This delicious, sweet and savory Pork Loin is stuffed with a blend of chopped apples, red onions, pecans and dried cranberries. Topped with a brown sugar dijon crust, it browns up like candy! This recipe is perfect for Christmas dinner, a dinner party, or a weeknight meal with leftovers for the week!
How to cook stuffed pork loin:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees farenheit. To start, you will want to purchase a boneless 2-3 lb. pork loin, and butterfly or roll cut it. Here is a great video on how to butterfly/roll cut a pork loin roast. This video shows 2 methods of how you can cut your pork loin that work for this recipe– butterfly, and roll cut. I prefer roll cut so there is a nice beautiful spiral, but butterflying also works great. After cutting your pork loin, cover it in plastic wrap while it is laid out, and pound it with a meat tenderizer. Place it in the refrigerator while the stuffing is chopped and sautéed.
Next step is to skin & finely chop apples, red onion, and pecans. Melt the butter in a sauce pan, sautée garlic, sage, rosemary, and add apples, red onion, pecans and dried cranberries. Sautee for 2-3 minutes, coating the mixture in the butter. Remove from heat.
Next, add the stuffing to the pork loin, and roll it up. Tie it with cooking twine to retain roll. Set aside.
Next up, we make a quick mixture of whole grain dijon mustard, brown sugar, and honey. We use this to slather the pork loin after it is stuffed. It really gives such a delicious crust to the pork loin…like porky candy! If you prefer less of a crust, you can save this step for more of a sticky coating (to do this, save this mixture for when the pork is done, slather mixture, and broil on low for 2 minutes before serving).
What temperature should pork loin be cooked to?
I cooked my stuffed pork loin in a 3 inch deep casserole dish, covered in foil for about 1 hour. According to the National Pork Board, pork loin should be a minimum of 145 degrees Fahrenheit. I recommend using a meat thermometer at the pork loins thickest, most middle point to ensure it is fully cooked.
Once the pork loin is fully cooked, remove from the oven.
PRO TIP: I placed mine on a wire rack over foil to allow for it to cool faster, an optional step that works great if you are in a hurry to serve!
Slice up the pork loin, and serve! This dish is delicious served with mushroom gravy drizzled on top. Yummm!
If you need other ideas for Christmas Dinner or for a Dinner Party, we recommend these:
- Spinach Artichoke Stuffed Pork Tenderloin
- Proscuitto Wrapped Pork Tenderloin
- Chicken in Mustard Cream Sauce
- Chicken in White Wine Sauce
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Pin RecipeA delicious and easy recipe perfect for the holidays!
- 1 boneless pork loin (2-3 lbs in weight)
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp finely fresh chopped sage
- 1 tsp finely fresh chopped rosemary
- 1 tbsp finely fresh shopped garlic
- 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper (less salt if using salted butter)
- 1 cup finely chopped apple (skins removed. I used fuji apples)
- 1 cup finely chopped red onion
- 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- cooking twine
- 1/2 cup whole grain dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp honey
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees farenheit.
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Butterfly or roll cut pork loin (here is a great tutorial!). Once cut, cover pork loin in plastic wrap and tenderize with a meat tenderizer on the flat side through the plastic. Place in fridge.
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Make stuffing: Melt butter in a sauce pan, along with garlic, rosemary, sage, and salt/pepper. Add in apples, onion, pecans and cranberries, sauteeing for 2-3 minutes, or until onion is semi-soft. Remove from heat.
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Remove pork loin from fridge and remove all plastic wrap. Place stuffing mixture over pork and spread throughout (like frosting a cake). Roll pork loin and secure with cooking twine. Place in a 9x13 inch baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray.
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In a separate dish, combine honey mustard ingredients. Slather top of pork loin with mixture. Cover dish with foil and bake for about 1 hour, or until middle center of pork loin reaches at lesat 145 degrees farenheit.
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Once done, allow to cool for 5-10 minutes. Slice, serve & enjoy.
What would you suggest in exchange for the walnuts in the stuffing?
Hi Kelly – the recipe calls for pecans so I’m not sure if you meant a sub for pecans? You can omit the nuts entirely and still have a delicious filling. Hope that helps!