This simple recipe will show you exactly how to cook a boneless pork loin roast. Did you know that we no longer have to cook pork roasts until they are shoe leather as our Moms and grandparents did? Yup. We now get to cook pork roasts to 145°F.
How to Cook a Boneless Pork Loin Roast
It does take some getting used to, the fact that your pork roast will be slightly pink in the middle. The first time I made it my Mom was appalled. APPALLED. That’s the only word I can use. She couldn’t believe that I was trying to kill my family by feeding them undercooked pork.
That’s why I’m writing up this quick how-to post, because this is the NEW how to cook a boneless pork loin roast method. No shoe leather. Gravy is a delicious addition if wanted, not a necessity so that you don’t choke on a bone dry roast. Trust me, once you start treating pork more like a beef roast instead of chicken ( we all freak when chicken is pink!) you are going to love pork roasts again!
How Many Minutes Per Pound for Pork Loin?
The rule of thumb is usually 25 minutes per pound at 350 °F. This method that I use is the high-heat method: you start the roast off at 450 °F for 15 minutes, sear in the juices, and then turn down the oven to 300 °F. With my method, you can also count on a good 20 minutes per pound AFTER the initial roasting at 450°F, as the oven will have residual high heat for a while after you turn the oven down.
The only exception is when you have a thinner pork loin roast or a thicker one. I had a huge Costco pork loin for the photos (you have seen those suckers, right? What giant pig those came from, I don’t want to know!), so my roast in these photos took 120 minutes on the low heat to cook. If you have a thinner pork loin roast, adjust accordingly. A trick, by the way, for those Costco pork loins is to cut them in half and freeze them separately. Or in thirds. They are so big and so cheap!
What’s the Difference Between Pork Loin and Pork Tenderloin?
Pork loin is round and flat, think of the meat as looking like a boneless pork chop. It is still round but is wide. Pork tenderloin is very round, smaller and is a literal circle when you cook it up. Tenderloin is very tender but if you cook this pork loin roast correctly it’s also an amazing dinner!
Is Pork Loin a Good Cut of Meat?
Pork loin can be overcooked and dried out easily but if you get a good roast with a fat cap on the top, that fat will help! Always choose a pork loin roast that has a lot of fat on the top, I will literally dig through those Costco roasts until I find one! I’m that person lol. Then you have to make sure that you cook it properly – using this recipe.
Tips for Roasting a Tender, Juicy Pork Loin
- Searing the juices at 450°F to start makes this the best pork loin recipe around.Once you sear those in, you don’t lose the moisture as badly in the oven. You then turn down the oven and cook it lower than usual, which also helps to make it a moist roast pork.
- The butter and olive oil crust on top is essential. It helps to form a barrier on the top fat that helps keep the roast moist. Once melted, it also provides moisture to the vegetables and the bottom of the roast.
- Always roast a roast FAT SIDE ON TOP. Any other way is losing out on that natural, fantastic-tasting juiciness that the fat cap provides. You need that fat to be dripping down the pork; why would you want to lose that?
The recipe is plain, simple, and one of my favorite ways to cook a roast. The ends will be well cooked—better for those people who are still having a hard time eating pink pork—but the center?
Perfection. I will never go back to eating shoe leather pork again! So, who else has hopped on board? Did you find it a mental challenge to eat pink pork?
If you are looking for other pork recipes, try my recipes for:
Love,
Karlynn
How to Cook a Boneless Pork Loin Roast
Ingredients
- one 4-5 pounds boneless pork loin roast
- 1/4 cup butter softened
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 7 large garlic cloves minced
- 1 1/2 tablespoons coarse sea salt
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1-2 pounds of chopped carrots.potatoes and onions see notes for sized
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 450° F.
- In a small bowl, combine the butter, oil, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper, and mix until a paste forms.
- Pat the pork roast with a paper towel to remove excess moisture and then rub 2/3 of the seasoning mixture onto the roast, covering the top and sides.
- Place the roast in the bottom of a large roaster.
- Place desired vegetables around the roast. Dab the remaining seasoning mixture over the vegetables.
- Roast uncovered in the pre-heated oven for 15 minutes, then turn the oven temperature down to 300° F. Do not open the oven!
- Let the roast continue to roast for another 20-25 minutes per pound of meat, around 100 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 140° F when a meat thermometer is inserted into the middle.
- Remove the roast from the oven and cover it with foil. Let it rest 10 minutes, then slice and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
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Val says
Yeah, still waiting for my 1 3/4lb roast to cook. It’s been 1 hour and it’s only 120. Smell good, but 300 is too low, 350 will be the lowest I cook anything.
Susana Sieveke says
I don’t see where it says the pork is roasted covered or uncovered. This is an important piece of information. I’m using a roasting pan that has a lid. I guess I will try it uncovered?
