Perfectly Moist Pork Loin
Perfectly Moist Pork Loin is the ULTIMATE “set it and forget it” recipe! It’s easy to prep, easy to cook, tastes delicious & your house will smell amazing!!
Do you have reluctant pork eaters in your family? We definitely did. My boys wouldn’t eat any kind of pork that wasn’t smothered in BBQ sauce (like these Honey BBQ Pork Chops – a family favorite!). That was until we crafted up this Perfectly Moist Pork Loin recipe.
Now my family is requesting pork nearly every week (without any BBQ sauce in sight). When I say this easy pork loin is moist, I mean it. It is tasty, juicy, and tender pork. It’s the perfect main dish for your hungry family!
PERFECTLY MOIST PORK LOIN
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Pork. It can be SO SO good, or it can be SO SO meh. It really does take a good recipe in order to cook up a pork loin that isn’t dry, tasteless, and tough. Believe me, I have cooked plenty of bland pork roasts in my day (and my fair share of dry pork chops too).
Things have changed here in the Real Housemoms kitchen though – pork is no longer bland and boring. Pork is my favorite meat to cook with. My husband loves it, my kids beg for it, and I love how simple it really can be!
I love that this pork loin roast recipe is a no-frills meal that will please even the pickiest of eaters. The flavor palate is simple – garlic, onion powder, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Who knew that those few ingredients could work so beautifully together and create a family-friendly meal? All it takes is some sprinkling of the seasoning and a few hours in the oven and you’ve got yourself a huge hit!
Perfectly Moist Pork Loin is a family favorite for all seasons. In the fall we love the classic combination of pork and apples, so I’ll cook up a pork loin and serve it with my famous Baked Apples.
In the cold winter months, it pairs beautifully with some warm, creamy mashed potatoes (you have to try these Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes).
And as the weather starts to warm up in the spring and summer, I serve pork loin roast with some chilled pasta salads – this Pesto Pasta Salad fits the bill perfectly!
Ingredients for Perfectly Moist Pork Loin
- Boneless pork loin roast
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
As someone who never really cooked with pork (because I simply couldn’t get it to taste good!), I was a little overwhelmed when I was in the grocery store trying to buy meat. There are SO MANY different cuts of pork. You’ve got pork chops, pork loin, pork tenderloin (yes, they are different, who knew?!)… it can definitely be intimidating when trying to pick out the right cut!
For this recipe, you’ll want to purchase a pork LOIN. Not chops, not tenderloin. You’ll know a pork loin from the other cuts of meat because it is wide enough to cut large slices from and it has a thick layer of fat on the top.
This layer of fat is actually integral to the cooking process because it helps to keep the juices inside the meat. That’s what makes it so moist!
How to Cook Pork Loin
- Start by preheating your oven to 400 degrees F. You will eventually lower the temperature of the oven, but you start it higher to give the outside of the pork loin a little extra heat to really trap in the moisture!
- Next, rub all sides of the pork with the seasonings (onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and olive oil). You can put them on individually or mix up a little dry rub for yourself in a small bowl. I personally like having it all mixed together before putting it on the meat. That way I know it’s being evenly rubbed throughout the entire roast!
- THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART!!! Place your pork loin fat side up in your roasting pan. By having the fat on top, you’re allowing the fat layer to baste the roast as it cooks. This is the step that keeps the pork from becoming dry and tough!
- Cook the pork loin for 10 minutes in the 400-degree oven. This will help to create a kind of “crust” on the meat to help keep the juices inside.
- Next, lower your oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue to cook your roast for about 20 minutes per pound of meat. Yes, it takes some time. But believe me, it’s worth the wait!
- Once the pork loin has reached an internal temperature of 155 degrees F (for medium-well), pull it out of the oven. Then, cover the roasted pork loin loosely with a piece of foil and let it rest for about 10 minutes. This is yet another very important step in order to keep the juices inside the meat where you want them to stay!! Patience is a virtue 🙂
Every time I make this pork loin roast recipe, I find that my family gravitates towards the kitchen basically begging for dinner to be ready. There’s something about the long roasting time that makes the smell of delicious pork waft throughout the entire house. My oldest son always says that those last 10 minutes of “rest” time for the meat feels like an eternity!
