Pork Tenderloin with Apple Stuffing

Apple and fall spices are smells I crave when the fall months first hit. Apple Spiced Pork Tenderloin encompasses all of these flavors and fragrances, making it one of my fall and winter time favorites!

 

Why You’ll Love This Pork Tenderloin Recipe

A flavorful pork tenderloin that’s easy to prep and made with stuffing- what’s not to love!

• One dish meal – Stuffing and pork tenderloin cook together on same broiler pan, allowing you hands-off time to make your other accouterments. The original one-dish meal.
• Full of fall flavor – The flavor and smell of this dish embodies everything about fall and winter, but we tend to make it year round. The aromatics alone will have you leaving your house just so you can come back in and smell the intoxicating scent.
• Great family meal – Whether sitting down for Sunday dinner or even a holiday, this dish is loved by all.

What You’ll Need

You can easily find all of these pork tenderloin ingredients at your local grocery store.

Stuffing

• Bread – You can use plain white or wheat bread. Make sure the crusts are removed and dice it into 1 inch cubes.
• Salt and pepper – I use a simple blend of fine sea salt and ground black pepper to season this apple stuffing.
• Butter – This is what we will use to sauté both the veggies and the ham.
• Ham – This is a great way to use up leftover ham if you have any, but you can also use pancetta instead.
• Vegetables – Like most stuffing recipes, I used white onion, carrots and celery all diced small.
• Herbs – I like to use a blend of dried thyme leaves and dried rosemary to add flavor to this stuffing.
• Garlic cloves – I like mine to be micrograted, but you can also finely mince it too. Always opt for fresh garlic. We’ll use this for the pork too.
• Red delicious apples – You want these to be cored and diced. I like these for their crisp-tender texture, but you could also use a gala apple or granny smith apples instead.
• Apple juice – If you’d like a little more zing to the dish, you could use apple cider instead. You could even throw in a splash of apple cider vinegar or dijon mustard for even more flavor. If you don’t want so much apple flavor, use chicken broth instead.

Pork Tenderloin

• Pork tenderloin – I like to make sure mine is trimmed of most fat. Leaving some provides both flavor and moisture.
• Extra virgin olive oil – Rubbing the tenderloin with olive oil will help the spice rub to stick easily.
• Seasonings – I used a blend of garlic powder, ground cinnamon, ground cumin, fine sea salt, ground allspice, ground ginger and ground black pepper as the rub for this pork.
• Apple jelly – You can find this in the same spot as regular grape jelly at your grocery store. We will use this for basting.
• Fresh ginger – I like mine to be micrograted, but you can also finely mince it too. Always opt for fresh ginger.
• Lemon zest – Fresh lemon zest adds a brightness and freshness to the flavor of this pork tenderloin.

Variations

There are plenty of ways to make this apple spiced pork tenderloin your own. Here are a few ideas.

• Spices – In addition to or in place of the spices used here, you could also use nutmeg, coriander or even a dash of cayenne pepper to spice things up a bit.
• Fresh herbs – In addition to the fresh ginger, you could also use fresh thyme leaves, shallots or oregano.
• Apple juice – You can swap this out for either apple cider or chicken broth to your liking.

How to Make Apple Spiced Pork Tenderloin

While this pork and stuffing is a labor of love, it’s worth it for the flavor.

1. Toast bread. Arrange bread cubes in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Season with fine sea salt and finely ground black pepper. Bake, turn and bake again until dry and crispy.
2. Cook ham and veggies. Melt butter in a large frying pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Add diced ham, white onion, carrots and celery. Sweat vegetables until they start to soften, but are still semi-firm.
3. Combine bread with veggies, seasoning, apples and apple juice. Remove to a large mixing bowl, toss with dried bread cubes, thyme, rosemary, grated garlic and apples. Stir the apple juice directly before arranging on pan around the roast. 
4. Rub spices onto pork. To prepare the roast, mix all dry spices in a small bowl. Sprinkle spice mixture and rub pork tenderloin with extra virgin olive oil and then spice mixture.
5. Bake. Place onto broiler pan or baking dish and bake in oven for half an hour. It’s helpful to spray with cooking spray first so that it doesn’t stick.
6. Combine apple jelly, ginger, lemon and garlic. Meanwhile, combine apple jelly, fresh ginger, lemon zest and garlic in small sauce pan over medium heat.
7. Baste tenderloin with apple jelly mixture. Baste tenderloin roast with apple jelly and arrange the stuffing mix (tossed with apple juice) around the roast. Return to oven to continue to cook.
8. Baste again with apple mixture and cook until done. Remove and baste the roast with apple jelly mixture again. Gently toss stuffing. Return to oven until internal temperature of roast reaches degree of doneness of 155 degrees.
9. Allow to rest before slicing. Remove and let sit for five minutes before slicing and serving .

How to Serve Apple Spiced Pork Tenderloin

Apple Spiced Pork Tenderloin and Stuffing has been one of our family favorites for many years. Paired with a side of Garlic Dill Mashed Potatoes, Easy Dinner Rolls and a green salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette, it is the ultimate Sunday dinner. I also love this Potato Leek and Bacon Bake.

You could even serve fresh apple slices turned into apple nachos or baked apples for dessert to keep on theme!

Storage and Freezing

How to Store Apple Spiced Pork Tenderloin

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days. Store the pork separate from the stuffing.

Can I Freeze Apple Spiced Pork Tenderloin?

Absolutely you can. Freeze the pork whole or in slices in an airtight container in the freezer for up to six months. Store separately from the stuffing.

More Delicious Pork Recipes

If you know me, you know how much I love pork! Here are some of my favorite pork recipes.