Spare Spoons Kitchen
Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin
Pork tenderloin is forgiving to sous vide and nearly impossible to overcook — 140°F for an hour and a half yields a center that's juicy, just barely pink, and nothing like the dry, anxious pork you may have grown up with. Sear it fast for color, then spoon over the orange pan sauce. Elegant enough for company, easy enough for a Tuesday.
Ingredients
Easier, if you like
- Skip the sear if you're low on spoons — slice it straight from the bag, spoon on the sauce, and go. It's pale but perfectly cooked.
- Season ahead: bag the seasoned pork and refrigerate up to 24 hours before cooking.
Method
Cook's notes
What silverskin is: the thin, pearlescent connective tissue that runs along one side of the tenderloin. Unlike fat, it doesn't melt during cooking — it contracts and makes the meat curl and tighten. A 30-second trim is worth it.
Slightly pink is correct. At 140°F sous vide, the center will be a pale, even blush — not red, not raw, just properly done. The old guidance to cook pork to shoe-leather doneness was overcautious and is now updated.
The orange pan sauce: this is the recipe. Make it while the pork rests — it takes about 5 minutes. The pan you seared in still has the fond; deglaze it with orange juice and you've got a head start.
More sous vide: chicken breast (145°F, 1 hr), salmon (125°F, 40 min), shrimp (135°F, 25 min).
Gluten-free and dairy-free as written
Gluten-free: it already is. Verify the sauce is GF if using a prepared one.
Dairy-free: it already is — skip butter if using it in the bag.