Peameal Bacon is a popular breakfast meat in Canada. If you’re in the US, you might know it as Canadian Bacon. But did you know you can roast a whole unsliced Peameal? This recipe with a sweet and zesty glaze results in a crusty exterior and juicy interior.
Peameal Bacon is a cured pork loin rolled in peameal. It’s cured, but not cooked so it needs to be roasted at least an hour for a typical sized chunk. It’s also very inexpensive so this one easily makes the budget friendly meals list. You can take it out of the package (being careful to remove the almost invisible roll of plastic wrap around it, as I’ve learned from one unfortunate mistake) and roast it uncovered, just like it is. That’s it. Too easy. But this sweet and zesty glaze? Yum city.
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How to Roast a Peameal Bacon
Make sure you pat your meat dry before roasting to ensure it browns properly. Lay the roast on a rack over a baking sheet to allow the roast to cook more evenly. If you cover the baking sheet with foil it’s a much easier clean up.
Roast uncovered at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, then turn the heat down to 350 for half an hour. After 45 minutes mix equal parts of jam and mustard and smear it all over the outer cornmeal crust. Return to the oven and roast for about 20 more minutes. You may need another 5 – 10 minutes depending on the size of the roast and how accurate your oven temperature is. Don’t add the glaze at the beginning, otherwise it will be quite burnt by the time the peameal is cooked.
The glaze helps seal the meat which is important for cuts like this with little fat. My favourite way to glaze any pork meat is a mixture of jam and mustard. Any kind of jam, any kind of mustard. If you’re salivating over the concept of jam and mustard, you might also like Spicy Mustard Chicken. For Roasted Peameal I use grainy Dijon and raspberry jam. I like this combo because they both have seeds and they match well with the grainy cornmeal crust on the outside of the meat. And it’s the right combination of zesty and sweet. This is the crusty exterior you’re looking for.
The outer crust holds the moisture inside so the meat is really juicy when you slice it. Just like any roasted meat it needs to be rested before slicing to allow time for the juices to move back into the centre of the roast.
This is perfect served with Mac and Cheese. I mean, you have the oven on already, right? If you try this recipe and love it, consider leaving a rating after the comments. Here’s the recipe:
Roasted Peameal Bacon
Ingredients
- 2 lb cured pork loin or peameal bacon
- 1 Tbsp grainy mustard
- 1 Tbsp raspberry jam any jam and mustard combination is good
Instructions
- Unwrap peameal and remove any plastic wrap around meat. Pat dry.
- Turn oven to 400° on roast setting. Place meat in baking dish skin side up. Roast uncovered for 15 minutes.
- Reduce heat to 350° and roast an additional 30 minutes.
- Mix together mustard and jam. Spread evenly over peameal, including ends. Roast another 20 minutes until top is sizzling and browning.
- Let meat rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
I had always wondered! Thanks so much!
Roasted Peameal Bacon looks amazing ! Going to get some peameal bacon today.
Cut pea meal bacon in slices not quite through. Between slices place pineapple spears. Pour juice from can over pea meal and pineapple and bake. Never dry and very tasteful
That sounds delicious! I’m going to give that a try, thanks.
This was incredible! I scored the top and used a combination of grainy mustard and fig jam. Thank you so much for showing me a new budget friendly showpiece meal!
You’re so welcome! Yum fig jam, I will have to try that combination.
Omg I just made fig jam, Meghan you’re brilliant. And thanks for the post on how to cook, Marci, I had my first whole peameal roast recently (at the Niagara Great Wolf Lodge of all places) and it was AMAZING.
Wow, I’ve never actually seen a roasted peameal on a restaurant menu!
I used fig jam as well. Delicious!
That sounds great!
Everyone loved this. I’ll be making it again
Isn’t it crazy how easy it is?
I used this wonderful recipe as a template, left out the jam and instead combined my pea-meal pork loin roast with a paste of granulated Dijon mustard, Italian dressing and topped with a light sprinkle of chopped onions, garlic powder and Montreal steak spice. Cooked following the times and temperature suggested here (with sliced potato medallions on the side). Turned out beautifully. Cheers for the idea, every other recipe I saw included Maple syrup and I wanted something more savoury than sweet.
Wow thanks for that idea Sarah. What a great combination. I like to use steak spice in interesting ways too. I have a recipe on here for beer and steak spice mussels!
