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 145 degrees F, 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.
Ingredients
- 4-5 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 145 degrees F.
- 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.
Video
Nutrition
tj says
Perfectly Moist Pork Loin was PERFECT. Probably the best pork roast I have ever made. Easy,quich to prepare. Moist and tasty, not dry at all..Definitely recommend
Tillie says
Excellent recipe! No modifications needed!
Carol says
This is my favorite recipe for pork I make it all the time. Really yummy 😋
Peggy says
Will there be any pan drippings you may make gravy with?
Judie Pinkelton says
.made this but very disappointed. Taste was good but meat was dry. 20 minutes per pound is too much for juicy port since pork loin is very lean. Any suggestions on how to use dry pork?
Southern IL cook says
Thank you so much for the perfect directions in this recipe. I made it last night and it was deelish! I was scared to bake it that long without a lid fearing it would be too dry, but it was not. It was juicy and tender and flavorful. I also feared that much seasoning would be too much, but no, it was great. I had forgotten it and it reached about 180 degrees but still was juicy. Mine was a 5 lbs. Happy çookin yall!!!!!
Karen says
I made this recipe tonight and my family LOVED it! They don’t usually like Pork Loin, but all these ingredients are ones I use all the time. I had a 2 lb. pork loin, so I cut the recipe in half. It was so easy to make and it tasted delicious!!!
Kaili says
I have a 2 pound roast too! How long did you cook it for? TIA!
Kathy H says
The recipe states you cook for 20 min per lb
Lynne says
Excellent pork loin! The seasoning was great and the meat was delicious and moist. We will definitely use this again.
Jen says
Seasoning was good marinated overnight except did not add salt to marinate. Seasoning was good. Unfortunately mine came out a little dry. Leftovers I put in a bag with the juice overnight to help. Overall recipe was good. Thank you!
Clare Vickerman says
This cooked significantly faster in my convection oven (which I’m still figuring out). I reduced the temp to try to accommodate for the convection aspect, but my 7 pound loin was 165 after an hour at the lower temp. So if you have a giant loin and a convection oven, check sooner!
But I love the flavor and will definitely use this recipe next time…just with modified times for my crazy oven.
Debbie Watkins says
I had a small pork loin only about 1 1/2 pounds, so I cut the recipe in half, my husband loved it because it was so moist! He normally doesn’t eat pork loin because he says its too dry, he says if I make it like this he’ll eat it! Thank you!
DR says
The best lion recipe. The whole family loves it which is hard to accomplish! I’ve lost count how many times I’ve made it. I usually double the recipe and freeze the extra. It freezes really well and makes easy heat and eat dinners for later.
Wendy says
I haven’t used the recipe’s seasoning, but I came across this post looking for the time & temperature for my little loins. Much like another commenter, my market only has the ~2ish lb loins.
After making this a couple times, my fella and I have found a couple of tweaks which we use regularly now.
Instead of the spices/oil combo listed, we now mix spices into panko crumbs in a gallon ziplock bag and basically do DIY Shake ‘n’ Bake. Then instead of 10 mins @ 400°, we do 15. And when we turn down the oven to 350, we do 15 mins/lb so we can do a “soft landing” to catch the 145° internal temp as early as possible. We found that with the smaller loins, the 20 min guide resulted in overshooting that mark and drier meat.
We found that using these tweaks results in delicious pork loin, and I’m so thankful to have found this post for some great guidelines to fine-tune our now-regular meal!
Susan says
Always use a meat thermometer. I suggest an oven thermometer, as well. My oven is about 40 degrees too cool. Also, pork, beef and poultry each have different done temps. And let proteins rest for a few before serving. They’ll continue to cook a bit while resting.
Bon Appetit!
Cindy H says
Baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, corn, green bean casser5. My husband is the same way. Buy some jar grav.
Audra Allen says
Bacon or prosciutto-wrapped asparagus works well in my family.
Kim says
No, do not remove the skin. Just double check which cut of pork you are using to make sure it is a loin. At 400 degrees for 10 minutes, you should have gotten a crisp… but if not, as long as the meat was cooked to temp you are fine.
STEPHANIE BOWER says
Best pork loin ever. So juicy and the juices made a delicious gravy will use this recipe again
Cindy M says
What are some sides that would pair well this? I have a super picky husband. He doesn’t really eat veggies, and won’t eat anything that has a red sauce base, or uses tomatoes.
Ted says
Marrying someone who “doesn’t really eat veggies” was your first mistake honey
Sherry Smith says
This is the best thing ever ! Made it this morning exactly as recipe says, perfect !