Roast Pork Tenderloin with Apricot Sauce

Pork Tenderloin Recipe with Apricot Sauce

The tenderloin is a nice, lean little cut of meat taken from the back side of an animal. Tenderloins have a reputation for being tricky, but that’s a load of horseshit if I ever heard one. Pork tenderloin is especially friendly I think, much smaller than a beef tenderloin, easy to find in stores, and quick to cook. The only thing to watch is not to over cook and that’s easy enough to do with this near-foolproof pork tenderloin recipe. You’ll sometimes see pork tenderloins sold pre-marinated in some suspicious liquid but COME ON! It’s not worth the extra money when it’s so easy to make a tasty, tender tenderloin yourself, sans whatever weird crap is floating around in that vacuum-sealed bag.

The roasting method presented here is super basic. You can mix it up by adding different spices to the salt and pepper. Dry mustard is classic, this pork chop seasoning would be badass, too. Once you got it roasted, you can serve it with this apricot sauce like I did here (pinky swearz, it’s the tits!) or with a store bought chutney. You can also plan ahead for the week by roasting this on the weekend, then slicing it up later to make a quick stir fry or fried rice, dice it for filling Chinese steamed buns, add it to a quesadilla, or reheat it in some homemade barbecue sauce for faux pulled-pork sandwiches.

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Roast Pork Tenderloin with Apricot Sauce

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4.8 from 13 reviews

  • Author: Hilah Johnson
  • Yield: 4 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 pound pork tenderloin
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • Sauce:
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1/2 cup finely diced onion
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup apricot preserves
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (or 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger)
  • 1 tablespoon grainy mustard
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425ºF.
  2. Sprinkle tenderloin with salt and pepper.
  3. Heat oil and butter in a cast iron skillet (or other heavy oven-proof skillet) over high until melted. Sear tenderloin 5 minutes on one side. Turn and cook another 3 minutes on the other side. Place in the oven and set a timer for 10 minutes.
  4. In another skillet, combine the oil and butter for the sauce over medium-high heat. Ad the onion and cook 5-8 minutes until very soft and slightly browned.
  5. Add the broth, preserves, ginger and mustard and stir to combine. Allow to simmer until the pork is cooked.
  6. Check the pork at 10 minutes. The internal temperature should be 155ºF. Cook up 20 minutes total until internal temperature is 155º.
  7. When the pork is cooked through, remove it from the oven. Place the tenderloin on a cutting board or plate to rest and pour any pan drippings into the apricot sauce.
  8. Add the vinegar to the apricot sauce and remove from heat.
  9. Allow the pork to rest 5-10 minutes before slicing.
  10. Serve with the sauce.

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47 Comments

  1. larry kimball on January 15, 2013 at 1:13 pm

    Hey Hilah! Great recipe for pork tenderloin. Actually, I do that a lot here, and I agree to always get the package sans all that marinade. Your apricot sauce looks great! The grainy mustard gives it a little kick. For more kick, we could add a little cayenne, BAM! I will try this sauce and let you know. Keep it comin’ Girl.

    • Hilah on January 16, 2013 at 9:13 pm

      Thanks, Larry! Cayenne is always welcome in my kitchen. 😉

    • John on March 10, 2013 at 7:17 am

      I heartily concur on getting pork loin without the marinade, as the marinades tend to have a nasty industrial waste aspect to them.






    • Myron on March 3, 2020 at 3:56 pm

      Sauce was terrific!! Pork tenderloin tasted great with sauce. Will use it again.

  2. Great Stone Face on January 15, 2013 at 2:54 pm

    Could you make this with veal or lamb? If so, what cuts would you recommend?






    • Hilah on January 16, 2013 at 9:12 pm

      I haven’t ever cooked veal, honestly, but I can imagine the sauce would be fantastic over some broiled lamb chops!

  3. Brian on January 15, 2013 at 3:39 pm

    I was thinking of making pork tenderloin for dinner tonight. Perfect timing!

