Coated with a homemade jerk dry rub, this sous vide pork tenderloin is tender, juicy, and scrumptious! A fabulous weeknight main course that requires only 15 minutes of hands-on time.

Sliced Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin

I never knew that pork could taste so different, yet so good until I tried sous vide pork tenderloin —a whole delicate slab that comes out pretty, pink, and flavorful. Whatever pork recipes I made before my sous vide adventure, pink was not a color that I’d associated with the outcome at all. Since the USDA-recommended internal temperature for cooked pork is 145°F (62.8°C), pork prepared with the traditional cooking methods is usually white or brown and tastes a bit stringy.

Rare or Pink Pork? Is It Safe? 

The question is “Is it even safe to eat when the pork is still pink?” This is where the advantage of sous vide comes in: pasteurization. In my complete sous vide cooking guide, there’s a deep dive on food safety. In short, bacteria are actively being killed on the surface of the pork at 130°F (54°C). The longer you cook it in the sous vide, the safer it is to consume. When cooking at higher temperatures, the bacterias die even faster. Therefore, welcome to the world where you can choose the doneness of your pork! And it’s guaranteed to be so unbelievably juicy and tender!

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In this post, I will show you how to use the sous vide method to cook pork tenderloin step by step including a Jamaican jerk-flavored recipe. As soon as you learn how you’ll be making the most tender and juicy pork tenderloin every single time without fail. Then, change up the flavor by using your go-to marinade or seasoning combination. It’s foolproof. For example, this buttery mix of sun-dried tomatoes and capers is a great alternative.

How Long Does It Take to Sous Vide A Pork Tenderloin?

Pork tenderloin is best cooked whole sous vide. The best cook time for sous vide pork tenderloin is 90 minutes. You can leave it in the sous vide water bath for up to four hours.

What Is The Best Temperature for Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin?

The texture and doneness of pork tenderloin are directly affected by the temperature you choose to cook it at. This is the magical part – with a sous vide machine, you can totally control how you want your pork to be done. 

  • 131°F (55°C): Rare, soft, and rosy
  • 136°F (57.8°C): Medium-rare, juicy, and pink
  • 144°F (62.2°C): Medium, tender and blushing
  • 149°F (65°C): Medium-well, springy, and barely pink
  • 158°F (70°C): Welldone, firm, and fibrous
Sous Vide Jerk Pork Tenderloin

Can I Sous Vide Frozen Pork Tenderloin?

As indicated in the cooking time and temperature chart above, the answer is an absolute yes! You could place frozen pork tenderloin in a Ziploc bag and pop it into the sous vide water bath directly, then season it after cooking. But I found that with a little pre-prep, the result is much better. Here are my tips.

  • If using a dry rub, season fresh pork tenderloin and sear all sides in a very hot pan coated with a little olive oil. Place the seared pork in a vacuum sealer bag, vacuum seal, and cool it in an ice-water bath before popping it into the freezer. 
  • If using a wet marinade, marinate the pork for a certain period, then transfer to a vacuum sealer bag, seal and freeze until ready to cook. That’s assuming you’d discard the marinade. If you want to cook the pork in the marinade, you may put all contents in a vacuum sealer bag and push out the air as much as possible manually before sealing it. Leave it in the fridge to let the flavor soak in, then transfer to the freezer until ready to cook.

When ready to cook, literally just drop the vacuum-sealed bags that contain the prepped frozen pork tenderloin in a preheated water bath for 2 hours and 15 minutes. The prep time on a cooking day is like what? 5 seconds? That’s ridiculous, in a good way!

Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin Cook Time and Temperature Chart

Cook TemperatureDonenessTexture Cook Time (Fresh)Cook Time (Frozen)
131°F (55°C)RareSoft and rosy90 Minutes2 Hours and 15 Minutes
136°F (57.8°C)Medium-rareJuicy and pink90 Minutes2 Hours and 15 Minutes
144°F (62.2°C)MediumTender and blushing90 Minutes2 Hours and 15 Minutes
149°F (65°C)Medium-wellSpringy and barely pink90 Minutes2 Hours and 15 Minutes
158°F (70°C)Well doneFirm and fibrous90 Minutes2 Hours and 15 Minutes

To make sous vide pork tenderloin, there are a few essential things that you need. Let’s start with the ingredients.

Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin

Essential Ingredients

Sous Vide Pork Loin or Tenderloin

Before we dive in, it’s notably important to differentiate between pork loin and pork tenderloin because I’ve brought back home the wrong cut before.

Pork tenderloin is a boneless cut of meat that comes from the muscle that runs along the backbone. It’s long and narrow. Pork loin comes from the back of the animal. It’s wider and flatter. It can be boneless or bone-in.

Sous vide pork loin roast requires different cooking times and temperatures, which is a recipe for another time. In this post, we are going to focus on sous vide pork tenderloin.

Seasonings or Marinade 

Salt and pepper can always do a fine job with any good-quality meat. 

To be more adventurous on the flavor, a homemade jerk dry rub is one of my favorites for pork. You’ll need kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, brown sugar, cayenne pepper, coriander, ground cumin, garlic powder, and ground cinnamon. This jerk rub works wonderfully with pork loin, pork chops, or even pork ribs. 

Beyond that, wet marinated pork is also a fantastic option such as this Asian red marinade and this one with honey and Dijon mustard.

Essential Equipment 

  • A sous vide immersion circulator. I used an Anova Culinary Sous Vide Precision Cooker for this sous vide pork tenderloin recipe. I also own a KitchenBoss G320 Sous Vide Cooker. You might have seen it in some of my sous vide recipes. To learn more about this particular product and see if it’s right for you, read my in-depth review here.
  • A large pot or a sous vide container. This 12-quart container is compatible with most sous vide machines on the market. I personally use an Anova sous vide cooking container which holds up 16L of water with a removable lid and rack to prevent food from floating. 
  • A large Ziploc bag. For sous vide pork tenderloin, you do not need a vacuum sealer and vacuum seal bags. A large Ziploc bag with the water displacement method work just fine. As you might have noticed, I did still use a vacuum sealer bag as I was out of the Ziploc bags when I made the recipe. But remember, you can still use the water displacement method with vacuum sealer bags without vacuum sealing.
  • A heavy-duty skillet. I seared the seasoned pork tenderloin over high heat before sous vide as opposed to after. A cast-iron skillet or a nonstick flat-bottom pan is recommended. 

How to Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin Step by Step & Video
Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin (Jamaican...
Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin (Jamaican Jerk Style)

  1. Preheat the water to your desired temperature according to the cook time and temp chart above. I usually set the temp at 136°F for pork tenderloin.
  2. Rinse and clean the pork tenderloin and pat it dry with paper towels. 
  3. Combine seasonings of your choice. For the jerk dry rub, combine brown sugar, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, coriander, ground cumin, kosher salt, ground black pepper, and ground cinnamon in a small bowl.
  4. Rub the jerk seasoning mix all over the pork. 
  5. Heat up a cast-iron skillet or a heavy-duty skillet over high heat till really hot, add a splash of olive oil and quickly sear the pork, about 30 seconds on each side. 
  6. Place the seared pork in a heavy-duty freezer bag, or a sous vide bag, or a vacuum sealer bag. Please note that if you want to use a regular Ziploc bag, let the pork cool for a bit before adding it to the bag. Otherwise, it’s most likely going to burn a few holes in the bag. (I am speaking from experience.)
  7. Put one or two sprigs of your desired fresh herbs such as fresh thyme or rosemary in the bag.
  8. Place the pork in the sous vide water bath using the water displacement method if it’s not vacuum sealed and set the timer for 90 minutes. 
  9. Once the timer goes off, transfer the pork tenderloin to a cutting board, slice, and enjoy!

