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.
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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
Tyler says
Followed the recipe closely although used two 1.25ish tenderloins. The flavor was delicious but it was wayyyy too much pepper for us! I can take heat (I add hot sauce to many things), but the pepper flavor was too overpowering and burnt my lips.
Will be saving this one but my recommendation is to halve the amount of ground black pepper.
Bernie says
> my recommendation is to halve the amount of ground black pepper.
This is exactly what I do and this recipe remains the “favorite meal” of my mother. Perhaps with packaged ground pepper 2 tsp is OK but with fresh ground pepper corns it’s way too much. I usual do 2 tenderloins because that’s how they are packaged. I’ve found using 50% more of the ingredients (except the pepper) works out to get the right amount of gravy and the gravy is the star of the dish. With our 8qt Instant Pot I don’t have to cut the pork tenderloins in half to brown them.
Adri says
Only 3 minutes!!
Well I just made this, I thought, well if it’s undercooked then I’ll just cook it some more, well let me tell you..! The thermometer actually came out higher than I would normally mark if made in the oven. So yes, 3 min cook, natural release, done!
Chrissy D says
Made the chops version of this once before and it was fantastic so I decided to do a pork loin for a Christmas Eve family treat!
Marie says
Outstanding
Charlene R says
I made this tonight. It turned out great! I am new to the instant pot world. Only the second dish I made. One last night and one tonight. I didn’t have any liquid smoke so I used smoked paprika and ancho chili powder. Fantastic! Like I said I am new to instant pot; I accidentally set the timer to 2.5 hrs ????. LUCKILY I was really watching it and noticed it was taking too long. Another thing that saved it was my roast was cold when I added it to the pot and I immediately released the steam. With all THAT it turned out perfect! Lessons learned!
Joyce says
My husband said “Hell yeh!” The whole family loved it. Love the addition of liquid smoke flavor. Will definitely use this recipe again!!
RecipeTeacher says
Hell yeah I love it! Thanks to you both!
Jennifer Giles says
I have a 4lb pork loin and would like to use this recipe. Cooking time? Cut loin? Double rub? double liquid? Thank you in advance!
RecipeTeacher says
Hi Jennifer. So a pork loin is a very different cut of meat than a pork tenderloin and cooks quite differently. That said, i’ve had success with pork loin roasts in an Instant Pot by using basically the same recipe, but increasing the cook time to around 25 minutes. However, I’ve not done enough testing to assure positive results.
Harriet Eisen says
Yes, this is about the best, easiest, fastest, tastiest pork tenderloin we have ever had. Just one question: since there are usually 2 tenderloins in a package, can they both be cooked at the same time, or do I have to do them consecutively? Obviously I would adjust the amount of seasoning, but I’m thinking that I could use the same amount of liquid. Suggestions?
Stephen says
I have used this recipe with two tenderloins and all I did was double the rug ingredients. I was able to get all four pieces (after cutting both in half) to fit in the bottom of the pot. I’m actually going to do it again tonight. Really love this recipe. You can also use this, modified, with the pre seasoned tenderloins. I don’t use the rug, but use the other steps to make the gravy.
Dawn Adams says
Oh my. This is soooo tasty and quite easy to prepare. I doubled the batch….used 3 pounds of pork loin tenderloin purchased from Costco. It came with two pieces, so I had 4 pieces when prepared.
I doubled all ingredients except the fluid. 1.5 times the liquid (so I would have adequate gravy).
Results….it does have a pepper bite, but we like it that eat. Gravy is super tasty. Served with small potatoes air fried in my IP Omni Plus.
Strongly recommend this recipe.
Bernie says
Made this 6-8 times now. Biggest complaint is nobody will let me try any other recipe for tenderloin! All our pork tenderloins are packaged 2 per and weigh in at 2.5#. I increase the amounts of everything by half except the pepper and corn starch. Both of those I do not increase the amounts. We like a little less pepper and more corn starch makes the gravy too thick.
We have the rub spice ratio down. We like a little less pepper than the original recipe. Experimenting with the cooking method. Last time I didn’t oil the meat before putting on the rub. Used oil this time and everyone agreed the sans oil rub method was better. It left a crust on the pork loin that was delicious
This time I put the pork on a trivet to keep it above the liquid. We’d had an issue with burning (8 qt Instant Pot), It cooked fine on the trivet. Honestly, don’t think it made a difference.. Might make more of a difference if I used the rub without oil. I was hoping for the crust all around. YMMV.
Liz says
This is OH, SO GOOD! I just bought my Instant Pot and this was my 2nd attempt at a pork tenderloin. Outstanding flavor, easy to make, and it was a HUGE hit! I’ll make this again and again. Thank you!!