This honey garlic pork tenderloin recipe is elegant yet unbelievably easy to make even on busy weeknights.
Seasoned pork tenderloin is seared, topped with honey garlic sauce, and baked for perfect caramelization and flavor.
We Love this Pork Tenderloin Because…
- This is a savory sweet dish made with pork and a simple sauce.
- The glaze is sticky, thick, and caramelizes to perfection under the broiler.
- Pork tenderloin is a lean, juicy, and tender cut of meat.
- The homemade rub is made with the perfect balance of spices.
- This is melt-in-your-mouth delicious!
Ingredients
Pork Tenderloin: Look for a long, thin pork tenderloin about 2” wide and up to 14” long. Be sure that it’s not a pork loin which is much thicker, about 4” in diameter.
Rub: It only takes a few ingredients from the pantry to make a savory rub for pork tenderloin.
Honey Garlic Sauce: This sauce has a sweet umami flavor with a touch of garlic. You may not need all of the sauce, but any extra can be drizzled over roasted veggies or frozen in ice cube trays to use later.
Variations
- Honey can be switched out for maple syrup and brown sugar can be switched out for a non-sugar substitute.
- For an extra flavorful and juicy pork tenderloin, carefully wrap the pork in strips of raw bacon (after it has been seared and before it goes into the oven).
- Make a lower sodium sauce using amino acids instead of soy sauce.
How to Make Honey Garlic Pork Tenderloin
- Season and sear pork in a skillet. Transfer to the oven and roast (recipe below.)
- Mix up the honey garlic sauce.
- Baste tenderloin generously with sauce and broil until the sauce is caramelized.
- Let rest before slicing.
Pork Tenderloin Tips and Tricks
So many ways to serve. Make double-duty use of the oven and make rosemary roasted potatoes, a side of applesauce, and a tangy tomato salad and dinner is served!
- The secret to the best flavor is to sear the meat first. This caramelizes the rub and locks in those savory juices.
- Broiling the tenderloin in Step 6 ensures the sauce is glazed evenly over the meat.
- Pork tenderloin is very lean so use a meat thermometer to avoid overcooking it. Remove the pork from the oven the moment it reaches 145°F.
- Always let the meat rest after cooking. This allows the juices to recirculate back into the meat, preserving all those delicious layers of flavor.
- Keep leftover honey garlic pork tenderloin in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Serve slices cold in a sandwich or wrap or reheat portions in the microwave.
Easy Weeknight Dinners
Did you enjoy this Honey Garlic Pork Tenderloin? Leave a comment and rating below.
Honey Garlic Pork Tenderloin
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound pork tenderloin
- 2 tablespoons butter
For the Rub:
- 1 tablespoon garlic salt
- 1 tablespoon garlic pepper*
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary minced
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
For the Honey Garlic Sauce:
- ½ cup honey
- ½ cup light soy sauce
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup orange juice
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch + 2 tbsp water for slurry
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Remove any fat from pork. Using a fork, puncture the pork in several places.
- Add garlic salt, garlic pepper, onion powder, fresh thyme, fresh rosemary, and chili powder into a small bowl and spread on all sides of the pork, pressing firmly to adhere the rub to the pork.
- Using a heavy skillet, heat over medium-high heat and add butter. Allow butter to melt then place pork in skillet and sear just until brown, flipping to sear all sides, about 2 minutes. Place skillet in the oven and roast for 20 minutes.**
- Meanwhile in a small saucepan add honey, brown sugar, soy sauce, orange juice, and garlic. Whisk to combine and bring to a slight boil.
- Combine the cornstarch and water to create a slurry and add to sauce. Whisk until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Remove pork from the oven and baste with honey garlic sauce. Set the oven to "HI" broil and broil pork for 3 minutes until sauce caramelized.
- Let rest 5 minutes covered. slice and garnish with fresh chopped thyme and rosemary.
Notes
- Pork tenderloin is lean cut, so it’s best to use a meat thermometer to keep it tender and juicy. Remove the pork from the oven the moment it reaches 145°F.
- Always let meat rest after cooking to allow the juices to recirculate back into the meat so they don’t run out when slicing.
- Leftover honey garlic pork tenderloin will keep in a covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
©The Shortcut Kitchen. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.
REPIN this Honey Garlic Pork Tenderloin recipe to your Dinner Board!
Love this tasty pork tenderloin. We use leftovers to make pork fried rice.
