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This delicious pork loin is covered with a fragrant dry rub, then roasted and served with a beautiful gravy. Perfect Sunday lunch or a special occasion dinner. Serve this juicy roast over a bed of herb and garlic mashed potatoes.
If you are pork loin fan, take a look at our recipe for Pork Loin Steaks in Creamy Shallot and Mushroom Sauce, which is essentially pork loin sliced into steaks.
Pork roast is never as popular as beef and it’s a real shame. I love a good pork roast for our Sunday lunch as I can buy a good quality joint for far less money than beef. A loin joint is one of our favourites.
When roasted at the right temperature and not overcooked the loin roast is one of the most beautiful pieces of meat you can enjoy as a family. It’s lean, easy to cook and can feed a crowd.
I love adding a simple gravy to my roast pork. Since the loin is very lean, it needs a sauce to enhance the texture and add more flavour. Why doesn’t love a good gravy, right?
What is pork loin?
Pork loin joint is a cut that comes from the back of a pig. It is large, lean and tender. Pork loin should not be confused with a pork tenderloin. They are not the same! The loin is a wider and flatter cut of meat while tenderloin is long, narrow, round and always boneless.
Pork loin can be sold boneless or with a bone in, with or without a crackling (a layer of fat covered by the skin). I bought mine with a crackling as it is more standard in the UK.
But I also wanted to keep my roast quite lean, so I removed it for this recipe. I also tied it with a kitchen twine to keep the joint moist while cooking.
Recipe Tips and Notes
- To infuse flavour into your joint rub it with a spice mix before roasting. I used a combination of This is an affiliate link.smoked paprika, garlic powder, oregano, crushed coriander seeds and salt.
- Make sure to tie your meat with a string, which will keep it more moist when roasting.
- Many recipes call for browning the meat before roasting to infuse flavour. I avoid this extra step by starting the pork in an oven preheated to high temperature of 220C/475F, then reducing it to 190C/375F after 20 minutes. High temperature accomplishes the same surface browning as searing it on a pan.
- The timing is given based on the size of the joint used at 2.2lbs/1kg. If your pork joint is bigger than that, increase cooking time by 25 minutes per each pound/500g of meat.
- Test the doneness by using a This is an affiliate link.meat thermometer. Fully cooked pork should read 63C/145F. Anything higher than that will result in dry meat.
- Always rest your meat for 20 minutes before cutting it.
- Don’t skip out on the gravy. It adds so much flavour and improves the texture of the loin.
- I often add a touch of sweetness to my gravy. It brings such a nice balance to the deeply savoury sauce and the meat itself. My favourite ingredients for that is red currant jelly. You can also use good quality grape jelly, plum jam or cranberry sauce.
Serving Suggestions
This roast will be perfect when served with a side of mashed or roasted potatoes. I also love adding roasted carrots or brussels sprouts. Classic dishes with a couple of modern twists.
If you are not a gravy fan, make my Mushroom Marsala Sauce to compliment your roast. It’s absolutely delicious!
Storage and leftovers
Seal any leftovers in an This is an affiliate link.airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 4 days. The flavours in this tasty dish will intensify over that time, and you can expect an even more mouthwatering midweek meal.
Reheat in the oven for 30-40 minutes at 165C/325F, or in a microwave. Always check pork is cooked through to a food-safe temperature!
The gravy can be reheated in a This is an affiliate link.saucepan over medium heat, stirring regularly until it is hot enough. Add a splash of water if it looks to thick.
More delicious pork recipes
- Boneless Pork Loin Steaks with Apples and Cider
- Sweet and Sour Pork Chops
- Pork Roast with Sweet Persimmon Sauce
- Pork osso buco
Pork Loin Roast with Gravy
Equipment
- This is an affiliate link.Roasting pan
- This is an affiliate link.Meat thermometer
Ingredients
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp This is an affiliate link.smoked paprika, or sweet paprika
- 2 tsp crushed coriander seeds, or 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- 2.2 lbs/1kg boneless pork loin, no crackling
For the gravy
- pan drippings, all you've got after the roast
- 2 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp flour
- 500ml/2 cups This is an affiliate link.chicken stock
- 2 tbsp red currant jelly, or grape jelly, plum jam or cranberry sauce
- 0.5 tsp leftover rub, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 475F/220C Take the pork loin out of the fridge 1 hour before cooking to bring it to room temperature. Make the rub by combining the garlic powder, smoked paprika, crushed coriander seeds, oregano and salt. Pat the loin dry with paper towel and apply the rub all over.
