Roast Pork Tenderloin w/ Apple Sage Jus

Prepare esta receta, y esta muy buena, solo que no puse la hierba que se le agrega al final de la salsa de manzana, porque no la encontre en los ingredientes. La acompane con unas rodajas de pinas que ase junto con la carne de cerdo. Gracias, esta muy buena.

I made this for a recent dinner party and it not only tasted fabulous, but the presetation was spectacular - everyone was wowed by it.

I love to entertain, but also like spendng time with my guests. If there are any steps that can be completed ahead of time, they would be appreciated. How about the sauce for instance, right up until the cornstarch? Could the tenderloins be seared and set aside for roasting later? Thank you

The brining can be done 1 or 2 days in advance and yes the pork tenderloins can be seared ahead and then refrigerated. Just bring them to room temperature again before cooking them in the oven. I don't think I would make the sauce ahead, as the apples and onions would suffer a bit. But you can slice the onions, but I would wait to slice the apples. The polenta is a good one to make ahead. If you go to the recipe for polenta there are even tips for making it ahead. The green bean recipe also has tips for making them ahead. You can blanch them and place into an ice bath and even prepare the mise en place for them. I am all for having fun when guests arrive so I hope that helps.

My family loved this. I did not review any of the prep before comments, but plan to make this for a dinner party in a week, and didnt want the smell of the browning in the house. Now I will be able to prep the day before. Cant wait to serve this to my guests. Served with a garlic/chesey mashed potato(not on site) and the roasted carrots with balsamic vinegar(on site). Dinner was a hit, and my fiance wants me to stop working and just stay home in the kitchen. I would love to, but dont want to just eat mac and cheese. Thanks for this recipe and this site. I look forward to trying many new dishes, and entertaining many times over in my new kitchen, with this new found site. S

Can this recipe be adapted for a pork loin roast? I bought one at the store the other day because it looked fantastic and was at a good price, but I'm at a loss as to what to do with it.

You sure could use this recipe for the roast. The only difference would be that the cooking time will just be a bit longer. Cook the loin to the same temperature as the pork tenderloin and make sure to let it rest for at least 15 minutes or so before slicing it. I think this would be a great thing to do with the pork loin, as pork and apples are the best of friends! Hope this helps - dawn

I'm in Canada, so to me apple cider is an alcoholic beverage (think Strongbow) - but I know that it means something else in the States. Which version are you looking for in this recipe? and if you're using the US meaning, can I substitute apple juice? many thanks

This recipe is referring to the apple cider that is like strong apple juice (not like Strongbow cider)...and yes you sure could use apple juice instead.

When brining a day or two in advance, does the pork remain in the brine or do you brine for 2 hours then remove the pork, pat dry and store in the fridge? Thanks for the clarification!

Definitely do not leave in the brine. Remove it and store in the refrigerator. For more details and to learn the basics of brining, watch the lesson on How to Brine. Good luck!

This pork tenderloin recipe is definitely one of my favourites. It never fails to WOW our family and guests alike. Thanks so much for sharing your expertise with us all. Your recipe site is a winner. Go Canada Go! Helen B

The recipe looks great - what would be a suitable red? I'm thinking Pinot Noir - but I would love to hear your thought and if you have any specific suggestions. Thank you, Matthew

Hi Matthew, I am no pro with wine selections, but I do love to drink it! :) I often turn to my trusty book called “What to Drink with What You Eat" by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page. It breaks down the wines that pair well with particular foods and highlights the grapes that go best. For this dish, they recommend a light-bodied Pinot Noir or Zinfandel. Your instincts were right. Hope this helps! Happy Cooking!

Step 3: "While the pork is cooking in the oven, peel, core and slice the onions. Next peel and wedge the apples into 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch wedges." Are onions and apples reversed in these two sentences? The pork is brining now. I'm excited for my christmas dish!

Sorry about that...the order is correct (as per the video); however the words were a bit mixed up. The text has been fixed now...slice the onions and then peel, core and wedge the apples. Thanks for keeping us on our toes :-) Enjoy your dinner and don't forget to let the pork rest before you slice it. Happy Cooking!

There is no true substitute for sage as it has a very unique taste; however if you find any you can either just leave it out or maybe use a bit of fresh thyme instead.

