This pork tenderloin cooked in a Dutch oven is easy to prepare and absolutely delicious! It will soon become one of your go-to recipes.
This Dutch oven pork tenderloin with orange recipe is actually one of mom's creations. She makes this dish either for a nice sunday lunch or even for fine dining when she's hosting dinner. What's great about this recipe is that it is extremely easy to prepare. Moreover, it doesn't take much time, doesn't require tons of ingredients and looks good enough for an elegant dinner.
So for those of you who've been following me since the beginning of this blog, you might have already heard me say that the hardest part of this recipe was not making it but actually getting it out of my mom's head. lol
She does everything automatically and without measuring anything. So when you ask her how much orange juice do I need? She will answer you "well, you pour it and you see" and you will probably answer as I did "and what am I supposed to see???" 😂
When I was younger, this used to frustrate me a lot but now I laugh about it especially because the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree. I think that now, after blogging for almost 11 months I'm getting better at writing down and explaining what I'm doing in my kitchen but believe me it is not that easy.
What is arrowroot and how to substitute?
Arrowroot is starch. It is used here to thicken the orange sauce.
If you are not cassava intolerant, you can use tapioca flour (also called tapioca starch) instead of arrowroot. Both are AIP, paleo and whole30 compliant.
If you are not on the AIP, paleo nor whole30 diets you can use potato or corn starch instead of arrowroot.
How to make this
How to cook pork tenderloin in Dutch oven
- Put a Dutch oven (I'm using a 2.5 qt or 2.4 L Dutch oven) on medium high heat and pour the olive oil in it.
- When the olive oil is hot, put the pork tenderloin in the Dutch oven and cook it for about 2 minutes on both sides until it gets a golden color (see on the picture below). Season with salt.
- Pour the orange juice in the Dutch oven. As explained below, the quantity of orange juice will vary according to the size of your pork tenderloin and the size of your Dutch oven.
- Then let it cook on medium high heat (the orange juice should be on the verge of boiling but not boil completely) for about 20-25 minutes. At half the time, flip the pork tenderloin on the other side. This is just to make sure that you get the flavor everywhere, it won't be the end of the world if you forget to do that. (Been there done that lol).
- In the meantime, using a knife, peel the oranges raw (as shown on the picture below) and slice them. Add the orange slices to the Dutch oven at the end of the cooking process (for about 5 minutes only). If you add them at the very beginning of the meat cooking process, the orange slices will dissolve completely in the juice. It will still be delicious but less pretty for the eyes.
- To make sure that the pork tenderloin is cooked, slice it in the middle. Then look at its colour: it should NOT be pink.
- Once the meat is cooked remove it along with the orange slices from the Dutch oven. And set them on a plate. Leave the orange juice in the Dutch oven.
How to make the sauce
- Take a seperate bowl and transfer the arrowroot in it. Using a ladle or a very large spoon take about ½ cup (125ml) of orange juice out of the Dutch oven. Pour it slowly over the arrowroot while whisking. Once the arrowroot is well combined to the orange juice, transfer the bowl content to the Dutch oven. Mix the 2 juices together. I find that this method avoids getting lumps rather than if you pour the arrowroot directly in the Dutch oven.
- Pour part of the orange juice over the meat and put the rest in a sauce boat. Et voilà! Serve immediately. Serve with cauliflower rice (if you are on AIP, paleo or whole30) or with regular rice (if you are not on any of those diets). Bon appétit!
About the orange juice and arrowroot quantity
Well obviously, I'm not going to tell you "pour it and you see" lol. I'm going to explain to you, like my mother did in the end, how to adjust the quantity according to the size of your pork tenderloin and to your Dutch oven.
The orange juice quantity in this recipe will both depend on the size of your pork tenderloin and the size of your Dutch oven. You need to make sure that about half of your pork tenderloin is soaking in the orange juice. So that it will properly cook in it and get the nice orange flavor. If your Dutch oven is bigger than mine (I'm using a 2.5 qt (2.4 L) Dutch oven) you will need more orange juice. And if your pork tenderloin is smaller than mine, using the same dutch oven size, you might need a little less orange juice. Your pork tenderloin should be soaking in orange juice but not completely immersed (to the point where you can't see the meat) in it.
You might also need to adjust the quantity of arrowroot. Let's say you end up using twice as much orange juice as I do, you will also need twice as much arrowroot. The purpose of the arrowroot is to thicken the sauce.
What to serve with this pork tenderloin
If you are on AIP, paleo or whole30, serve this pork tenderloin with cauliflower rice.
If you are not on any of those diets you can serve this pork tenderloin with basmati rice or potatoes.
Other stove top meat recipes
Dutch oven pork tenderloin with orange (AIP, paleo, whole30)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pork tenderloin (the one I had when writing down this recipe weighted 500g (1.1 pounds))
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 500 ml freshly squeezed orange juice (quantity will vary according to the size of your pork tenderloin and of the Dutch oven you're using please see notes above for more explanations)
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot (see notes below for substitutions)
- 3 oranges
- Pinch of sea salt
Instructions
- Put a Dutch oven on medium high heat and pour the olive oil in it.
- When the olive oil is hot, put the pork tenderloin in the Dutch oven and cook it for about 2 minutes on both sides until it gets a golden color.
- Pour the orange juice in the Dutch oven. As explained above, the quantity of orange juice will vary according to the size of your pork tenderloin and the size of your Dutch oven.
- Then let it cook on medium high heat (the orange juice should be on the verge of boiling but not boil completely) for about 20-25 minutes. At half the time, flip the pork tenderloin on the other side.
- In the meantime, using a knife, peel the oranges raw and slice them. Add the orange slices to the Dutch oven at the end of the cooking process (for about 5 minutes only).
- To make sure that the pork tenderloin is cooked, slice it in the middle and look at its colour: it should NOT be pink.
- Once the meat is cooked remove it along with the orange slices from the Dutch oven (leave the orange juice in the Dutch oven). And set them on a plate.
- Take a seperate bowl and transfer the arrowroot in it. Using a ladle or a very large spoon take about ½ cup (125ml) of orange juice out of the Dutch oven and pour it slowly over the arrowroot while whisking. Once the arrowroot is well combined to the orange juice, transfer the bowl content to the Dutch oven and mix the 2 juices together (I find that this method avoids getting lumps rather than if you pour the arrowroot directly in the Dutch oven).
- Pour part of the orange juice over the meat and put the rest in a sauce boat. Et voilà! Serve immediately with cauliflower rice (if you are on AIP, paleo or whole30) or serve with rice (if you are not on any of those diets).Bon appétit!
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