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Garlic herb butter baked pork loin and potatoes – delicious juicy pork loin and roasted potatoes baked in decadent garlic herb butter for an easy sheet pan dinner the whole family will love!
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At Sweet C’s, I add lots of tips in all of my recipes – because I am a home cook without any formal training, and I find I am more confident making dishes when I understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. My goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.
Table of contents
Pork Loin and Potatoes One-Pot Dinner
The most delicious, tender, and juicy pork loin – bursting with garlic and herb butter flavor.
If you love my crazy viral garlic butter pork tenderlion recipe, our Smoked Pork Ribs Recipe, Easy Slow Cooker Pork Steaks Recipe, or our easy baked pork chops – you’re going to flip for this herb butter pork lion that is baked right alongside perfect roasted potatoes – for a main and side dish in just one pan!
This recipe is truly a one pot sheet pan dinner – it is loaded with flavor your family will love, and so easy to make, you’ll want to make it all the time!
I hope you love this delicious pork loin and potato dinner as much as we do.
How To Make Pork Loin and Potatoes
Pork Loin – I get a lot of questions on this recipe on whether to use pork tenderloin or pork tenderlion. The two cuts of pork are from similar areas (off the back of the pig), and are both leaner and respond to the same cooking methods, but pork tenderloin is much longer and skinnier than a pork loin.
Pork loins tend to be much fatter, much heavier, and over 3 lbs – while a pork tenderloin will be longer, skinnier, and around 1-2 pounds. For this recipe, I am calling for a Pork Loin – but a pork tenderloin will also work!
We made this recipe using boiler potatoes, cut in half – but you can use other types of potatoes, too.
- Fingerling potatoes. Wash fingerling potatoes well, and pat dry. You can leave whole or cut in half.
- Russet potatoes. Use 2 russet potatoes. Wash russet potatoes well and pat dry. Cut into 2″ chunks.
- Blue potatoes. Use 8-10 small blue potatoes. Wash well and pat dry, and cut into 2″ chunks.
We’re going to use the following method to get the best results:
- Marinate pork. Marinating pork loin at least 40 minutes, up to the night before, helps to inject flavor and moisture into pork meat.
- Brown pork. Browning pork loin before roasting with potatoes helps to add color, lock in the meats juices, and gives a caramelized flavor that you won’t get from just adding to a pan. While you can skip browning the pork before roasting, taking the few minutes ahead of baking to sear pork on all sides really makes a huge impact on flavor and appearance.
- Go by temperature, not time. Many people want to judge recipes off the time in the oven – but because pork loin size and oven performance can vary wildly, it is best to judge your pork’s doneness by the internal temperature – not how much time has elapsed.
Tips and Tricks to Perfect Roasted Pork Loin and Potatoes & FAQs
Since pork loin has little fat, it can become tough very quickly when overcooked – I’m providing my best tips and tricks to keep pork loin moist below:
Make with a pork tenderloin. To make this baked pork loin recipe with a smaller, thinner pork tenderloin, continue with the recipe exactly as called for below, but plan on for 10-30 minutes less cooking time (this will vary wildly depending on your pork tenderloin, I always advocate for cooking off temperature rather than time when cooking meat.)
Marinate. Marinating or brining pork loin before cooking will always help to soften the pork loin and keep it from drying out. I love using a bottle of simple Italian Dressing or a cup of olive oil with some lemon juice, salt, and pepper for an easy overnight pork loin marinade.
Cooked pork can be pink. You’re looking for slightly pink in the middle, as food safety rules have changed and pork no longer needs to be cooked all the way to fully opaque and white in the middle.
Don’t overcook. Pork loin dries out very quickly when overcooked. I often pull my pork loin at 140 degrees and tent it with foil to continue carryover cooking as it rests for about 10 minutes before serving. You can let it rest for up to 15 minutes before serving while you finish up some side dishes, too!
Cook to 145 degrees. Pork is properly cooked at 145 degrees, overcooking will dry out pork.
Check pork temperature as it cooks. Simply check your pork loin’s internal temperature as it bakes, and monitor for doneness, as the cook time can vary.
Recipe FAQs
Pork loin is fully cooked when the internal temperature is 145 degrees.
If your pork has reached 145 degrees internal temperature (measure the fattest part of the loin), it is fully cooked. This may contain a bit of pink – unlike chicken, color isn’t an indicator of doneness.
You can swap pork tenderloin for pork loin – please reduce cook time by 10-15 minutes.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days, or frozen for up to four months.
What to Serve With Pork Loin and Potatoes
If you’re looking for a perfect side dish for this pork and potatoes sheet pan meal, or a delicious easy dessert, we have you covered!
- The Best Oven Roasted Garlic Parmesan Asparagus Recipe
- The Best Creamy Broccoli Cauliflower Salad Recipe
- The Best Keto Air Fryer Brussels Sprouts Recipe
- Easy No Knead Bread
- The Best Easy Baked Scalloped Corn Recipe
- Easy Blueberry Peach Cobbler Recipe
- Easy Apple Sopapilla Cheesecake Recipe
You can also visit our easy side dishes recipe archives, or our easy dessert archives.
Garlic Herb Butter Baked Pork Loin and Potatoes
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Garlic Herb Butter Baked Pork Loin and Potatoes Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 bottle Italian dressing, as marinade
- 3 lb pork loin
- 6 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp celtic sea salt and fresh cracked pepper
- 4 tbsp butter, sliced into 4-6 pats
- 2 tbsp diced garlic
- 1 tsp dried basil*
- 1 tsp dried oregano*
- 1 tsp dried thyme*
- 1 tsp dried parsley*
- ½ tsp dried sage*
- *OR 2 tbsp Italian Herb Seasoning Blend
- 1 lb red and yukon gold potatoes, halved
- 1 cup diced onion
Instructions
- Marinate pork in Italian dressing, at least 30 minutes, preferably overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Remove pork from marinade and discard marinade.
- Pat dry and season well with salt and pepper.
- Heat 2 tbsp butter in a large heavy pan.
- Brown pork loin on all sides, about 2 minutes per side.
- When pork loin has browned, add to roasting pan or baking sheet.
- Melt rest of butter in pan and combine onion, herbs and garlic – heat 30 seconds and remove from heat.
- Wash potatoes well and cut in half. Pat dry.
- Arrange around pork loin in pan.
- Generously season pork and potatoes with herbs, salt, and pepper.
- Drizzle butter and herbs over pork and potatoes. Toss potatoes lightly to coat in herb butter.
- Roast 35-40 minutes, checking temperature after 20 minutes.
- When porks internal temperature reaches 140 degrees, remove from oven and let rest 10 minutes before carving.
- Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
My potatoes are never done after 30 minutes. Do you find they are with this recipe!
It depends how many you put on there. If you are making a lot of potatoes, you can just roast them in the oven on a separate sheet pan. If you overcrowd the pan they will take longer to cook and won’t get as crispy.
Instead of two types of potatoes we did potatoes beets and carrots
Love that mix-up, beets are so delicious roast and I bet you got a nice colorful meal, glad you enjoyed it!
This was our Thanksgiving meat this year. Simple and delicious! Clean up was easy as well. Thank you for sharing this!