Roasted Spiced Pork Loin

A weeknight family favourite to be sure, this Roasted Spiced Pork Loin is quick and easy to prepare, but more importantly, it’s delicious! Seared and roasted in a savoury, sweet, warming sauce, the pork is browned on the outside yet moist and tender on the inside!

Pork is my weakness.  More specifically, Roasted Spiced Pork Loin is my weakness.  I don’t buy pork loin often, but when I do, I prefer to prepare it just like this because it’s so quick and easy to do. Also, I love anything that has lots of sauce that I can ladle over not just the pork, but anything I’m serving with it as well.

When it comes to pork loin, there’s only two ways I like to prepare it; the first is on an open grill in the middle of summer, and the second is the oven-baked method which pretty much takes all of the guess work out of the cooking process.  A roasted pork loin is the way to go!  It allows the flavours from the sauce to seep into the meat and creates a sticky, delicious coating that begs to be mopped up and devoured!

I’ve often heard John.e speak about his mom’s pork dinners.  She always served pork with applesauce, which Dear Reader, I cannot comprehend.  How does one pair pork with applesauce, or for that matter, how does one eat applesauce at all?  It’s just one of those things that I cannot bring myself to eat – I think it’s the texture.

Anyway, whenever I prepare pork at home, John.e will always come into the kitchen and repeatedly inhale the aroma.  He loves the smell of pork.  And, without fail, I always offer him some, but he politely declines and stays true to his vegetarian diet.  Fingers crossed that one day he will not be able to resist!

PORK CHOP TUESDAY

I used to always shy away from pork tenderloin because it was always dry when cooked. Looking back, I now know that it was my own fault because I overcooked it. Because tenderloin is very lean, it doesn’t have much fat or marbling like a pork chop, for example, so without that fat content, it’s very easy to overcook the meat. It took me a while to wrap my head around that because I had such a fear of undercooked meat. It’s okay for pork to look a little pink on the inside, unlike chicken! As long as the center of the pork tenderloin has a temperature of at least 145 degrees F, you’re safe to eat it.

I know I should eat pork in moderation, but I don’t.  You see, when it comes to pork, I have very little self-control. Pork was one dish that my mom could prepare like nobody else. In fact, a year or two before my mom became too ill to cook much anymore, Tuesdays at my mom’s home were known as Pork Chop Tuesdays. My love of pork that has been prepared in a sauce comes from her. I think she would have loved this recipe!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED FOR THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Pork Tenderloin – You will need two pounds of tenderloin.
• Olive Oil
• Salt and Ground Black Pepper
• Water
• Molasses – It may seem odd, but most bbq type sauces are prepared with molasses. Be sure to use fancy (regular) molasses and not blackstrap or dark molasses.
• White Vinegar
• Ketchup
• Low Sodium Soy Sauce
• Brown Sugar
• Hot Sauce – This is optional. I love spicy sauce, but you can completely omit the hot sauce.
• Onion Powder and Garlic Powder
• Dried Red Pepper Flakes – Like the hot sauce, this is optional too. Only add these if you want extra heat and spice.

LET’S TALK ABOUT MOLASSES!

There are three types of molasses – light, dark, and blackstrap. If you boil cane sugar once, you will get light molasses. If you boil it twice, you’ll get dark molasses. So, boiling it three times must mean that you’ll get blackstrap molasses. Remember, the darker the molasses (blackstrap) the less sweet and more bitter it is.

Never use blackstrap molasses in a recipe unless instructed to do so by the author of the recipe. You can use light or dark without changing the taste drastically. There are also sulphured and unsulphured molasses. The difference between the two is that the sulphured molasses has been chemically treated with preservatives.

If you buy molasses to make these cookies and have lots left over, there’s plenty you can do with it. One of my favourite sources of recipe inspiration is Taste of Home. Here’s a list of 33 Amazing Molasses Recipes!

CAN I USE TREACLE INSTEAD?

Yes. In essence, treacle is the British version of molasses. It comes in two forms: light treacle or golden syrup, which is very similar to light molasses. Black treacle is similar to blackstrap molasses but is lighter in colour and not as bitter. I use unsulphured fancy molasses and black treacle interchangeably.

HOW TO MAKE ROASTED SPICED PORK LOIN

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Use clean paper towels to pat the pork loin dry. Season the loin with salt and pepper. Add the olive oil to an oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, set the pork loin in the pan and sear it on all sides until browned. This should take about 2 minutes per side. Once seared, turn off the heat and transfer the skillet to the preheated oven. Roast the pork for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, whisk together the remaining ingredients and set aside. At the 30-minute mark, remove the pork from the oven and spoon the sauce mixture over top. Return the pork to the oven for 30 more minutes, basting once at the 20 minute mark.

Remove from oven. Check to see that the internal temperature of the pork is at least 145 degrees F. Allow pork to rest, loosely covered with foil, for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

QUESTIONS?

If I have not answered all of your questions in the text above, don’t hesitate to reach out to me! You can contact me by sending me a message in the comments section further down the page. I will try my best to answer as soon as possible! You might reach me even faster by following me on Facebook and sending me a private message. Scroll down below the recipe card to find my Follow Me on Social Media box and never miss another recipe!