Looking to elevate your weeknight dinner game? Dive into this succulent balsamic pork loin recipe that’s a cinch to make but tastes like a gourmet masterpiece. With its sweet and tangy glaze, it’ll have your taste buds doing a happy dance in no time!
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This recipe is…
Pork loin is relatively low fat, so it inherently won’t be as flavorful as, say, a pork shoulder. Here, we make up for that by searing the pork loin to create our first layer of flavor, then we slather a quick balsamic sauce over top that can also be reserved for dipping. Finally, we roast it alongside onions, garlic, and thyme to infuse it with flavor as it cooks.
This balsamic pork loin roast is perfect for a Sunday dinner, great for company, and would even make for a fantastic main course for any special occasion meal!
Looking for more show stopping mains? We’ve got you. Try our slow roasted leg of lamb, herb crusted prime rib roast, or herbed goat cheese stuffed pork loin.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s perfectly cooked – because this recipe calls for cooking the pork loin to a certain temperature (145°F), it’s a good idea to use a meat thermometer when cooking the pork so that it is perfectly juicy.
- It’s impressive but easy – for being an absolute showstopper, this recipe is REALLY easy.
Balsamic Pork Loin Recipe Ingredients
You’ll need a handful of ingredients for the balsamic glaze, veggies to accompany the roast, and the pork roast itself. Find ingredient notes (including substitutions and swaps) below.
- Coconut aminos – this recipe calls for 3 tablespoons of coconut aminos. If you’ve never purchased them before, they can usually be found either in the health food aisle or near the soy sauce at your local grocery store.
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Recipe Variations and Modifications
- Omit any of the veggies – this recipe calls for carrots, onion, potatoes, and mushrooms, and any of the three can be omitted. If you want to make just the pork loin, you can omit all of the veggies.
How to Make Balsamic Pork Loin Roast
As mentioned above, this recipe is incredibly easy for how impressive it is. Here’s the full how-to:
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 325°F. Whisk together the ingredients for the balsamic glaze.
Step 2: Heat olive oil a large, oven-safe lidded pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions, whole garlic cloves, and carrots and cook 3-4 minutes per side until browned and remove from the pan.
Step 3: In a small bowl, combine the salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and season the pork roast liberally.
Step 4: Add the pork roast to the pan, and brown for 5-6 minutes on one side, then flip.
Step 5: Spoon the balsamic glaze over the pork roast, then add the onions and garlic back to the pan, along with the potatoes, mushrooms, broth, and thyme sprigs.
Step 6: Place the lid on the pot and bake at 325°F for 1 hour, or until the center of the pork roast reaches 145°F.
Step 7: Remove the roast from oven and let sit for 15 minutes before slicing, then serve!
Recipe Tip
Our BIGGEST tip when cooking any sort of protein is to use a meat thermometer. Trust us when we say that this ~$20 investment will make such a huge impact on all of your future protein endeavors. Using a meat thermometer allows you to pull your meat from the oven when it’s at the PERFECT temperature so that it is always moist and juicy and never, ever dried out.
How to Serve
Serve your pork loin sliced alongside the veggies for a complete meal. If you want to add one more component, a simple arugula side salad would be an excellent choice.
How to Store and Reheat
Store any leftover pork loin and veggies in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
When you’re ready to reheat it, simply pop the leftovers in the microwave for 1-2 minutes or in a skillet on the stovetop (medium heat) for 7-8 minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
A MEAT THERMOMETER! Seriously. We believe that an in-oven meat thermometer makes all the difference when it comes to juicy, perfectly-cooked proteins.
We think that covering the pork tenderloin while roasting makes for the juiciest roast.
145°F is what we always cook our pork to. Use an in-oven thermometer to determine the temperature of your pork loin and pull it out of the oven at the right time.
If you tried this Balsamic Pork Loin or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below!
Balsamic Pork Loin Roast with Vegetables
Ingredients
For the balsamic glaze:
- ¼ cup Dijon mustard
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 3 tablespoons coconut aminos
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder
For the pork loin and vegetables:
- 1, 3-4 pound pork loin
- 1/2 tablespoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 onion, cut into 6 wedges
- 4 cloves garlic
- 4 carrots, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 2 pounds fingerling potatoes
- 1 pound cremini mushrooms
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 5 sprigs fresh thyme
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- Whisk together the ingredients for the balsamic glaze.
- Heat olive oil a large, oven-safe lidded pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions, whole garlic cloves, and carrots and cook 3-4 minutes per side until browned and remove from the pan.
- In a small bowl, combine the salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Season pork roast liberally with the salt and pepper then add to the pan. Brown 5-6 minutes on one side, then flip.
- Spoon the balsamic glaze over the pork roast, then add the onions and garlic back to the pan, along with the potatoes, mushrooms, broth, and thyme sprigs.
- Place the lid on the pot and bake at 325°F for 1 hour, or until the center of the pork roast reaches 145°F.
- Remove the roast from oven and let sit for 15 minutes before slicing, then serve!
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
This looks delicious, is there a way to cook this in the slow cooker instead of the oven?
The typical slow cooker rule of thumb is 4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low! Should work!!
Am I missing something?? I see the recipe says prep time of 9 hours, but I can’t find anywhere on the web page where it references a 9 hour prep for the pork? Is this a mistake?
You’re not missing anything, Samantha! Some of our cooking times got messed up when we transitioned to the new website. Thanks for catching this one – it’s fixed now!
Maybe it was me but I did not see when to add the chicken broth? I love this website!
Hi Killian! I am glad you are loving the website! You add the chicken broth in step 4 (with the onions, garlic, potatoes, mushrooms, and thyme), after you spoon the balsamic glaze over the pork roast. It can be easy to overlook there! We will look at updating the recipe card. Thank you! ~Melissa
I made the pork roast only and it was delicious! I did reduce the balsamic glaze in a small pan on the stove before pouring over the pork roast because I thought it would be too thin otherwise and not stick. The flavors were great and will definitely make again!
So glad you enjoyed it Kristen!
I don’t know if it’s my phone but I don’t see the number of thyme sprigs to add and the garlic powder is in the list of ingredients for the glaze rather than the pork salt mixture. I just guessed on the thyme sprigs so hopefully it comes out well!
Hi Joann, it should be 5. The recipe is updated now!
I also have the same problem when I go to print.
Hi Cassy,
I’m definitely making this, looks amazing. Just a quick comment on your recipes though, and maybe this is just me and my 49 year old eyes, but whenever I print them, they end up with such small font I can barely read the words…not sure if it’s just my computer or what’s going on but I’ve just started copying them and pasting into a word document that I can enlarge, but I thought I’d let you know. Thanks for the great recipes!!
Hi Robin! We are actually working on a full site re-vamp so we’ll make sure to keep the size of the printed recipes in mind as well!