Stuffed Pork Loin

Square photo of a pork loin with stuffing in it on a platter with kale on the side

Introducing stuffed pork loin - the perfect roast to tantalize your taste buds! Whether you're hosting a dinner party or simply looking for something delicious to make on a weeknight, pork roast is sure to be an absolute hit.

Course Dinner

Cuisine American

Keyword baked pork loin, pork loin recipe, stuffed pork loin

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 1 12

Resting time 10

Total Time 1 32

Servings slices

Calories 234kcal

Author Elaine Benoit

Equipment

Ingredients

Vegetables

2 tablespoons olive oil (extra virgin)
1 small onion (or half of a large onion - chopped in small pieces)
1 teaspoon sea salt
4 garlic cloves (crushed)
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
6 mushrooms (baby portobello - chopped small)
2 cups baby spinach (chopped medium/small)

Pork and layering the filling

3.25 pounds pork loin (blot dry with paper towels)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1/2 cup walnuts (chopped)
1/4 cup shredded Mexican cheese
1 teaspoon thyme (ground)
1/4 large apple (chopped small)

Instructions

As you cook the onion, use that time to chop the other vegetables to save time.
Heat a large sauté pan on medium heat. Once that heats up, add olive oil. Once the oil shimmers, add the chopped onion and sauté for 7 minutes or until translucent. Stirring occasionally.
2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 small onion
Add salt, pepper, crushed garlic and stir and cook for 1 minute.
1 teaspoon sea salt, 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, 4 garlic cloves
Add mushrooms, stir and cook for 2 minutes.
6 mushrooms
Add chopped spinach, thyme, and stir and cook for 1 minute or until the spinach wilts. Set aside to deal with the pork.
2 cups baby spinach, 1 teaspoon thyme
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Unwrap the pork and place it on its side on a cutting board. Take a sharp knife and butterfly the meat - cut it on the equator but not all the way through. Leave an inch between the edge and where you stop cutting. Open it like a book and place it back on the cutting board.
3.25 pounds pork loin
Most likely the pork won't be equal thickness so place a few pieces of plastic wrap on the pork, take a meat tenderizer and pound it with the side of the meat mallet until the thickness looks more uniform.
Sprinkle on kosher salt, garlic powder and spread the mustard evenly on the pork.
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
Sprinkle on the shredded cheese, walnuts, and apple chunks.
1/2 cup walnuts, 1/4 cup shredded Mexican cheese, 1/4 large apple
Lastly, spread on the vegetable mixture. Fold the pork back on itself like a book and secure it with either some metal skewers like I did, or use kitchen twine.
Place the pork on the rack of the roasting pan with the fat cap facing up. Add the meat thermometer, and bake for 70 - 80 minutes. The internal temperature should be 145 degrees Fahrenheit.
When it's done, tent a few pieces of aluminum foil over the pork and let it rest at least 10 minutes before cutting the meat.
Slice
Serve
Enjoy

Notes

Helpful tips

I'm using a roasting pan with a rack, but if you don't have one, you can lay the stuffed pork on a few sliced onion wheels to keep it off the bottom of the pan.

I didn't make gravy with this recipe but feel free to make it if you prefer as there will be tasty drippings.

Line the pan with aluminum foil to catch any pan drippings and to make clean-up easy.

You can omit the cheese if you prefer, but two good choices are shredded cheddar cheese or Mexican cheese.

Sometimes I add fresh bacon crumbles to my stuffed pork recipe and when I do, I add them just before the apples.

My stuffing doesn't have any breadcrumbs, so this recipe is gluten-free. You can also make it Whole30 compliant by omitting the shredded cheese.

My onion was large so I only used half, but if you have a small onion, use the whole thing.

As the onion is cooking, you will multi-task by chopping the mushrooms, preparing the garlic, and chopping the spinach.

If you use pork tenderloin instead of roast pork, cooking time to reach the correct internal temperature will be shorter than what I state in this recipe.

You will be 'butterflying' the pork loin which means you will cut across the equator without cutting all the way through. You will be able to open the pork like a book.

Here's how to cut the meat. Placed the pork on its side on a cutting board and carefully cut down the middle with a sharp knife until you reach about an inch from the edge of the meat.

Most likely, after cutting the pork, it won't be the same thickness throughout the meat. You will have to pound it with the side of a meat tenderizer to even it out so it cooks evenly.

To lessen the mess when tenderizing, I open the pork on the cutting board and place sheets of plastic wrap on top. I take the meat tenderizer and gently pound any lumps or uneven sections out of it.

I chose not to roll the pork in a tight cylinder. Instead, I folded it like a book. You can either truss the pork up with kitchen twine, or you can do as I did and use metal skewers.

Since I used the wireless meat thermometer, I couldn't place it in the meat from the side because I was stuffing the roast. But, I made sure the thermometer didn't poke through the bottom of the roast.

You will place the trussed pork on to rack with the fat side facing up.

You can store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week and in the freezer for 2 months.

Nutrition