Here’s the Crispy Honey Pork Tenderloin backstory: The Life Made Full family lives on a homestead…or you could even call it a family farm. With acres of precious land at our disposal, Superman built a hog pen the day we moved in. We raised our own pig last year and now have a freezer full of homegrown pork. I’m not a huge fan of pork chops, but I *love* pork tenderloin! This Crispy Honey Pork Tenderloin is a quick and delicious meal, but tastes like you spent loads of time on it!
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This recipe of crispy pork tenderloin will be your “go-to” recipe from now on. My kids scarfed it up, my husband loved it and my favorite part was the simple and quick preparation. Whether it’s for a fast weeknight dinner to spend some quality time with the family or just an in-home dinner date with the hubby, this recipe gives it all.
Crispy Pork Tenderloin Recipe Below:
| Prep Time | 5 minutes |
| Cook Time | 25 minutes |
| Servings |
-6
|
- 1.5-2 pounds pork tenderloin
- 1/2 cup honey (preferably raw)
- couple teaspoons of garlic powder
- couple teaspoons of salt
Ingredients
|
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Pat the tenderloin dry with a paper towel.
- Sprinkle with the garlic powder and salt, and then baste the tenderloin generously with honey.
- Bake in oven for about 15 minutes, then lower the oven rack and turn the broiler on.
- Broil for about 10 minutes, until juices run clear.
- Let sit for about 5 minutes before carving.
- Note: if your tenderloin is bigger, adjust the cooking time accordingly.
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Eileen @ Phoenix Helix says
This recipe looks delicious AND it fits the paleo autoimmune protocol (a rare thing). So, thank you! I recently started a weekly Paleo AIP Recipe Roundtable through my blog, and I would love it if you linked up this recipe. I’m trying to expand resources for the AIP community. Here’s the link: http://www.phoenixhelix.com/2014/02/05/paleo-aip-recipe-roundtable-13/
Life Made Full says
Hi, Eileen! Thanks for the comment. I am so swamped right now and trying to prepare for my upcoming jaw surgery, that the thought of something else is a little overwhelming. I may be interested in the future, though. If you’re still interested in a few months, please contact me again!
Grace says
Not nearly enough cooking time and my pork was smoking horribly after 5 minutes of being broiled. I’m glad I had my mom’s meat thermometer or i would have eaten some seriously under cooked meat!
Life Made Full says
How big was your tenderloin? I’ve done the recipe twice, and it’s turned out fine both times. Hmmm. Sorry it didn’t turn out for you!
Zou Yang says
You followed the directions; pat dry and lowered oven rack for broiling. The complaints from others indicates they didn’t.
Michael says
What was the internal temp when you checked it?
Julie says
Ahh! I’m making it right now and it’s smoking like mad under the broiler. The honey. Maybe should turn off broiler and keep baking?
Life Made Full says
Oh, I’m sorry! How did it end up turning out?
Allison says
Have you ever tried this in a crockpot?
Life Made Full says
I haven’t–it would probably be yummy, but wouldn’t have the crispy skin.
Lindy says
Aw. I tried this tonight and as soon as I turned the broiler on the honey burned :/ im still trying to finish it in the oven (broiler off). It sure sounded good! Yours didn’t burn at all?
Life Made Full says
Oh, no! I’m sorry! I wonder if I had mine further away from the broiler element? I’ve made it a couple times and it didn’t burn, but obviously some people have had that problem. =( I’ll need to try it again and see how far away my meat was from the broiler. So sorry it didn’t turn out!
Jamie Miller says
What a wonderful recipe! I really appreciate simple but flavorful ideas.
faganeatspaleo.blogspot.com
Teresa says
I tried this today. I could not get the honey to stay on my pork. It would slide off, so basically there was no crispy honey on the pork. Any suggestions?
Life Made Full says
Hmm. My tenderloin had a bit of fat on it. I wonder if that made the difference? Possible patting the tenderloin dry before applying the honey?
Noel says
This is delicious! I’ve never made pork tenderloin before and now I’m spoiled by this!
I patted the tenderloin dry before applying the honey, garlic, and salt. A lot of the honey pooled around the meat and bubbled and then turned black on the pan when broiling, but the meat came out great! I also moved the rack to the very bottom slot when it broiled and used a meat thermometer to make sure it was done.
Thanks for such a delicious recipe!
Ashley says
Mine burnt too. All the honey melted off and was black and smoking around the edges of the dish. I had it on the lowest rack. :'(
Amber says
LOVED this recipe! I followed the directions exactly since it seemed some others had problems, and it turned out great! Thanks!
Karee Keyser says
So I was having the same issues tonight as everyone else has experienced… honey melting off during the oven phase. When I checked it after the 10 min stint in the oven the honey had melted everywhere and the pork was no where near ready for the broiler. I decided to keep it in the oven for about 10 min longer since it definitely looked like it needed it. When I finally transferred it to the broiler I decided to loosely wrap my foil (and the melted honey inside) around my pork. I cooked it for about 10 more min and it came out great!! No smoking at all. Might be a new trick!? Otherwise devine! Thanks 🙂
Tammy says
I wonder if the difference in people’s experience is raw vs clear honey? Clear is more liquid to begin with, trying now with clear honey so will see!
GinnyV says
I made this tonight and the family loved it! Delicious! I did learn that you should NEVER use parchment paper under the broiler! LOL! There was no alum. foil left, so I tried the parchment…big mistake! Oh, well…lesson learned. The pork ended up baking at 375 for 25 minutes and then broiled for only 5 minutes. We’re at slightly high altitude (~4800 ft) so adjusting the recipe is usually necessary.