Hello Cheryl. I am so happy that this turned out for you, and that you found a way to use up the leftovers.
My family loves this recipe. I have made it several times and everyone loves it.
So glad to hear that, Betty! Thanks for leaving a comment
My first try at pork tenderloin and this was amazing! I subbed the soy sauce for no soy soy sauce as I’m currently soy free for my son and it was so delicious! Will definitely be making this many times in the future!
So delicious. I seared in pan and then we grilled the pork. This is a keeper for all year round cooking, whether roasting or during the grilling season.
So glad you enjoyed this recipe, Patti!
Makes way too much glaze. Next time I will cut the glaze in half. But Damn, it is delicious
I did not have orange juice. I substituted ground up peaches from a can. It was very good!
A great recipe! I didn’t use the honey glaze but replaced with a bottle sauce and it was still delicious! The sear and the spice combination really made the flavor.
Honey, garlic, and pork tenderloin are my favorite foods. Thanks for the recipe.
Glad you enjoyed it, Emma!
Made this last night and it was delicious!
This recipe is a keeper!
This is a family favorite! It is absolutely delicious. I serve it with mashed/creamed sweet potatoes and a homemade green bean casserole!
So happy to hear that Camille!
Deeeelicious!
Delicious, such a fantastic recipe and loved by the whole family. I tweaked it a bit by laying rings of apple in the bottom of the pan with fried onion rings. They soften nicely when it roasts and go well with the sauce.
Oh my Steve, that sounds so delicous that my mouth watered!!
Could my tenderloin be frozen?
I have not tried cooking this recipe from frozen Lisa. I’d be concerned that it may take longer to bake, and the sugars may start to burn.
Excellent however I didn’t read the recipe through first and as directed I mixed all of the ingredients in the rub including the butter. Of course it hardened when I tried to rub it in the cold pork. I ended up taking it off the pork a melted along with all the rub ingredients. It was a mess in the skillet and I figured I ruined it. Continued with the recipe and it was delicious.
Glad to hear everything worked out in the end Michelle!
This was really good and looked gourmet when finished. I didn’t have orange juice so I substituted 1 tablespoon of orange marmalade since that’s what I had. I also used less garlic since my family doesn’t like a lot of garlic. The whole family loved it.
5 stars!!! Can’t say YUMMY enough! Definitely a winner.
The pork was tasty. I followed the recipe for the marinade but it didn’t thicken. Any suggestions?
Did you add the cornstarch slurry Maryann? If not, you may find a skillet will work better to thicken the marinade.
This was fantastic! We doubled the recipe and only broiled for two minutes! My kids and husband ate everything!!! Amazing!
So happy to hear how much your family loves this tenderloin Amanda!
just a really good recipe !
easy and pretty quick as well as a recipe that uses ingredients that most of us have on hand.
Glad you enjoyed it John!
The sauce was very good. I left out the rosemary, don’t like it. The next time I make this, I will pour some of the sauce over the meat then bake it.
This is so good. My youngest son says this is his new favorite meal & my oldest son says I should make this every night. LOLOL.
I love that Patricia! You may get tired of eating it every night, but I fully support every other night 🙂
Fabulous! I omitted the chili powder and used garlic powder instead of garlic salt. Everyone raves about it.
That sounds delicious Sandy!
This was soooooo good! I have never had a tenderloin so juicy and tender! The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars was that is was a little to salty for us. I will probably eliminate the salt in the rub all together. But otherwise it was outstanding! Will be using this recipe again and again!
So glad your family enjoyed it Mindy!
Should I double the cooking time if I’m using a 2lb pork tenderloin? I’m worried about it getting dried out if I cook it too long in the oven.
Hi Stephanie, to ensure your pork tenderloin is fully cooked you can check the internal temperature to ensure it reaches between 145°F to 160°F. For juicy tender meat I would suggest cooking it closer to the 145°F.
Made this tonight and everyone enjoyed it which is rare in my house. I omitted the chilli powder and added a bit of paprika. I also cut back on the rosemary a bit as I’m not a fan. Was very good! Thanks!
So happy to hear that Cindy!
Best recipe we have tried in a long time! Definitely a keeper. The meat was SO tender and very flavorful. If we changed anything, we would reduce the Thyme and Rosemary probably in half. A beautiful presentation and wonderful for a dinner party.
So happy to hear that Rhonda! Glad you enjoyed the dish and its beautiful presentation!