Hi Marci:
I like to roast peameal bacon but I don’t really care for the cornmeal covering so I rinse it off and pat dry before roasting. I’ve never put a paste on before but I’ll try it. I love the way it’s ready to slice or do whatever you wish instead of frying it with all the mess that involves.
Love your choice of comfort recipes. Thanks
Marilyn
Hi Marilyn,
That’s a great solution for someone who doesn’t like the cornmeal. Thanks for sharing. When you glaze the peameal, it kind of mixes with the cornmeal and makes a sweet, savoury crunchy crust which you might like better than plain cornmeal. But I’d love to hear how it turns out if you try it without the cornmeal.
I’m a big fan of this pork cut. I normally glaze it with mustard, maple syrup and minced garlic.
Mango chutney is good also.
Yum, those are great ideas, thanks! I like maple and mustard on salmon too.
Third time making this incredible roast, the mustard/jam glaze is delicious.
Leftovers makes for great sandwiches and as an ingredient in omelettes.
Try this, I guarantee you will not be disappointed.
I have to give my mom credit for the jam and mustard mixture. Who would’ve thought it would taste so good?
I just tried this, was amazing. Five star for sure. Everyone loved it. I will have this again.
Thanks for letting me know!
You don’t add any water to the pan?
Nope, no water. You want a dry roast so the peameal gets crusty on the exterior. The jam and mustard glaze does make a sticky mess in the bottom of your pan, hopefully a good soak in hot soapy water is enough to scrub it clean.
Hello:
For a glaze, I am using honey dijon & the jam is a Plum Chutney. I was thinkin maybe orange marmalade or strawberry jam, but am going with the chutney. Hope it goes over well…..
That sounds so good. Thanks for the suggestion. How did it turn out?
I ended up doing Plum Chutney on 1/2 & Orange Marmalade on the other 1/2. For Mustard, I used a mild Polish mustard because it is grainy & I wasnt to sure of the honey dijon. The Polish mustard tastes like Keen’s Hot Mustard without the heat.
The meat turned out beyond my expectations. At 1 point I was eating the marmalade side & I could taste the orange followed by the mustard flavor, it was so good, lol.
I am doing up another tonight, so thanks for the flavors……..
Great combos! I’m salivating thinking about it. I’ll have to pick up a peameal soon and do one myself.
Hi
Thanks so much for this delicious recipe. The raspberry jam and grainy Dijon mustard tasted perfect together. I served it with fresh boiled potatoes, baked asparagus, red & yellow peppers drizzled with olive oil, a sprinkling of garlic powder and a healthy amount of shredded parmigiana.
Absolutely Fabulous.
Wow that sounds like an amazing dinner! I’m so glad you loved it.
Hi Marci, I made this for supper tonight and wow! No leftovers for sandwiches☹ This was the absolutely best recipe for Peameal Bacon. I’ve never heard of it being roasted, but I don’t think I will ever fry it again! I followed most of what Brian had served with his, boiled potatoes, asparagus and I used carrot medallions instead of peppers. We had no leftovers at all. So good and one we’ll add to the rotation. Thank you for such a great meal.❤
Hi Janice! I’m so glad to hear you loved it. Isn’t it crazy how something so simple can be a game changer? Sorry you didn’t have leftovers. Happens here as well.
Marci
Absolutely delicious! Used the Raspberry Jam this time, I think I will try Cranberry Chutney next time. Delicious and so tender.
Oh that Cranberry Chutney would be awesome!
Loved this recipe. Told everyone about it. Thank you ☮❤❤🇨🇦
I’m so glad you liked it!
This by far has to be the best oven baked peameal ever , so juicy and awesomely flavorful , THANK YOU SOOOO ENJOYED XOX
Thank you, I’m so glad you loved it!
These are all wonderful ideas, i mixed together some red pepper jelly and homemade cranberries, made sure all chunks were gone, mixed in about 1 1/2 tbsp of dijon and baked as directed by recipe above, it was absolutely fabulous
I love the idea of cranberries! Thanks for the suggestion.
The best tasting Peameal ever👍🏼
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Amazing….I will never cook peameal any other way. Absolutely perfect.
Thank you for this delicious recipe.
S. Frost
I’m so glad you loved it!