Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Herb Rice
and honey-harissa carrots
A simple spice rub lends tons of flavor to this pork tenderloin served with roasted sweet and spicy carrots and a side of herb rice. It's a classic dinner with a little something for everyone.
Ingredients
- Sugar, light brown - 2 tsp
- Garlic powder - 1 tsp
- Cumin, ground - 1 tsp
- Paprika, sweet (sub any variety) - 1 tsp
- Thyme, dried - 1 tsp
- Pork tenderloins - 1 1/2 lb
- Oil, cooking - 1 Tbsp
- Stock, chicken (sub white wine) - 1/2 cup
- Carrots (sub bagged baby carrots) - 3/4 lb, cut into sticks
- Oil, cooking - 1 Tbsp
- Honey - 2 tsp
- Harissa paste (opt, sub other hot sauce) - 1 tsp
- Green onions - 1 stalk, chopped
- Basil leaves, fresh (opt) - 8, chopped
- Leftover rice (from Mon) - 2 cups
- Lemons - 1/2, juice of
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Cook rice - If you made rice earlier in the week, skip this step. Use 1 cup dry rice for four servings. For white rice, rinse until clear. Fill a saucepan or Dutch oven (or rice cooker) with rice, water (use 2:1 ratio for water to rice), and some salt. Cover with lid and bring to a boil. Once water boils, stir, lower heat to a low-medium, and cover. Check white rice after ~20 min; brown at ~45 min. Rice is done when it's absorbed all the water. If it's not done, leave the cover on until all water has been absorbed. Take cover off to release steam and fluff with a wooden spoon after 5 minutes. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Make spice rub - Combine sugar, garlic powder, cumin, paprika and thyme. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Carrots - Slice into 3” (7.6 cm) long sticks. (Can be done up to 3 days ahead)
- Green onions / Basil - Prep as directed. (Can be done up to 1 day ahead)
- Pork tenderloin - Lightly salt and pepper, and tenderize with a fork. (Can be done up to 1 day ahead)
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Make
- Heat oven to 425F / 218C degrees.
- Combine oil (just the portion for the veggies), honey and harissa. Toss with carrots and season with some salt and pepper. Spread out into a sheet pan and roast until tender, 20 to 25 minutes, shaking and rotating pan midway through.
- While carrots roast, coat pork on all sides with spice rub. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add second part of cooking oil and then pork to heated oil. Sear on both sides for 2 to 3 minutes each, until golden brown. Pour stock or wine into skillet, cover loosely with foil, and bake in the oven for 16 to 20 minutes or until pork reaches 145F / 63C degrees. Let rest, covered for 10 minutes.
- If you made rice ahead, reheat it briefly in the microwave just to take the chill off. Toss with green onions (both white and green parts), basil and lemon juice. Season with some salt and pepper.
- Slice pork and drizzle cooking liquid over the top. Enjoy over rice with carrots on the side!
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
58 reviews
My 5 year old helped to make this dinner since it isn't complicated. AND even better, he ate almost all of it and had seconds. He didn't like the carrots, but the rest of us did. It's not the recipe, it's just he doesn't like cooked vegetables of any sort.
0 HelpfulLove it. I do make the miso maple carrots from a previous recipe instead of the harissa carrots and it still works great
0 HelpfulThe salad and dressing was excellent even without and sweetener. The pork spices were great.
0 HelpfulGood meal. Carrots were yummy. A great combo of sweet and spicy (used sriracha instead for the hot sauce). Pork turned out great- good favor while still being lean. Rice was ok.
0 Helpful