Glazed Pork Tenderloin

slice of pork tenderloin with garlic glaze

Print Recipe

5 from 4 votes

This pork tenderloin is always a hit! It features a sweet, spicy brown sugar glaze studded with garlic.

Prep Time17

Cook Time30

Total Time47

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 276kcal

Author: Mamma C

Equipment

Ingredients

Rub

2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon cinnamon

Pork Tenderloin

2 ½ pounds pork tenderloin (2 pork tenderloins)
2 tablespoons olive oil

Glaze

⅔ cup light or dark brown sugar, packed (or use ½ cup golden monk fruit sweetener; see notes)
2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic (from about 6 cloves)
1 tablespoon hot sauce (Use a mild one such as Frank's RedHot Original.)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Add the rub ingredients (salt, chili powder, cumin, black pepper and cinnamon) to a small bowl and stir to combine. Cut each tenderloin in half and coat the pork with the spice rub. (Wear food-safe gloves or wash your hands well after touching the raw meat.)
In a 12-inch skillet (ideally an oven-proof one, such as a cast iron skillet), heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until the oil is hot and rippling. Brown the pork on all sides, searing it for about four minutes total.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the glaze ingredients (brown sugar or monk fruit sweetener, chopped garlic and hot sauce). Spoon the glaze onto the pork and use the back of the spoon to pat the glaze all over the top.
(If you don't have an oven-proof skillet, you'll need to transfer the pork to a foil-lined baking pan now.) Bake the pork at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 150 degrees F. (Test it with an instant thermometer or use a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the pork before baking.) A cast iron pan will cook the meat faster than a glass pan.
Remove the pork from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing it. Serve the baked pork tenderloin with the sauce spooned over it. Refrigerate leftovers for up to four days.

Video

Notes

Cooking the pork until it reaches 150 degrees F will produce tender, juicy results. The pork will look pale pink, but that is considered safe by the USDA, according to its guidelines since 2011.

An internal temperature of 145 degrees F with a resting time of three minutes is the minimum for pork tenderloin. If you want it done more, cook it up to 160 degrees F, but it won't be as tender.

Nutrition