This cranberry balsamic pork tenderloin is quick, easy and delicious! Make it with store-bought cranberry sauce, left-over cranberry sauce or make your own from fresh or frozen cranberries.
This cranberry balsamic pork tenderloin is a favourite dish of mine and one I have been making for years! It is one of those perfect trifecta recipes – quick, easy and delicious. It’s solid and reliable and special enough for company, too.
I was inspired to make this one again this week to use up some leftover Thanksgiving cranberry sauce. If you have leftover cranberry sauce, this dish is a perfect use for some of it! The beautiful thing about this dish though, is that is it just as lovely with canned whole berry cranberry sauce, so it can be made easily any time of year.
Ingredient Notes
Pork: You can use two small or one large pork tenderloin here. About 1 1/2-2 lbs. total is good. I find the smaller ones fit nicely in my smaller cast iron frying pan and I can often find the two-pack of small pork tenderloins at a good price.
Balsamic Vinegar: Any nice balsamic vinegar will work here. Feel free to add a touch more, if you feel it needs it.
Cranberry Sauce: As noted above, this is a great recipe to use up leftover Thanksgiving cranberry sauce. If you have some fresh cranberries, you can also make a quick cranberry sauce (recipe below!). You can store-bought canned cranberry if you like. Look for the “whole berry” cranberry sauce, for a more interesting sauce with the bits of cranberry.
Cook’s Notes
- While this recipe is a great use for leftover cranberry, I find the sauce is a little thicker/more syrupy when I use canned cranberry sauce. The taste is delicious either way though.
- You can use use fresh rosemary instead of thyme, if you prefer or for a change.
- If you’d like to make this ahead, simply cook as directed, except undercook the pork just slightly (cook it to 145F internal temperature. Let cool a bit, then cover with foil and refrigerate. Remove from fridge for about 20 minutes before reheating loosely covered in foil in a 350F oven until warmed through.
- A small boneless, centre-cut pork loin roast could also be used for this recipe. The oven cooking time will increase considerably. Simply cook it at 375F for the oven roasting, until the internal temperature registers 145F.
- It’s now recommended that pork be cooked only to 145F (lowered from 160F) internal temperature. This produces a tender and moist “medium” cooked pork, with a touch of pink in the middle.
- When testing your pork with a thermometer, be sure that you aren’t inserting it too far in and too close to the bottom of the pan, or your reading will be artificially high. Aim for the centre of the pork, which is only about 1 inch in. Allow you pork to rest at least 5 minutes.
Step-by-Step Photos
This is an easy, one-pan recipe! I love to use my cast-iron skillet, as it goes easily from stove-top to oven.
A Quick and Easy Cranberry Sauce Recipe
If you have some fresh or frozen cranberries on hand and a little extra time, you can quickly turn them in to some cranberry sauce to use for this dish. Here’s my quick and easy Cranberry Sauce recipe (it’s the one I use every Thanksgiving!)
12-oz bag fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
3/4 cup water
Pinch cinnamon (optional)
Combine all the ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir to combine. Bring mixture to a boil, then cook, stirring, until cranberries are mostly popped. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl. Let cool a few minutes, then cover and refrigerate. Mixture will thicken as it cools in the refrigerator.
What to Serve with Cranberry Balsamic Pork Tenderloin
The plentiful and delicious balsamic cranberry sauce is perfect with mashed potatoes. I have also served it with mashed sweet potatoes or roasted mini or sweet potatoes. Cauliflower mash would also be good here.
A green vegetable makes for a pretty plate, such as broccoli, green beans, broccolini etc., but as this is a nice Fall and Winter dish, carrots or squash would also be nice on the side.
Get the Recipe: Cranberry Balsamic Pork Tenderloin
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 1 1/2 lb pork tenderloin, 1 large or 2 small pork tenderloins
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 1/2 cup onion, finely diced
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, or 1/4 tsp. dried thyme leaves
- 3/4 cup chicken broth
- 2/3 cup canned whole berry cranberry sauce, or homemade cranberry sauce (see easy recipe in post above)
- 3-4 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar, to taste
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 F.
- Melt 1 Tbsp butter in an ovenproof skillet (such as cast-iron) over medium-high heat.
- Remove the silverskin and any visible fat from pork. Pat dry with a paper towel and sprinkle pork with salt and pepper. Sear pork in hot skillet, cooking on all sides, until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Place skillet with pork into the preheated oven. Roast pork until thermometer inserted into centre registers 145° F, about 15-20 minutes, depending on the size of your pork.
- Remove skillet from oven. and remove pork to plate. Loosely place a sheet of aluminum foil over pork. Melt remaining 1 Tbsp butter in the same skillet on the stove-top over medium-high heat. Add the onion and thyme and sauté, stirring until the onion softens, about 3 minutes. Add the chicken broth, cranberry sauce and balsamic vinegar and whisk until cranberry sauce melts, about 2 minutes. Boil until sauce is syrupy and reduced, about 8-10 minutes. Taste sauce and season as needed with salt and pepper. *If sauce get too thick, thin with a splash more chicken broth.
- Remove foil from pork and add any juice on the plate to the sauce in the skillet. Add whole pork tenderloin into the warm sauce and allow the pork to re-warm in the sauce. To serve, remove pork to a serving plate and spoon sauce over and around the pork. Serve pork sliced with a spoonful of sauce
Notes
More Pork Tenderloin Recipes to Love!
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
Delicious recipe…have made it many times.
Jennifer, I have been a fan of your recipes for a long time. Many friends have been impressed and I have shared your site with them. Your website is very well thought out, I especially like your step by step photos (even more than a video) because it is easy follow the visual cues. For example what an ingredient looks like before, during and after cooking.
Thanks for all your inspiration!
Thanks so much, Margaret :) I am so glad you are cooking along and enjoying the recipes!
Thank you Jennifer for your reply.
Made this recipe for company Saturday evening.
Made ahead and then reheated @ 200 and sliced.
It was very tender and delicious.
So glad to hear, Sheila :) Thanks!
When having company I like to have as much done in advance as possible. Could you fix this dish and slice the meat with the sauce and keep warm in a low oven until dinner?
Hi Sheila and yes, you could, as long as it isn’t heating so long that the pork dries out. Be sure not to over-cook the pork at all, which will help keep it moist. Enjoy :)