This paleo Pork Tenderloin takes just 30 minutes from start to finish and is perfect for weeknight dinners! Cooked all in one pan with a Whole30 friendly teriyaki sauce that’s kid approved and goes perfectly with cauliflower rice or your favorite veggie side dish.
I’m pulling myself out of a holiday cookie induced sugar coma to share a recipe you can make for an actual meal! Woohoo!
In all seriousness, while I LOVE me some holiday baking this time of year, I also start to feel less than stellar when I eat cookies/coffee cake (coming soon!)/and more cookies day after day. Even paleo cookies are still, well, cookies.
Which is why you’ll be seeing a few new Whole30 recipes on here over the next couple of weeks. With a coffee cake and pancakes sneaking in there, since we’re not in January just yet…
Anyway, I’ve been making today’s recipe for some time a couple of times per month for dinner, and it’s pretty much the only “different” meat recipe my kids don’t complain about.
By “different”, I just mean it’s not a burger, meatball, or chicken cutlet 🙂 Most of the time I make this, the younger two insist it’s chicken anyway, but hey – whatever gets them to eat dinner, right?!
In their defense, you could totally make this recipe with chicken breasts. Or turkey tenderloins, and probably any meat that’s about the same thickness as a pork tenderloin!
The sauce is a mixture that I threw together randomly and then finally decided to actually write down the ingredients one day. I would consider it a teriyaki flavored sauce (or so my kids decided, actually), made with all paleo ingredients, using a Whole30 compliant sweetener (dates) if needed.
While the mustard and balsamic vinegar aren’t typically found in a teriyaki sauce, they add great flavor, and, the balsamic sweetens the sauce as it reduces to complement the dates/maple syrup.
If you’re not on the Whole30, you can use pure maple syrup for your sweetener so you can whisk the sauce together in less than a minute. And, if you ARE on Whole30 and made your date paste ahead of time (go you!!), you’re also looking at under a minute for prep time!
You can serve this pork tenderloin with pretty much any side dish you could imagine. I typically just serve it with roasted sweet potatoes and veggies, but if you want to go the “rice” route, cauliflower rice would be tasty!
Or, if you want to get fancy, you can go the fried rice route with this recipe, minus the chicken. Go ahead and keep the bacon though because, well, it’s hard to say no to bacon!
Aside from it being tasty and kid friendly, I love this recipe because it’s super quick to make – quick enough for my 30-minute weeknight requirement.
As long as your tenderloins are relatively thin (most are) they should take just about 20 minutes to cook through after browning. I cooked 2, and each one was about 1.25 lbs. I also love having the leftovers for lunch the next day! Perfect with fried plantains and whatever greens I have on hand.
Okay, get out your biggest skillet – I think we’re ready to start – let’s cook!
Paleo Pork Tenderloin with Teriyaki Sauce {Whole30}
Paleo Pork Tenderloin with Teriyaki Sauce {Whole30}
Ingredients
- 1/2 tbsp brown mustard {Whole30 compliant}
- 1/4 cup coconut aminos
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 inch fresh ginger finely grated
- 1 Tbsp date paste* or pure maple syrup
- pinch cayenne pepper optional
- 3 Tbsp light flavored oil - light olive or avocado oil are best divided - 2 tbsp for sauce and 1 for browning
- Thinly sliced scallions for garnish
- 2 pork tenderloins About 2 1/2 lbs total
- Sea salt for tenderloins
Instructions
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Prepare the sauce first by whisking all ingredients together in a bowl, set aside. Heat a large, well seasoned, cast iron skillet to medium high heat and preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
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Trim excess fat and silver skin from tenderloins before beginning. Sprinkle tenderloins with sea salt, then coat in sauce, shaking off excess.
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Add 1 Tbsp oil to skillet and brown tenderloins all over, turning 2-3 times. Turn off heat, then cover tenderloins with remaining sauce and roast in the preheated oven until done - about 15-20 mins depending on thickness of your tenderloins, until internal temperature reaches 155 degrees.
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Brush sauce and pan juices all over tenderloins and sprinkle with sliced scallions. Allow the meat to rest for 3-5 minutes before slicing and serving. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
*To make date paste for this recipe, place about 1/4 cup pitted medjool dates in 2 Tbsp of very hot water to soften. After 5 minutes you can stir to make sure they'e soft, then blend the mixture in a high speed blender or small food processor. Blend until smooth and add water if needed to get the right consistency.
Nutrition
What I Used To Make My Paleo Pork Tenderloin with Teriyaki Sauce:
Want More Whole30 Dinner Recipes? Try One of These!