    • Hilah on January 16, 2013 at 9:11 pm

      I love it when that happens! Enjoy, Brian!

  4. Gunnar on January 17, 2013 at 8:49 am

    Hello Hilah! Huge fan from Norway chiming in here. 🙂

    That apricot sauce of yours looks really delicious! What would you serve with the tenderloin and sauce? Rice, perhaps?

    • Hilah on January 17, 2013 at 1:14 pm

      Hi Gunnar! Yes, I think rice would be great with this, as well as sweet potatoes or even buttered barley!

  5. Amber Boegly on January 17, 2013 at 7:30 pm

    This looks AMAZING. I can hear my tummy growling DEMANDING I try this. I don’t cook or eat pork very often, but this looks so irresistible and yummy. Can’t wait to give it a shot.






    • Hilah on January 18, 2013 at 9:18 am

      I think you’ll love this, Amber! We did. And leftover pork went into a stirfry. 🙂

      • Larry Johnson on August 5, 2013 at 4:24 pm

        You mean there were left-overs…?

        • Hilah on August 5, 2013 at 5:59 pm

          Ha! Well, with only two of us, we have tons of leftovers all the time. 🙂

  6. JB on February 2, 2013 at 10:22 pm

    Hilah. Seriously. This apricot sauce is the boss. And so are you!! We love this recipe and we love you too. Keep it up dudette!!!

    • Hilah on February 3, 2013 at 12:15 pm

      Ha! I know, right?! I actually made this dish for some friends just last night. 🙂 Thanks for writing!

  7. Karen on May 13, 2013 at 3:42 pm

    how can anyone take you seriously with your inappropriate mouth. You swear in your article and make inappropriate sexual comment in video. Shame!

    • Hilah on May 13, 2013 at 4:29 pm

      Au contraire. Shame on you for coming to my “house” and trying to shame me for behaving differently than you think I should behave.

      • larry kimball on May 13, 2013 at 5:17 pm

        Hey, Hilah, I just read the post some this Karen person. There is No shame in your presentations! I read them all, and I am fairly conservative. If she does not agree with your very successful manner of presentation, then she can choose not to access them. As for the rest of us, we love you! Don’t change a god-damn thing! Be proud that your following is growning daily, and keep up the great work. Signed, Your Most Loyal Florida Fan.

      • Kevin on December 16, 2023 at 7:34 pm

        I have been making this now for a decade! it’s always delicious! You had a Karen in your comments before Karens were a thing. Too funny.






  8. Veronika on May 17, 2013 at 8:19 am

    Hey Hilah, thank you for this recipe! So good! I could just eat the sauce itself without meat (which I did in the end but my boyfriend said I am weird 🙂 ) The apricot sauce and pork went really well together and the meat was super tender and juicy. Many many thanks!






    • Hilah on May 19, 2013 at 9:18 am

      That’s wonderful news, Veronika! I ate the sauce by itself, too, so I guess we are both weird. 😉 I’m really happy you both liked it so much. Thanks for writing!

  9. Lorena on August 7, 2013 at 9:35 pm

    I made this for my family tonight, and it was delicious! I FINALLY know how to cook a succulent pork tenderloin thanks to you, Hilah 🙂






    • Hilah on August 8, 2013 at 7:46 am

      Marvelous, Lorena! I’m SO happy to hear that! Hope you try it with some variations of your own now that you have the basics down. 🙂

  10. Terry on August 8, 2013 at 8:46 pm

    Just finished dinner of roast pork tenderloin with raspberry sauce since I didn’t have apricot preserves handy. We had it with rice medley and a big green salad. It tasted great. The roasting came out really good. Before I served it I added the sauce into the roasting pan so I could be sure to have all the brown bits. Oddly I’ve never done pork tenderloin before because so often all you see are the marinated ones which just look disgusting. Thanks Hilah! This will definitely be repeated.






