Maple Bourbon Pork Tenderloin
- Gluten-Free
- Dairy-Free
- Paleo
- Low Carb
- Keto
THIS. DISH. OMG. This 5-Ingredient Maple Bourbon Pork Tenderloin is everything you want in a dinner: quick, super flavorful, comforting, and healthy. Seriously, what more could you want?? I’m no stranger to a good pork tenderloin, but y’all, this one blew my socks off. It was literally bursting with flavor and super tender and succulent. I feel like I could eat this every day and be happy the rest of my life. It’s that good. Okay, to be honest I def can’t live without tacos, so I would need to throw some tacos in the mix. Or put this pork tenderloin in a taco?? Umm yes. That needs to happen. I mean, maple bourbon pork tenderloin tacos? How could I not?
Okay, now back to the recipe. This recipe has a super quick to make marinade and you’ll need to leave it overnight, but besides that it comes together in less than 30 minutes. It’s really perfect for a special weekend meal with the family, but would also be great on a weeknight since most of the work is already done ahead of time. And by that I mean making a super quick marinade (i.e. pouring a couple ingredients in a bowl) and throwing the pork tenderloin in the night before. SO EASY. Then when you’re ready to get cooking you just brown it in a pan then throw it in the oven for 15-20 mins! And you’re done!
This recipe is paleo, gluten free, dairy free, and can easily be made low carb and keto by replacing the maple syrup with Lakanto maple flavored syrup! I love this syrup when I’m trying to lower my carb intake and it actually has a really nice maple flavor! I always buy a 3-pack on Amazon so I never run out! It’s so good on pancakes too!
Recipe tips: This recipe was tested with 2 1.5lb pork tenderloins and they were perfect right at 20 minutes in the oven. If you have a smaller or larger tenderloin, just check the recipe notes for the time conversion. It’s really important not to overcook your pork tenderloin! When it’s perfectly cooked to 145ºF (63ºC), it is slightly pink in the middle and SUPER tender. I mean, melt in your mouth tender. Are you salivating yet? Because I am! This temperature is safe for consumption, even for young children. If you cook above 145ºF (63ºC) it will become gray throughout and tough. If your really freaked out by the slightly pink center (which, you shouldn’t be… that’s how we feed it to our toddler) then you could cook it to 150ºF (66ºC) and it shouldn’t be too tough. But I really wouldn’t go over 150ºF. Remember, as your tenderloin rests when you remove it from the oven, it will keep cooking a bit.
I hope you enjoy the recipe! Make sure to pin to Pinterest to save for later! And if you like the recipe I would SO appreciate if you left me a 5-star review! Every positive review helps others find the recipe! xx Kit
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Maple Bourbon Pork Tenderloin
- Gluten-Free
- Dairy-Free
- Paleo
- Low Carb
- Keto
Ingredients
- 2 1.5 lb organic pastured pork tenderloins
- 1 cup bourbon
- 1/2 cup maple syrup see recipe notes for low carb/keto*
- 2 Tbsp avocado oil divided
- 10 large cloves garlic minced or pressed
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper optional**
- Parsley for garnish optional
Instructions
- Trim off any silvery skin from the pork tenderloins.
- Mix together bourbon, maple syrup, 1 Tbsp avocado oil, garlic, sea salt, pepper, and cayenne in a medium-sized glass or ceramic mixing bowl. Stir to dissolve the salt. Add in tenderloins and submerge in the liquid. If they aren't submerged, you may want to try in a smaller bowl. Cover with an air-tight lid or Bee's Wrap (a reusable alternative to plastic wrap! So cool!) and refrigerate overnight.
- When you're ready to cook, preheat the oven to 400ºF (205ºC).
- Remove the tenderloins from the marinade (make sure to save the marinade!) and dry them off completely with a kitchen towel or paper towels. Set aside.
- Pour the marinade into a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a gentle boil/vigorous simmer (somewhere around medium heat) and allow to reduce until you have a glaze consistency. If you reduce it too much and it's too thick, you can thin it out with a splash of room temperature water or chicken stock. While it's reducing, start cooking the pork tenderloins.
- In a large oven-proof skillet***, heat 1 Tbsp avocado oil over medium-high heat. When it's nice and hot, add the tenderloins and brown all sides well. This should take about 5-7 minutes total. If it's not browning quickly enough, just turn up the heat a bit.
- Transfer to the preheated oven and roast on the middle rack for about 20 minutes for 1.5lb tenderloins**** or until it reaches 145ºF (63ºC).
- Remove to a cutting board and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Slice into medallions and serve with maple bourbon glaze.
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Notes
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Easy to make. Great flavor. Thanks.
You don’t want to use Lakanto Maple Syrup by itself as a substitute here. I have this stuff, and it’s more like maple-flavored water than it is syrup. That means you won’t get the syrup consistency this recipe demands.
Instead, mix together 5.5 TB yacon syrup with 2.5 TB Lakanto and a drop or two of Watkins maple extract. The yacon will yield the consistency of the maple syrup, while the Lakanto and Watkins will impart enough of the maple flavor to make the recipe work. Or you could use all yacon and some maple extract.
I’m not sure off the top of my head what the necessary measurement of only extract would be for 1/2 cup of yacon. I’m thinking no more than 1/4-1/2 tsp. I’d start with 1/4 tsp and add a drop or two at a time after that if you need more of the maple flavor. The reason not to add that extra 1/4 tsp right off is that extracts tend not to have a linear effect with flavor, but algorithmic. Meaning that doubling the extract can impart 4X the flavor, not 2X, and a whole tsp would be more like 20X the flavor, not 4X. The concentration of flavor in extracts is why a little goes a long–long–way, and a lot can go way too far.
Better safe than sorry with extracts, that’s for sure.
That’s a great idea! Thanks for sharing!
Kit, this is a Fantastic recipe!
Used a 15” lodge cast iron skillet. Put the skillet on the grill to sear and then roast a double pork tenderloin.
Amazing flavor and so tender.
Fine dining at home during COVID!
So glad you enjoyed the recipe! The 15″ lodge cast iron is my favorite! So useful!
Wow! Super simple and very delicious! All in one iron skillet. Score!
Yay! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Nice recipe to get me started, as I’ve never made a pork loin ANYTHING before. I’m eager to try it again with a few tweaks. My glaze sure didn’t turn out like what’s pictured, what with the garlic and all. Speaking of which, WAY too much garlic. When I make this again (and I WILL make it again), I’ll do (at most) 2 cloves rather than 10. Very overpowering FOR ME (hey, some people really like it!). I actually halved the recipe because my 2 pork loins were 1.7 pounds total, and even then, I only used 4 cloves. Regardless of the weight, I’ll use the recipe as printed (with less garlic) next time – I’d rather have too much glaze than not enough, and this time, I didn’t have enough. I may add a bit more maple, too – while I got the sweetness, I didn’t quite get the “maple.”