Maple Balsamic Pork Tenderloin
This maple balsamic pork tenderloin was super tender and flavorful! So tender, you won’t need a knife to cut it!
This was my first time making pork tenderloins. So, I was a bit nervous making this maple balsamic pork tenderloin recipe. I thought for sure I was going to over cook it, or undercook it.
I must say, I cooked it to perfection! It was literally so tender that we didn’t even need our knives to cut into it…
And the reason why it was so tender is because it was marinating for a while in balsamic vinegar, which has a lot of acid, which helps “relax” the protein and create more moisture. It’s science!
Here it is. That beautiful marinade that makes the magic happen. The best part is that its made up of simple ingredients!
Ok, so when I was putting this recipe together, and preparing it to be marinated, I used a baking dish that was too big and too shallow. But it wasn’t a problem at all. Typically, when marinating meat, you want it to be soaked entirely in the marinade. So, what I did was I spooned a bunch of the marinade over the meat until it was soaked. I covered with plastic wrap, and let it sit for 3 hours. Then I turned each piece of meat over, spooned more marinade all over, and let sit for another 3 hours. It worked out just fine!
If you happen to have a smaller and deeper dish or bowl to marinate your tenderloins in, perfect! You won’t have to rotate them halfway through the marinating time.
I served them with a side of rice and some steamed veggies.
Make sure to spoon some of the sauce on top of the tenderloins when you serve them!
Enjoy!
Make sure to check out my recipe for burger bowls! https://thehungrylyoness.com/2019/10/27/burger-bowls/
Maple Balsamic Pork Tenderloin
Ingredients
For Maple Balsamic Marinade
- 1 Shallot, minced
- 4 Cloves of Garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp Dried Thyme
- ½ Cup Pure Maple Syrup
- ¼ Cup Balsamic Vinegar
- 3 tbsp Dijon Mustard
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
For The Pork Tenderloin
- 1½ -2 lbs. Pork Tenderloin
Instructions
- Place your tenderloin in a baking dish that is big enough to fit tenderloin, but shallow enough so that the tenderloin is completely covered in marinade. I had to cut my tenderloin in half. I also didn't have a baking dish shallow enough to completely cover the tenderloin. I spooned the marinade on top of each tenderloin, covered with plastic wrap and let it marinate in fridge for 3 hours, flipped them over and marinated for another 3 hours. That's IF your tenderloins aren't completely covered in marinade. IF your tenderloins ARE completely covered in marinade, follow step below.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let marinate in fridge for atleast 6 hours.
- When tenderloins are done marinating, take out of fridge and preheat oven to 350°.
- Cover with foil and bake for 50 minutes to an hour in preheated oven. When there is very little to no pink in the thickest part, they are done! Its ok to have a little pink!
- Keep covered in foil and let sit for 10 minutes.
- Enjoy with your favorite sides!
Notes
