Pork Tenderloin with Orange Sauce
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The other day I was looking in a cabinet and found some old Sunset magazines and cookbooks I hadn’t seen in quite a while.
It was a happy discovery as memories of various favorite dishes came to mind I had long forgotten. Â The one that stood out to me was the Pork with Orange Sauce from The Plantation Cookbook by the Junior League of New Orleans. This cookbook is a treasure and I highly recommend it.
In my adaption of this old time classic recipe I use a pork tenderloin and after marinating it overnight, grill it to perfection. A simple sheet pan of my Easy Roasted Vegetables, this time I added some Dijon mustard to the mix, and we were set for one incredible and tasty meal.
The marinade starts with fresh chopped garlic, ginger, soy sauce, lemon juice and marsala wine. I marinated the pork tenderloin overnight for maximum flavor penetration.
Start your grill. Remove the pork tenderloin tips from the marinade and grill, reserving the marinade for basting. Cook to your liking, meat should be browned with internal temperature between 145°F to 165°F.
As the meat grilled I prepped the orange sauce, which is simplicity and perfection in one sauce. It’s so good and packed with flavor, the clove and cinnamon mixed with the tangy citrus is brilliant.
In a saucepan place the sugar, orange juice, zest, cornstarch, cinnamon and salt. Turn the heat to medium and  place cloves in a cheesecloth and tie. Drop the clove packet in the orange sauce and continue cooking on low until thickened. The sauce will be an amber, almost clear sauce at this point. Discard the bundle of cloves.
Allow the pork tenderloins to rest after grilling and pour the sauce over after slicing. This pork was cooked to 145°F with a nice pink center. Add orange slices if you like for garnish.
A simple sheet pan of my Easy Roasted Vegetables that I tossed with some olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Lipton soup mix and dijon mustard added that extra touch.
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Pork Tenderloin with Orange Sauce
Ingredients
Marinade
- 2 lb pork tenderloin
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 1/3 soy sauce
- 1/3 cup Marsala wine
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tsp ground ginger
Orange Sauce
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 cups orange juice (fresh or frozen)
- 1 tbsp orange zest
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 20 whole cloves tied in cheesecloth
Instructions
- In a bowl combine the marinade ingredients and mix with a whisk. Pour over pork, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
- Start your grill. Remove pork and reserve the marinade for basting. Grill for 15 minutes in a 350°F- 400°F. Meat should be browned with internal temperature at 145°-165°F, depending on how you prefer (pink to white).
- In a saucepan place sugar, orange juice, zest, cornstarch cinnamon and salt. Turn heat to medium and place cloves in a cheesecloth and tie. Drop in the orange sauce and continue cooking on low until thickened. The sauce will be an amber, almost clear sauce at this point. Discard the bundle of cloves. Add orange slices if you like for garnish and pour sauce over the sliced, grill pork.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Is is possible to make the sauce in advance and reheat it? And is the sauce made with fresh squeezed orange juice?
Thank you. It all sounds so good.
Yes you can and you can use fresh or frozen, but since you need orange zest, I’d pick up a few oranges and squeeze the juice. It’s up to you! Enjoy 🙂
Thank you your quick response. It sounds so delicious ,
It was delicious. I cooked it a little longer and still tiny bit of pink in center. I’ll be using it agian.
I am glad you enjoyed it! Glad you will make it again!
I love that orange sauce! Yummy!
You will love it!
Did you really say that meat should be cooked to an internal temperature of 185?! You might as well continue drying it out and making jerky. Or serve it with ketchup.
Thanks for pointing out the typo in the post Angie, good thing the recipe itself had the correct temperature. As you can see from the photos, this is a beautiful 145°F internal temp cook pork tenderloin.