Easy smoked pork tenderloin can’t get better than this! Soft, tender, and juicy smoked pork tenderloin stuffed with a delicious combination of apple, pear, onion, herbs, and Gruyere cheese. It’s simple and the flavors all work together beautifully!
Stuffed Smoked Pork Tenderloin
Pork is amazing smoked because the mild and tender flavor and texture of the meat takes in the smoke flavor beautifully! As long as you don’t use wood that is too harsh, smoke and pork make a perfect compliment to each other.
This fruity and cheesy stuffing for pork is one of my favorites. Apples and pear is a classic pairing with pork and gruyere cheese adds not just another layer of flavor, but the smooth and creamy texture to the filling. Finish it off with a couple of fresh herbs to bring it all together with an earthy finish.
Pork tenderloin is a great option when you want to taste smoked meat but don’t want to wait for hours. Depending on the size of the tenderloins, it will take you 2-3 hours to smoke it. That’s all! Got to love a smoked dinner that comes together in just a couple hours.
Ingredients Needed
Pork Tenderloin – packages of pork tenderloin usually come with 2 tenderloins and weigh about 2-2.5 lbs. Most of them come trimmed but there will be a little bit of silver skin left that you will need to take off.
Seasoning – season the pork itself simply with salt and pepper. Let the smoked and the filling do its job.
Onion – small yellow onion will be good to balance out sweet flavors of fruit.
Apple – choose a juicy, sweeter apple like gala or honeycrisp.
Pear – choose a pear that is ripe but firm, don’t get one that is overly ripe or overly soft or it will turn to mush when cooked.
Gruyere cheese – use a block of Gruyere and grate it yourself on a large cheese grater.
Herbs – a combination of fresh rosemary and thyme will give you the best aroma and flavor compliment.
Quick Smoking Notes:
At what temperature to smoke pork tenderloin?
You want to stick to 225° for pork tenderloin but don’t go over 240°.
When is pork tenderloin done?
Cook pork to 145° internal temperature. When taking the temperature of stuffed pork, you need to be careful to track the temperature of the meat inside, not the stuffing. You can usually feel for the meat with the thermometer probe because when you are inserting the probe into the meat, it will feel more dense and have some resistance. The filling will feel very soft.
How long to smoke stuffed pork tenderloin?
Stuffed pork tenderloin will take about 2-3 hours to smoke. It’s important to track the internal temperature, not the time!
Can I make it ahead of time?
You can prepare the filling ahead of time and store it in an air-tight food storage container in the refrigerator. Reheat it before adding it to the pork.
HOW TO MAKE STUFFED SMOKED PORK TENDERLOIN
How To Butterfly Pork Tenderloin
Take tenderloins out of the package and pat them dry with a paper towel. Place the tenderloins on a large cutting board and remove as much silver skin as you can, if there is some still attached.
Use a sharp knife to cut the tenderloin through the center, lengthwise. Cut almost all the way to the other side, but NOT all the way in half! The goal here is to be able to butterfly the tenderloin, or open it like a book.
To even out the thickness of the meat: Cover opened pork tenderloin with a sheet of plastic wrap. Use the flat side of a meat tenderizer to pound it. Make sure the whole piece has an even thickness of about 1/2 inch. Remove the plastic wrap and discard it.
Prepare the Filling For Pork:
Peel and core the pear and apple. Dice onion, apple, and pear into small pieces and sauté them with a couple tablespoons of butter until soft.
Transfer it into the mixing bowl and mix with minced fresh herbs and grated Gruyere cheese.
Stuffing Pork Tenderloin
Season the inside of the pork with some salt and pepper. Divide the mixed filling in two portions and spread each portion over each tenderloin. Spread it out as evenly as possible, leaving about 1/2 inch of meat around the perimeter without the filling.
Roll up the tenderloin lengthwise and place it seam down on the cutting board. Use cooking twine to tie the tenderloins all along the whole length in 1-inch intervals. Make sure not to tie too tight where it starts cutting into meat.
Smoke Pork Tenderloin
Set up your smoker and use milder wood chips like maple, pecan, apricot, apple, or peach. Preheat your smoker to 225° and make sure the grate is clean.
Place the tenderloins onto a lightly greased, mesh grill basket. Insert the leave-in meat thermometer probe into the center of the thickest part of the larger tenderloin to safely track the temperature.
Place on the smoker, close the lid, and smoke until internal temperature reaches 145° (2-3 hours). Take off the smoker and place the tenderloins onto the cutting board. Let them rest 5 minutes and take off the twine. Let them rest another 5-10 minutes before slicing.
What To Serve With Smoked Pork Tenderloin
Potatoes are always the best option for pork, whether you serve it with mashed potatoes or grilled potatoes.
Grilled vegetables will be beautiful as well, choose green beans, zucchini, mushrooms, or asparagus.
Stuffed Smoked Pork Tenderloin
Ingredients
- 2.5 lbs pork tenderloin 1 package of 2 tenderloins
- coarse or sea salt
- black pepper
Stuffing:
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 small yellow onion
- 1 sweet apple
- 1 pear
- 6 oz Gruyere cheese
- 2 tsp fresh thyme
- 1 tsp minced fresh rosemary
- coarse or sea salt
- black pepper
Instructions
Prepare the Stuffing:
- Peel and core the pear and apple. Dice onion, apple, and pear into small pieces.
- Preheat a medium cooking pan over medium heat and melt butter. Add diced onion, pear, and apple, and sauté them until soft.
- Transfer it into the mixing bowl and mix with minced fresh herbs, some salt and pepper, and grated Gruyere cheese.
Butterfly the Pork:
- Take tenderloins out of the package and pat them dry with a paper towel. Place the tenderloins on a large cutting board and remove as much silver skin as you can, if there is some still attached.
- Use a sharp knife to cut the tenderloin through the center, lengthwise. Cut almost all the way to the other side, but NOT all the way in half! The goal here is to be able to butterfly the tenderloin, or open it like a book.
- To even out the thickness of the meat: Cover opened pork tenderloin with a sheet of plastic wrap. Use the flat side of a meat tenderizer to pound it. Make sure the whole piece has an even thickness of about 1/2 inch. Remove the plastic wrap and discard it.
Stuff, Roll, and Tie the Pork:
- Season inside of the pork with some salt and pepper. Divide the mixed filling in two portions and spread each portion over each tenderloin. Spread it out as evenly as possible, leaving about 1/2 inch of meat around the perimeter without the filling.
- Roll up the tenderloin lengthwise and place it seam down on the cutting board. Use cooking twine to tie the tenderloins all along the whole length in 1-inch intervals. Make sure not to tie too tight where it starts cutting into meat. Season on the outside with a little salt and pepper and well.
Smoking the Pork:
- Set up your smoker and use milder wood chips like maple, pecan, apricot, apple, or peach. Preheat the smoker to 225° and make sure the grate is clean.
- Place the tenderloins onto a lightly greased, mesh grill basket. Insert the leave-in meat thermometer probe into the center of the thickest part of the larger tenderloin to safely track the temperature. (Make sure to insert the thermometer into the meat and not the stuffing. You can usually feel for the meat with the thermometer probe because when you are inserting the probe into the meat, it will feel more dense and have some resistance. The filling will feel very soft.)
- Place on the smoker, close the lid, and smoke until internal temperature reaches 145° (2-3 hours).
- Take off the smoker and place the tenderloins onto the cutting board. Let them rest 5 minutes and take off the twine. Let them rest another 5-10 minutes before slicing.
Nutrition
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