BBQ Pork Tenderloin
This BBQ Pork Tenderloin is made with simple ingredients and has a wonderful sweet and smokey flavor. Cook it on the grill or in the oven for the juiciest pork ever.
Serve with other grilled items like ribs, slow cooker baked beans, brisket, or burnt ends for a true BBQ feast.
This Grilled BBQ Pork Tenderloin crushes all the stereotypes about tenderloin. Just like my fried pork sandwich it is juicy and tender every time. This affordable and versatile proteins often cooked until it's dry and bland. This is the exact opposite: juicy, sweet, smoky, and just the right amount of spicy.It's easy to make with pantry ingredients, too! No hard-to-find ingredients or special BBQ rubs are required.
This recipe is perfect for backyard BBQs, tailgating, and lazy weekend suppers.
Why You'll Want To Try This Recipe
- Juicy: There is nothing worse than dry pork. Our marinade and sauce ensure it comes out juicy every time.
- Sweet and tangy: This combination of flavors will make your taste buds tingle.
- Quick: This recipe cooks up in less than an hour. You can also marinate it overnight to save even more time.
Ingredient Notes and Shopping Tips
- BBQ Sauce: I like Sweet Baby Rays. Feel free to use your favorite, or even make your own.
- Grape Jelly: This adds the perfect sweetness and the pectin in the jelly also helps thicken the sauce. Don't knock it till you've tried it. I also like to use this ingredient in my crockpot meatballs.
- Sriracha: You can use any hot sauce you like or even leave it out for a milder flavor.
- Garlic: Avoid jarred garlic if you can, as it tends to be oily and does not have the best flavor.
- Pork Tenderloin: Pork tenderloin is a lean, boneless cut that comes from the area between the shoulder and black legs. It is long, thin, and lean with little fat marbling. We like that is tender, mild, and cooks quickly. Just
Avoid Pork Loin
Avoid pork loin, which is best cooked low and slow in the crockpot.
How To Grill Pork Tenderloin
- Combine all marinade ingredients. Divide in half.
- Marinate for at least 1 hour.
- Grill for around 15 minutes.
- Rest and top with reserved marinade.
Krystle's Tips
- Dry: Pat meat dry before grilling so you get a beautiful sear.
- Remove the tough membrane (called the silverskin) covering the tenderloin before cooking, as it will not break down when cooking. Slide a sharp knife between the meat to separate it, and then gently pull it off.
- Direct vs. Indirect Heat: Sear over direct heat for a great crust and then move to indirect heat to avoid overcooking.
- Do not overcook: Overcooking will lead to tough chewy meat.
- Rest: Allow meat to rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing. This helps the juices redistribute and keeps everything moist.
- Food Safety: Divide your marinade in half. Use half to marinate your raw meat and half to brush onto the cooked meat. Never reuse marinade which contains bacteria.
- This marinade also works great on chicken.
Tip From An OLd Pitmaster
Cook just until you reach an internal temperature of 145 degrees F. I pulled mine off at 140, and the temperature continued to rise as it rested. Per the FDA, it is okay if it still looks a little pink in the center.
FAQs
Yes, remove the silverskin on the underside. Slide a knife under the skin and grasp the end of the skin. Cut away from you while holding the piece of skin.
You can also trim off excess fat, but I usually just leave it.
I like to let my pork come to room temperature for 30-45 minutes before grilling. This helps it cook evenly and gives you a great sear.
Serve With These Sides
📖 Recipe
Juicy BBQ Pork Tenderloin
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Ingredients
- 1 Pork Tenderloin Around 3-4 Pounds
- ½ Cup BBQ Sauce I like Sweet Baby Rays
- ¼ Cup Grape Jelly
- 2 Tablespoons Sriracha Sauce Or Your Favorite Hot Sauce
- 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 Clove Garlic Minced
- 1 Teaspoon Black Pepper
Instructions
- In a large bag whisk together BBQ sauce, grape jelly, Sriracha Sauce, Worcestershire Sauce, garlic, and pepper.