So glad that you liked the pork. Brining really does make a difference. To answer your question, the significant difference between a marinade and brine is that salt is the key element of a brine. Brining also involves osmosis to exchange the liquid from the brine with the moisture inside the meat. Marinating on the other hand uses acidity to break down (denature) the texture of the meats surface. For more information on brining I suggest watching the cooking school lesson on How To Brine. Cheers!

most excellent recipe...had friends over and we killed the pork...added smoked mozarella to the polenta...great flavor combination with the apples and the pork...ate with a wonderful bottle of albarino...made for a good night...

I am embarrassed to say that I did so many things differently, yet my pork turned out wonderful! Went to the supermarket a couple of hours ago and bought butterfly pork steaks for dinner. I didn't have time to brine the pork, merely seasoned it with salt and pepper and pan fried the pork using the flip often method which I learned from this website. Couldn't find fresh sage and cider vinegar, hence I had to make do with whatever ingredients I had on hand, i.e. half a bottle of white wine, chicken stock, onions and Fuji apples. And to my amazement, it turned out well! The pork was tender and juicy and the sauce was slightly tangy and light. I am sure this dish will taste phenomenal with brining and the addition of fresh sage and vinegar. Will definitely prepare it again when I get hold of all the ingredients listed in the recipe!:)

I didn't notice any Kosher salt being added during "Step 3: Making the Sauce", although the text indicates 1/2 tsp Kosher salt. Can someone clarify?

The salt is used more "to taste" in the sauce. We recommend letting the sauce reduce first and then taste it for seasoning (salt). For more info on pan sauces, watch the cooking school lesson on How to Make Pan Sauces. Cheers!

Thanks so much for the clarification, Dawn. :-)

In "Step 3: Making the Sauce" I noticed that the text recipe calls for grapeseed oil. Only a few days ago, I believe the recipe indicated to use olive oil. Is grapeseed oil absolutely essential for this sauce, or would it be OK to substitute olive oil? Thanks for your help.

Any neutral flavored oil that has a high smoke point will do. So in short, yes olive oil will also work. Cheers!

This is probably not the proper place for this question. I would like to make Tripe a la Mode de Caen. I have tried this dish in Wash. DC and found it delicious. The recipe that I have calls for calves foot. Cannot get it around here. Any good substitutes? Also I would like recommendations for French cookbooks. I have 2 vols. of Julia, Paul Bocuse, etc. Any others/ Jorge

I would start a new thread (one for the first question and one for the second question) instead of asking it here as this is a thread about this particular pork dish and these questions will get lost in here. Cheers!

What type of white wine do you recommend using for the apple sage jus?

Essentially you are making a pan sauce so really you can use which ever you like. For more information, I encourage you to watch the cooking school lesson on How to Make a Pan Sauce. Cheers!

Right now I'm living in Romania and they don't seem to have cornstarch here. Is there something that I can use as a substitute?

Here is a good link that provides plenty of substitutes. Cheers!

Hi! I was planning on brining the pork tonight and cooking it tomorrow. Unfortunately I forgot it in the fridge and left it in the brine for 4 hours! Is there any way to save it, or am I doomed to pork that will be too salty? Thanks! Jon

If you have done a high salt solution then yes indeed it may be too late for Mr. Pork; however if you did a lower salt solution then you maybe okay. Your best bet is to cut off a small piece of pork (do not salt it any further, of course) and then just cook it and try it to see if it tastes too salty. Hope this helps Jon - cheers!

Seven at night, crazy week and we remember that we have pork tenderloin in the fridge that has to be cooked tonight. Rouxbe! Found this recipe and sorry to say, did not brine the pork, it would be too late. It still came out moist and delicious, restaurant quality. The sauce was perfect, just the right touch of sweetness. We had a side of a quinoa salad. I really think that I am starting to get this cooking thing...lol.

I made this dish and it turned out beautifully. However, I brined the pork for 2 hours and when I tasted it alone, it was a bit salty. I will make a note to try 1 1/2 hours next time. Also, I'm not sure if I was supposed to reduce the sauce before thickening it? I did simmer it hard for almost 10 minutes before adding the cornstarch slurry. I ended up adding just as much again to make it more of a gravy type sauce. Whatever I did or didn't do well this time, the resulting dish still tasted wonderful!

