The delicious fun of making pork recipes in the Instant Pot continues as we make the Best Damn Instant Pot Pork Tenderloin. Tender, juicy and bursting with awesome flavor, then topped with a gravy made from the very juices the pork cooks in. It’s super easy to make and the whole thing is complete and on your plate in about 25 minutes.
Pork tenderloin is an extraordinary meat that is very lean, very tender, and always makes an excellent meal. Making pork tenderloin in the Instant Pot is not only super easy, the pressure cooking makes it so succulent and delicious, it’s my preferred way to make it.
The Best Damn Pork Seasonings
One of the most popular recipes on RecipeTeacher.com is The Best Damn Instant Pot Boneless Pork Chops. In that recipe we use a very simple rub and some chicken stock with a couple of added ingredients to make terrific pork chops. For this recipe, we’ll borrow the same basic ingredients with just a couple of modifications.
Make Sure It’s Pork Tenderloin and not Pork Loin Roast
Both cuts of meat can be right next to each other at the grocery store, but be aware that they are very different cuts of meat. Make sure the package clearly says “pork tenderloin”. It will be long and narrow, usually about 1.5 to 2.5 inches in diameter. I like to use the vacuum sealed packages that will say if the tenderloin contains a solution. This solution is the brine and is a big step saver and helps to keep the meat tender and juicy. So always keep an eye out for it – it’s the best buy.
Start with a Simple Rub
We start by cutting our pork tenderloin in half crosswise to have two equal lengths of meat. This will help the pressure cooking process. Then we add a rub of brown sugar, salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder and garlic powder. Fresh, course ground pepper is my choice to use and I like to go heavy on it. I personally love to use a peppercorn medley which consists of black peppercorns, pink peppercorns, green peppercorns, white peppercorns and coriander. The combination of peppercorns, especially when fresh ground creates such a wonderful flavor profile when combined with the other seasonings for this recipe. You can find peppercorn medley grinders in just about any supermarket spice section, usually very affordably too.
Prepare the meat
One of the keys to success is to let the meat sit out of the fridge for a bit. When meat goes right from the cold fridge to the hot pot, it is not going to be as good. Let the meat stay in its packaging on the kitchen counter for 15-20 minutes first. Then after unpackaging, rinse it under water and cut it in half. Coat it with some oil and apply the rub liberally. Set the Instant Pot to saute mode, and when hot, add the meat carefully and brown on all sides. This will take a total of about 5-7 minutes. Remove the meat, and press cancel. Then add the chicken stock and use a wooden spoon to deglaze the bottom of the pot. Make sure to scrape up all the little bits that have stuck to the bottom. This is important. If they’re not all scraped up, the pot can issue a burn notice when pressure cooking during the next step.
Pressure Cook Only 3 Minutes
After we’ve deglazed the bottom of the pot, we add some Worcestershire sauce and liquid smoke to the chicken broth. Then we place the pork tenderloin right into the liquid, secure the lid, make sure vent is set to “sealing”, and pressure cook on high pressure (manual on some cookers) for only 3 minutes. Yes, just 3 minutes. Then let the pressure naturally release. The NPR will take about 12-15 minutes.
When cooking in complete and pressure has naturally released, remove the pork and set on a plate for 5 minutes before slicing.
Make Some Gravy!
Once the meat is removed. Press cancel, then press saute. Scoop out about 3 tablespoons of the juices into a cup and add 2 tablespoons of corn starch. Mix it well and slowly pour it back into the pot. Everything will thicken nicely in about a minute. Press cancel and you’ve got an amazing gravy from the very juices from which we cooked our meat.
Print
Best Damn Instant Pot Pork Tenderloin
- Total Time: 13 minutes
- Yield: 2-3 servings
Ingredients
- 1 pork tenderloin, 1.25lb – 1.5lb
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons course ground black pepper (use less to taste preference – see note at bottom)
- 1 ¼ teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 cup chicken broth
- ½ tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke
Instructions
- Let pork tenderloin stay in package out of fridge for 15-20 minutes. Remove tenderloin from package and rinse and pat dry. Trim any visible fat. Cut tenderloin into 2 pieces of equal length.
- Coat each piece with about 1 teaspoon each of olive oil. In a small dish, combine all dry ingredients and mix well. Apply the rub liberally onto meat.
- Set Instant Pot to Saute mode. When hot, add meat and brown each side for a couple of minutes each. When all sides are browned, press Cancel and remove meat to a plate. Add the chicken stock to the pot and use a wooden spoon to scrape all the bits from the bottom of the pot. Add the Worcestershire sauce and liquid smoke to the chicken broth.
