Marinated Rosemary Pork Tenderloin is a delicious dinner fancy enough for entertaining, but easy enough for a weeknight. Two Pork Tenderloins are marinated in a savory marinade and then coated in a glaze and fresh rosemary and baked to perfection. Pair it with mashed potatoes and a veggie for a spectacular dinner!
Tenderloin is not the same thing as Pork Loin, as you will read in the next section. If you purchased a pork loin pop over to this recipe for Rosemary Pork Loin. Or check out all the pork recipes on Mom’s Dinner!
This Recipe is…
- an easy recipe! The majority of the “work” is waiting for it marinate.
- a fast cooking dinner that could be great for busy weeknights.
- made with simple ingredients that you probably have in your kitchen.
- an excellent entertaining dinner recipe.
- full of flavor from the marinade and the glaze!
Pork Tenderloin vs. Pork Loin
A pork tenderloin and a pork loin are not the same cut of pork. They benefit from very different cooking methods and should not be substituted for each out in recipes. A loin is best cooked low and slow or braised. A tenderloin is better cooked fast with fairly high heat.
Visually a tenderloin is long and skinny and will weigh between 1-1.5 lbs..
A loin looks more like a roast, about 4 inches in diameter and will have a fat cap on one side. They can come in a full loin which will be quite large around 8 lbs., or a half loin around 4 lbs..
The nice thing is that compared to cuts of beef, pork is a very economical choice of meat.
Temperatures for Pork
The days are past that you needed to cook your pork until it resembled shoe leather! The USDA has lowered it’s recommended cooking temp for whole cuts of pork to 145 degrees F.
I highly recommend using the Thermoworks ThermaPen or ThermoPop! It is the best meat thermometer for registering internal temp. It is an instant read thermometer that works quickly.
Ingredients
There are two sets of ingredients when making this Marinated Pork Loin: the marinade and the glaze.
Marinade
Pictured are the ingredients you will need. Besides the pork and rosemary you probably have most of these ingredients in your kitchen!
Glaze
Pictured are the ingredients you will need for the glaze.
Step by Step Picture Instructions
There isn’t a ton of work to be done for this recipe. Start by making the marinade.
In a bowl mix together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic cloves, Dijon mustard, brown sugar, chopped rosemary, kosher salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes.
ROSEMARY PRO TIP: remove the rosemary leaves from the stem by running your hand against the grain then lightly chop the leaves.
GARLIC PRO TIP: for a marinade just crush the fresh garlic cloves so the oils get into the marinade. If you mince the garlic it will stick to the pork and possibly burn in the oven.
Place the pork tenderloins in a large Ziploc baggie, pour the marinade over the pork and pop in the fridge for 8 hours up to 24 hours.
After it is done marinating, remove the pork from the baggie and pat dry. Discard the remaining marinade.
Place the pork on a large rimmed baking sheet that is covered in aluminum foil or parchment paper sprayed with non-stick spray.
TENDERLOIN PRO TIP: pork tenderloin tends to have one very skinny end. When placing on the baking sheet tuck the skinny end under the roast so that it doesn’t overcook.
In a small bowl make the glaze by combining the honey, molasses, olive oil, brown sugar, Dijon mustard, soy sauce, ground ginger and pepper.
Pour the glaze over both pork tenderloins, then sprinkle on the chopped rosemary.
Bake in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes until the internal temperature is 145 degrees.
Pro Tip: I highly recommend using a Thermoworks ThermaPen or ThermoPop to make sure all meat is at the correct temperature!
Remove from the oven and let it rest for 5 minutes before slicing.
Serving For Dinner
After the pork tenderloin rests slice it into ½-1 inch pieces, like shown below. Serve 2-3 pieces per person.
This recipe goes perfectly with mashed potatoes and a veggie:
- Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
- Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes
- Gravy without Drippings
- Or instead of potatoes it would be great with Stuffing!!
- Oven Roasted Asparagus
- Roasted Radishes
- Roasted Fennel
More Pork Recipes
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Marinated Rosemary Pork Tenderloin Recipe
Equipment
- Large Ziploc Bag
- Parchment paper or foil
- Instant Read Thermometer optional
Ingredients
Marinade
- 2 larger sized fresh pork tenderloins – about 1.5 lbs. each. Choose two about the same size so that they cook equally.
- ½ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 4 garlic cloves crushed
- 2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
- 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
- 1 ½ tsp. fresh rosemary chopped
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- ½ tsp. pepper
- ¼ tsp. red pepper flakes
Glaze
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp. molasses
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp. soy sauce
- ½ tsp. pepper
- ¼ tsp. ground ginger
- 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary leaves
- non-stick spray
Instructions
Marinade
- In a bowl mix all the marinade ingredients together. Pour the marinade over the pork tenderloins in a Ziploc bag. Pro Tip: instead of chopping or mincing the garlic just crush the cloves so they release their oil into the marinade. This prevents pieces from sticking to the pork and possibly burning in the oven.
- Keep in the fridge for 8 hours up to 24 hours.
Glaze & Baking
- Preheat the oven to 375°. Prepare a rimmed baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper or foil, spray with non-stick spray.
- Pull the pork tenderloin out of the marinade and pat dry. Discard the marinade
- Place the marinated pork tenderloins on the baking sheet.Pro Tip: The tenderloin may have one very skinny end, tuck that under the tenderloin so it doesn't over cook.
- In a bowl combine all the glaze ingredients together, except the rosemary. Pour on the tenderloins, then sprinkle on the rosemary.
- Bake for 30 minutes until the internal temp is 145°, do not overbake!
- Remove from the oven and let meat rest for 5-10 minutes, then slice into ½-1 inch pieces.
Serving
- Serve 2-3 slices per person.
- This Pork Tenderloin goes great with mashed potatoes and roasted veggies! (see notes for recipe links)
Notes:
- Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
- Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes
- Gravy without Drippings
- Or instead of potatoes it would be great with Stuffing!!
- Oven Roasted Asparagus
- Roasted Radishes
- Roasted Fennel
If nutrition facts are provided they are calculated as an estimate to the best of our knowledge.
donna vaughn
my son in law made this for my husband and I. so wonderful… he is #1 now. we also had roasted brussel sprouts with bacon and garlic mashed. dessert was frozen berries dipped in chocolate. great.
repete
As usual, an excellent description of why and how the recipe works. Wish there was a link for downsizing these family sized recipes or more recipes for 2-3 of us, though. I can do the math, though and look forward to trying this if I find some pork tenderloin!
repete
Sorry, and oops! Turns out there IS a way to downsize these recipes; when you print them look up at the top and it has a box with + and – and the number of servings in the middle. Just click and you’re all set.
Susie Weinrich
Yes! That is a feature of my recipe card. So glad you found it.