Yes, you should reduce the sauce by about half (Step 3 from 1:25 to 1:30) before thickening it with the cornstarch. By reducing the sauce, you will concentrate the flavors. This is a pan sauce, so it is worth reviewing the lesson on How to Make a Pan Sauce. Once you understand these key steps in building a pan sauce, you won't have to question yourself when you tackle another recipe. Glad you enjoyed your dinner! Cheers!

I made this last night for dinner. The end result was good but the road getting there was a bit rocky. My tenderloins were quite big so they took quite sometime to brown. I had to deglaze several times as the sucs burned. The sauce took quite awhile to reduce as well. I thought I was in for a complete failure but somehow it all came together right at the end. It was quite salty though so next time I may only brine for about a hour. Plus I added salt to the tenderloins before browning so I will omit that step next time as well. Just can't seem to keep my sucs from burning. Heat was at medium high to medium so I don't think it's heat control it's more the length of time I feel. All in all another learning experience and a great dish!

Nice work, Keith! Keep on practicing and making tweaks to suit your tastes - it'll get easier and easier. Cheers!

I would like to make this with just one tenderloin. If I make all the brine and sauce will the unused portions keep in the frig or freezer for use with something else at a later date? Thanks.

Personally, I would just cut down the whole recipe as you will not have the same ratios. Meaning you won't get the same amount of sucs from the pork to make the sauce if you only cook one tenderloin. Cheers!

Can I do this recipe with leg pork instead of tenderloin?

Yes, you can replace the pork tenderloin with leg of pork. You will of course have to adjust the roasting time as the leg will obviously take a lot longer than a tenderloin to cook. Cheers!

Wow, this turned out fantastic! I'd have to say it's the best of all the recipes I've tried so far! I will definitely make this a lot!

Thank you Rouxbe for an incredible video recipe! Was a huge hit!

This was delicious! I have never brined pork before but will from now on! It is just my husband and me so I cut the recipe in half and it worked well. Two questions: I had to use almost double the amount of cornstarch to thicken my sauce. Could this be attributed to the fact that I live at a high altitude (Denver)? My second question is that I forgot to buy fresh sage. I was going to try and substitute dried sage but after I finished and put the meal on the table, I realized I forgot to put in the dried sage!!! Can the dry be substituted for the fresh? Even without the sage it was awesome. Moist and delicious. Thanks Rouxbe!

Not sure that altitude plays a factor into the thickening of the cornstarch. My only guess is that you need to make sure the sauce comes to a boil so it activates the thickening power. If you didn't bring the heat high enough, it won't thicken to it's potential. In terms of dried vs. fresh sage, that is fine...it's usually 1 tsp dried = 3 tsp fresh (check out the Herbs lesson for more information). Hope this helps! Cheers!

I freeze my sage when I bring it in from the garden and do not thaw before use and this works for me if you were to buy it I am sure you could freeze what you do not use for another time. I do not throw anything away. This is a great recipe for pork as we are pork producers and any pork recipe is my favorite. My main thing is DO NOT OVERCOOK your pork for flavor and tenderness. I love this cooking school. Fern

I made this again for my husband and a dinner guest. This time I actually remembered to buy fresh sage. WOW! I thought it was good before but with the sage it was awesome!!! I also got the cornstarch mixture right this time. My husband and guest were thrilled with the dish. Another Rouxbe hit!!!!

I made this this weekend for my wife. Her general reaction to food that I make is "It's good". That's it. She is more of a food for sustenance kind of person. I'm really trying to expand her palette as well as mine. So I scaled this down for one pork loin. Served it with fresh mashed potatoes and steamed baby carrots. Also I made a fresh sun dried tomato and basil bread to go with it. Wow. I got an "OMG honey this is awesome." The flavor of the fresh sage and granny smith apples really work together. I will def. be making this again. Thanks Rouxbe for the inspiration.

Great recipe with amazing flavor. I ran into trouble with browning the loin though. I just bought an all-clad frying pan and I brought it up to temperature using the water bead method. When I added the olive oil and then the butter, the butter browned and blackened almost immediately. I switched over to canola oil - recognizing I am probably sacrificing some flavor - which didn't burn as fast, but it was still a challenge to find the exact temperature where the loin browned on all four sides, and the sucs didn't burn. Was the water bead method too much heat for the butter?

