Pork Loin Roast with Maple Glaze

Pork Loin Roast with Maple Glaze, Apples, and Cranberries is one of my favorite holiday recipes. It’s beautiful and festive and incorporates so many great holiday flavors! It’s a fantastic main course recipe for holiday entertaining because it can feed a crowd and is economical, too!

Serve it with my Smashed Sweet Potatoes with Sage, Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes, Twice-Baked Potato Casserole, or my Scalloped Potatoes for a lovely holiday meal.

Looking for more main course ideas to feed a crowd? Try my Beef Bourguignon Recipe, or my Old School Lasagna recipe.

Step#1: Make the Pork Brine Recipe

• The day before you plan to serve your meal, prepare the pork brine and refrigerate the pork in it overnight.
• This will ensure a juicy, succulent pork roast.
• The pork brine recipe is very easy to make and involves dissolving the salt and brown sugar in warm water, then letting it cool completely so the brine doesn’t “cook” the pork loin.
• Add cold water, fennel seeds, peppercorns, a bay leaf, and rosemary.

Step#2: Sear the Pork Loin Roast 

• Remove the pork from the brine and pat it dry. You’ll get a better sear if there is no moisture left on the pork.
• Place the pork loin in a large oven-safe skillet to sear.
• This works well since you’ll finish roasting the pork in the oven. If your skillet is oven-safe, it can go directly from the cooktop to the oven.
• I use a 14.5 cast-iron skillet for this because a 4lb pork loin roast fits perfectly.
• You’ll sear the pork on all sides until golden brown and then transfer it to a casserole dish to rest.

Step#3: Deglaze the Pan and Add the Fruit

• For this recipe, I love to deglaze the pan with hard apple cider because the apple flavor pairs beautifully with the pork.
• If you can’t find hard apple cider, you can also deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup of dry white wine, such as Chardonnay, and 1 cup of chicken broth.
• Or if you don’t drink, you could use 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth instead.
• Then, to the skillet, add the apples, cranberries, orange zest, and ground cloves.
• This combination of flavors pairs beautifully with the pork and really sells the holiday theme! 

Step#4: Baste the Pork with Maple Glaze

• Place the seared pork loin on top of the bed of fruit.
• Then brush the maple glaze onto the pork and reserve it to baste the pork frequently while it roasts. 

How Long to Roast?

• The internal temperature of pork appears to be a “controversial subject,” but there are new guidelines for cooking pork that allow for medium-doneness.
• Allow the pork to rest on a carving board, covered with foil. As it rests, the internal temperature of the pork will come up to 150F and that will be perfect! 
• Personally, I leave it in the oven until a digital thermometer reads 145F, about 30-40 minutes if you did a quick sear.
• But this will take less time, around 20 minutes if you did a longer sear.
• Allow the pork to rest for at least 5-10 minutes before carving to retain its juiciness.

Step#5: Reduce the Sauce and Season

• As your pork rests, you may want to reduce the sauce on the cooktop to achieve a thicker consistency.
• At this stage, I also like to add a little Worcestershire sauce and Dijon mustard to balance out the sweetness of the maple glaze.
• Then transfer the fruit to a large platter, creating a bed for the pork loin roast to rest upon.

Step#6: Carve and Garnish

• I like to carve half the pork loin roast and leave the other half whole.
• This helps with leftovers if you don’t finish the full loin; leaving it uncarved will keep it moist and prevent it from drying out.
• You can garnish the pork with fresh rosemary and mandarin oranges. I like to fill their centers with whole cloves for a festive holiday look.