I live in NC, the pig capital of the world it seems, but for some reason I could not find any pork tenderloins last week. I went to three places before I finally found one. I don’t think I’ve ever gone to the meat section of a grocery and not found pork tenderloin, so this was a little weird. After my third grocery, I was on a mission. Since then all the groceries have it in stock so I guess everyone else was making pork tenderloin for dinner and who can blame them. There are so many great ways to fix pork tenderloin, with jerk spices and pineapple, or stuffed with sausage and figs. However, I’ve never tried wrapping it in bacon so I decided to give this a try.
The bacon doesn’t make it greasy as you might expect, I think it just holds in the flavor. You can remove the bacon before serving but it looks better if you leave it in place. I added some peach jam that I get from the Farmer’s Daughter. I am a member of their seasonal jam club and every couple of months I get jam in the mail that is amazing. The flavors are so fresh and she always has the perfect additions to the fruit. For this recipe I used the Peach Jam with Vanilla and Bourbon. It has big chunks of peaches, I could just eat it right out of the jar.
The slightly salty bacon and the sweet jam are a perfect topping for pork. While cooking, the jam caramelizes with the bacon. YUM. I had a pretty large tenderloin and the center was a little more rare than I prefer. We just ate both ends and I’ll cook the leftovers a little more when I re-heat it. To prevent this from occurring use a thermometer and let the center heat to 145º and then let it rest for 10 minutes. (I didn’t let mine rest ) It should increase the internal temperature by 10º and be a perfect 155º. It’s recommended that pork be cooked between 145º and 160º. if you can find a tenderloin that’s the same size and not thicker in the center, it will be easier to have all the slices the same level of doneness. However, if you have folks that want their meat well done, a tenderloin that is smaller on the ends will make everyone happy.
While this recipe had the extra step of wrapping it in bacon, I thought it was worth the time, plus who doesn’t love to play with food.
Slightly adapted from The Kitchn
PrintBacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin
Bacon wrapped pork tenderloin has so much flavor and it’s not greasy at all. Peach jam adds just a hint of sweetness to this amazing dish.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Entree
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs pork tenderloin
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 4–6 slices bacon
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- ¼ cup peach jam
- 2 tablespoons whole grain dijon mustard
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º. Pat tenderloin dry with paper towels.
- In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, salt, paprika and pepper. Rub it over entire pork tenderloin. Wrap the pork with the bacon slices, securing each with a toothpick.
- In a large cast iron or oven proof skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat until it sizzles. Add the tenderloin and sear, letting it cook undisturbed until it’s golden brown, about 6-8 minutes. Turn to other side and cook until it is also brown.
- In a small bowl combine the jam and mustard and brush all of it over the tenderloin.
- Place in the oven and cook until thermometer reads 140º to 150º, about 10-14 minutes. Remove from oven and loosely tent with foil. Rest for 10-15 minutes to allow it to finish cooking. Remove toothpicks and slice. (You want to serve pork between 145º to 160º. The temperature will increase by about 10º while tented)
This looks amazing! I made pork tenderloin last week and didn’t even think to wrap it in bacon! Love it!