Best Ever Healthy Grilled Pork Tenderloin
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I’m not lying when I say this is the easiest, Best, Healthiest Grilled Pork Tenderloin you’ll ever make. The 30-minute marinade consists of pantry staples and the grilling process ensures a moist, tasty, hearty pork tenderloin every time!
If you love easy and delicious grilling recipes, then you’ll also love my Best Healthy Grilled Chicken, these Grilled Lime Butter Salmon Skewers, or this recipe for Grilled Jamaican Jerk Chicken.
I like pork tenderloin and I cannot lie. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.) What’s not to love though, really? In my opinion, it’s one of the easiest pieces of meat to grill (or to put in a slow cooker, Best Easy Pulled Pork, for that matter), and it’s hard to mess up, unless you undercook it. But I’ll make sure you don’t let that happen.
I confess, as this blog and my family have grown, I kind of have grown to dislike going to the store often. Don’t get me wrong, I love developing recipes and feeding my family, of course, but sometimes I dread the trip to the grocery because I feel like I’ve been there approximately 1 billion times and it’s just like, won’t the food just magically appear at my doorstep already? (I know, I know, I can get groceries delivered but I’m the kind of person that has to look at every apple before I purchase it, which only makes my trip longer. I’m an enigma, what can I say?)
For that reason, I like to buy in bulk whenever possible. That way, if I need to see and touch every piece of produce, well, that’s okay if that takes a bit of time because at home I’m stockpiled like a doomsday prep-er otherwise. So…when I see specials on meat, I grab as many as I can or as many as the little asterisk on the sale sign allows. (The butcher may or may not keep his eye on me to make sure I don’t get one ounce over the allotted four pounds of sausage or whatever.)
Buying in this way makes life easier. And pork is on sale just about as often as chicken is and so when I see a BOGO by the tenderloin or the price per pound has dropped considerably, you’d better believe I’m cleaning out the bin.
Because I have considerable cache of meat, I’m able to experiment with different cooking techniques, flavors, spices, and sauces.
HOW DO YOU MAKE GRILLED PORK TENDERLOIN?
The first thing I do after getting the pork tenderloin out of the package is to pat it dry. I do this because it helps the spices to stick to the meat and wipes off any weird barrier that might have settled on the meat while it was in the package. I then add the tenderloin to a resealable bag, leaving the top open.
Next, I mix together the lemon juice, garlic, spices, oil, mustard, and honey. I pour only half of this marinade over the pork (that’s the important part). You want to save the other half for later. Seal the pork and marinade together in the bag and squeeze out any extra air. I also kind of shake/rub the marinade around on the pork outside the bag as well. I then put it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, I preheat the grill to about medium and get the grates oiled so that the meat doesn’t stick while you’re grilling. After the pork has been marinated, I use long tongs to transfer it to the grill, then close the grill and cook for 15-20 minutes, turning every couple of minutes or so so that it cooks on all sides. About halfway through the grilling process, I’ll start to spread on the other half of that reserved marinade.
When it’s done grilling or the internal temperature of the pork reaches 145°, I remove the tenderloin from the grill and let it rest for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.
WHAT CUT IS A PORK TENDERLOIN?
The pork tenderloin comes from the loin area of a pig. This is located between the shoulder and the back legs as is the leanest and most tender cut of pork. Ribs, roasts, and loin chops also come from this same area.
IS PORK TENDERLOIN HEALTHY?
Pork tenderloin is one of the healthiest cuts of pork, and is just as lean as boneless, skinless chicken breast. Most cuts have less than 10 grams of fat and also provides protein, vitamin B6, riboflavin, thiamine, phosphorus, and niacin.
Best Ever Healthy Grilled Pork Tenderloin
Ingredients
- 1 ½-2 pounds pork tenderloin, see note
- juice of ½ lemon
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon Italian herb seasoning blend, or ¼ teaspoon each dried basil, thyme, oregano, and parsley or rosemary
- ¼ cup oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon cracked black pepper, or a pinch of finely ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons honey
Instructions
Marinate the pork
- Pat pork tenderloin dry with a paper towel.
- Stir together lemon juice, garlic, dried herbs, oil, salt, pepper, Dijon mustard, and honey.
- Pour half of the mixture into a large Ziploc bag along with the tenderloin. Press out excess air, seal the bag, and chill for 30 minutes.
Grill the pork
- Preheat grill to medium and oil the grates.
- Using tongs, transfer pork to the grill. Close the grill and cook 15-20 minutes, turning every few minutes to ensure even cooking and brushing reserved marinade over all sides of the pork half way through grilling.
- Transfer to a cutting board to rest for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Truly delicious! My husband said it was the best pork he has ever eaten! I had 2 tenderloins close to 3.5 lbs. I doubled sauce and added paprika, Worcestershire, 2 T maple syrup and more garlic!! I marinated about 2 hours and grilled using indirect method. It was perfect at 25 minutes. Thanks Tiffany!!😋
By far, the best tasting and juiciest pork tenderloin I’ve eaten. Very easy to prepare and grill. I made an extra portion of the marinade to baste the tenderloin. I highly recommend this recipe!!!!
Thank you so much! I’m glad it turned out so well 🙂
Great combo to slather on the meat before grilling!
I’m on the South Beach diet and this was a perfect time to try this recipe. The honey was a bit of a cheat but it’s not a big deal. I just wanted to tell you the result was delicious Thanks
I’ve tried many pork tenderloin recipes and this was by far the best. Absolutely delicious and super simple to make. This will be a go to recipe for sure.
I made this pork tenderloin for dinner tonight. I was tender and delicious! I did grill it about 10 minutes longer than suggested as my husband is very particular about pork being done to his liking.
A really good quick marinade. I would give this 5 stars if the cooking directions were not so off the mark. Cooking a pork tenderloin to no pink 165 guarantees a tough piece of meat. I grill my pork tenderloin on in direct heat for 8 minutes per side then 5 minutes per side over direct heat until the temp gets to 145. I pu then off a let them rest 10 minutes. This marinade made awesome pork when cooked this way The three star rating is an issue for me. I would love to give it a five star as the flavor was spot on but the cooking method as written would have resulted in a dry piece of pork.
Easy and delicious!
If I am unable to grill, can I use this recipe but cook the pork in the oven?
If so, wouold it be 20 minutes per pound at 400 degrees?
I’ve used this marinade dozens of times on both pork tenderloin and pork loin. It is easy and delicious and I love that I always have the ingredients on hand. I use all the marinade during the marinating stage, however, and just baste with the “used” marinade, making sure that the final baste has time to heat properly.