- Place pork tenderloin in a large ziploc bag. Pour half of sauce mixture over the pork.
- Remove air from bag. Marinate for at least 1 hour in the fridge up to overnight.
- Store remaining marinade in an airtight container in the fridge too.
- Grill or bake pork tenderloin until it reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees F. Mine took around 15 minutes on the grill and 40 minutes in the oven.
- Let rest for 5-10 minutes.
- Brush with reserved sauce before serving and/or serve with sauce on the side for dipping.
Notes
- Pork Tenderloin: Pork tenderloin is a lean boneless cut that comes from the back of the pig. Avoid pork loin which is best cooked low and slow in the crockpot.
- BBQ Sauce: I like Sweet Baby Rays. Feel free to use your favorite.
- Dry: Pat meat dry before adding you get a beautiful sear.
- Remove the tough membrane covering the tenderloin before cooking as it will not break down when cooking.
- Do not overcook: Overcooking will lead to tough chewy meat. Cook just until you reach an internal temperature of 140 degrees F. The temperature will rise a bit as it rests. It is okay if it still looks a little pink in the center
- Rest: Allow meat to rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing. This helps the juices redistribute and helps you avoid a dry end result.
- Food Safety: Divide your marinade in half. Use half to marinate your raw meat, and half to brush onto the cooked meat. Never reuse marinade which contains bacteria.
- Direct vs. Indirect Heat: Sear over direct heat for a great crust and then move to indirect heat to avoid overcooking.
Nutrition
You say this can be baked without ever giving the baking instructions (oven temperature or bake time)!
Hey there nameless Person calling themselves Disappointed, The baking instructions are in the recipe card please scroll down to step #5 🙂
This worked exactly as written, thanks!
Looks great and I am planning on making it tomorrow. The instructions don’t specify to sear the tenderloin, but several times it mentions to sear it on other tips on the page. Can you elaborate?
Hi Teresa! You don't have to sear it if making in the oven, but i think it improves the flavor! 🙂
What a tasty pork! I loved the sweet-spicy touch. I cook with Worcestershire Sauce quite a bit so I figured this recipe would be great. And it was!
This will become a go-to recipe for week days! So easy and delicious. Thanks!
I am giving this 5 stars because of the "don't knock the jelly till you tried it" recipe note. I completely agree!! I had some extra BBQ sauce leftover from when I made it earlier this week and just put it on a piece of grilled chicken we made tonight. I don't remember it being THAT good when I made it, but it was so good just now that I had to come back and search my computer history to see how I made it, so I didn't accidentally lose it. I used G.Hughes SugarFree Sweet and Spicy BBQ Sauce (which is all I had in the house), and blackberry jelly (which is all I had in the house) but man, the BBQ sauce, jelly, and sriracha combination is a real winner. It seems the combination possibilities could be endless. Thank you so much! I don't usually leave a comment unless I've followed the recipe exactly as written, and I didn't due to having to use what I had on hand, but the BBQ sauce was just so good I had to say something!
Yay so glad you like the sauce Stacey! Now I want to try it with blackberry too!
This was delicious. And the next day I just sliced it up for sandwiches and that was even better
This BBQ Pork Tenderloin sounds amazing! I want to dive into my screen!
I love how juicy is this pork tenderloin. It's a must make for sure!
I love how simple and delicious this is! I'll be making it over and over again.
This is SO good! I highly recommend!
Looks and sounds incredibly finger-licking good! On the menu for this weekend!
I know a few people who would absolutely love this! Definitely sharing.
You might be a baking beauty, but you know your way around pork tenderloin, too! I made this last night, and it was absolutely delicious.
Came out so juicy!
it soesn't say what temp. to put the oven on. I'm guessing 350 hope I'm right. wish me luck.
Hi David! Sorry for the confusion, I made this recipe on the grill. 350 in the oven should work fine.
That's my question. I was going to put it in somewhere around 350-375. I want it cooked through without it being tough. I'll probably do it closer to 325-350 even if it takes a little longer, slow and low....