With this brilliant, uncomplicated technique, lean and succulent pork tender cooks faster and more evenly. You'll love having this knife skill in your cheffy repertoire. Flattening out the meat prevents a raw center and gives you nice, crispy edges.
Easy-cooking pork tenders please all meat eaters from the health conscious to the hearty carnivore. A single, delicious three- to four-ounce serving supplies 17 to 24 grams of satisfying protein for less than 125 calories!
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Ingredients
- 1 pound (about) pork tenderloin
- 1 teaspoon garlic granules
- ½ teaspoon each, salt and cracked black pepper
All of these are easy to source; however, your tenderloin may have tough, silverskin connective tissue on the exterior. Ask the guys at the meat counter or your butcher to save you the time and trouble of removing this pesky membrane.
When purchasing tenderloins, consider the hog farm. Look for meat from local farmers and ranchers, or an operation that tends the hogs and the environment responsibly.
Names to look for in the meat department of your grocery store are, among others, Niman Ranch, Beeler's, and duBreton.
How to Butterfly a Tenderloin
Butterflying is when you cut a piece of meat down the middle to open it up as you would open a book and flatten it out, making it thinner.
On a large, clean cutting board (affiliate link), make a lengthwise slit down the center of the tenderloin, being careful not to cut all the way through. This cut is similar to the spine of a book.
You will now have a right and left flap. Push those open and flatten with the palm of your hand. You will not need to cut through the skinny, thin end of the tenderloin.
Cover the butterflied tenderloin with a sheet of waxed paper or plastic wrap and gently pound with a meat mallet (affiliate link) to even it out and make it perfectly flat.
It is now ready to season and grill/cook or to soak in a brine before cooking.
How to Grill
Place the flat tender on a clean work surface. If you've been soaking in brine, be sure to dry it well.
Dust each side with garlic granules and coarse-ground black pepper (affiliate link). Use some salt, too, if you did not brine the meat.
Alternatively, coat the meat with a dry spice rub. Try my Paprika Pork Rub, a savory blend of five spices you probably have in your pantry!
Let the meat sit and absorb the seasoning as the grill heats up. Apply high-heat non-stick spray, such as avocado oil (affiliate link), to the clean grill grates.
Place the fattier side of the tender, which was the exterior before you butterflied the meat, on a medium-high grill. Let cook until browned and crusty, about seven minutes.
Flip, turn the heat to medium-low, and cook another four to five minutes, until the center of the meat reaches an internal temperature of 145 F.
Be careful at this point! The meat can become overcooked in the blink of an eye. (Note: If you brined your tender, it will stay juicy even when cooked a little beyond 145 F.)
Remove the cooked meat to a cutting board with grooves (affiliate link) to catch any juice. Cover with a piece of foil and let it sit for a few minutes before slicing.
Flavor Boosters
Brine
Soaking in a brine, basically a salt solution, is an insurance policy for your thin butterflied tenderloin: It keeps it juicy and further tenderizes this already pliable piece of meat.
You can brine before or after butterflying. A whole, intact tenderloin needs to soak for four to six hours. After butterflying, it only needs two to three hours.
Simple brine recipe
1 quart (4 cups) water, 2 Tablespoons kosher salt, 1 Tablespoon maple syrup or honey. Additions include a halved garlic clove or two, black peppercorns, bay leaf, and any other whole, dried spices (star anise) that you are partial to.
Instructions:
Bring at least three cups of water to boil in an electric kettle or pot on the stovetop. Pour two cups of boiling water over the salt in a heat-proof container. Add the syrup or honey and stir until the salt dissolves.
(At this point, stir in any additions.)
Add enough ice to make four cups of liquid. Stir to dissolve the ice and cool the brine.
Place the tenderloin in a plastic bag or container large enough to hold six cups. Pour the cooled brine over and refrigerate. Pull the pork in brine out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before cooking so it has time to warm up.
Dry Rub or Basting Sauce
Applying a dry rub or spice crust to the outside of your tenderloin is an opportunity to create irresistible flavor. Butterflied tenders are much like a flank steak and take very well to any coating that amps their neutral taste with a flavorful element.
🍋Grocery store aisles are full of basting sauces from simple barbecue to lemon garlic to raspberry chipotle. The problem is that most of these sauces are heavy with salt and sugar.
If you've brined your tender, there's no need to add either.
Get a better result by seasoning to your taste with your favorite spices. Perhaps you're a fan of various chili powders. Maybe an Italian blend is your go-to. Or, how about Indian curry spices or the popular Garam Masala (affiliate link)?
My current favorite rub for pork is paprika-centric and contains sweet and hot paprikas, plus garlic granules, dried herbs, and pepper. If you don't brine the pork, you'll need to add salt.
