Holiday Stuffed Pork Tenderloin.
I’ve got your holiday pork tenderloin right here!
I actually have TWO fantastic holiday meal ideas coming your way. Exciting!!
First, we have this holiday pork tenderloin (hello!) that is stuffed with so much goodness.
And soon, I’m actually going to share HAM with you. Ham. This is huge. I don’t even care for ham. But I made one that may make me a convert, so there is that. I made it for you!
‘Tis the season!
I’m always shocked at how much you guys LOVE pork tenderloin recipes. It is underutilized in my opinion – especially for weeknight dinners because it’s actually not that difficult to prepare. I’ve made a butternut stuffed pork tenderloin and a bacon, gorgonzola and fig version (which, yes, OMG, is insane) and both are such hits. So I wanted to make a more holiday focused on that really took into account winter flavors and one that would be impressive on your table.
Success!
p.s. pork tenderloin is a nightmare to photograph. I basically took the same photos that I did for this recipe!
Last year, I made a beef tenderloin and shared that recipe with you. It’s the beef that my grandma would always make on Christmas day and man, it is fabulous. But I know that isn’t everyone’s preference, and it definitely takes longer to prepare. Not to mention… it is a lot more expensive too!
So pork tenderloin it is, for your weeknight or your holiday dinner or heck, even your brunch.
You can get it done and it will look impressive. And taste like heaven!
Here’s the rundown of the goodness that is stuffed inside…
Caramelized onions. SO MUCH FLAVOR here. I mean, they add a depth of flavor that is fantastic.
Homemade cranberry sauce. I just used this recipe for my sauce, and used a bit that was leftover. This makes it an awesome recipe to use up holiday leftovers too!
Fresh spinach and goat cheese round out the stuffing. Ooooh my gosh.
I mean, this is SO so good.
You can also make gravy with it.
Or you can eat it cold straight from the fridge!
Eddie loves to eat it on a sandwich. In fact, he sandwiched it on these parker house rolls for dinner one night. Ha.
Oh! And doesn’t it just look super festive too?! It’s basically perfect.
Holiday Pork Tenderloin
Holiday Stuffed Pork Tenderloin
Ingredients
- 1 boneless pork tenderloin ,about 1 to 2 pounds
- 1 sweet onion ,thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons fresh sage, chopped
- 3 cups fresh spinach
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup cranberry sauce
- 6 ounces goat cheese crumbled
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Heat a large pot over medium-low heat and add 1 tablespoon of butter. Add the onions with a pinch of salt and stir. Cook, stirring often, until the onions begin to caramelize, about 30 to 40 minutes. Keep an eye on them so they don't burn! Stir in the sage.
- Transfer the onions to a bowl. Add the remaining butter and heat over medium heat. Stir in the spinach and cook, stirring occasionally, until it wilts. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a roasting pan or baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray it with nonstick spray.
- Place the pork on a cutting board and get a sharp knife. This is a great tutorial. I like to slice it twice to open it up so I have a lot of space to work with. I start at the bottom of the pork (about 1/4 inch from the bottom) and slice it lengthwise, then continue to cut again and open up the pork. You want to have a flat surface to work on. Season the inside with salt and pepper.
- Spread the cranberry sauce on top of the pork, leaving an inch or two around the edges so you can roll it up. Add the spinach, followed by the caramelized onions. Crumble the goat cheese on top.
- Tightly roll up the tenderloin and tie it together with kitchen twine. Season the entire outside with the salt and pepper.
- Place the pork on the roasting pan or baking sheet and roast for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the inside is cooked and reads about 140 to 145 degrees F. Let the pork rest for 20 minutes before slicing. Slice and serve with extra cranberry sauce, gravy or your choice of side!
Did you make this recipe?
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I appreciate you so much!
Even if it’s so ugly that it’s pretty.
32 Comments on “Holiday Stuffed Pork Tenderloin.”
I’m definitely team pork/ham; and I think this creation is fabulously festive! NOT ugly :)
thank you liz!! xo
That looks so good! My husband isn’t a fan of goat cheese, is there another cheese you would recommend to sub?
you could do feta, or even cream cheese – of you could totally leave the cheese out!
My friend doesn’t like goat cheese or feta. So we would use queso fresco.
