This easy and low-fuss recipe for Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin delivers perfectly tender, flavorful bites each and every time.

Sous vide pork tenderloin sliced into medalions sitting on a white plate next to seasoned brussels sprouts

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👍 Recipe Features
🐖 Ingredients
🌡 Temperature
🔪 Instructions
💭 Top Tip
🎥 Video
🍽 Equipment
❔ F.A.Q
👨🏻‍🍳 Variations
🥗 Side Dishes
👪 Serving Size
🥡 Leftovers
🥙 Related Recipes
Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin

👍 Recipe Features

Perfect Cook: Sous vide cooking uses a precisely controlled water bath to bring the pork to an exact temperature. The pork cooks only to the temperature of the water, no matter how long it stays in. The result is pork that's cooked through and perfectly tender edge-to-edge. A pan sear at the end delivers the texture that really ties everything together.
Easy Stuff! As intimidating as sous vide can sound, this pork tenderloin recipe is actually very easy! Just season the pork, seal it tightly and drop it in a water bath! Then, sear it at the end for perfect results. Nothing too difficult about the technique in this recipe!
Tons of flavor: Locking in juices and aromatics doesn't give those flavors anywhere to go but through the meat. The result is a bite where the flavor penetrates every bit of the tenderloin.

🐖 Ingredients

(quantities available in the recipe card at the bottom of this post)

Lean Pork Tenderloin: You'd never expect this level of tenderness from such a low-fat cut of meat. A pretty cheap cut of meat that typically will feed the whole family for around $10.
Lemon Pepper: Delivers the brightness that really lifts the flavor.
Fresh Thyme: Flowery herb releases oils throughout the cook.
Garlic Powder: A bit of savory to balance out the bright flavors above.
Kosher Salt: I prefer kosher salt as the larger grains will stay on the surface of the tenderloin as it cooks. Regular table salt can seep into the pork itself and take away from the flavor of the sear.
Grapeseed oil and butter: A little bit of each in the pan will help us to get the best sear at the end of the cook.

🌡 Temperature

The great thing about sous vide cooking is having the control to cook something to an exact temperature. You don't need perfect timing or a trained feel of when to pull something off a burner. A simple setting on your sous vide machine (affiliate) delivers a perfect cook every time.

For sous vide pork tenderloin, I prefer a medium cook, at 140°. However, you can cook it on any one of these desired settings.

Doneness	Time	Temp	Results
Medium-rare	131°	1-4 Hours	Pink middle, tender & very juicy
Medium	140°	1-4 Hours	Light pink middle, tender & juicy
Medium-Well	150°	1-4 Hours	Firm middle, moderately juicy
Well Done	160°	1-4 Hours	Very firm, a little dry

*This is should be your minimum temperature, as meat kept under this could develop bacteria.

🔪 Instructions

Step 1: Fill a sous vide container (affiliate) ¾ of the way with water. I use a 12 quart container and fill it with 9 quarts water. Preheat sous vide water bath to 140°.

Step 2: Season lean pork tenderloin evenly on all sides with lemon pepper, kosher salt and garlic powder.

pork tenderloin seasoned with lemon pepper on a wooden board being patted with a gloved hand

Place pork tenderloin into a vacuum sealer bag. Add fresh thyme, putting a couple sprigs on each side of the pork. Vacuum seal tightly using a vacuum sealer, making sure to remove all air from the bag.

pork tenderloin sealed in a sous vide bag with fresh thyme

Quick tip: I hit my bag with a second seal, about a half inch below the original seal. This helps to prevent any leaks in the event one of the seals didn't catch 100%. If you don't have a vacuum sealer, you can use the water displacement method with a ziploc bag as well.

Step 3: Place pork tenderloin in preheated sous vide water bath and close lid. Cook for for 1-4 hours.

pork tenderloin being lowered into a sous vide container with a hinged lid open

Quick tip: I drape the edge of the bag over the side of the sous vide container to help keep the bag from floating toward the water circulator. Using a sous vide container with a lid is a wise move, as holding in the heat helps keep your temperature steady and slows down evaporation.

Step 4: Remove pork from bag and place on a wire rack above a large baking sheet. Pat the tenderloin dry with a paper towel. The dryer, the better, as that will help to get the best sear at the end.

Heat a cast iron pan (affiliate) over medium-high heat. Add in grapeseed oil and butter and allow to melt. Add in pork tenderloin, pressing it into the pan to maximize the surface area that's in contact with the hot pan.

Spend 30 seconds searing each side, turning it with tongs as you go.

pork tenderloin being seared in a cast iron pan with butter melting alongside

After searing all the side surfaces, stand the pork tenderloin on end with tongs in order to sear the ends as well. Repeat once more, searing all surfaces for an additonal 30 seconds.

Remove to a place and let rest for 10 minutes before serving. Resting is important, as it allows the meat to relax and reabsorb the juices from the cook. If you skip this step, juices (and flavor) would spill out all over your cutting board, so don't be in too much of a rush!