Crispy One-Pan Bacon Wrapped Chicken
Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili with White Sweet Potatoes
Slow Cooker Meatballs in Marinara Sauce
Crispy “Breaded” Chicken Cutlets
Classic Meatloaf with Whole30 Ketchup
Easy Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry
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Maddy says
December 7, 2017 at 8:35 amCan you use date sugar in place of date paste?!
Michele says
December 7, 2017 at 2:46 pmIf you can use honey or maple that would be best, but sugar is fine too 🙂
Peyton says
January 14, 2018 at 9:21 amI don’t have a cast iron right now. Any recommendations for transferring to the oven?
Michele says
January 14, 2018 at 3:37 pmIf you have any oven proof skillet (many are good up to 425+) that will work, otherwise I’d transfer to an aluminum lined baking sheet after browning and continue that way 🙂
Jen says
January 23, 2018 at 1:33 pmWould this work in a slow cooker?
Tarisa says
February 22, 2018 at 2:55 pmI made this last night and honestly, it comes together and roasts so quickly that I personally think a slow cooker would end up actually being MORE work.
Lindsay says
March 11, 2018 at 7:13 pmDelicious! The whole family loved it.
Michele says
March 13, 2018 at 3:12 pmSo great to hear!
Karissa says
April 9, 2018 at 10:27 pmMade this tonight and it was delicious! Definitely putting it on our weekly rotation!
Michele says
April 14, 2018 at 10:50 pmSo happy you enjoyed!
Deanne Shaw says
April 27, 2018 at 5:07 pmEasy, delicious, and sooooo tender! Love your recipes 🙂
Michele says
April 28, 2018 at 11:39 pmSo happy to hear you liked it 🙂
Marta says
May 25, 2018 at 11:34 amThis was so good! Used the leftovers for your fried cauliflower rice.… delicious!
Michele says
June 1, 2018 at 10:39 pmSounds delicious!
Lisa says
August 4, 2018 at 12:29 pmThis looks delicious, and I’m definitely going to try it. Teriyaki is one of my favorite marinades, and it’s hard finding one that’s Whole30 compliant. I’ll use the date paste rather than maple syrup, though, as the latter is not Whole30 compliant. Thanks!
lisa says
August 7, 2018 at 8:24 pmWe just had this tonight, and OMGoodness, it was amazing! I have been looking for a good Whole30 compliant Teriyaki, and this was an all around thumbs up from my family. I marinated a turkey tenderloin (I love pork as well, but this time I had turkey) for 24 hours, and then threw it all in a pan with a meat thermometer and baked at 350 until the inner temp was 165. I can’t wait to try this on a pork tenderloin…and on flank steak!! Thanks!!
Lisa says
January 25, 2019 at 10:03 pmUpdate: I used this teriyaki recipe with a pork tenderloin, tripling the sauce ingredients because it was a huge piece of meat, and it was SO good. My family loves this sauce, even my son who’s not a teriyaki fan. Thank you!
dara says
November 5, 2018 at 4:23 pmwe love to mass cook so we did 3 pork loins at once and tripled the sauce portion. It took more time to cook, also we used a glass baking dish. But it was so worth it!!! thanks for this brilliant recipe. makes the effort to home cook goodness in our lives well worth it!!!
Michele says
November 12, 2018 at 6:10 pmI’m thrilled you guys enjoyed it!
Jonathan Curry says
January 12, 2019 at 10:10 pmAwesome recipe. We made it the other day and it came out perfect. An instant favorite.
Melissa says
February 7, 2019 at 6:35 pmYou shouldn’t list this as Whole30 if you list maple syrup as an ingredient option. Decidedly not Whole30 to sweeten with anything other than dates or a small amount of fruit juice.
Natalie says
February 17, 2019 at 3:31 pmOh. My. Goodness!! This was FABULOUS! We’re on Day 20 of Whole30 and this was the meat meal yet. The medjool date sauce was key! This is incredibly tender and flavorful. This goes in our regular rotation even when not on Whole30! (I was so excited about eating it I forgot to top with scallions!)
Kimberly says
February 23, 2019 at 2:40 pmThis is excellent! Has a fantastic flavor – everyone loved.
Diane Stanton says
March 27, 2019 at 1:18 pmI am going to make this for a few friends. It sounds wonderful! I want to marinate the pork in the sauce overnight. Is there a reason I shouldn’t?
Sylvia says
April 6, 2019 at 6:25 pmThanks for the beautiful recipes. One thing I chen figure, what it is
“Date Paste” ? But it was very testy. Thanks again.
kara says
April 9, 2019 at 6:53 pmOne of the best recipes I have made in a very long time. Amazing.
Alyssa says
May 13, 2019 at 7:41 pmThis recipe was so easy and delicious! I ended up just baking it in the oven at 400° for 30 minutes after searing the sides and it was perfect. Thanks for another great one!