Whenever I need to rustle up a reliably crowd-pleasing dinner during the holidays, this simple recipe for lingonberry or cranberry glazed pork loin always saves the day. Incredibly easy to prepare, this dish also happens to be equally festive in color and flavor. Paired with some creamy mashed potatoes and your favorite green vegetable, it's practically Christmas on a plate.
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Ingredients for Lingonberry or Cranberry Glazed Pork Loin
- pork loin roast
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- vegetable oil
- savory cranberry sauce
- white wine
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions for Lingonberry or Cranberry Glazed Pork Loin
Heat oven to 325℉. Pat the pork dry with paper towels, and then season it with salt and pepper.
Place a cast iron skillet (or other oven safe skillet) over medium-high heat and add the vegetable oil. When the oil is very hot, but not smoking, place the pork in the skillet fat side down. Cook until that side is well browned, about 3 minutes.
Using tongs, rotate the pork and continue to cook until well browned on all sides. Then transfer the roast to a plate and set aside.
Reduce the heat to medium and add the wine to the skillet. Using a wooden spoon, stir to loosen any browned bits on the bottom of the skillet, and allow the wine to simmer and reduce slightly (about a minute or two).
Then add the savory cranberry sauce and stir to combine with the reduced wine to make the glaze.
Return the pork to the skillet. Using tongs, roll the pork to coat with the glaze on all sides.
Place the skillet in the oven to roast until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees, about 30 to 40 minutes.
About halfway through the roasting process, use tongs to roll the pork in the glaze once again (being careful not to touch the hot skillet handle).
Transfer the pork to a carving board and allow it to rest. In the meantime, put the remaining glaze in a vessel suitable for pouring.
Remove the twine and carve the pork into ¼ inch slices. Serve with a generous amount of the remaining glaze poured over the top.
Hint: The savory cranberry sauce used in the glaze here is very easy to make. That said, I like to prepare a double batch at Thanksgiving. This way I can rest assured in the knowledge that I already have plenty stashed away in the refrigerator (and at the ready) for whenever I want to make glazed pork loin during the holiday season!
Equipment
You will need an oven safe skillet to prepare this glazed pork loin roast. Cast iron is the best choice, since it will give you the best sear on the meat before proceeding to make the glaze and transferring to the oven.
Storage
Any leftover lingonberry or cranberry glazed pork loin can be kept in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.
Top tip
This recipe calls for a pork loin roast, rather than pork tenderloin. While both are lean cuts, a pork loin roast is much larger and thicker than a pork tenderloin, making it somewhat better suited to slow roasting in the oven. That said, if you prefer to use pork tenderloin instead, just be sure to reduce the roasting time in accordance with its typically smaller size!
Related
Looking for more festive holiday dinner ideas? Try these:
Pairing
These are a few of my favorite things to include on the menu when I'm serving Lingonberry or Cranberry Glazed Pork Loin:
📖 Recipe
Lingonberry or Cranberry Glazed Pork Loin
Equipment
- cast iron skillet
Ingredients
- 1½ to 2 pound pork loin roast (wrapped with twine to help keep its shape)
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 cup savory cranberry sauce
- ½ cup white wine
Instructions
- Heat oven to 325℉. Pat the pork dry with paper towels, and then season it with salt and pepper.
- Place a cast iron skillet (or other oven safe skillet) over medium-high heat and add the vegetable oil. When the oil is very hot, but not smoking, place the pork in the skillet fat side down. Cook until that side is well browned, about 3 minutes. Using tongs, rotate the pork and continue to cook until well browned on all sides. Then transfer to a plate and set aside.
- Reduce the heat to medium and add the wine to the skillet. Using a wooden spoon, stir to loosen any browned bits on the bottom of the skillet, and allow the wine to simmer and reduce slightly (about a minute or two).
- Add the savory cranberry sauce and stir to combine with the reduced wine to make the glaze.
- Return the pork to the skillet. Using tongs, roll the pork to coat with the glaze on all sides.
- Place the skillet in the oven and roast until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees, about 30 to 40 minutes. About halfway through the roasting process, use tongs to roll the pork in the glaze once again (being careful not to touch the hot skillet handle).
- Transfer the pork to a carving board and allow it to rest. In the meantime, put the remaining glaze in a vessel suitable for pouring.
- Remove the twine and carve the pork into ¼ inch slices. Serve with a generous amount of the remaining glaze poured over the top.
Gracie says
I loved your pork tenderloin with lingonberry gravey a couple years ago so I was immediately drawn to your most recent recipe, the lingonberry glazed pork loin. Since I had your savory cranberry sauce leftover from Thanksgiving, I felt compelled to try this recipe right away. I did substitute a pork tenderloin that was in my freezer for the loin roast. It was divine and looked beautiful plated. I will be making this for my company on Christmas Eve and anytime I want a delicious, easy to prepare meal that is sure to impress! Thank you.
Nora says
Glad to hear you enjoyed it, Gracie...thanks for sharing your thoughts!