Bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin
Tender pork wrapped in crisp, brown sugar-glazed bacon with green beans roasting alongside: an easy dinner that looks like a lot of work.
- 50 min total
- 15 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $3.05 a serving
- 520 calories
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Most of the time here is hands-off, so you can sit down while it cooks.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 pork tenderloin, about 1¼ lb
- 8 slices bacon
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 12 oz green beans, trimmed
From your pantry
- 1 tsp salt, divided
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Each serving has about 520 calories, 38 g protein, 14 g carbs and 34 g fat, and costs about $3.05 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No green beans? Frozen green beans work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the oven to 400°F and line a with foil.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
Sheet pan. A sheet pan is a flat metal baking tray with a low rim all the way around. The rim catches juices, and the wide surface lets food spread out and brown.
How you’ll know: Everything fits in one layer with a little space between the pieces.
the tenderloin dry, off the silver skin, and it all over with ½ tsp of the salt, the pepper, garlic powder and thyme.
Pat dry. Patting dry means pressing paper towels onto food to soak up the moisture on its surface. Wet food steams instead of browning, so this is how you get a good sear and crisp skin.
How you’ll know: The surface feels tacky, not wet, and the last paper towel comes away barely damp.
Trim. Trimming means cutting off the parts you don’t eat, like stem ends, tough bits or thick fat. It keeps chewy or bitter bits out of the finished dish.
How you’ll know: What’s left is the good part, with no dry ends, woody stems or thick white fat.
Season. Seasoning means adding salt, pepper or spices to bring out a food’s flavor. A little at a few stages tastes better than a lot all at the end.
How you’ll know: When you taste it, it tastes bright and like itself, not flat and not salty.
Lay the bacon side by side on a board, slightly overlapping. Set the pork across the slices and wrap each one up and around, then set it seam side down on the pan.
Dolly’s tip: The seams underneath hold the bacon in place, so you don’t need toothpicks.Stir the brown sugar and mustard together and spread it over the top of the bacon. Wash your hands.
Food safety: Wash your hands, the board and the knife with hot soapy water after touching raw meat, and don’t rinse raw chicken in the sink.
15 minutes. the green beans with the oil and the rest of the salt, and scatter them around the pork.
Roast. Roasting means cooking in a hot oven, around 400°F to 450°F, usually spread out on a sheet pan. The dry heat browns the outside and brings out sweetness, especially in vegetables.
How you’ll know: The edges are browned and a little crisp, and a fork slides easily into the thickest piece.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Timer: 15 min
15 to 20 minutes more, until the thickest part of the pork reads 145°F.
Roast. Roasting means cooking in a hot oven, around 400°F to 450°F, usually spread out on a sheet pan. The dry heat browns the outside and brings out sweetness, especially in vegetables.
How you’ll know: The edges are browned and a little crisp, and a fork slides easily into the thickest piece.
Timer: 17 min 30 sec
Food safety: Steak, pork chops and other whole cuts are safe at 145°F in the middle, then let them rest for 3 minutes before cutting.
If the bacon is still soft, turn on the and broil 2 to 3 minutes, watching closely, until .
Broil. Broiling means cooking under the oven’s top heating element, with strong heat from above. It browns and crisps the top in minutes, and it can burn fast, so stay close.
How you’ll know: The top bubbles and spots golden brown; check every minute and pull it before it blackens.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Timer: 2 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: Stay by the oven. Brown sugar under the broiler goes from caramelized to burnt in under a minute.Food safety: Cook bacon until it’s crisp and no longer translucent.
5 minutes, then into thick rounds and serve with the green beans.
Rest. Resting means letting cooked meat sit for a few minutes before you cut it. It keeps cooking gently, and more of the juice stays in the meat instead of running onto the board.
How you’ll know: Loosely covered with foil, it stays hot, and very little juice runs out when you slice it.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Timer: 5 min
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