    • Hilah on August 10, 2013 at 10:02 am

      Hooray! That’s great, Terry! 😀 I’m sure the raspberry was a great variation. Hope you try other variations, too!

  11. Peggy on January 6, 2014 at 5:53 pm

    This was awesome. Delicious!!






    • Hilah on January 6, 2014 at 7:43 pm

      Yay! Glad to hear that, Peggy.

  12. Steven McGarvey on January 24, 2014 at 4:45 pm

    WOW, I tried this last night, and I loved it. I love Pork Tenderloin and have BBQ’d it several times in my own marinade, but I liked this much better. The recipe was fast and easy too. I would certainly consider serving it to family and guests. I am encouraged to try more of your recipes now. You GO girl!!!






    • Hilah on January 25, 2014 at 10:16 am

      That’s great to hear, Steven! This is one of my favorites, too. Hope you do try some more recipes soon!

  13. Stefana on June 16, 2015 at 2:15 pm

    Hi Hilah –

    Glad I found you – you are hilarious and awesome. It is stone fruit season, so I picked up some apricots to go with the pork t-loin I bought, the google image searched “pork tenderloin with apricot sauce” and liked your picture(s) the best! I am just going to chop up the apricots and macerate them with some sugar before adding them in as a substitute for the preserves – do you think that will work OK? Maybe add some lemon juice too or something? If you get a chance, let me know, and again – thanks for your awesome video! I love swearing and sexual innuendos (or blatant sexual remarks) in the kitchen – especially the fuckin’ swearing!!!

    • Hilah on June 17, 2015 at 9:37 am

      I think that would totally work, Stefana! Great thinking! Thanks for writing 🙂

  14. John Penner on December 20, 2015 at 6:27 pm

    Absolutely a winning recipe Hilah! As you stated, don’t but a tenderloin that has been marinated in some weird solution…..the apricot glaze is spot on, yummmmmmmmmmmmm

    • Hilah on December 21, 2015 at 11:02 am

      Thanks, John! 🙂 Merry Christmas!

  15. Pascale on December 24, 2015 at 7:10 pm

    I am interested in making this recipe, but i don’t have and any ground mustard! Any substie recommendations? Do marinate the beef overnight? If yes what do you use?






    • Hilah on December 26, 2015 at 8:40 am

      You can use whole mustard seeds or leave it out. I make the recipe exactly as written, so there is no marinade.

  16. Muhammad on March 23, 2017 at 7:02 am

    Hi,

    This is Muhammad!
    I do not eat Pork! I fat Camel!
    How do you cook Camel tenderloin?

  17. Paul Rybak on April 2, 2018 at 4:45 pm

    Made this tonight and we loved it! Didn’t really change anything other than reducing a bit for two servings and adding a touch of corn startch to just give a light thickening.

    • Hilah on April 3, 2018 at 9:09 am

      So great to hear, Paul! 🙂

  18. L on June 15, 2018 at 9:08 am

    Hilah,
    I appreciate your experiences and knowledge on cooking. Some of your comments are funny but some are very unappetizing, especially talking about the shape of the tenderloin. We don’t need to know you have that experience.
    All that said, thanks still for sharing your recipe(s).

    • KT on April 12, 2020 at 8:15 am

      I like honestly and appreciate the funny and quirky humor!! Thank you for it and the recipe!

  19. Erin on January 23, 2019 at 8:42 am

    Can I add the vineagar then reheat the whole sauce up again at my dinner party?

    • Hilah on January 23, 2019 at 4:44 pm

      I think you could. Reheating the pork tenderloin might be tricky, though.

  20. Carol on December 13, 2019 at 5:53 pm

    I discovered this wonderful recipe this morning and made it for dinner. My husband asked me to never lose this recipe which means he wants me to make it at lest twice a month. Thank you!






  21. Janine on July 7, 2020 at 4:54 pm

    This was great! Can I freeze the leftover sauce??






    • Hilah on July 9, 2020 at 8:44 am

      I think it would freeze fine

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