Want to add that this would be a wonderful entree if you were entertaining, cook 2 – 1 pound tenderloins instead of one! So elegant sliced on the platter with fresh thyme and rosemary garnish, I’ll make it next time we have company for dinner 🙂
That is a great idea Tammy! This would be perfect for entertaining.
OMG, this receipe for Pork Tenderloin was excellent! My husband and I loved it and even my picky eaters enjoyed it. I didn’t have any cornstarch on hand so we didn’t make the slurry and I didn’t have garlic pepper so I just used fresh ground pepper instead.
Neither omission/substitution made a difference expect the sauce was thinner than it would have been.
This is now a keeper and we will make this over and over again, thanks for posting!
We love this recipe! Made it twice now and we do leave out the chili powder, because we just don’t care for it. So delicious and tender!
So happy you enjoy it Liz!
My family did not like this at all!! Weird taste is right!! I made this EXACTLY as written too. First of all, that little bit of corn starch didn’t thicken the sauce at all but I wanted to follow the directions to a T so I didn’t add anymore to it. I use corn starch to thicken a lot of my sauces and soups but thus just didn’t thicken at all. And the blend of spices did have an unpleasent taste. It was a little on the spicy side for me too. And the smoked paprika was exactly as the recipe called for…. I really thought this would be a great recipe according to the responses you had but I’m going to stick to the Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin I always make and keep searching for another recipe for pork tenderloin. Thanks for sharing tho !!
Sorry you didn’t love it as much as we did Debra.
I don’t see smoked paprika in the ingredients!?? Did someone mention it in the comments?
Hi Jamie, I don’t believe it was mentioned, and you are correct it isn’t in the ingredients list.
Outstanding! Made this for the first time for dinner this evening. Very flavorful. I did make the run and allowed the tenderloin to sit in it for a couple of hours. Sauce was great too! I may adjust the herbs down a bit as I did think it a bit salty. But, all in all recipe goes into my make again file!
So happy you enjoyed it Peggy!
After you’ve seared it can you cook in foil tray in a Webber bbq
Hi Doreen, we have only made this recipe as listed. But that should work, let us know how it turns out! Just make sure the pork reaches on internal temperature of 145°F before serving!
Sear it on the weber and cook offset
Made this again last night and the flavor is so incredible and the meat is super moist.
So happy to hear that Dave! Glad you enjoyed it.
Sorry, but we did not like this recipe AT ALL! In fact we threw everything after one bit… the rub is WAY to salty and the sauce has a weird taste to it… the ingredients from the rub and the sauce don’t match together at all… will never do this recipe again! It’s a shame… what a waste of food
Sorry to hear that you didn’t enjoy this honey garlic roasted pork tenderloin recipe Ariana. I’ve made it many times as written and really enjoyed it, and you can see other readers have as well.
Ok so like WOW!!! I loved how this turned out thank you!!! I didnt have fresh herbs and had to use oregano instead of rosemary as that’s what I had on hand. I cant imagine how good it will be with fresh herbs!! This is on rotation now!
Isn’t it delicious Becky! Definitely let us know how you enjoy it with the fresh herbs!
Do you apply the rub in advance, essentially allowing it to “marinate”…or just apply right before cooking?
Hi Tavia, In this recipe we rub the meat right before searing but you could prep the pork tenderloin in advance and let is sit in the rub!
Could I use a pork loin rather than tenderloin?
While I have never made a pork loin, this recipe should work well. Just make sure that it is cooked to an internal temperature of 145F. Enjoy Kimberly!
how many servings does it make?
Ruby, this makes 4 servings. You can see it right above the name of the recipe on the recipe card 🙂
This recipe was outstanding!! Being the first time I’ve cooked pork tenderloin this way. Everyone was very impressed and not 1 bite left over. Highly recommend this recipe to anyone who isn’t sure just how to prepare a pork tenderloin. There are several different ways of course, hard to imagine any are better. The glaze or sauce if u will really puts it over the top. Well done on whoever invented this one.
Thank you! I’m so happy to hear that you love the tenderloin Brent!
Simple recipe. Very flavorful. Tenderloin was fantastic.
So glad you enjoyed it!
This roast pork was amazing. Best I’ve tasted…ever. It’s simple and easy but tastes like it was prepared by a gourmet chef. The rub was a perfect combination but the sauce was wonderful.
Thank you! You’re a gourmet chef Marilyn 🙂
This pork tenderloin is delicious. Try it. I’m sure you will love it too.
I’m so glad to hear you loved it Faye! I LOVE pork tenderloin!