Ways to Serve
Cut your grilled tender into thick slices and pair with a sauce, relish, or chutney, like Major Grey's (affiliate link). You can also simply drag slices through the meat juices on your cutting board.
Very thin slices are perfect when served atop a salad, perhaps a taco salad with corn and pepitas. These slices also make great tacos when loaded into tortillas and topped with fixin's like a mango-cilantro salsa, shredded cheese, or creamy coleslaw.
Good accompaniments include rice, corn on the cob, barbecue beans, coleslaw, broccoli, or perhaps, a soft roll to wrap around the pork slices.
Leftovers
If there are any leftovers, they will stay fresh in the fridge wrapped tightly for up to three days. Freeze for longer storage, up to three months.
Leftovers make yummy hot sandwiches. Slice thinly and load onto a bun with some cheese. Wrap in foil and heat in the oven or grill on a panini press.
Fried rice is a classic, next-day dinner that is delicious with pork tender, cut into small bits. Soup is another option. Chopped leftovers add protein and heft to a potato or vegetable soup.
How healthy is pork tenderloin?
💪🏽Other than protein, a necessary ingredient to build your muscles and bones, pork's chief virtue is that it's an excellent source of thiamin, also known as vitamin B1.
⚡This vitamin boosts energy production, assisting with the breakdown of ATP (adenosine triphosphate), the energy currency of the cell. It also supports the nervous system.
🧠Thiamin plays a role in protecting brain health and can help with balance, especially in people with heavy alcohol use.
Nutrition Speak: A good nutrient source offers 10% to 19% of the Daily Value. An excellent source provides 20% or more.
Pork is anti-inflammatory and a good-to-excellent source of many other B vitamins. It also supplies an abundance of minerals. It's an excellent source of selenium and a good source of zinc, and supplies some phosphorus and potassium.
Practical Dietitians rate this recipe as Good for Bones.
Learn more about the criteria.
🧂Intrinsically, pork contains a small amount of sodium, so it's important to exercise restraint when salting it, especially if you are on a sodium-restricted diet.
FAQ❓❔
You can broil a butterflied pork tender in the oven, or make it on the stovetop in a grill pan.
About 12 to 15 minutes is usually perfect. Start on higher heat (400° to 500°F) to get a nice sear, and when you flip it, turn the heat to low or move it to indirect heat.
Bear in mind that you need to respect the thickness or thinness of your tenderloin. If it's thin, grill for a shorter time over lower heat.
The pork should rest for a few minutes covered with foil to help it stay juicy, but I slice and serve after five minutes, so it doesn't get cold.
Stuffed pork tenderloins are elegant, and turning the pork into a thin sheet of meat by butterflying and pounding makes it perfect for this purpose. Check out this Mushroom Stuffed Pork Tenderloin recipe.
Other recipes you might like...
For all you pork lovers, here are a couple of recipes that aren't bacon! You won't believe the juicy, deliciousness of this garlic-studded Instant Pot Pork Loin Roast.
This rich pork stew with hominy corn, Pozole Verde y Rojo, goes beyond hearty with rich flavors of the Southwest.
If grilling is your everyday way to cook, give my Grilled Boneless Chicken Thighs a whirl. An Asian marinade adds tremendous flavor, and they are never dry!
Have you ever tried grilling tofu? These satisfyingly thick Grilled Tofu Steaks are both super delicious and super healthy!
Butterflied Pork Tenderloin, Grilled
Ingredients
- 1 pound pork tenderloin
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon garlic granules
- ½ teaspoon black pepper, coarsely ground
Instructions Start Cooking
- Wash hands thoroughly, lathering with soap and rinsing under running water before beginning prep.
- Place pork tender on a cutting board and slice halfway through the middle, lengthwise, being careful not to cut all the way through.
- Open the pork tender like a book. The cut through the center is the spine.
- Place a piece of plastic wrap or waxed paper over the open tenderloin. Pound gently with a meat mallet or use your hands to flatten.
- Remove the plastic or paper and season with garlic, salt, and pepper. Or use a dry rub, such my Paprika Pork Dry Rub.Note: If you have brined your tenderloin, do not apply any salt.
- Let the seasoned tenderloin sit at room temperature while the grill heats up. Apply oil or non-stick spray to grates. Note: Be sure that you turn off the grill after heating before oiling or spraying.
- Place tender on the grill over medium-high heat. After seven to eight minutes, flip the tender and turn the grill down. Cook for another six minutes. Meat is done when the internal temperature is 145 F. It will be slightly pink in the center.
- Let meat rest on a cutting board covered with foil for three to five minutes before slicing across the grain.
- Serve with mustard, chutney, and/or delicious meat juices.
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