Who knew poke tenderloin was so easy?
GinnyV says
Er…I meant pork…not poke!
Life Made Full says
Thank you for letting me know! Glad it turned out!
Julie says
I had to think fast as the dinner hour was quickly coming to a close. Googling Pork Tenderloin Recipes Fast brings up this lovely recipe. Next time I will let it defrost a bit longer, but otherwise I had no problems. Thanks for being there when I needed a suggestion!
Susan says
I also basted it a few times, cooked it about 10 minutes longer, and then wrapped the silver foil around it before broiling. I also used 2 sheets of silver foil so when I basted it, it would not tear the first silver foil layer.
Victoria says
Mine also burned really quickly and seems under cooked 🙁 Im continuing to cook it in the oven but there’s no crispy-ness except the part that burnt. Its more gummy or mushy on top. 🙁
Victoria says
so after I removed the burnt honey from around it, and continued cooking it, it actually tasted really good! and was actually tender! 🙂
Caroline says
The trick is definitely to make a little boat with the foil around the tenderloin so that the honey does not melt and burn all over the pan.
Hattie says
I am planning on making this tonight, the tenderloin i bought is 2.37 lbs i am wondering if 20 mins in the oven will be enough?
Shanti Landon says
Hi, Hattie! It may need longer. =)
Morten says
This was great.
I used a cheap supermarket tenderloin and it leaked lots of juices. I think it may have been pumped with water but even if it wasn’t – supermarkets do what they can to keep water in the meat.
Some people’s broilers automatically go to 250 Celsius. I won’t before you with the math of infrared radiation but the difference is dramatic between 200 and 250.
I took it out, turned it to broiler, added honey, stuck it back in the oven. Nice.
Hannah says
I read all the comments and paid extra close attention to the directions when making it. It turned out great using Shanti’s steps with a couple of key additions from the comments. Thanks ladies!
MAKE SURE TO:
-Fold up the sides of the foil to make a boat so the honey doesn’t go all over the pan and burn (or spill of the sides and burn on the bottom of the oven! ew!) just like Caroline said!
-Opening the oven to baste the tenderloin while it’s cooking with the melted honey and juices around it helps to keep the flavor cooking into it and helps make for less bubbling up when you turn the broiler on because there is going to be a LOT of bubbling up of the honey (mine did and it still turned out awesome).
-Make sure to pour the juices from the “foil boat” onto the pork before serving. The juice is DELICIOUS.
The recipe RULES and I will definitely be using it again. My sister immediately demanded that I email her the link to the recipe 🙂 Thanks!
Shanti Landon says
Thanks for all the notes, Hannah!
Paula says
There are several types of honey, some real some fake, some burn and some don’t. It’s not the recipe it the ingredients your using that’s causing the problem.
Tiffany says
I got the same results as others, black on the outside with a kitchen full of smoke and raw in the middle. Definitely not a good recipe.
Ashlee says
I hate this recipe has these negative reviews. I made this last night and it was amazing! My husband ate it up in five minutes. I folded up the edges of the aluminum foil around the tenderloin, there was no burning whatsoever! I’m not too sure what everyone is doing that makes it turn out badly? But I will definitely make this again! Thank you for the recipe!!
Alexa says
Delicious! I decided to dry the pork loin with paper towel then flattened it with a meat mallet. I then sprinkled a layer of garlic salt over it and spread on a thick layer of honey. Then I sprinkled a bit more garlic salt. Baked it in the oven for 17 minutes. Checked the temp using a digital thermometer. It was perfect! It looked a little funny flat, but tasted amazing!
Shanti Landon says
So glad you liked it, Alexa!
Susan says
Pat your tenderloin dry with a paper towel. Pat until the paper towel stays dry. Bake at 375 degrees in the oven only for 45 minutes for a 1 pound tenderloin. Add more time for a larger tenderloin. It won’t be crispy, but it will be cooked with a honey coating!
Zou Yang says
After meat has been seasoned and basted with honey let it rest or marinade for a time, at least 30 minutes. Follow the directions! Pat dry and bake for 15 minutes. Lower oven rack and broil for 10 minutes; don’t over cook.
Ellen says
I’m thinking about all the burning problems and making foil boats and so forth, how about cooking it in a convection oven?
Sue says
Unfortunately, I didn’t have good luck with this recipe. After 15 minutes in the oven, all the honey had slid off of the pork, spread all over the pan, and was burnt and bubbling spectacularly. I hadn’t even gotten to the broiling part yet. I put it on a new pan with fresh foil, put it under the broiler, and when it was done it was extremely undercooked. my peace was even smaller than in the recipe, so now it’s in the oven for more time to hopefully finish cooking. I don’t even know if there’s any honey or spice left on it since it look like everything’s slid right off. I did follow all the instructions about drying the meat.
Mike says
Used your recipe this evening, turned out great! Followed the suggestions of using a tin foil boat around the tenderloin to hold the honey and juices, worked great. Went to a higher temp of 425 F for about 15 min. Had two tenderloins for a total of 2.3 lbs. At 15 min. the temp was about 128 – 130 F, pulled them out and basted with more honey, lowered the grate and broiled for 10 -12 min. perfect temp of 145 F. Guess what, NO smoke and great taste.
I think the smoke problem was due to the honey used. If it is not pure honey and contains corn syrup it will burn and smoke.