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    Herb Crusted Pork Roast with Port Wine Sauce

    Scented with garlic and rosemary, this tender, juicy herb-crusted pork tenderloin is the ultimate holiday centerpiece. Paired with garnet-hued port wine sauce, it’s elegant, festive and delicious.

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    Herb crusted Pork Tenderloin with Port Wine Sauce on a white plate with rosemary

    Pork Tenderloin: The Star of Your Holiday Dinner Table

    In this herb-crusted roasted pork tenderloin recipe, the tenderloin is rubbed with a heady blend of fresh garlic cloves, rosemary, thyme, and peppercorns. Removed from the oven and elegantly carved into generous slices, this pork roast brings the celebration to your holiday dinner table. Served with a classic port wine sauce that’s savory and complex with notes of cinnamon, it’s a festive meal that’s sure to please every guest at your table.

    2 lbs pork tenderloin, butter, olive oil, salt, pepper corns, port, thyme and rosemary and shallots
    fresh rosemary and thyme in a mortar and pestle with garlic and peppercorns ground into a paste
    Herb crusted Pork Tenderloin with kosher salt on parchment paper
    Herb crusted Pork Tenderloin browned on all sides in a cast iron pan

    A Complex and Savory Port Wine Sauce

    While it’s not an absolute must, serving port sauce alongside your perfectly roasted pork tenderloin is a really nice way to elevate a simple supper. Even its deep-ruby color feels special. Ready to get into the kitchen? Here’s what you’ll need to make this sauce:

    • Shallots. Unlike onions, shallots have a milder taste and aroma.
    • Port Wine. Look for ruby port, which has a bold clean flavor with a sweet lingering finish.
    • Whole peppercorns. Easy peasy—you need them for the herby rub for your pork loin anyway!
    • Rosemary. See above! If you’re making the pork, you’ve already got this on-hand.
    • Cold Butter. Finishing the wine sauce with butter is a classic French technique known as monter au beurre. Using cold butter ensures it doesn’t melt too quickly and instead softens, thickening the sauce slightly.
    Herb crusted Pork Tenderloin resting on a plate
    fresh rosemary in a pan with dripping from a pork roast
    butter and port being mixed into pan drippings from a rostasted pork tenderloin
    Herb crusted Pork Tenderloin with Port Wine Sauce on a white plate with rosemary

    How to Cook Pork Tenderloin

    You’ve mastered the pan sauce, now it’s time to master roasting a perfect pork tenderloin. The secret to juicy tenderloin is to watch for an internal temperature of 145°F and letting the pork roast rest for three minutes after coming out of the oven. Here’s how to make a pork tenderloin:

    1. Make the rub! Smash garlic, rosemary, thyme, and peppercorns into a paste. Rub liberally all over the meat. Oh hey, you can finally use that mortar and pestle you have in a hidden in cupboard somewhere.
    2. Using an ovenproof skillet, sear the meat, then into the oven!
    3. When you see 145°F on a meat thermometer, pull that pork out, and tent it with foil.
    4. Serve the herb-crusted tenderloin with port wine sauce and if you’re feeling extra fancy, roasted garlic mashed potatoes.
    Herb crusted Pork Tenderloin with Port Wine Sauce on a white plate with rosemary

    Tools You’ll Need:

    Simple Pork Recipes We Eat All Year Long.

    Don’t get us wrong. We love chicken as much as the next person. Do we want to eat it for every meal? No, which is why we turn to pork to switch things up. Here are a few pork recipes we can’t get enough of:

    Herb crusted Pork Tenderloin with Port Wine Sauce on a white plate with rosemary
    Herb crusted Pork Tenderloin with Port Wine Sauce on a white plate with rosemary

    The Best Pork Tenderloin Recipe Ever

    This holiday pork tenderloin recipe is tender, juicy and elegant. Oh, and it’s pretty darn easy, too. We’d love to hear about how you incorporated this pork roast recipe into your holiday festivities. Post a picture to Instagram and tag @themodernproper and #themodernproper. Happy eating!

