This method of cooking boneless pork loins is an excellent alternative to bone in pork chops which can often be dry and chewy. And best of all, they’re made in one pan with a delicious mushroom sauce.
I used to make pork chops in the oven smothered with cream of mushroom soup. I’m not knocking that recipe! I made it often when I was young and broke. This version is almost as easy to make but it’s ready in half the time and it’s still budget friendly. The sauce is a delicious addition without the unhealthy additives from canned soup. Think of Pork Loins in Mushroom Sauce as a grown up version of the original oven baked pork chops.
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If you’re a food nerd like me, you probably read about cuts of meat and ask your local butcher lots of questions. Here’s what I’ve learned about the pork for this recipe. Bone in pork chops are just like a T-bone steak, but from a pig. Obviously. The loin is on one side of the bone and the tenderloin is on the other side. So a boneless loin is simply the large part of a pork chop. It’s the same cut I use to make Pork Schnitzel. A full pork loin is mostly “white meat” near the centre but will have some “dark meat” near the ends which is, in my humble opinion, the best part. So I look for the pieces that look like this.
An easy and quick way to tenderize meat is using a meat mallet which is a meat tenderizing tool. It has a flat side and a side with teeth. Giving the meat a few pounds starting with the teeth, then with the flat side will actually break up some of the muscle fibres, resulting in more tender pork loins. I use this same step in Veal Marsala, (which is very similar to this recipe!) pounding the meat between parchment paper to about half of the original thickness. It also speeds up the cooking process. If you don’t have that tool, you can use something heavy and flat to pound the meat such as the back of a heavy frying pan.
Just like chicken, you can easily over cook boneless pork so trust the experts when it comes to cooking time and safe temperatures. This resource from Ontario Pork confirms that pork only needs to be cooked to 155 degrees (and will climb to around 160 while resting) regardless of what our grandmothers have told us! You’ll be rewarded with more tender juicy pork.
Now that you know you don’t have to bake your pork loins for an hour, grab a skillet that can handle a hot sear. A quick dredge in flour helps with browning AND the flour left behind in the pan helps thicken the sauce! You’ll only need to sear your pork for a minute or so on each side, depending on the thickness. Then, remove the meat to a plate and cover loosely with foil to keep warm while you make the mushroom sauce.
The key to getting great mushroom flavour is not just choosing a variety that has good flavour, but also by browning them in butter. Add the garlic once the mushrooms have lots of colour to prevent it from burning. Once you can smell the garlic which is usually less than a minute after adding it, pour in the chicken broth and let it simmer and reduce until there’s about half of the broth left. Fresh herbs like thyme and rosemary added to the liquid while it simmers will infuse some flavour. And, if you’re feeling adventurous you could add a splash of white wine which will add just a touch of acidity to the sauce.
The rest of the sauce ingredients are sour cream, dijon and soy sauce, added once the liquid is reduced. Taste and season with some salt and pepper. Broths have various amounts of sodium so tasting before seasoning is always a good idea. Especially when you’ve reduced the liquid which intensifies the saltiness.
Add the pork back in the pan, along with any juices. Nestle the meat in the sauce and spoon some mushrooms over each piece. Cover and cook for only a minute or two, just long enough to reheat the meat and ensure it reaches the preferred temperature.
There isn’t a lot of sauce, just enough to coat the meat and maybe a bit more to toss with some buttered egg noodles. It’s definitely an upgrade to the old cream of mushroom soup trick.
If you make Pork Loins in Mushroom Sauce, consider leaving a comment or rating below. Here’s the recipe:
Pork Loins in Mushroom Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 boneless pork loins
- 2 Tbsp flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 8 medium mushrooms, sliced not too thin
- ¼ cup finely minced onion
- 2 cloves garlic, minced or sliced sliced gives a more mild flavour
- ⅔ cup chicken broth reduced sodium is recommended
- 2 Tbsp white wine optional
- 1-2 branches fresh rosemary plus extra for garnish
- 3-4 sprigs fresh thyme plus extra for garnish
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 Tbsp full fat sour cream
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Pat pork loins dry with paper towel. Place loin on parchment paper. Pound with tooth side of meat tenderizer gently a few times. Flip and pound other side. Fold parchment over meat to cover both sides and pound a few more times with flat side of mallet until loin is about double the original size and half the thickness. Continue with remaining 3 pork loins.
- Add flour to wide shallow plate and season with ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper.
- Place wide skillet on stovetop and add olive oil. Heat to medium-high. When oil is hot, dredge each piece of pork in flour on both sides and shake off excess. Work quickly and add pork pieces to hot pan. Sear without moving meat for one minute. If not quite brown, continue for up to 30 more seconds. Flip and brown other side for 1 minute, up to 90 seconds.
- Remove pork to a plate and cover loosely with foil to keep warm. Reduce heat in pan to medium and add butter.
- Scatter mushrooms in pan and spread out to maximize browning. Leave undisturbed for a minute or 2, check for good colour, then turn to cook other side. Add onions and cook until onions are softening and mushrooms are reduced and well browned.
- Add garlic and cook for a minute or less to prevent burning.
- Pour in broth and wine (if using) and add fresh herb stems. Simmer for about 10 minutes until thickened and reduced to about half the original amount. Taste sauce and add salt and pepper if needed.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and stir in soy sauce, dijon and sour cream. Add pork back to pan and nestle into sauce, spooning mushrooms over top. Cover and allow to heat through for a few minutes. Remove herb stems.
- Serve over buttered egg noodles and add more fresh herbs for garnish if desired.
This is a great recipe. Nice and quick.
And you can make it with chicken too!
I just put a frozen pork tenderloin in my frig to thaw. How would this recipe work? It sounds delicious. How thick would I cut each piece before pounding?
I love to cook meals for 2 gentlemen (living alone) who appreciate my efforts very much. One is my nephew & the other is my best girlfriend ‘s (who has passed on) husband.
Your recipes are right in my wheelhouse- when married was lucky to learn a lot of Ukrainian dishes, & German as well.
Thanks Marilyn
Hi Marilyn,
You can absolutely use pork tenderloin in this recipe! It’s so tender, you don’t have to pound it. You can slice it into medallions maybe a little less than an inch thick and just slightly increase the cooking time. Or you can pound it to make the pieces a little larger, slice the pork slightly thicker than an inch. I would actually recommend slicing the pork on a bit of an angle so the pieces are a little larger.
That’s thoughtful of you to make meals for others! This one does reheat ok, just make sure you don’t overcook the pork so it doesn’t dry out when reheating.
Marci