When pan frying, it is best to use a fat with a high smoke point. Olive oil can smoke quickly and butter can burn easily. If the oil that you add starts to smoke, then your pan is too hot. Make sure to review the lesson on Pan Frying. Also, practice makes perfect so keep at it. Cheers!

Made this dish but used pork loin chops and sccaled the sauce back for two. No leftovers, served with sauteed carrots and brown rice. Just great.

I'm hearing "add the maple syrup" in the audio but don't see it listed in the ingredients or see it in video... My imagination? how much would you use?

Good catch! I usually add a few tablespoons of maple syrup to the brine, but it is optional. It just gives the pork a little extra hint of flavor and sweetness. Cheers!

Hi Dawn, I just tried this recipe and it turned out excellent! I did a minor modification to the sauce by adding 1 tbsp of brown sugar which I thought balanced the tartness of the green apples... The brine made the meat very moist and extremely flavourful, the maple syrup in the brine was definitely the secret ingredient that gave it that extra depth of flavour. I did have one problem though, once I pulled out the tenderloin, I did pat dry it, however, when I put into the pan to sear, a lot of moisture from the brine came up and there was a fair bit of steaming going on... Because of that, I didn't get a great sear as I normally would say on pork chops/chicken that wasn't brined... Given that when you brine, you're soaking in water, how is it possible to get a good sear?? Do I have to physically squeeze excess water out like a towel? What am I missing here? In either case, this was an excellent meal, the in-laws were impressed, great recipe and great technique to make it a memorable meal! Thanks for any tips to address the above issue and it will be perfect!

It's hard to say exactly what went wrong but it sounds like perhaps maybe the meat was not pat dry well enough or perhaps your pan was not hot enough before you started searing the meat. See the lesson on "Searing" for more detail on this. Next time, maybe try air drying the pork for a couple of hours before cooking it. Or perhaps just try patting it drier. No need to squeeze the meat out like a towel though. This would only damage the meat. You may also find it helpful to watch or review the lesson on "Brining", In particular, topic 8 - "After Brining | Preparing Meat for Cooking". Hope this helps. Glad you enjoyed your dinner. Cheers!

The recipe calls for three tenderloins, but I am only using one tenderloin. Will the brine ingredients be the same?

You might want to just do half a recipe for the brine. For more information, you may also, want to check out the lesson called "How to Brine". Cheers!

Didn't find any apple cider for the sauce, but I expected it to be an alcoholic drink anyway so, being in Belgium, I switched it for a Lindemans Apple beer. From the comments above it turns out the cider shouldn't be alcoholic so apple juice would have been a more natural choice, but no matter. It tasted delicious. Just added a teaspoon of sugar to the sauce to counter the beer's slight tartness, otherwise everything was the same. The meat itself was divine. Brining is an amazing technique, one of my favourite things I've learned from Rouxbe.

Hi Rouxbe, After several years of membership, I'm encouraging myself to really learn the techniques in your recipes. I do have a couple of questions. 1) Removing the silver skin was a little trickier than you made it appear. My tenderloin seemed to have more white strands in various places around the meat (which looked more like marbling), while yours was clearly the silver skin you were referring to. I am curious how you know when you are removing the silver skin and when you are removing fat. 2) My jus was also much lighter in color. I did use store bought low sodium Pacific chicken stock. I'm guessing that this is because I didn't make a dark stock. How much additional flavor am I losing here because my jus was lighter? Does browning the onions for longer result in a darker sauce, too? 3) I also had to use about three times the corn starch to get my sauce to thicken. It was wonderful, but just wanted to check in to see if that was normal. I love cooking, everyone loved the dish. I know that there are little tweaks and changes that I can make along the way to improve in my cooking, and I'm interested in how to improve this dish even more so it becomes better and better. Thanks Rouxbe! Brooke