How Long to Cook Pork Loin
This recipe takes a bit of time to cook. It’s not one of those “30-minute meals,” but that cooking time is what helps to make it truly the perfect pork loin.
- You’ll need 10 minutes to oven sear the roast, and then about 20 minutes of cooking time per pound of meat.
So you’ll definitely want to plan ahead. This is not a last-minute recipe.
One great thing about this recipe is that it is very hands-off in terms of prep work. Just a quick dry rub and pop it in the oven! So, if you’ve got time on your hands, but also want to be productive in other places around the house, this is the pork loin recipe for you!
More fo my family’s favorite easy meals!
- Grilled Pork Chops with Peach Salsa
- Best Classic Meatloaf
- BBQ Pork Loin Tacos
- Sweet Potato & Black Bean Quesadillas
- Crock Pot Pulled Pork
- more MAIN DISH recipes
Tools used to make this Perfectly Moist Pork Loin recipe
Roasting Pan: while this isn’t a pan that gets daily use in our house. When I pull it out, you know we’re going to have a great meal. Every kitchen should have a reliable roasting pan!
Meat Thermometer: I love this tool because it takes the guesswork out of cooking meat. Just stick it into the middle of your pork loin and see if you’ve reached the correct internal temperature. No need to cut into the roast, lose some juices, just to find out it needs more cooking time!
*This post originally posted on 09/03/2013.
Perfectly Moist Pork Loin
Ingredients
- 4 pounds pork loin roast
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Rub entire pork roast with olive oil. Then rub with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powders on all sides.
- Place pork in roasting pan fat side up.
- Cook for 10 minutes.
- Lower heat to 350 degrees F and cook for 20 per pound until the internal temperature reads 155 degrees F (medium-well)
- Remove pan from oven, and put a piece of foil loosely on top of the roast. Let meat rest for 10 minutes.
- Transfer roast to a cutting board to slice for serving.
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Nutrition
This was the best pork roast I have ever made! Thank you for sharing! My family also said it was the best they had ever eaten. We will be eating this again very soon!
It doesn’t get any easier or better than this. I followed the recipe almost exactly with one minor change. I used 1 Tblspoon of Garlic Pepper instead of regular pepper. My roast was 4.05 lbs so I cooked for 90 minutes. The roast was 170 – 180 degrees which is fine for us. I don’t like any pink in the pork and at 145 degrees, there will be some pink. The only thing I will do different next time is when I take the roast out of the pan to rest, I will not put it on a cutting board with foil over it. A lot of the juices ended up on the floor instead of back into the meat. I will put in a pyrex dish or something small that will let the pork sit in it’s own juice to be absorbed back into the roast. And I will use 15 min per pound and start checking the roast earlier. I like mine about 160 degrees. The roast was still moist and good though. I’m going back to the store today to get a couple more roasts at $1.99 per pound now that I can cook one that tastes good. They have one heck of a good sale going. Reg price is $3.99 per lb.
Cooking this, again, tonight, however, I couldn’t find one single pork loin with a decent fat cap on it! I did put it fat side up (what fat there is to it, anyway) but I’m curious as to if an oven roasting bag might help. I’m going to try so, y’all, please, pray for the best for this poor, (nearly) fat free pork loin!
I followed the recipe just as wrote. But it did not have very much flavor.
It didn’t brown on top like she said
I made gravy with the drippings and put it on rice. Soooo GOOD!
I have ruined many a roast over the years. My husband and son sort of cringed when they heard of the dinner menu. I thought I would give it just one more shot. It was absolutely perfect! By far the best pork loin I have ever made! Thank you for the recipe! I followed it to the tee for perfection!
Real HouseMoms 👍
Made this today….. YUM! Thank you for sharing.
Made this without the salt (dietary restriction) and inserted a few cloves of garlic into the roast. OMG! It was perfect!! So moist, so tasty. Saw another post saying she’d never rated a recipe before — same for me. My husband and I both enjoyed it so much, I’ve added to my “Recipes To Try Again” folder. Thank you for this simple and delicious recipe! I’m looking forward to trying your others.