To serve, cut widthwise into medallions about ½ inch thick.

sous vide pork tenderloin sliced sitting next to brussels sprouts on a white plate sitting on a white table

💭 Top Tip

You can easily turn this into a make-ahead recipe when you need something on the table in under and hour. To do so, complete the sous vide cook 1-3 days ahead of time. When the meat is done in the sous vide bath, move the bag straight to an ice bath to cool off. Keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days before finishing the cook.

To finish, simply reheat in the same sous vide bath at 140° for 30 minutes. Then, remove, sear as instructed above and enjoy!

🎥 Video

🍽 Equipment

❔ F.A.Q

How does sous side work?

Sous vide translates to "under vacuum", which is exactly how we cook this. Pork tenderloin is seasoned and vacuum sealed in a bag with aromatics. The water is set to the exact temperature that you want to cook the meat to. The meat is then slowly brought to that temperature, since it's surrounded by the water on all sides. The result is a super tender, juicy cut of meat that's cooked to the perfect level of doneness that you're looking for.

Can I sous vide something from frozen?

Yes. The rule of thumb is to add an hour onto your cooking time when sous vide cooking something from frozen. However, since frozen meats release excess water into the bag, my recommendation is to thaw it first whenever possible. But, does it work in a pinch? Yes.

Can you overcook something in a sous vide water bath?

No. Quite simply, it's impossible for something to cook past the temperature of what's cooking it. In a pan or oven, you may set the temperature to 400°, so the pork will keep cooking toward that temperature if you left it in there forever. With sous vide, it comes right up to the temp of the water, and no more.

What options are there for finishing the pork tenderloin?

I prefer the cast iron method we give here. It's quick, simple and only take a couple minutes. Alternatively, you can finish it over an open flame on an outdoor grill, using the same method. Though holding the pork on end above an open flame can be challenging. Some folks even use a blowtorch attachment to finish theirs.

Lastly, you place a oven safe pan (like a cast iron skillet (affiliate)) in the oven and preheat it to 500° for at least 30 minutes. Then, place the pork tenderloin directly on the preheated skillet and cook in the center of the oven for 10 minutes.

What if my bag begins to float?

This is likely because there's still some air in your bag. The best thing to do is reseal the bag, if possible. Or, you can weigh it down to help keep it submerged. One option involves attaching a binder clip to the bottom of the bag and placing a heavy metal knife through the opening to weight it down.

👨🏻‍🍳 Variations

I've made this recipe several different ways, all of which have turned out great.

Teriyaki: seal the pork tenderloin with 1.5 cups of marinade and place in the fridge for 8 hours. Add the bag, marinade and all, to the sous vide bath. When finished, save the liquid from the bag and reduce by boiling in a large saucepan until it becomes a thick sauce. Spoon sauce over the tenderloin.
Mojo: Similar to above, add the marinade to the bag before sealing it all in. Cook the pork in bag with the marinade. You can discard this marinade and sear the pork seperately.

🥗 Side Dishes

Goes great alongside parmesan roasted broccoli, roasted brussels sprouts or a freshly made classic caesar salad. I always like to throw some frozen yeast rolls in the oven to go along side, too.

👪 Serving Size

The average serving size is about ½ to ¾ of a pound, uncooked. The average pork tenderloin will provide about 4 servings. To scale the recipe up, simply using the scaling option on the recipe card provided below.

🥡 Leftovers

Pork tenderloin keeps well in the fridge in an airtight container for about 3-5 days. If reheating in the microwave, I always set mine to 50% power to help keep from drying it out. About 2 minutes typically does the trick for a full serving.

You can also repurpose your leftovers for a cuban sandwich, potato and pork casserole or mexican rice with pork.

Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin

Author: Mike
Total Time: 2.5 hours
Yield: 5 servings 1x

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Description

Pork tenderloin is slowly cooked to a precise temperature using sous vide. Buttery soft texture with a crisp sear at the end.

Ingredients

Scale

For sous vide

3 lbs pork tenderloin
1 tsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp lemon pepper seasoning
2 tsp garlic powder
4 sprigs fresh thyme

For pan searing:

2 Tbsp grapeseed oil
2 Tbsp butter

Instructions

Fill a sous vide container ¾ of the way with water and preheat to 140°. Season lean pork tenderloin evenly on all sides with lemon pepper, kosher salt and garlic powder.
Place pork tenderloin into a vacuum sealer bag. Add fresh thyme, putting a couple sprigs on each side of the pork. Vacuum seal tightly using a vacuum sealer, making sure to remove all air from the bag.
Place pork tenderloin in preheated sous vide water bath and close lid. Cook for for 1-4 hours.
Remove pork from bag and place on a wire rack above a large baking sheet. Pat the tenderloin dry with a paper towel.
Heat a cast iron pan over medium-high heat. Add in grapeseed oil and 1 tablespoon butter and allow to melt. Add in pork tenderloin. Spend 30 seconds searing each side, turning it with tongs as you go. After searing all the side surfaces, stand the pork tenderloin on end with tongs in order to sear the ends as well.
Repeat once more, adding remaining butter and searing all sides for an additional 30 seconds. At this point, it should be golden brown. Remove to a place and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.