Pork Loin Roast Recipe with Manchengo Polenta

This easy rosemary brined pork loin roast recipe is the perfect easy weeknight dinner. The really simple process leaves the pork loin juicy and moist while still being paleo, keto, and whole30 compliant. Great with this manchengo polenta on the side.

Are you ready for my secret to the simplest, most juicy and flavorful pork loin roast ever? As my daughter and Samuel L Jackson would say, “hold on to your butts!”. Because I really can’t think of a more fool-proof, freaking delicious way to make a pork loin than to use a brine. That’s right. You’ve heard me talk about brining before a la buttermilk brined roast turkey around Thanksgiving. But this pork loin roast recipe uses a dry brine and then is smothered with a roasted garlic dijon sauce halfway through roasting. It is just so gosh darn amazing, you’ll think you’re out on a date at some trendy new restaurant.

The Perfect Pork Loin Roast Recipe

Ok, so let’s just take a sec and talk about what makes the perfect pork loin roast. Obviously, it needs to be tender and properly cooked. But also, it needs to have a ton of flavor. Enough that it can stand on it’s own without a heavy sauce or gravy. You want to be able to dice up that left over pork and add it to a salad without it being straight blah.

The secret to my pork loin roast recipe is 1) the dry brine. A dry brine is when you add a salt mixture to meat and let it sit for at least 12 hours. This process infuses flavor into the meat and prevents it from drying out (even if you accidentally over cook it). I use rosemary infused salt to seriously amp up that flavor.

My other secret is 2) the roasted garlic dijon crust. A pork loin needs to roast for 50-60 minutes. During the first 20 minutes of roasting I add some garlic cloves tossed in oil. Once the garlic is perfectly roasted, I mash it together with dijon, cider vinegar, and honey and smother the pork loin for it’s second half of cooking. So not only is the loin perfectly seasoned from the brine, you add that extra pop or roasted garlicky flavor and you there is no longer a need for gravy (aka another step/pan to clean).

Dry Brine vs Wet Brine

I am very seriously in love with my buttermilk brine recipe that I use for my Thanksgiving turkey (pro tip: as well as for grilled chicken). It infuses so much flavor. It’s a recipe I just can’t live without. But there are some down sides to using a wet brine.

Wet Brine Cons

You need more ingredients ( liquid, salt, spices, herbs, garlic, etc)
A large vessel is necessary to hold all the liquid as well as the meat
It needs at least 24 hours to soak before you cook it
Wet brining can be just more messy

Wet Brine Pros

I prefer to use a wet brine for a whole turkey or chicken because poultry is such an odd shape. Dry brining creates wonderful crispy skin but is not as effective at flavoring the entire bird. Wet brining does a better job at adding intense flavor everywhere.

But dry brining with a pork loin, well that’s another story. I chose to use a dry brine for this pork loin roast recipe for the following reasons:

Dry Brine Pros

Pork loin is an even surface that is relatively narrow. Sprinkling salt over the entirety of the surface is very doable.
I only needed two ingredients for this brine. Salt and rosemary.
Can be ready in as little as 12 hours.
The same pan I brine the pork in can be the same pan I roast the pork in (way less mess!).
It’s just a much simpler process that take minutes to do. Easy + Delicious = Win!

Just so that we’re even, there are also some cons to a dry brine.

Dry Brine Cons

Can easily over salt
Limited to the complexity of flavor because you are limited to the kind of ingredients you can add to a dry brine as it has to remain dry.
Reduces the number of tenderizing effects because you cannot add a liquid acid

The Fixings

I recommend making this pork loin roast recipe with this manchengo polenta and a gorgeous green salad. The polenta is another quick and easy recipe and there’s cheese in it. Manchengo cheese! I love dipping bits of pork loin in the polenta as that sweet corn, cheese, and rosemary pork pair perfectly together.

So now you have a recipe that you can make the night before, throw in the oven when you get home from work, and eat with a gorgeous glass of rosé as if you were out on a date. Even if your kids are screaming and sloshing polenta everywhere. At least you can eat like you’re on a date.

When you make this pork loin roast recipe, let me know! I absolutely love seeing your photos of POP KITCHEN recipes up on Instagram . Like POP KITCHEN on Facebook and follow along with all of my recipe inspiration on Pinterest ! Oh, and can you tell your friends about me? K, thanks, luh ew, bye!

OTHER EASY WEEKNIGHT DINNERS

Coconut Curry Lentils

Za’atar Chicken Burgers

Carnitas Meatball Tacos

Recipe

Pork Loin Roast Recipe with Manchengo Polenta

Ingredients

2-3 lbs boneless pork loin roast
2 Tbsp kosher or sea salt
2 Tbsp + 1 tsp divided fresh rosemary, roughly chopped
Black pepper (optional)
1 head garlic
2 tsp oil
2 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 tsp honey
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
3 cups water
1 cup polenta (dry polenta or corn grits -not instant)
½ tsp salt
3 Tbsp butter
½ cup shredded manchengo cheese (you’ll find this in the fancier cheese section)

Instructions

hours before cooking you’ll want to brine your pork loin. Combine the salt and 2 tbsp fresh rosemary (you’ll need the extra tsp the next day) together in a small bowl. Rub the salt and rosemary together with your hands for a good 2 minutes. You want the salt to bruise the rosemary and infuse that rosemary flavor into the salt.
Season the pork loin with the salt mixture making sure to cover every inch of the roast. Place the loin on a baking rack and place the baking racking over a baking pan. Allow to sit in the refrigerator uncovered for 12 hours.
If you are able to, remove the pork loin from the fridge 1 hour before roasting to sit at room temperature (if not, that’s ok).
Heat your oven to 400 F. Scrape off the salt and rosemary and pat the pork loin dry. Brush with a little oil. Place tin foil on the baking sheet you used to brine the pork with, underneath your wire rack, and place the pork loin on top, fat side faced down.
Break open your garlic head into unpeeled cloves and toss them together with the oil. Place the garlic on the same pan as the roast and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the garlic cloves and allow the roast to cook another 10 minutes. Meanwhile, press the garlic cloves out of their skins and mash them in a bowl. Add the dijon, honey, apple cider vinegar, and reserved tsp of fresh rosemary and stir to combine.
Smear the pork loin with the garlic mixture. At this point it should have been roasting for 30 minutes. Place back in the oven for another 20-30 minutes or until the center of the pork loin reads 140-145 F on a thermometer. Allow to rest covered loosely with tin foil for 15 minutes before slicing.
Add water and salt to a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil. Slowly whisk in the polenta and turn the heat down to a good simmer. Cook for 15 minutes stirring frequently, every minute or 2.
Remove the polenta from the heat and stir in the butter and shredded manchengo. Taste to see if it needs more salt, butter, or cheese.