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Pork Loin with Cherry Sauce

Pork-Loin-with-Cherry-Sauce

My family loves this savory and sweet, Pork Loin with Cherry Sauce recipe. Impressive enough for company, yet easy enough for a weeknight!

I was inspired to make this cherry sauce when I saw this package of frozen cherries at Trader Joes.

Trader Joes Frozen Cherries

I knew right away that I wanted to make some sort of sauce for pork. It was like the skies opened up and I heard a choir of angels singing… Okay, well maybe it wasn’t that dramatic, but it was definitely an inspired moment. Anyway, I’m thrilled with the results; this was seriously good. My family kept going up for seconds and thirds, I bet yours will too.

I’ll be serving this to extended family this weekend as we celebrate my husband’s birthday. He is three weeks younger than me, and during the weeks between our birthdays, he likes to rub it in that he is a younger man. Hah! Not for long my dear!

I want to warn you that the cherry sauce stains the meat a purplish-red, so you should wait to put it on the pork right before serving. You also might not want to serve it on fancy table linens, unless they are machine washable.

We had our Pork Loin with Cherry Sauce, served with ginger mashed sweet potatoes and haricot verts

For step-by-step instructions with photos, scroll down past the recipe.

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5 from 1 vote

Pork Loin with Cherry Sauce

Servings: 6

Ingredients

  • 2 pork tenderloins (mine totaled 4.37 lbs)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 tsp dried thyme leaves
  • 3 Tbs grass fed pasture raised butter, divided
  • 1 shallot chopped 3 Tbs
  • ½ cup red wine I used pinot noir
  • ½ cup chicken broth
  • 1 Tbs balsamic vinegar
  • 1 Tbs real maple syrup
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
  • 2 cups frozen dark sweet cherries

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Wash and pat dry the pork loins. Season loins with dried thyme, and salt and pepper to taste.
  • Heat a wide pan over medium heat, (I used a Dutch oven). Melt 1 Tbs of butter in the pan. Brown the pork loins for 3 minutes on the fronts, three minutes on the backs, and then 2 minutes on each of the sides. You can prop the loins up against the sides of the pan, or you may need to use tongs to hold the loins in place as they brown.
  • Turn off the burner, and transfer the browned pork loins to a foil-lined baking sheet. Insert a digital meat thermometer into the thickest part of the loin, and cook in a 350-degree oven until the loins reach 145 degrees, (about 20 min). Allow the loins to rest for 10 minutes; the temperature will continue to rise out of the oven, (mine reached 158 degrees). This produced “medium” pork loins with just a blush of pink inside.
  • While the pork loins are in the oven, prepare the cherry sauce in the same pan that was used to brown the pork. Set the burner to medium low, add 1 Tbs of butter and sauté the chopped shallot until it becomes translucent and fragrant, 2-3 minutes.
  • Raise burner to medium, add the chicken broth and red wine. Deglaze the pan, scraping up the browned bits.
  • Stir in the mustard, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, and final tablespoon of butter.
  • Stir in the frozen cherries and bring the mixture to a boil. Turn burner to low. When cherries are heated through and softened, use a potato masher to break them up.
  • Simmer mixture stirring frequently until the cherries are broken down and the sauce has reduced, (about 5 minutes). Add salt and pepper to taste.
  • Slice the pork loins width-wise on a bias and serve topped with the cherry sauce.
  • Note, top with the cherry sauce right before eating. The cherries will stain the meat if left sitting too long.

Step-by-step instructions with photos:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Wash and pat dry the pork loins. Season loins with dried thyme, and salt and pepper to taste.

season-pork-loins

Heat a wide pan over medium heat, (I used a Dutch oven). Melt 1 Tbs of butter in the pan. Brown the pork loins for 3 minutes on the fronts, three minutes on the backs, and then 2 minutes on each of the sides. You can prop the loins up against the sides of the pan, or you may need to use tongs to hold the loins in place as they brown.

brown-pork-sides-too

Turn off the burner, and transfer the browned pork loins to a foil-lined baking sheet. Insert a digital meat thermometer into the thickest part of the loin, and cook in a 350-degree oven until the loins reach 145 degrees, (about 20 min).

Thermometer-for-pork

Allow the loins to rest for 10 minutes; the temperature will continue to rise out of the oven, (mine reached 158 degrees). This produced “medium” pork loins with just a blush of pink inside.

Medium-Pork loin

While the pork loins are in the oven, prepare the cherry sauce in the same pan that was used to brown the pork. Set the burner to medium low, add 1 Tbs of butter and sauté the chopped shallot until it becomes translucent and fragrant, 2-3 minutes.

saute-shallots

Raise burner to medium, add the chicken broth and red wine. Deglaze the pan, scraping up the browned bits.

Stir in the mustard, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, and final tablespoon of butter.

Stir in the frozen cherries and bring the mixture to a boil. Turn burner to low. When cherries are heated through and softened, use a potato masher to break them up.

mash-cherries

Simmer mixture stirring frequently, until the cherries are broken down and the sauce has reduced, (about 5 minutes). Add salt and pepper to taste.

reduced-cherry-sauce for pork

Slice the pork loins width-wise, on a bias, and serve topped with the cherry sauce.

Pork-Loin-with-Cherry-Sauce

Note, top with the cherry sauce right before eating. The cherries will stain the meat if left sitting too long.

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Recipe Rating




10 comments on “Pork Loin with Cherry Sauce”

  1. 5 stars
    I made this last night and it was amazing! I'm not a good cook and this was very simple to make. I omitted the butter, used leeks instead of shallots and a Malbec red wine as I had those on hand.

  2. Will I be losing a lot of flavor if I don't use wine in this recipe? Alcohol makes me so sick even if not cooked out completely!

  3. I am assuming from the pictures that you used pork tenderloins for this recipe. However, you refer to them as pork loins. They are 2 different cuts of meat. That was a little confusing. However, this recipe looks great and I am adding it to my Sunday Dinner rotation.

Hi, I'm Caroline

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I love adding a whole, unprocessed and healthy twist to classic recipes.  My food is often grain-free, usually gluten-free, and always unprocessed.

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