What to Serve with Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin

For a complete and healthy meal, I would highly recommend pairing it with this Crunchy Fennel Apple Salad for a gluten-free and low-carbohydrate meal. The old-fashioned mashed potatoes plus a side of greens is a classic. Other great side dish alternatives are Avocado Mango Salsa, Mediterranean Lentil Salad, Warm Kale and Asparagus Salad, and Vegetable Mango Relish.

Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin with Apple Fennel Salad-2

Pork cooked sous vide is usually so juicy that you don’t need any sauce. I love the juice from any meat cooked sous vide, so I served the pork tenderloin with the cooking juice straight out of the bag. But if you’d like to take things to the next level with a pan sauce (especially if you are serving the pork tenderloin with mashed potatoes), here’s a quick one.

Simply sauté some garlic and shallot over medium-high heat, and add some red wine if you like along with the juice from the bag. Let it simmer and finish with a knob of butter.

Here you have it—the perfect sous vide pork tenderloin and healthy meal inspirations. I hope you enjoy it, and let me know how you like it and how you serve it up in the comments below. 

For more delicious recipes for sous vide pork,  I thought you might also like these Sous Vide Pork Chops, Sous Vide Baby Back Ribs with Homemade BBQ sauce, Honey Dijon Sous Vide Pork Shoulder, Red-Braised Sous Vide Pork Belly, and Sous Vide Pork Adobo

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Sliced Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin

Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin (Jamaican Jerk Style)

  • Author: Sharon Chen
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
  • Yield: 6 servings 1x
  • Category: Meat, Main Course
  • Method: Sous Vide
  • Cuisine: Jamaican Jerk
  • Diet: Gluten Free

Description

Coated with a homemade jerk dry rub, this sous vide pork tenderloin is tender, juicy, and scrumptious! A fabulous weeknight main course that requires only 15 minutes of hands-on time.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 (1-pound) pork tenderloins
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 sprig of fresh rosemary (optional)

For the jerk dry rub:

  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 tablespoon coriander
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

  1. Preheat water to 136°F (57.8°C) using a sous vide machine. (I use Anova Precision Cooker.)
  2. Rinse the pork tenderloins and pat them dry with paper towels.
  3. Combine all jerk dry-rub ingredients in a small bowl.Combine all jerk dry-rub ingredients in a small bowl.
  4. Season the pork with the jerk dry rub on all sides.Season the pork with the jerk dry rub on all sides.
  5. Heat a non-stick skillet or cast-iron skillet over high heat until really hot, add olive oil, and immediately sear the seasoned pork, 30 seconds on each side. Remove from heat.Heat a non-stick skillet or cast-iron skillet over high heat until really hot, add olive oil, and immediately sear the seasoned pork, 30 seconds on each side. Remove from heat.
  6. Allow the seared pork to cool down a bit, then place it in a large Ziploc bag or a vacuum sealer bag, add the rosemary if using. Place seared pork in a Ziploc bag, add the rosemary if using.
  7. Use the water displacement method to submerge the bag in the sous vide water bath and set the timer for 1.5 hours. (Please note that you can still use the water displacement method with a vacuum sealer bag. But if you prefer, feel free to vacuum seal the bag.)Drop the vacuum-sealed bag in the sous vide water bath or use the water replacement method if using Ziploc bags. Set the timer for 1.5 hours.
  8. Once the timer goes off. Remove the pork from the water bath. Open the bag and transfer the pork to a cutting board. Slice and enjoy.Once the timer goes off. Remove the pork from the water bath. Cut the bag open and transfer the pork to a cutting board. Slice and enjoy!


Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1
  • Calories: 213
  • Sugar: 1.5g
  • Sodium: 287.8mg
  • Fat: 8g
  • Saturated Fat: 1.7g
  • Carbohydrates: 2g
  • Fiber: 0.2g
  • Protein: 31.8g
  • Cholesterol: 98.3mg

Keywords: sous vide pork tenderloin

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About the Author

Sharon Chen is an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, an author and a sous vide fanatic who believes food not only brings healing but also connection. As the creator of StreetSmart Kitchen, she's on a mission to help you find balance, ease, joy, and simplicity in the kitchen as you improve your well-being.