Quick & Easy Pork Tenderloin (Cuban Style)

Who doesn’t love a quick and easy meal for those fast paced week nights and weekends? I know I do. With all the Christmas decorating and tree trimming, this tenderloin was the perfect no-fuss-totally-delicious meal for my family.

With Sabrinelli’s Groovin’ Cuban, a delicious season-and-go adobo style seasoning mix, this was extremely quick and easy. Sabrinelli’s is a new seasoning brand that’s all natural, low in salt and contains only ingredients you can pronounce. I prefer to cook with natural ingredients and I avoid highly processed foods or additives. I recently compared Sabrinelli’s with a widely popular adobo seasoning mix and results were eye-opening. You can find the story in my Instagram account, under highlights. I highly recommend them and I encourage you to ditch the processed rubs and try Sanbrinelli’s. This isn’t an ad – I’m just sharing quality ingredients for the benefit of my family and readers.

HERE’S HOW I MADE IT
Combine 1 Tablespoon of Groovin’ Cuban adobo style seasoning mix with 1/2 a teaspoon of Diamond kosher salt to create a rub. Trim any silver skin and fat lining from a small 1.15 pound pork tenderloin. Pat dry with paper towels and rub the seasonings evenly all over the tenderloin.
Note: I purchased a small Hormel brand pork tenderloin at my local grocery store.

Because this is a season-and-go seasoning, I don’t need to marinate the meat. I can immediately season and cook. At 31 mg of sodium per teaspoon, this seasoning is low in salt. If you are monitoring your salt intake, you might wish to reduce the additional salt to 1/4 teaspoon.
Note: Diamond kosher salt is less salty than other kosher salts and table salt. It’s widely used by professional chefs. Keep in mind the general guideline used by professional chefs is 1 teaspoon of salt per pound of meat.

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Preheat the oven to 400°F and position the rack in the middle. Coat the bottom of a skillet with extra virgin olive oil and when the oil is shiny, lightly sear the meat on all sides, about 5 minutes.

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Slice half a large onion and add it into the skillet. Squeeze 1/2 a lemon over the meat and immediately transfer to the oven. Roast for 20 minutes, uncovered. The lemon adds a wonderful citrus note, typical in Caribbean cooking. The meat will release juices and the amazing aroma will permeate the kitchen!
Note: Cuban cuisine uses sour orange (aka Seville orange), but I was out. A lemon or lime will add a wonderful citrus note and help tenderize the meat.

After 20 minutes, the pork tenderloin is done. You can check for doneness by inserting a meat thermometer in the thickest part and it should read over over 150°F. Remove from the oven, lightly tent it with foil and allow the meat to rest for 5 minutes. Slice into 1-inch slices and serve.

ABOUT THE TEMPS
Since the meat will continue to cook while resting, 150°F will increase to about 155°F resulting in a pink center and extremely juice pork. If the meat is 155°F, it will increase to about 160°F resulting in a juicy pork tenderloin without a pink center. By the time my pork tenderloin finished resting, the temperature was above 160°F and it was very juicy, but not pink.

If you are using a larger piece of tenderloin or if your oven temperature varies, a meat thermometer is a useful and wonderful tool to ensure your meat is properly cooked.

Here’s a link to USDA.gov recommended cooking times.

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When your family raves about a dish and tells you it smells like Noche Buena (our traditional Christmas Eve), you know it’s good. You can easily double or triple this recipe and serve it with various sides. You could also cube the tenderloin and cook them on the grill skewered with vegetables. I love having easy and delicious recipes I can whip up in no time for company. Enjoy and leave a comment below!