Instant Pot Pork Tenderloin is an easy but impressive meal! It’s quick and easy enough to make for a busy weeknight meal, but impressive enough to prepare for family and friends! It turns out perfect every time!
We love Instant Pot Pork recipes! Some of our favorites include Instant Pot Pork Roast & Gravy and Instant Pot Apple Pork Chops.
INSTANT POT PORK TENDERLOIN
Pork Tenderloin is one of those dishes that seems a bit intimidating, but it’s just so good. When you know the secrets of how to work with it, it’s also really easy to make!
In the oven, pork tenderloin tends to have split results. It can dry out easily, but it can also come out perfect. With your Instant Pot, you no longer have to worry about whether your tenderloin will turn out – it’s the perfect appliance to use!
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PORK LOIN AND PORK TENDERLOIN?
A pork loin is a very large 8-10 pound slab of meat. A pork tenderloin is much smaller, at 1.5-3 pounds. The pork tenderloin is also much leaner, with little to no fat, similar to a chicken breast. I always thought that the two were interchangeable. Like pork loin, is someone being lazy and leaving the “tender” part of “tenderloin out. Nope, apparently not. They are two completely different cuts. I have a feeling you weren’t going to go and try to buy a big 10 pound slab of meat to stuff into your Instant Pot, but in case you were, lol, now you know not to.
CAN YOU COOK FROZEN MEAT IN AN INSTANT POT?
Uh-oh, did you forget to thaw the meat like I do all the time? I know the feeling and I’ve done a lot of research on if this is safe or not. The answer is: Yes, absolutely! I know, you’re probably worried about the bacteria growth. Thankfully, with the Instant Pot, it heats the frozen meat, or in this case frozen pork tenderloin, up quickly enough where you don’t have to worry about that. I typically just add an additional 5 minutes per pound of meat on to the cook time.
WHAT IS DIFFERENT ABOUT INSTANT POT PORK TENDERLOIN?
Gone are the days of having to babysit your tenderloin as it cooks in the oven, hoping that it will turn out well. Pressure cooking a pork tenderloin is the perfect solution to all that can go wrong with this dish!
Pressure cooking infuses flavor and helps to keep the meat from drying out (which can happen so easily with a lean meat like pork), and the quick cooking time makes sure that the tenderloin isn’t overcooked and that it is tender and juicy. All with little to no effort on your part! You’ll find that it turned out perfect!
CAN I CHANGE UP THE FLAVORS AND SAUCE WITH INSTANT PORK TENDERLOIN?
You certainly can! The recipe below is our family’s favorite, and I would recommend making it as written a few times first to get a good idea of how it works. If you would like to change the flavor profiles after that, feel free!
If you would like to give it an Asian flavor, a honey-soy glaze is delicious. If Italian is more your thing, Italian seasoning will work well with the savory pork! And if you’re looking for a Mexican dish, a salsa verde sauce would be delicious!
WILL INSTANT POT PORK TENDERLOIN FREEZE WELL?
This recipe freezes very well! We rarely have enough leftovers to freeze with this dish, but it works well as a freezer meal. Either way, I know you’ll want this recipe as a regular in your meal rotation!
WANT MORE EASY INSTANT POT RECIPES?
- Slow Cooker Italian Beef Soup Recipe
- Slow Cooker French Dip Soup
- Slow Cooker Tomato Ravioli Soup
- Slow Cooker Pizza Soup
Instant Pot Pork Tenderloin
Ingredients
- 3 pound pork tenderloin
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 3 Tbsp cornstarch
- 3 Tbsp cold water
Instructions
- Place pork tenderloin in bottom of Instant Pot.
- Combine spices and sprinkle generously over all of the pork tenderloin.
- Pour oil in Instant Pot. Saute pork tenderloin using the Saute function for a few minutes on each side.
- Remove tenderloin and pour chicken broth, lemon juice and soy sauce in. Be sure to scrape up any brown bits so that it doesn't trigger the burn notice on your Instant Pot.
- Place pork tenderloin back into Instant Pot and close lid and valve.
- Cook on Manual/Pressure Cook, high pressure for 15 minutes per pound of meat. (this is 45 minutes if you have a 3 pound tenderloin).
- Natural release the pressure, this can take about 20 minutes.
- Remove the pork tenderloin from Instant Pot and turn Instant Pot to Saute.
- Mix together cornstarch and cold water until there are no lumps and pour into Instant Pot.
- Cook for about 10 minutes on Saute and let cool. Gravy will thicken as it cools.
- Salt and pepper the gravy, if desired.
- Slice the tenderloin and serve gravy over sliced pieces of pork tenderloin.
Nutrition
MADE THIS RECIPE?
Show me what you made on Instagram or Facebook and tag me at @sidetrackedsarah or hashtag it at #sidetrackedsarah.
FAMILY HAPPENINGS FROM OUR FAMILY OF 9
Our family has been deep into spring time. We’ve been enjoying the outdoors quite a bit. We’ve been camping, the kids have broken out small pool for the yard AND Ryan and I try to go on a walk almost every day. We are blessed to live in the middle of a bunch of farm land where right now, all the wheat is growing. It’s all green, until the sun shines just right on it and it looks like it’s golden. It’s just beautiful! Here’s a picture from one of our recent walks.
