Herb-Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Maple Mustard Sauce

Serve this Herb-Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Maple Mustard Sauce and impress your friends and family. It is a simple yet elegant meal. 

I am not going to lie. It is a lot harder to maintain this website now that I have two small children running around looking at me to keep them alive. My days pretty much consist of a chorus of crying echoing from one child to another, while I desperately grasp at any remaining fleeting shreds of sanity. Pro tip: If you are at your wit's end and feel like screaming, do it in a goofy voice so your toddler and baby just think you are being silly.

I had plans to create a more-involved pork tenderloin recipe for supper, however, it proved too difficult to work on while dividing my attention among my children as well. Instead, this beautifully simple Herb-Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Maple Mustard Sauce was born. I love this recipe because it feels refined, yet is simple enough to craft even when watching small children!

If you are looking for a recipe to impress, or to just elevate your typical home-dining experience put this herb crusted pork tenderloin on your menu!

How to Cook Pork Tenderloin

Cooking pork tenderloin is pretty straightforward. We first sear it on all sides in a skillet to create a flavorful brown crust on the meat. This also allows fond to build up in the pan which will become incorporated into the Maple Mustard Sauce later. The pork tenderloin is then roasted in the oven at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, or until it reaches your desired doneness.

When roasting the pork, I highly recommend using a [easyazon_link identifier="B017613C3C" locale="US" tag="foxvalfoo-20"]digital oven thermometer[/easyazon_link] (affiliate link). For just a couple bucks, you can take away all of the guesswork and ensure you get perfect results every time. [easyazon_link identifier="B017613C3C" locale="US" tag="foxvalfoo-20"]This is the digital oven thermometer I use[/easyazon_link] (affiliate link). Pork tenderloin should be cooked to at least 135 degrees. 

What is a Pan Sauce?

The Maple Mustard Sauce is what's known as a pan sauce. A pan sauce is created by reducing flavored liquid in a skillet that was used to cook the entree. The flavors of the meat and liquid combine to make a glorious reduction. The pan sauce is often finished by adding a pad of butter to create an intoxicatingly silky texture.

Though it sounds intimidating, creating a pan sauce is actually incredibly simple. Here is a tip: If your sauce is too runny, cook it longer. As it cooks water will evaporate and the sauce will thicken. If the sauce is too thick, you cooked it too long. This isn't a problem though. Simply add a couple teaspoons of water to thin it out. Easy-peasy right?

The best pan sauces are crafted in stainless steel cookware. This allows delicious bits of burnt meat to form on the bottom of the pan, also known as fond. You can use non-stick if needed but you won't develop as much flavor.

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