- Put the meat in a roasting pan or a large cast iron pan and into the oven for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes lower the temperature to 375F/190C and continue roasting for 25-30 minutes until the internal temperature registers 145F/63C. Take the roast out and move to a serving plate, cover with foil and let it rest for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile make the gravy. To the same pan with drippings add the butter and melt it over medium heat. Then add the flour and let it cook while stirring for 1 minute, then add the stock and red currant jelly, bring to a boil and let it simmer till thickens. Taste and add 1/2 tsp of the leftover rub or salt if underseasoned.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
We absolutely LOVED this Pork Roast Recipe. I made it for company and they all raved about it. We will definitely cook this recipe again and again!! Thank you!!
what do you mean by pork “joint”? I’m trying to figure out if mine is bigger than this recipes bc I don’t want to overcook it but don’t have any bones in my loin… wondering if joint means something else?
Hi Becca, a pork joint is a large cut of pork from different parts of the pig (like loin, shoulder, belly, or leg) prepared for roasting. It’s simply what a piece of meat intended for roasting is called. The pork loin I used in the recipe is also boneless as you can see in the recipe ingredients and photos. You should be able to see how big your pork loin is on the package and compare to the one in the recipe. I also explain how to adjust the cooking time according to weight in Recipe Tips and Notes in the post.
got it.. just a lingo thing. thanks for responding!!
My pleasure
Cooked to juicy perfection. Entire family, including the picky ones, lapped it up and asked for seconds!
Gravy recipe allowed for some creativity – the cranberry sauce (sitting in my fridge from Thanksgiving, perfect opportunity to use!). Next time I’m going to try apple sauce instead, I think that sweetness would work really well.
would a pork sirloin tip roast be an acceptable substitute? I have one in my freezer I’m trying to figure out what to do with
Hi Brienne, yes it could be used but make sure to adjust the cooking time according to the weight of your joint.
This pork loin recipe is delicious
Very tasty! Following the recipe verbatim. I do have a meat thermometer and took the roast out
at 135, in which the internal temp rose to 145 while resting. Excellent! Very moist. Brown gravy recipe Very good, served over a bed of Brown rice.
Keeper!
I am so happy to hear it, Glenn!
Great recipe! I substituted cumin for coriander because I didn’t have coriander, and it was delicious.
This was amazing for our New Year’s meal! We are already planning to make it again. Loved how the gravy turned out!
I am so happy to hear it Kirsten!
I had a small pork loin and was looking for something different to do with it. I tried this recipe and I’m so glad I did!! It was delicious!! If I could give it more than 5 stars I would. I also made the gravy; served it with your recipe for honey roasted carrots and some mashed potatoes. What a delicious dinner!!
I am so happy you’ve had success with my recipes, Patt! Thank you for sharing this with me. It absolutely made my day.
Hi.
My pork was a bit on the dry side… but tasty. Not sure why so long. I usually set oven at 400 and bake for 35-40mins tops!
Anyways, I put the pork into gravy and it saved the day!
Hi Will, I would say that going by the internal temperature rather than the timing is the way to go when you cook roasts. So many factors contribute to how quickly or slowly they get done; their weight, shape (yes, flatter ones will cook faster) and oven temperatures, which vary hugely from one oven to another. That is why my directions say “After 20 minutes lower the temperature to 375F/190C and continue roasting for 25-30 minutes until the internal temperature registers 145F/63C.” Monitoring the internal temperature is key here, not the exact timing. I am so glad that the gravy saved the day though! 🙂
My husband kept saying how delicious this is! The roast came out very tender, which is my litmus test for an excellent recipe. Today’s meats are so lean I am finding it harder and harder to do that. My gravy didn’t come out the same color as on the post, so I may try adding some turmeric next time, unless anyone has a better idea. Thanks for this excellent roast pork recipe!
I am so pleased to hear it, Elizabeth! There is nothing more disappointing than a dry roast, so this makes me very happy. The colour of the gravy comes from those burnt bits at the bottom of your roasting pan. The more burnt they are the darker the gravy will be. The red currant jelly also adds colour, so if you used something else, it would affect it. I hope this helps!
Thank you Julia, yes it does!
This looks delicious! Should roast be covered in the oven to keep moisture in?
You don’t need to cover it, Cindy but it is very important to roast to the internal temperature indicated in the recipe and not any longer. Overcooking pork loin is what makes it dry.
My save for gravy is a half cap or more of Kitchen Boquet to brown up anemic looking gravy.
This is good old fashioned comfort food! My whole family loved it and my husband is already putting it on next week’s menu too. A definite winner!
Comfort food is a must once in a while and especially in cold weather!
Usually I make something like this for the holidays, but this looked so good I decided it didn’t need to be a special occasion! We ate every bite, so tasty!
It’s so nice to have special occasions dinners on regular days sometimes! My kids get so excited. 🙂
Thank you for this recipe! I took a pork loin out of the freezer and had no idea what to make. I am happy I found this recipe on pinterest, it is a winner!
Love hearing it, Doris! Thank you!