First off let me say congratulations on a job well done. Now lets see if I can't answer your questions. 1) Removing the silver skin should generally not be that difficult. But it will get easier with practice. It sounds like perhaps you were trimming off more than the silver skin. Silver skin is that tough white, opaque connective tissue around the meat. Basically, it is the fascia around the muscle. 2) The jus that you made was likely darker due to the fact that you may have had less sucs and/or you used a lighter stock. Darker stock = darker sauce. As for how much flavor you are loosing because you had a lighter stock and used a store-bought stock — for those that make their own stock they would say you are missing "a lot" of flavor. But you would have to do a comparison and see for yourself. The best way to really know the power of a good stock is to make your own and then compare it to your regular store-bought stock. Lets just say that I could drink a cup of homemade stock, but I can't say the same for most store-bought stocks. Browning the onions can lead to more color but you just have to be careful you don't burn them as this will impart an bitter taste into the sauce. 3) Again, it's the store-bought stock. I lacks the gelatin that homemade stock contains (due to the fat and connective tissue). For more information on this be sure to watch the lesson on "How to Make a Pan Sauce". Keep up the great work and the practicing Brooke. Hope that helps. Cheers!

My tenderloin was quite salty, almost overpowered the sauce. Should I brine for less time, or cut the salt, or both? Sounds like the brining helps keep the moisture in and it did accomplish that.

Yes, depending on the size of the tenderloin, the type of salt used and the amount of time the meat was brined, you may need to either decrease the amount of salt and/or decrease the bring time. As for brining helping to keep the moisture in, it still comes down to the cooking of the meat and the type of meat used. Hope that helps. Cheers!

If I want to measure the salt by weight rather than volume for the brine, how much should I use?

Hi Diogo- I would suggest a 5% brine solution. 50 grams of salt per liter of water. Good luck! ~Ken

Can the sauce be done when the pork tenderloin is still in the oven? Will it hold for one hour or so? I also thought about making the sauce and keep warm until the pork tenderloin is ready and them finish the jus with butter and sage. Will it work? Once I made a pan sauce and let it rest for about two hours and it got thinner. Thank you very much!

Also, does the pork tenderloin need to be tempered before roasting it?

Could you please address the benefits of using a nonstick vs. SS pan for this particular recipe? I have watched the classes on pan searing, and would've expected you to use SS but it seems like nonstick was chosen.

Hi Jason- Either style pan would work here, and I'm unsure why a nonstick pan was chosen in this particular video. If you had the choice, I would suggest a SS pan as it will yield better color in most cases. ~Ken

Like some others, my tenderloins also ended up quite salty and the sauce did take more time to reduce than expected. I also substituted apple cider for apple juice and used vegetable oil with the unsalted butter instead of olive as the recipe required. At the end of all that, it ended up quite good! I carried it to a potluck dinner where somebody else did pork chops and the difference that the brining made was quite clear. Mine was definitely more tender and juicy. Thanks Rouxbe!

As another home cook did, I accidentally brined my tenderloins for four hours. (Note to self: do NOT take a nap without an alarm set while brining!!) I just cut off a small piece of meat from each loin and cooked it to see how badly over-brined my pork was. They are pretty salty, but not so much I couldn't finish the small pieces I had cooked. I am hoping that the sauce will help tone down / balance out the salinity of the pork (can't afford to toss these and do it all over, unfortunately). I am planning on making the polenta as a side, as was suggested. I'm hoping the polenta might help balance the palate when eating the completed dish. Of course if I were cooking in a restaurant I would not try to salvage my error. But thankfully I am not, and since cooking seems to be almost as much about knowing when/where/how to fix mistakes on the fly, I was hoping someone could let me know if my ideas to balance the overall dish are in the right direction, and/or if there are other ways to help salvage the meat when one makes this kind of mistake.

Hi Jennifer - Great questions. I think the first part about over salting is something that you can adjust for a bit next time you make this dish. The specific size of the tenderloin relates to the time it takes to brine so my suggestion is to simply add a bit less salt and maybe a bit less overall time. The idea of serving the dish in a way to minimize the saltiness is smart. A starchy food like polenta is a good base to offset the saltiness and also to accommodate a sauce. I'll also add a note about the recipe, the chicken stock in particular. Note that this is assuming you use unsalted stock. Many store-bought or commercially available stocks can be quite salty. ~Ken

Hi, I found the sauce very sharp. Normally I reduce the vinegar/wine quite a lot before adding stock. This recipe only required 5 minutes simmering after the vinegar/wine/stock was added. Am I missing something?