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    Herb Crusted Pork Roast with Port Wine Sauce

    Originally published: October 22, 2015

    • Serves: 8
    • Prep Time:  30 min
    • Cook Time:  20 min
    • Calories: 272
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    Ingredients

    Pork Roast

    • 4 garlic cloves
    • 2 tbsp fresh rosemary
    • 2 tbsp fresh thyme
    • 2 tbsp whole peppercorns
    • 2 lbs pork tenderloin
    • kosher salt
    • 2 tbsp olive oil

    Port Wine Sauce

    • 1 tbsp olive oil
    • 1 medium shallot, finely chopped
    • 1 cup port wine
    • 4-5 whole peppercorns
    • 1 rosemary sprig
    • 4 tbsp cold butter

    Method

    1. Heat oven to 375° F.
    2. Using a mortar and pestle grind the garlic, rosemary, thyme and peppercorns into a thick paste. If you don't have a mortar and pestle you can use a small food processor to pulse these ingredients together until a thick paste is achieved.
    3. Trim any excess fat from the pork with a small knife and pat it dry with a paper towel. Rub the garlic-herb paste on all sides of the pork and then generously season with salt.
    4. In an oven proof skillet or braiser, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over high until shimmering. Sear the tenderloin until browned on all sides, about 3 minutes per side (12 minutes total). Transfer the skillet to the center rack in the oven and cook until the internal temperature of the pork reads 140°F with a meat thermometer, about 15-20 minutes. Transfer the pork from the skillet onto a cutting board and tent loosely with foil.
    5. Set the skillet, over medium high heat, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and sauté the shallots until just tender.
    6. Pour the port wine into skillet along with the peppercorns and rosemary. Bring the liquid to a low boil and allow it to reduce to about half while scrapping up brown bits with a wooden spoon. Once the liquid has reduced, turn off the heat and whisk in the butter.
    7. Strain the sauce and allow to cool. The port wine sauce can be kept for up to 36 hours and is fantastic as a gravy on mashed potatoes.
    8. Thinly slice the pork roast and serve with port wine sauce on the side. Serve over mashed potatoes.

    Nutrition Info

    • Per Serving
    • Amount
    • Calories272
    • Protein24 g
    • Carbohydrates6 g
    • Total Fat13 g
    • Dietary Fiber0 g
    • Cholesterol89 mg
    • sodium137 mg
    • Total Sugars3 g

    Herb Crusted Pork Roast with Port Wine Sauce

    Questions & Reviews

    Join the discussion below.

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    • Mary

      Can I substitute a non dairy butter to make the monter au beurre? And I see you strain off the shallots and tasty bits from the sauce before serving? Is that necessary?
      Thanks.
      We have dairy issues.

      We like to have a smooth sauce over the pork roast. If you prefer to leave the bits in that would be fine. Yes, dairy free butter will work fine. Hope you enjoy mary!

    • Patti

      I want to make this for a larger group, 16 people. I’ll need to use two pans. Can I use a Dutch oven?

      Yes that will be fine!

    • Michelle

      I plan on making this for Easter but wanted to a double batch. I did find a 3.7 lb pork loin. Any suggestions for the cook time?

      Probably somewhere around 45 minutes. Check the internal temp with a meat thermometer after 30 minutes then keep going from there so you don't overcook it. Internal temp should be 140F. Hope you enjoy Michelle!

    • Tompkins

      Can the rub be put on the night before and refrigerated until browning?

      Absolutely!

    • Lydia

      I’m the photo it looks like you have butterflied the tenderloin and retied? Or is it two smaller tenderloins tied together ?
      Thanks

      It is two smaller ones tied together. Some packages come with a few smaller ones.

    • Kris

      This is easily one of my favorites. I let the tenderloin sit in the fridge with the herb crust for 3 days and when cooked it was so mouthwatering and aromatic.

      The butter curdled in the wine and I found the sauce flavor a but rancid even though I followed all the steps, so that is why I did not make it 5 stars.

      Oh no, so sorry to hear something went wrong with the sauce! So happy to hear it's still one of your favorites, hopefully next time the sauce turns out for you!

    • Cambrian

      This recipe was great! I made it for a holiday gathering a while ago and my guests loved it. Since then, my roommates have been haranguing me to make it again!

      We're so happy it's a hit! Tell your roommates to stop lecturing you at length in such an aggressive and critical manner (ok, fine, I looked it up).