Stuffed Pork Tenderloin (pork fillet)

This Mediterranean Stuffed Pork Tenderloin (stuffed pork fillet) is a festive dish full of delicious, sweet, and savory flavors. It's marinated with thyme and rosemary, and stuffed with mushrooms, goat cheese, and sweet sun-dried tomatoes.

What's Pork Tenderloin

Pork tenderloin is a very tender cut of meat, lean and fat-free. It's the pork fillet, not the pork loin.

Table Of Contents

• What's Pork Tenderloin
• Cooking Tenderloin
• Size and Portions
• Stuffing Ingredients
• How To Make
• Serve With
• Recipe

Cooking Tenderloin

Pork Tenderloin requires quick and light cooking. Therefore, it's ideal for a speedy holiday meal when you don't want to spend long hours roasting.

Because pork tenderloin is a lean cut of meat, stuffing it makes it juicier. Also, using an instant-read thermometer is very helpful here to prevent overcooking and drying.

Once the internal temperature (insert the thermometer in the thickest part of the meat) registers 145°F / 63 °C, it's ready. As it rests temperature will rise slightly more.

Size and Portions

This Mediterranean stuffed pork tenderloin is also great for a holiday meal for 2 to 4 people. Pork tenderloin can weigh from ¾ to 1½ pounds (about 340g to 680g), so you can easily adjust the servings for fewer people.

Stuffing Ingredients

This flavorful pork tenderloin is stuffed with mushrooms, goat cheese, and sun-dried tomatoes.

You can use portobello, brown, or oyster mushrooms. White button mushrooms won't add much flavor here.

As for the cheese, I'm using goat cheese. You can also use Greek Anthotyro, soft Myzithra, or even soft Feta.

Also, make sure to use sun-dried tomatoes preserved in oil, not the dry ones.

Sun-dried Tomato Substitutes: Use dried cranberries, prunes, figs, or raisins in place of sun-dried tomatoes for a more wintry-festive pork tenderloin. Or use fire-roasted red peppers with any of the Greek cheeses mentioned above for a more classic Mediterranean vibe (like in this Stuffed Meatloaf recipe).

How To Make

To make stuffed pork tenderloin, first flatten the meat. Make a long slit in the pork fillet from the top to the bottom, without cutting all the way through the cutting board. We want to slice it open. Once open like a book, make another slit on the left side and another on the right to open it up a bit more and create a larger surface to add the stuffing.

Beat the meat with a meat tenderizer to flatten it and make it evenly thick. Then marinate with rosemary, thyme, olive oil, salt, and pepper. I leave it at room temperature for 30 minutes while I prepare the stuffing.

You can also marinate in the fridge for up to 2-3 hours. Make sure to take it out of the fridge 30 minutes before cooking. The closer the meat is to room temperature, the less it will tighten when cooked.

Next, prepare the mushrooms. Finely chop and saute on the stovetop with garlic and thyme, then set aside to cool.

Stuffing, Rolling, Tying

Crumble and spread the cheese on the pork tenderloin, leaving some space around the edges. Add the chopped sun-dried tomatoes and mushrooms on top.

Roll the pork fillet tightly, then tie it with kitchen twine. If you find it difficult to tie it with kitchen twine, you can secure the ends with toothpicks. Make sure to poke toothpicks parallel to each other to create a flat cooking surface.

Sear the stuffed pork tenderloin in a cast-iron skillet (affiliate link) or oven-proof frying pan (affiliate link) until browned on all sides, then transfer to the oven and bake. Finally, rest the meat before you cut it into slices.

Serve With

When you cut the tenderloin into slices and serve it, you can drizzle it with a quick Balsamic dressing made with honey, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar (see ingredient quantities in the recipe below).

This dressing adds moisture and an extra sweet-and-sour flavor to the dish. It also goes really well with the flavors of the mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, and goat cheese.

As for sides to serve with this juicy stuffed pork fillet, try these roasted baby potatoes, Baked Greek Lemon-Oregano Potatoes, or this warm Baby Potato and Spinach Salad.

Recipe