Super tender, juicy pork tenderloin marinated in a quick maple bourbon marinade, browned on the stovetop and then quickly roasted in the oven. All topped with an irresistible, flavor-packed maple bourbon glaze. And only 5 ingredients!! This recipe is paleo, gluten free, dairy free, and can be made low carb and keto! Enjoy!
Prep Time: 5 minutesmins
Cook Time: 25 minutesmins
Servings: 6-8 servings
Ingredients
2 1.5lborganic pastured pork tenderloins
1cupbourbon
1/2cupmaple syrupsee recipe notes for low carb/keto*
2Tbspavocado oildivided
10large cloves garlicminced or pressed
2tspsea salt
1/2tspfreshly ground black pepper
1/4tspcayenne pepperoptional**
Parsley for garnishoptional
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.
Notes
*For low carb and keto, use Lakanto maple flavored syrup.**If you use the cayenne pepper it gives the glaze a little kick. It's not really going to be spicy, per se, but more of a mild spice. If you are sensitive to spice or don't have any cayenne, just omit. ***I like to use a my large 15" Lodge cast iron skillet, but you could also do it in stainless steel. If you don't have an oven-proof skillet, just brown the tenderloins in any large skillet and then you will need to transfer to a baking dish lined with parchment paper for roasting. ****Approximate cooking times: 1/2 lb tenderloin = 12 minutes , 1 lb = 15 minutes , 1.5 lb = 20 minutes , 2lb = 25 minutes I highly recommended that you use a meat thermometer to make sure you get the pork to 145ºF (63ºC) and don't overcook it. They are very cheap and can be found at most grocery stores or on Amazon. The one I've linked here is great because you can leave it in the meat while it's cooking in the oven or even on the grill!