HI Gaye and thanks for your question. So your instincts are right here Gaye. I too like to reduce my wine and vin a bit - not quite to au sec - but I like to 1) cook off the alcohol and 2) reduce to intensity flavor. Feel free to take that approach. Once I add my stock, I will typically allow taste to determine how long I will simmer. Often I can easily go beyond 5 minutes - partially if I am making a larger batch. For a smaller amount of jus, I'd say the 5 - 10 min time frame sounds about right. As for the sharpness of the sauce that you experienced - try reducing your apple cider vin to about ½ cup and increasing your white wine by ½ - and then reduce both by ½, at least, before adding your stock. I hope this helps! Thanks for engaging with Rouxbe! Chef Kirk

Many thanks Kirk

I love this recipe, but the thing I am most proud of is that I am 13 and have never cooked with pork tenderloin before and I cooked it almost perfectly. I have one question about the sauce, in my opinion it tasted to tart, what could have caused it so I do not make the same mistake again? Thanks

Hi Sebastian - and congratulations! Your post brought a big smile to my face - I am sooo happy to see you finding success in the kitchen! Wow! So great work on this dish. Typically, if you are sensing an overpowering sensation of food being "tart" or 'sour", chances are that there is too much acidity in the dish. The opposite, for the most part, of acid is sweet. So my sense is that perhaps your dish has too much apple cider (acid). I might suggest trimming the amount of apple cider - perhaps adding more of the chicken stock (or even trying a vegetable stock instead of chicken stock for this recipe). I hope this helps Sebastian and congratulations again - I am very proud of you and honored to read your post. Thank you for cooking with Rouxbe! Chef Kirk

I did less apple cider, and used the vegetable stock instead and it turned out amazing! Very much appreciated Kirk

how opportune for me to work on this lesson next! thank you for the loin roast additional instructions, Dawn ;-) ~V~

Great job Sebastion B.! proud to be in class with such a young an daring new Chef! Bravissimo!! ~V~

one of my dinner guests/ guinea pigs/ food critics took pictures- is there a place or an interest for my to post them someplace here?

Violet, Our photo upload locations are linked to assignments, so there currently isn't an 'open forum' for posting photos.

Just finished making this for the second time and for the most part it was a great dish again! That being said, for the second time I still had a problem getting the sauce to thicken correctly. I have not been following the video, just the recipe so I watched the video tonight to see what I may have done wrong with the sauce again. Well, I think I figured it out and I wanted to give Rouxbe a heads up on a print error. It says to simmer, not boil the pan sauce and therefore the cornstarch hasn't been working. The video clearly mentions this but since the recipe doesn't, my sauce has not been thick enough twice! LOL I love you your school and website, I hope this can be changed so others do not make the same mistake, cheers!

Hello Rocky: Thanks in advance for troubleshooting. I sent your message to our education director. Good catch. Sounds as though you are fond of this recipe! Thanks for your help, much appreciated. Char

Hi Rocky: Thanks, again, for your super-sleuthing. The recipe was changed. Let us know if you make the recipe again. Thanks for your support, and happy cooking. Regards, Char

I made this dish about a month or so ago. I froze half of the apple sage sauce and just used it today. It tastes lovely with the roast pork tenderloin. Such a nice treat on a cold Sunday night!

how many grams are the three pork tenderloins in total?thank you.

Hi Jack: thanks for writing. This is one of those questions that you will likely discover at the market or the butcher. Find the three pieces that you wish, and they can be measured at the grocer. Thanks, Char

Can I use ground sage as a replacement for fresh sage leaves?

Can you use red apples instead of Granny Smith apples?

Hi Mary--You can use dried, ground sage--just make certain that it is not too old. You can find small packets of fresh sage in the produce department. You will still have a flavorful dish with the dried. Cheers, Char

Hi Mary--Granny Smith are tart and bake well as they resist breaking down and deliver a nice, apple flavor. The red apples will get mushy--but they will work. Cheers, Char

I added the kosher salt as per recipe but it made the pork tenderloin too salty. why would thst be?

The brine recipe is for 3 average whole pork tenderloins. Average about 16 oz/about 450 g. It is the correct ratio. If brine is too salty for your palate, reduce salt to taste.