- Place meat directly into the liquid, secure lid, set the vent to “sealing”. Pressure cook (manual) on high pressure for 3 minutes. When cycle is complete, allow pressure to naturally release for 15 minutes. Remove meat to a plate and let sit for 5 minutes before slicing into pieces about ¼ inch thick.
- To make gravy: After removing meat, press Cancel, then press Saute. Scoop out 3 tablespoons of the liquid to a separate cup and add 2 tablespoons of corn starch. Mix well until corn starch is dissolved. Slowly pour mixture back into the liquid in the pot. Once it starts to boil, press cancel. Mix well and sauce will thicken into a delicious gravy.
Notes
If you’re normally sensitive to pepper, please feel free to use less to your personal taste.
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 3 min
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
Scott Schmaling says
Most delishious pork dish we have ever had!!
RecipeTeacher says
Thank you, Scott!!
Tracy Egger says
Success!!! Thank you -I’m terrible at making gravy and this came out perfect-the whole family loved it-my pork filet was almost 3 pounds so I doubled the seasoning, the liquid and cornstarch mixture. I cooked it for 4 minutes and it was juicy and tender-great recipe!!
RecipeTeacher says
Awesome!! Thanks for the feedback, Tracy!
Ray says
Turned out Perfect!
Amazing flavors!!
Thank you so much for your help!!
– Ray.
RecipeTeacher says
Awesome! Thanks for the feedback, Ray!
Ray J says
Hi Recipe Teacher,
Hope you have a moment to help me out. Got a 6Q Instant Pot and…
I’m about to use your recipe for 2.30lbs of Pork Loin Filet with red potatoes, onion, garlic, and mushrooms.
I read your answer to cook time should go to 25-30mins for filets.
With all the other ingredients, how long should I NR?
THANK YOU!!
A very amateur cook,
– Ray J.
RecipeTeacher says
Hi Ray. Let the pressure release for 15 minutes. If it’s not already released at that point, go ahead and quick release the rest. Let me know how it turns out!
Ashleigh says
Should I wait until it’s thawed, or can I put it in frozen and adjust the time and do this tonight?
RecipeTeacher says
Hi Ashleigh. Doing it thawed allows you to do as the recipe intends with the browning stage. Which, is pretty essential to the overall flavor of the dish.
Donna says
I have the tenderloins that are already seasoned.The vacuum pack..It’s the teriyaki flavor. How would I do that one and with what kind of liquid
RecipeTeacher says
Hi Donna. So In that case, still brown it. Then place it on the trivet with 1 cup of water or broth in the pot for 3 minutes.
Alex says
YUM! I read a bunch of the comments before making this to see any tips/tricks and I’m glad I did because I actually had a 2.5lb pork loin, not a tenderloin. I followed the recommendation to increase the cooking time to 20 minutes, with 10 minutes natural release and it was almost perfect! Next time I would go 18 & 10 I think, but otherwise it was amazing. I still halved my pork like the recipe said to help it cook evenly, and because my roast was roughly double the size, I doubled all the ingredients and it was PERFECTION. A few reviews said it had too much pepper, but I disagree and think it was spot on. The one ingredient addition I did make was adding about 1/4 teaspoon to the gravy for some kick, and I strained the gravy to have it nice and smooth. My husband said we should add it to our recipe speed dial, lol! We loved this recipe so much we didn’t even make it to the table, we just stood in kitchen and devoured it. Definitely will be making this again, many times! Thank you for an amazing recipe!
RecipeTeacher says
That’s awesome, Alex!! Thanks so much for the feedback!
Sandy Jo Zinschlag says
I made the pork tenderloin for guests the other night. Two of them went out and bought an Instant Pot. Everyone thought they were amazing and best they ever had. Thank you!
Marele says
NOTE: This is not a review of the exact recipe above, which seems to be by all accounts an excellent recipe. But I see a lot of people asking about using a ‘pork loin filet’ for this recipe and I hope this comment is allowed in order to clarify why everything about the phrase ‘pork loin filet’ is terrible.
