Do you have any idea how thrilled I’ve been to enjoy grilling again?! With the constant snowfall and brutal cold temps we had this winter, the snow removal was hard to keep up with and we simply lost the battle in the backyard. Our grills had been buried for the past couple months, until Blake recently cleared them away. Now we just need some warmer weather so we can open up our windows. I canNOT wait!!
Our first grilled meal of 2014 consisted of this gorgeous Grilled Chili Lime Pork Tenderloin. It’s a recipe we’ve been playing with the past couple years. So easy to make and super tasty, too, it’s one of our go-to grilling recipes when we entertain. I often like to serve it alongside a fresh salad with a Mexican twist, plus a bowl of chips with a fresh batch of salsa. But this time I simply popped a pan of broccoli into the hot oven as Blake set the pork on the grill grates outside. Roasted broccoli, all charred and tender and incredibly wonderful, is the perfect simple side to accompany this flavorful pork.
My family loves to eat grilled pork tenderloin. And my husband loves to grill it. He always tells people that it’s one of the easiest meats to grill, that it’s almost impossible to mess it up. Blake aims for that pretty “blush of pink” in pork, cooking it to 145° and then letting it rest for 3 minutes. That method ensures juicy, tender, and flavorful medium rare pork, and we won’t have it any other way!
I’m so happy to finally get this grilled chili lime pork tenderloin into our recipe archives. Be sure to check out more of our pork recipe favorites, too!
I’m sharing this pork recipe today to help celebrate 1,000,000 meals of pork donated by the Ohio pork farmers to foodbanks. Isn’t that an awesome accomplishment?!
And now YOU can join in on the celebration, too!
The Ohio Pork Council is offering a “Pin for Pork” $500 grocery giveaway. It’s incredibly easy to enter, taking only about 1 minute of your time. I should know, because I just entered myself. Who couldn’t use $500 in free groceries?!
Enter here!
Grilled Chili Lime Pork Tenderloin
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs. pork tenderloin
- 1 T. vegetable oil
- 1 T. freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1 tsp. soy sauce
- 1 tsp. chili powder
- 1 tsp. dried cumin
- ½ tsp. brown sugar
- 1/16 tsp. cinnamon
- smoked salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- fresh lime wedges
Instructions
- Pat pork dry and set in a pan or dish with sides.
- In a small bowl, combine oil, lime juice, soy sauce, chili powder, cumin, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Pour chili mixture over pork and use your hands to rub it over the entire surface of the pork. Let sit for 30 minutes while you prepare the grill. Or for a deeper flavor, place seasoned pork in refrigerator for a couple hours or overnight before grilling (highly recommended…it’s so good!), just remove from refrigerator 30 minutes prior to grilling.
- Heat grill to hot, or 550° F. Place tenderloin on grill grates and sear, without moving, for 4 minutes. Then flip tenderloin over and sear opposite side for another 4 minutes, without moving. Reduce grill heat to medium-high, between 475° F and 500° F. Flip tenderloin back to first side and cook for 6 minutes. Then flip over once more and cook for another 6 minutes. Check internal temperature of pork with a meat thermometer, placing it into the thickest part of the tenderloin. When temperature just reaches 145° F, remove tenderloin to a plate. Let rest for 3 minutes.
- The pork will continue to cook while resting, even after being removed from the grill. This will give you a brighter "blush of pink", medium rare pork. If you like your pork cooked a bit more, closer to the 160° F "blush of pink", simply leave the tenderloin on the grill a bit longer.
- To serve, cut into 1/2" to 3/4" slices. Offer fresh lime wedges for an extra spritz of lime right before eating.
Notes
Nutrition Information:
Disclosure: Thank you to the Ohio Pork Council and the Ohio Soybean Council for sponsoring this post. My family loves #PinkPork and I’m happy to share its goodness with you. All opinions are my own.
This looks amazing!
This looks amazingly delicious!!! Nicely done :)
I have never tried grilling a pork tenderloin before. This looks GORGEOUS and delicious!
This looks delicious, can’t wait to try it. Still snowing here today on 3/31, so a few more weeks away before we can use our yard. Thank you for this.
Great recipe and picture! Thank you for participating!!!
We are having a pork tenderloin tonight, and I thought for sure we’d grill it, but now it’s way too windy!
Either way, I’m so happy it’s turning spring there, even slowly and you are getting to grill again!
Thanks for participating in this campaign!!
I don’t know why I’ve never thought to grill tenderloin before! This looks so perfectly juicy and tender. I can’t wait to get back out there and try this!
These flavors are incredible! I need to make this soon!
We love grilled pork tenderloin! Love the chili lime flavors of this!
Oh Brenda, that looks amazing!
The chili and lime on this is great! While I use that combination all the time for other meats, I’ve never done it for pork tenderloin.
Such a fabulous re-entry into grilling season, Brenda! Absolutely gorgeous. And, a wonderful way to celebrate the generosity and all those donations to the food banks by the Ohio pork farmers. Thanks for sharing!
Such a lovely comment. Thank you for stopping by, Stacy. :)
There is still way to much snow here yet for it to even look like spring, but this recipe will make us drag out the grill this weekend and pretend! Love the spices you’ve combined for the rub and lime always brings out such great flavor. Can’t wait to try this! Bring on the warm grilling season!!
I hear you. It is still completely white around here. And we got more of it today. But the grills must now be kept snow-free!! :)
Ahh, we haven’t busted out our grill yet but I might have to make the man do it this weekend so I can eat this yummy looking pork. I can’t wait!
Thanks, Stephanie. Wow, did you see the size of the snow flakes today?! HUGE! See you soon! ;)
This looks amazing Brenda. I must try!
Thanks, Nicole! :)
Nice recipe. Thanks so much!
Thank you, Liz!
This is GORG! Love the chili lime infusion!
Thanks, Paula! xo
Brenda- this looks really good! and I am also dying for something on the grill… been WAY too long! (Craig isn’t a winter griller) one question- what is smoked salt? and where do I find it?
Hi Kari – the salt has been smoked, has a woodsy smell and flavor. We’ve been using it more and more the past couple years, and it’s getting to be pretty common to find. I would try one of your larger grocery stores. Or is there still that gourmet kitchen shop at West Acres? They would probably have some. If you can’t find it, just substitute kosher salt.
That is one good lucking pork! I wish I had an area for a grill, because this is making me crave grilled pork! Love the chili lime seasonings. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
This is truly gorgeous and I too am so excited for the grilling season to be back…only I still need it to stop snowing over here!
Great recipe, Brenda!
Thanks, Tieghan! And the snow…ugh…it was happening here again today, too. Flakes the size of quarters!!