Maple Mustard Pork Tenderloin

Some days, you feel fancy. Fancy does not have to mean time-consuming, or even labour intensive. This maple mustard pork tenderloin is fuss free, but fancy enough to pass for a special occasion meal. With the perfect balance of sweet and tangy, this five-ingredient maple mustard sauce goes perfectly with this juicy pork tenderloin.

Jump to:

• Why You'll Love This Recipe
• Recipe Overview
• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Tips and Tricks
• Maple Mustard Pork Tenderloin
• 💬 Comments

Why You'll Love This Recipe

• It feels like it's a fancy, special occasion dinner. It is literally as simple as whisking ingredients in a bowl, brushing onto the pork, and baking!
• The sauce is perfectly balanced. Maple and mustard are a match made in heaven, and they sure are tasty on this pork!
• Pork tenderloin is a relatively forgiving cut of meat. You can eat it slightly below well done, but even if it gets overcooked, it does not get as tough as some other cuts of meat.
• This baked pork tenderloin goes with almost anything - mashed potatoes, smashed potatoes, and some good old garlic cheese toast

Recipe Overview

• Flavour: This maple mustard sauce is the perfect blend of sweet and savoury. You get great sweet notes, contrasted with tangy mustard. Because pork is pretty neutral, it carries this glaze perfectly.
• Ease: This pork tenderloin takes requires very little preparation. The mustard sauce does not need to cook, so it's really as easy as mix, baste and bake. If you have not cooked pork tenderloin before, a meat thermometer is a good investment to make sure you are not overcooking it.
• Time: Pork tenderloin takes approximately 30-35 minutes per pound, and should be cooked to an internal temperature of 145 degrees. The pork tenderloin I used was just over one pound, so it took about 35 minutes to be perfectly cooked.

Ingredients

• Dijon and Grainy Mustard: Whenever I make a dish with mustard, I like to use a mix of dijon and grainy. Grainy mustard gives a little pop of texture, which I love. If you don't like the texture, or just don't have any on hand, you can use all dijon.
• Minced Garlic: Garlic is life. There, I said it. I offer no other explanation for why you need to use it, just do it.
• Maple Syrup: Okay, this recipe needs good maple syrup (yes, I pulled an Ina Garten). No sticky pancake syrup. I do love pancake syrup, but it will not give you the best results for a dish like this. Canadian maple syrup is where it's at.
• Dried Thyme: Thyme goes great with pork, mustard and the flavours of maple syrup. You can use fresh or dry, but I happened to use dry for this recipe.

Instructions

1. Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit
2. Remove Silverskin: Pork tenderloin has a layer of white-ish membrane, which is generally quite tough if not removed. Using a paring knife, remove the silverskin. I think this is a great tutorial on how to do it.
3. Pat the Tenderloin Dry: Using a paper towel, dry the pork tenderloin of excess moisture. This allows the sauce to stick, and more importantly, ensures your pork gets brown while baking. You want it to get nice and golden brown, not steamed!
4. Mix Sauce and Brush on Tenderloins: Combine all the ingredients for the maple mustard sauce, and whisk. Salt and pepper the pork tenderloin on all sides, and brush the top with the mustard sauce. Reserve the remaining sauce.
5. Bake the Tenderloin: Bake the tenderloin for 30-35 minutes per pound, until an internal temperature of 145 degrees on a sheet pan. While the tenderloin is baking, occasionally brush the pork with the leftover mustard sauce, to form a thick lacquer on the roast.

Tips and Tricks

• Use a Baking Rack: Your pork will get much better colour, and will be less likely to steam, if you cook it on a baking rack.
• Rest your Meat: Before cutting into your tenderloin, tent it with foil after taking it out of the oven and let it rest for a minimum of 10 minutes. This will ensure your tenderloin stays juicy!

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