I’ve made this several times. It is amazing. The house smells wonderful while roasting and afterwards.
Absolutely perfect pork! First time making tenderloin and it was incredible.
I have never rated or posted my results of using a recipe before but this was that good! My family raved about it. I followed the recipe exactly and served a wonderful, 5.25 pound half loin to 6 guests and the compliments wouldn’t stop!! Even my son who takes great pleasure in making me feel like a terrible cook, turned to me and said “I really hate to say this but this is really good!” I couldn’t recommend this recipe more. Thank you! I mentioned that I hadn’t submitted before. I forgot to put the stars. LOL Reposting now and hoping it shows up with 5 stars!
Lorri!! That’s so great to hear, thank you so much for sharing your success. Pork Loin can be a tough dish sometimes and I’m so glad you had so much success with it.
Hi I want to try this but I do not have the olive oil right now can I use butter or vegetable oil with the same spices?
I think I would stick with vegetable oil over butter.
Wow! This is an awesome way to cook pork loin! So delicious. Thank you!
Thank you, Amy!! So happy to see you liked it.
This is the only recipe that I will use in the future. My pork loin roast was moist and so delicious. The trick to this outstanding recipe is to know the weight of your roast, and cook it exactly as the recipe says. I give this recipe 5 stars!!
I’m glad this was so successful for you! Thanks so much Frankie.
Yes, it is very important to check the weight of your pork loin, or whatever you may be cooking! 20 minutes per pound is quite reasonable. Thanks for the comment.
Just made it last night. My husband loved it!
Only question is if it was supposed to be covered or uncovered at 400 and throughout the rest of cooking time.
Uncovered. Cooking at the higher temp for the 10 minutes helps to “sear” the outside, then cooking at the lower temp it helps to lock the moisture in. Covering at the end after cooking – to let it rest allows for the heat to distribute the moisture throughout before cutting in. I’m so glad to hear your husband loved it!! Happy hunting for more new loved recipes.
Hi looked for a “moist “ pork roast recipe, and found this one. We are spice people, I had 2.27 lb roast and used 1 table spoon of olive oil & teaspoon of everything else. My I say awesome!!
Thanks!
Thank you so much Patty! So glad you found it and it worked out so nicely, keep up the search around here I’m sure you’ll find others you will love.
I was thinking of trying this, but am curious about the measurements for the ingredients… In my ‘old lady’ method of recipes, a capital T stands for tablespoon (but I’ve seen where it actually meant teaspoon). Which is it with this recipe? Just wondering because 2 tablespoons of olive oil sounds right, but 1 tablespoon of all the dry ingredients seems a bit heavy… Thanks for your help!
In this recipe, it does mean Tablespoon. I promise that the seasoning isn’t too heavy especially for a pork loin, and through the roasting process, it can tend to lose some of the seasonings in the pan drippings. You’re certainly welcome to customize this if you would like but I would say try it at least once my way and I think you’ll love it!
Honey, I think you mean pork loin, not pork tenderloin. Two different things. That might be confusing for inexperienced cooks. Recipe looks great.
Whoops, I certainly misspoke. Thanks for pointing that out.
If i wanted to cook saurkraut with the pork loin, are the instructions any different?
Hi Donna! Are you using canned saurkraut? If so, you could add it in for the last 20-30 mins just to heat it through. If you’re looking to flavor the pork with it, during the last hour. Just be sure your pork reaches the correct internal temperature before removing from the oven. Hope this helps!
Will this recipe work for bbq pulled pork sandwiches as well?
Hi Kira! You could use it for BBQ pork sandwiches. I don’t think it would shred well, but you could finely chop the meat for that same kind of texture. Hope this helps!
Made this and honestly it’s the best. I did put slivers of garlic into the roast then I put the rub on in the morn, wrapped it tight in Suran and refrigerated. Took it out about an hour begore cooking. Everyone loved it. Sandwiches with left overs are to die for as well.
Sounds so good!!! Glad everyone enjoyed!