVE, and was basically a triple batch - so much work, and at the last minute! Layered Mexican Trifle Salad I ngredients: Beans: drain, rinse and mix together 1 15 oz. can pinto beans and 1 15 oz. can black beans 1 15 oz. can whole kernel corn, drained (I've also used fresh) 1 large tomato, diced (I usually use several Roma tomatoes) 2 green bell peppers, diced 3 ripe avocadoes, diced and mashed with the juice of 1 lime and salt and pepper to taste 1 large onion, diced (red or white) 2 cups cooked chicken, diced or shredded 2 cups cheddar or jack cheese, shredded

Skillet Chicken, Broccoli, Ziti & Asiago Cheese

We ALL really love this recipe. This is based on a recipe from the good people at Cooks Illustrated - I am grateful to them for getting my kids to happily eat sundried tomatoes and broccoli!  I've also made this in a huge batch and served it family-style for a dinner party (and got to use my giant Pampered Chef Simple Additions square pasta bowl (it's really big), and it was AWESOME).  If people could have licked the bowl clean, they might have - there was NOTHING left. Try this, and love it: Chicken, Broccoli, Penne and Asiago Cheese  Skillet 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch squares 2 tbsp. vegetable oil (or olive oil - just don't heat that to smoking) 1 medium onion, minced (about 1 cup) 3 medium cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tbsp.) 1/4 tsp. dried oregano 1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes 8 oz. ziti or penne (2 /12 cups) 3 c. water 2 c. low-sodium chicken broth 3-4 c. broccoli florets 1/4 c. sun-dried tomatoes in oil, rinsed and choppe

Another Take on Comfort Food

Sometimes there's nothing you can do but cook. I've had the displeasure of seeing 2 young moms in our school community recieve cancer diagnoses in the last 18 months.  If you're like me, when someone you know is hurting, you want to help, but lots of times, there's not much you can do. If you can cook, you can take away some of the stress of getting the family fed and bring a meal or two. In fact, even if you can't cook, you can pick up a meal at a restaurant or a bag of groceries, or even a gift card for a local restaurant. I think it comes naturally to some - the church and school communities I grew up in always loved with food - church potlucks, school spaghetti dinners, and of course lots of meals for people who needed them.  But not everyone has done this before, so it might be overwhelming.  As in my "feeding a crowd" blurb, there are a few things to keep in mind.   Don't try to impress - don't try new recipes.  Find out if you're