Honey Glazed Pork Loin with Sweet Potatoes, Apple and Onion Medley
Hey ya’ll! Let me start by saying THANK YOU FOR MAKING NOVEMBER THE MOST SUCCESSFUL MONTH OF LIZEEANGEL EVER!!!! I was shocked at how many more people came to the site, signed up for the newsletter, made my recipes and posted all over social media. It really filled my heart with joy and makes me…
Hey ya’ll! Let me start by saying THANK YOU FOR MAKING NOVEMBER THE MOST SUCCESSFUL MONTH OF LIZEEANGEL EVER!!!! I was shocked at how many more people came to the site, signed up for the newsletter, made my recipes and posted all over social media. It really filled my heart with joy and makes me know I’m on the right path of providing recipes and other content to you all. Thank you thank you THANK YOU! Alright, now that that’s done, let’s get into this super succulent roast pork recipe. It’s a stunner that is elegant enough for the holiday season, but easy enough for a simple weeknight dinner.
THE INSPIRATION
The inspo for this really comes from visiting my grandparents in North Carolina, Big Mama and Big Daddy and on Sundays having roast pork. My Big Daddy cooked just as much as my Big Mama and he was good at it. This was one of his specialties. However, he’d always make a big pork shoulder that would cook all day and once the fat was rendered, would be an amazing fall-apart-tender piece of meat. With this recipe, I really wanted to capture the flavor in his pork, but in a much shorter amount of time. Sometimes we have all day to dinner and sometimes we make a quick store run with only about an hour to spare. This is perfect for those days. Because it’s roasted on a bed of veggies, it’s also nearly one pan and only requires a quick green veggie to make it a complete meal! More details just below!
THE DEETS
So this recipe is fairly simple. Because pork loin can either be great or terrible, with no in between, it’s important to build in as much flavor as possible before it goes into the oven. To do this, aggressively seasoning the outside and searing will make sure that the flavor is build up enough on the outside to be included in every bite! To further build up that flavor, we sear the outside. This builds up flavor through a chemical reaction called the Maillard reaction. I talk about this often, but what it is is a reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars so that you get a distinctive flavor of browned foods. This will ensure that even at roasting at a low temperature, we get a delicious flavor on our pork on all sides. The secret weapon of this dish, however, are the roasted veggies that sit underneath the pork. They get tender in the oven and serve as the starch component to the dish. The sweet potatoes, apples and onions play so well together, bringing together earthiness, sweetness and savoriness in one bite! To finish this off, the easiest glaze is made on the stove top and poured over when the pork comes out of the oven. It’s a well rounded bite that is so perfect for cold months and ready for dinner when you are! Now let’s get into the tips for making, so we can get this finished!
TIPS FOR MAKING
Besides searing the pork, this is really a one pan dish, so I want to emphasize the ease while providing a few tips for perfection when making this!
- Cut the pieces of apple and sweet potato as evenly as possible. The more even they are, the better they will cook and reach doneness at the same time!
- Don’t skip the searing step, trust me!!! This gives all sorts of flavor and I promise you, makes a delicious finished pork loin!
- Use a meat thermometer! They’re relatively inexpensive and it will ensure that your pork is cooked to perfection and won’t lead to a dry piece of meat.
Ok ya’ll, go on and make this dish. In fact, add it to your Christmas or New Year’s meal and prosper! I promise you won’t regret it!!
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Honey Glazed Pork Loin with Sweet Potatoes, Apple and Onion Medley
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 and place rack in center of the oven.
- In a roasting pan, place sweet potatoes, apples, onions, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp rosemary and 1/2 tsp thyme and garlic. Toss to combine. Add stock to vegetables and set aside.
- Combine remaining seasonings and sprinkle liberally over pork loin, being sure to rub into the meat to get it fully saturated.
- Heat 2 tbsp oil over medium-high heat and sear pork loin on all sides. You want to get browning all over, but you are not cooking it through.
- Place pork loin and all pan juices into the roasting pan with the veggies, allowing the pork to be propped up by the vegetables. Cover with foil
- Cook in oven for 40 mins. Uncover and add glaze (see next steps) and cook until an instant read meat thermometer reads 145 degrees.
- Remove from oven and allow meat to rest for 10-15 mins so that the juices can redistribute in the meat.
- Serve pork and veggie with juices in the pan spooned on top. Enjoy!
- Combine all glaze ingredients except butter into a sauce pan and allow to cook until the glaze begins to thicken and can cover the back of a spoon.
- Add butter and stir in until fully melted and distributed into the sauce. Set aside until ready to glaze.