Karlynn J says
Hi Susan,
it is uncovered, you place it in the bottom of a roasting pan and I don’t say to cover it.
Ray H. says
Temp is too low. Should be cooked till 170 degrees. 140 is dangerously low. I’d suggest cooking it at 350. Will try again another time. It was disappointing.
Mr. Kitchen Magpie says
That is incorrect. If it was dangerously low, we wouldn’t be advising people to cook at this temperature. Please do your research prior to offering advice.
Lynn Thornton says
I followed your recipe and it was delicious!!! the best pork loin I ever cooked!!! tender and juicy!!! thank you so much!!!
Alan says
I tried this out last night using all the suggested ingredients including fresh Rosemary from my garden. I was using a smaller roast that I had previously purchased. it was only 3.3 lb. I thought that the suggested cooking time wouldn’t matter as it’s the amount of time per pound. unfortunately I cooked it a little bit too long. that being said it was still pretty tender and very moist. I will definitely use this recipe again. I will also note that you are correct in that the smaller the vegetables the better. as the pieces that were a little bit bigger did not cook as well. thanks for the recipe added to my list. 😀
Karlynn J says
That is so awesome to hear, Alan! Thanks for letting me know and I’m glad that you have a new recipe that you enjoy!
Valerie says
I followed this recipe as written. The meat was DELICOUS– tender, juicy, and the spice seasoning was spot on! I had a smaller roast weighing 2.33 lbs. So, I lowered my cooking time at 300 degrees to 60 minutes following the initial 15 minutes at 450 degrees. My potatoes and carrots were still a little hard and needed to be microwaved due to the decreased baking time. The meat was fantastic! All 7 people in my family enjoyed the meat and asked for me to make this recipe again. This recipe is definitely a keeper!
Karlynn says
That’s amazing to hear! I’m so glad that your whole family loved it, thank you for letting me know!
Philip Dumont says
hi is this covered or uncovered for the remaining cook time. obviously 15 min uncovered, but the rest?
thanks again!
John W Pawlik says
I pour some EVOO on the bottom of the roasting pan and roll the meat in it. Fat on top. I sprinkle liberally with course kosher salt, black pepper and dried thyme and rosemary. I peel and quarter potatoes and roll them in the oil and herbs along the sides of the meat that ended up on the side. I roasted at 400 for the 20-25 minutes per lb. 75 minutes for 3pounder. Awesome. People especially love the “greasy” potatoes that are crispy.
Janet says
Excellent. I followed the directions to a T
Karlynn J says
So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Sherrie Au says
Does the recipe really call for 1-1/2 TABLESPOON of salt? I only used 1 tablespoon, and it was still waaay too salty!
Karlynn J says
The recipe calls for coarse sea salt, which is very light and not dense at well. The measurement is correct and yields an excellent result.
Laurie Paterson says
We loved this recipe!! We have started cooking pork chops with a little bit of pink earlier this year so welcomed your 145° for this roast. The rub/crust on top was amazing and made the veggies even more delicious! I was a little nervous of fresh rosemary so used 2 TBSP dried rosemary and 1/2 fresh chopped. Otherwise all was the same as your recipe.
I found your Kitchen Magpie site by fluke a couple of months ago and love these facts: you are Canadian, you cook normal food that families eat, no weird stuff and you have cocktail recipes!! Looking forward to a lengthy cooking future with you!! ❤️🇨🇦
Joanna says
Delicious!!! I cut everything in half as it was dinner for 2. First time making pork loin roast. It came out perfect. I did freak out about the pinkish center and by the look on my husband’s face, I roasted it for another 20 min. Lol.
My husband loved it and opened a bottle of white wine! Cheers!!!! Thank you so much!!!!
Keith Wilson says
I bought a 2.25 pound roast and since I’m single, I cooked half. It came out perfect using this recipe. One thing I did differently was that I sliced up two potatoes, put them into a bowl, and stirred in the 1/3 portion of the spice mixture to coat them. Then I arranged those around the roast.
Twinn says
What do you do with the other 1/3 of seasoning?
Robert Thomas says
Mix in with the veggies.
Cindy says
Absolutely delicious!!!! I had a 2.16 pound roast, therefore, divided the ingredients by 2, approximately. 🤣 WOW!!!! That’s all WE can say, delicious!!!
MONICA MUNRO says
Out of this world. best texture and flavor ever.. I will use same tech unique next time and use different herbs and butter rather than margarine (it’s all I had on hand).
Thumbs up
Mary says
Fabulous recipe, pork was very flavorful and very juicy. Followed recipe as written but used about 2 1/2 tsp of dried thyme in place of the rosemary since I was out of it. (I was a tad reluctant to use the thyme since I generally use rosemary but the thyme was quite good.)
