Learn how to Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin with juicy & delicious results every time. Plus, tips on flavoring your pork in several different ways. You can even sous vide a frozen pork tenderloin. Serve it alongside a yummy BBQ sauce, chimichurri or romesco sauce.
Table of Contents
I love that sous vide is basically a set it and forget it way of cooking. Meaning you can put your food in the water bath, walk away, and let it cook for anywhere to an hour to hours on end with no fear of overcooking.
That’s because sous vide cooks up to a certain temperature, and then just holds your food there until you’re ready to eat.
Sous vide is the perfect tool for cooking on busy nights. I’ve used it to make juicy sous vide chicken breasts, sous vide filet mignon, sous vide ribeye, and even sous vide octopus. And while I’ve made sous vide pork chops, today I wanted to test out making an entire pork tenderloin.
The results were just as I expected – totally tender and so juicy and flavorful! And as delicious as it was on its own, I decided to just take it over the top by serving it with chimichurri sauce.
What is the difference between pork loin and pork tenderloin?
- Pork tenderloin is a long, narrow piece of meat (like beef tenderloin). A pork loin is a bigger cut of meat that is wider and can be either boneless or bone-in (like a ribeye roast).
What temperature do you sous vide pork tenderloin?
- Medium-Rare // 130-degrees: Pork will be very juicy, and slightly pink.
- Medium // 139-degrees: Pork will be tender, firm, and juicy with a hint of pink. (My preferred temperature)
- Well Done // 160-degrees: Pork will be firm and dry.
How long does it take to sous vide pork tenderloin?
- Cook pork tenderloin for 1-4 hours sous vide.
Can you overcook pork sous vide?
- While your food will not overcook in sous vide, it can lose texture and become mushy. So, for cuts of meat, like pork, chicken and steaks, I aim to not cook for longer than four hours.
Is it OK to eat pork tenderloin a little pink?
- Pork is safe to eat as long as it’s cooked to 130-degrees, which will be slightly pink. I prefer my pork cooked sous vide to 139-degrees as the texture is a bit more firm and less pink inside.
How to season sous vide pork tenderloin
I like to season my pork tenderloin simply with salt and pepper and a couple sprigs of thyme before putting it in the bag to sous vide.
If you’d like to season the pork further, it is preferred to use a pork dry rub or thick sauce to season sous vide pork tenderloin. The reason being that you need to vacuum seal the bag before the sous vide cooking process. Marinades with excess liquid tend to make that sealing process difficult.
Dry rub options
- Lemon Zest + Oregano
- Orange Zest + Rosemary
- Seasoning Salt
Sauce Options
Sous vide vacuum seal bags & vacuum sealing
- After cooking sous vide for a while, I decided it was definitely worth the investment to purchase a FoodSaver® Vacuum Sealer. While you can seal using the water displacement method, I always found that I wasn’t quite able to get all the air out of my bag effectively. With the FoodSaver® Vacuum Sealer Bags the seal is extra tight. I also love that I can use the sealer to seal my meat right when I purchase it from the store, ensuring that it stays extra fresh. Or, you can even pop that meat right in the freezer after sealing it. Then you can sous vide from frozen, with no need to defrost first!
Can you sous vide pork tenderloin in its original package?
- In general it’s safer to rebag meat before cooking sous vide. Store packaging can vary, and the types of seal used can be different. Some are glued, and some are heat sealed. Glued packaging will come apart during the sous vide process. Heat sealed packaging can be identified by their rough pattern where the seal is. If you are cooking in the original packaging, be sure to remove any labels as they will fall off and can become lodged in the air flow chamber.
How to sous vide pork tenderloin
- Vacuum seal to remove as much air as possible.
- Cook 1-4 hours at your preferred temperature (139-degrees for medium).
- Remove from sous vide and pat dry well with paper towels.
- Sear pork tenderloin in a heavy skillet.
How to sear:
- Pat cooked pork tenderloin very dry with paper towels.
- Heat oil in a large cast iron skillet over high heat.
- Once sizzling hot, add pork tenderloin and sear on one side for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until golden. Add butter.
- Flip the pork tenderloin and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute longer, while continually spooning the butter mixture over the tenderloin.
- Remove from skillet and serve.
Can you sous vide frozen pork tenderloin?
- Yes! When cooking a frozen pork tenderloin sous vide, simply add one hour to the cook time (so cook for 2-5 hours).
Wine pairings for pork:
- Pork pairs awesomely with Pinot Noir. It’s a light bodied red that doesn’t overpower the flavors and the bright acidity is a nice match for the slight fattiness in the pork.
- READ MORE —> The best wine pairings for pork.
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What to serve with pork tenderloin:
- More → 40+ BEST Pork Tenderloin Side Dishes
More sous vide recipes:
Full Recipe
Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pork tenderloin (about 1 pound)
- Kosher salt & pepper
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil (or canola oil)
- 2 Tablespoons butter
Instructions
- Set sous vide to 139-degrees.
- Slide the pork tenderloin into a FoodSaver bag and seal using a vacuum sealer. Alternatively, you can use a ziploc bag and the water displacement method.
- Place the bag in the water bath, making sure not to block the intake or output sections of the sous vide, and cook for the desired time (1 to 4 hours).
- Remove pork tenderloin from bag and place on a paper towel-lined plate. Pat it very dry with paper towels then season again with salt and pepper.
- Heat oil in a large cast iron skillet over high heat.
- Once sizzling hot, add pork tenderloin and sear on one side for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until golden. Add butter.
- Flip the pork tenderloin and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute longer, while continually spooning the butter mixture over the tenderloin. Remove from skillet and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published in July 2020. It was updated in December 2020 to add an instructional video. The original recipe remains the same. Enjoy!
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