Spare Spoons Kitchen
The Pantry · pan sauce · about 15 minutes

Orange Pan Sauce
for Pork

A glossy, bright orange pan sauce for pork tenderloin — fresh orange juice and zest reduced with shallot and a splash of orange liqueur, finished with cold butter so it shines and clings. It comes together in the pan while the pork rests.

~15 min total ~¾ cup makes one pan method
Effort ●●○○ Time ●○○○ Anytime
Gluten-Free
Servingsamounts scale to match
4
Units

Ingredients

Reduce it until it coats the back of a spoon, then finish with cold butter off the heat. The sauce builds in the pan you cooked the pork in — boil the juice and stock down by about half so it turns glossy and clings, then pull the pan off the heat and whisk in the cold butter for shine. Add butter while it's still boiling and it can break and turn greasy; off the heat, it stays silky.

Easier, if you like

  • No fresh oranges? Good 100% orange juice works — reduce it a minute or two longer to concentrate it, and grate in the zest of any orange you have for brightness.

Method

    Cook's notes

    Made for pork tenderloin, but it's just as good over pork chops, chicken breast, or even duck — anything mild that likes a sweet-tart citrus sauce.

    The orange liqueur is worth it. A tablespoon of Grand Marnier or Cointreau deepens the orange and rounds the edges, but the sauce is lovely without it.

    Don't let it break. Cold butter whisked in off the heat is what makes it glossy and emulsified; boiling it after the butter goes in can turn it greasy.

    Zest first, then juice — and take only the orange part, not the bitter white pith (a fine zester makes it easy).

    Gluten-free; easy dairy-free and vegetarian

    Gluten-free: naturally — just use a gluten-free stock.

    Dairy-free: finish with a spoon of olive oil instead of the cold butter (a little less glossy, still good).

    Vegetarian: use vegetable stock and spoon it over roasted squash, tofu, or seared mushrooms.