Received rave reviews from the family. This is a keeper! Thank you.
Nora May says
The pork roast was absolutely delicious, juicy and perfectly roasted. Followed your recipe and one of the best pork we have eaten. Thank you.
Nora says
The pork roast was absolutely delicious, juicy and perfectly roasted. Followed your recipe and one of the best pork we have eaten. Thank you.
Cynthia Suzanne says
This recipe is elegantly simple and provincial. It produces a juicy, tender slice of loin with garlic and rosemary hinted at throughout the roast and caramelized vegetables. I followed the directions exactly, and the meat was done to perfection. I used a digital thermometer to sit on my counter so no need to open the door while the meat roasted. I removed the roast when it reached 145 degrees F (after only 1 hour after lowering the oven temp) and placed it on a cutting board with foil over it to let it “set”. The internal temp rose to 149F over the next 10 min. It sliced beautifully and, while not pink inside, it was not at all dry. The vegetables were so delicious with the addition of the garlic/herb butter. Back in the day I was taught to over-cook pork to a fair-thee-well and chops/roasts were always dry and tasteless. This is my forever recipe and is going to be featured when I have guests. Thank you 🙂
Delia says
I cooked a 1.5 lbs boneless pork loin following your ingredients and cooking method except I used 1 tsp of salt instead of 1 1/2 tsp in fact that the butter i used was already salted. The meat turned out to be juicy along with the vegetables around it. It’s tasty and I will cook again with this recipe. Thank you.
Terrie says
Cover it or don’t cover it while roasting??
cindy kish says
Followed instructions EXACTLY. Roast is not moist, took WAY longer than stated, did not have much flavor. Would not make again or suggest to anybody else.
shelley christou says
This recipe was beyond good!!! Thank you as it was served on New Year’s Day and helped make the meal I served extra special. I added some parsnips just because and used larger sized pearl onions because I forgot to buy regular onions.
Also, the instructions were perfect, not complicated, not too wordy.
Oma Janelle says
My husband loved this recipe! We’d bought a big boneless pork loin from Costco when it was on sale and he cut it into 4 pieces which I individually wrapped and froze. We defrosted one piece, maybe 1-1/2 lbs, overnight in the fridge. I followed your recipe except I used dried rosemary because I didn’t have fresh, and I used maybe 12 pieces of garlic cloves without mincing them. Loin roasted at 450 in preheated oven for 15, then lowered temp to 300 just as you directed and 20 minutes later had a perfectly juicy roast, thermometer said 152, let it rest 5 minutes and it was perfectly juicy and delicious! I didn’t toast it with veggies because my husband wanted Alexia Organic Yukon Select Puffs instead, baked in our Ninja 425 for 20 minutes. We will make the rest of the frozen boneless pork loin roasts as we did this one but maybe get fresh rosemary and surround the roast with vegetables like you say to. Thanks again!
Tom Merenyi says
Dried out no flavor terrible. Pork loin wrong choice , overcooked per your instructions
Ginny G says
Any chance you used a pork loin instead of a pork loin roast?
Brian Mason says
We just finished dinner and although I was sceptical with all the butter and oil m , it made the best gravy ever and the meat was cooked to a perfect 143 degrees at the end of resting. It was tender, succulent and combined with our veggies we used was simply amazing. We used carrots, onions and our home grown garlic with mashed potatoes in the side. Also cooked up a nice butter squash. Thank you for publishing this recipe🤙
Kat says
Thank you for reminding me how to cook the Boneless Pork Loin, without turning it into sawdust. “LOL”.
It has been a while since I’ve cooked one and forgot the method of temp and such. Your cooking method did the trick, and the roast came out pretty juicy. I was out of Olive oil, so I used bacon lard with smoked salt/ pepper, garlic granules & Adobo seasoning. Delicious juices and flavor. Thanks again for refreshing cooking memory. You, Go Girl, keep up the good work.
Karen says
Call me old Fashioned, but I refuse to cook or eat a pork roast that is pink in the middle!!!
Monica says
Why does the bottom say your roast “cooked 90 minutes as it was almost 6 pounds,” but the directions say to cook an additional 20-25 minutes per pound? According to the recipe, A 6 pound roast would need 120-150 minutes, plus the initial 15 minutes.
Ed M. says
yes, I’m using a #7 pork loin and at 20 minutes/pound it is 2.5 hours. I serve at 5pm so I’m starting at 2ish and using my Meater wireless thermometer..shall see at 145°
Michael says
Well, how did your roast turn out? We are getting ready to cook a nearly 7 pound roast and could benefit from your experience. Thanks and we hope your meal was awesome!