I impulse-bought a 1.5 pound “pork loin filet” package because it looked like something I could dump into my instantpot with some vegetables for a socially distanced July 4th party of one. (For clarity, this was the package: https://www.hormel.com/AlwaysTender/MesquiteBarbecuePorkLoinFilet). Before cooking it, I googled “is pork loin filet pork loin or pork tenderloin” – foolishly thinking this was a simple question – and one of the first results (“How to cook pork tenderloin in the instant pot – Make Your Meals”) states that pork tenderloin “is sometimes called a pork loin filet, pork tender, or pork filet”. Satisfied that this was verified fact (Spoiler: “It’s on the internet, it must be true!” is not a great basis for making safe cooking decisions), I looked up ‘pork tenderloin’ instant pot recipes and found this one, which I proceeded to follow.
After seasoning, browning, deglazing, and setting my instant pot for 3 minutes, I sat down and scrolled through the comments and saw the recipe author responding to fools like me who tried to use this recipe with a ‘pork loin filet’ that a ‘pork loin filet’ should actually require 20-25 minutes, not 3 minutes. Alarmed, I went back to my google search and texting people frantically to figure out if ‘pork loin filet’ really was ‘pork loin’ rather than ‘pork tenderloin’. Here’s the summary of what I found:
1. Pork loin filet is just pork loin cut in the shape of pork tenderloin (source: reddit)
2. Pork tenderloin, pork loin, and pork loin filet are NOT the same thing and each require different cooking times based on size (source: Southern Bite)
3. Pork loin filet is NOT pork tenderloin. Pork tenderloin and pork loin are cuts from two different parts of the hog. (Renee’s Kitchen Adventures)
4. A filet is its own type of cut – it means ‘small’ and ‘should take less time’ and I should’ve taken meat judging in 4H when I had the chance, duh. (source: my mother)
5. If it’s a pound then it is a tenderloin and if it’s 5-6 pounds it is a loin (source: friend who cooks)
6. Okay fine, maybe a filet isn’t a specific kind of cut and you hated 4H but the cooking time is based only on the weight of the meat, not the type of meat, so if whatever you have is the same size as a pork tenderloin you can cook it for the same 3 minutes as a tenderloin (source: my mother, again).
Anyway, the 1.5 lb pork loin filet came out of the instant pot after 3 minutes looking… fine? Good, even? I don’t know how pork loin filet is supposed to look. (This is the part where a smart person would check it with a meat thermometer. When I decided to start cooking meat last month, I bought a digital meat thermometer and realized after using it once that I probably couldn’t sanitize it in a dishwasher because, you know, it’s digital. I felt similarly weird about running it under water – the battery compartment wasn’t water-tight – so I sort of rubbed hand sanitizer on it and then was never again satisfied that it wasn’t harbouring e coli and ended up tossing it. So I have no thermometer. Dear reader, I hope you make better choices than me.)
I cut off 1 inch of the pork loin filet at the end and it looked normal and fully cooked and was hot. No one I had texted had any firm answers for me so, to be safe and scientific, I put the rest of the pork back in the instant pot for another 10 minutes (figuring the full natural pressure release at the end of 2 cook times, rather than just 1, would probably bring it to a total cook time of 20 minutes?) and then took it out and this 13 minute version was… probably better? But in the meantime, after hearing from my mother that all that mattered was the size of the meat and that 3 minutes was probably correct for a 1.5 lb cut, I ate the 1 inch of the 3 minute pork loin filet because it tasted fine as well. Jury’s out on whether I die of trichinosis by Monday.
I hope that this helps anyone else who foolishly bought a ‘pork loin filet’ thinking that the internet would tell you exactly what a ‘pork loin filet’ is. Nobody knows what a ‘pork loin filet’ is. All we know is that it’s almost certainly not the same as a ‘pork tenderloin’. Maybe you can cook ‘pork loin filet’ for 3 minutes if it’s only 1.5 lbs and maybe you need another 20 minutes because it’s only a ‘loin’ cut despite the tenderloin size – who knows? Not science! Not google! Certainly not my mother. The only thing we know for sure is that I should own a meat thermometer.
RecipeTeacher says
This is all great information. Yes the wording on the cuts can sometimes be tricky. Pork tenderloin will always say “pork tenderloin”. Everything else, simply put, is not. Some may look similar – such as “pork loin filet”, but it’s a different piece of meat.
Danielle says
You are hilarious, and thank you for taking the time to explain the difference between a “pork tenderloin” and a “pork filet”. I had no idea!
Barbara Lopez says
Asked hubby what he wanted for his Father’s Day dinner and he said ‘that tenderloin’. This is the second time I made it and it came out better than the first. The meat was super moist and tender and the gravy was delicious. Told my sister about and she agreed this is ‘The Best Dam Tenderloin’.
RecipeTeacher says
Thank you for the feedback, Barbara. And happy Father’s Day to your husband!!