Gorgeous! Any reason why this couldn’t be made a day ahead of time and roasted right before dinner?
I am wondering the same thing. I was planning on making chicken cordon bleu for my Christmas Eve dinner for 18 but this looks so amazing! But, I have to be able to prep it two days ahead.
Yes Jessica please reply!! Hoping this can be assembled the day before and roasted the day it’s needed. Thanks!
also! i should add that you probably can stuff it ahead of time – the spinach getting mushy and the colors blending shouldn’t really affect the taste. i think this also might depend on how you plan on serving it!
hi guys!! okay, so i don’t know if i would assemble the entire thing the day before. one option would be to roast the entire thing the day before (like make it completely, and then reheat it. it does reheat nicely, but you have to watch the pork to keep it from drying out!). the other option would be to make all the filling components the day before. i would caramelize the onion, saute the spinach and make the cranberry sauce (you can do the sauce a few days ahead of time!). then assemble the morning of, or even a few hours before baking.
i have concerns with assembling the entire thing ahead of time. the spinach might get a little too soggy or mushy – the onions might too. the goat cheese will probably turn pink from the cranberry sauce (but that’s just a vanity thing). if we were stuffing it with a bread or rice stuffing, it might be fine. but since we are using fresher cooker produce, i think you have to stuff a little closer to cook time.
Ohhh I made the blue cheese and fig pork tenderloin a few years ago for Christmas and it was a huge success. We may have to try this one this year!
i love that one so much!
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Made this last night for Christmas Eve dinner. It was fabulous and looked so festive! Will definitely make again!
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HI Jessica, This looks amazing. Have you ever tried surfing a pork loin with this instead of the tenderloin. I am planning on doing a stuffed loin for a dinner party as the loin is much larger so won’t have to do several tenderloins. Do you think this stuffing will hold up to the additional cooking time that a loin takes?
hi! yes, i actually stuffed multiple pork tenderloins the last few months and they were fantastic. i do think that this will hold up – as long as it’s not spilling out of the edges? the only thing i’d be concerned about is perhaps the cheese melting entirely or something?
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Just to clarify….this uses 1-2 pounds of tenderloin not loin? Could you do a pork loin in same way?
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I don’t usually post comments about recipes that I’ve tried but this one was so good I had to let you know. I made it for Christmas Eve dinner and it was absolutely delicious. I had to substitute 1TBSP of vanilla for the vanilla bean and it turned out great. My husband actually found this recipe and asked me to make it. After dinner, he said it’s one of his all time favorites. I will definitely be making this one again and again.
I made this for Christmas Eve Dinner last night and it was delicious! The pork was so tender and the flavors were perfect together. Sadly we don’t have any leftover… but, that just goes to show you how good it is! Merry Christmas and Thank you for sharing this recipe.
This looks great! I am thinking of adding it to my Christmas Menu. Pork Tenderloin is often serves with some sort of apple accoutrement, right? Well, I wouldn’t know, really, so that’s why I am asking. Would some sort of spicy apply chutney work well with this?
Thank you for the recipe! I am going to attempt it for a small Xmas gathering this year!
Could you please share any ideas you have as side dishes you would serve with the pork tenderloin?
Thanks again!
I made a trial run of this recipe as I plan to make it on Xmas day. It turned out very dry. Any idea on how to remedy that for next time? Is it correct to cook it at 450 the whole time? Or can I turn the oven down after 10-15 and let it finish cooking at 350 or so? Thanks in advance for your help! It’s definitely a festive and nice looking recipe. I’m still going to make it for Xmas!
Fabulous recipe! Thank you. It was delicious as well as an eye appealing presentation for Christmas!
I used feta and served with roasted asparagus, brown and red rice medley with barley, and spring mix with green apple slices, dried cranberries (quicker than pomegranate on counter), and mushrooms with citrus salad dressing. (Also used Cooking Light cranberry sauce, our family favorite.)
For others who don’t have bourban: Cooking Light “Spiced Apple Cranberry Sauce” was great in recipe.
My guests loved this, but I have a few comments. I think the pork should be quickly seared to look nice and brown. You should drain spinach and cranberry sauce before adding to pork my first one had to much liquid. Also be careful with size of garlic used. I think my cloves were to big and overpowered the dish. Great combination of flavors. Will make again with above changes.