Grilling pork tenderloin on a gas grill is fast and easy. With a touch of char outside and juicy and tender meat inside, we love this fool-proof recipe, and so will you. Just follow my step-by-step photo instructions.
🐖Ingredients
Pork tenderloin
Seasoning—salt and pepper or other seasoning
Optional brine—water, salt, sugar
Optional—BBQ dry rub, BBQ sauce, seasoning salt, glaze, marinade
Jump To (scroll for more)
- 🐖Ingredients
- 👨🍳How to Cook a Pork Tenderloin on a Gas Grill—Step-by-Step
- ⏲️How long to grill pork tenderloin on gas grill
- ✔️Tips to get it right every time
- Seasoning/Marinades
- Optional brine
- ♨️Grill setup
- 🍴What to serve with grilled pork tenderloin
- How to store leftovers
- ❓FAQs
- 🐖About Pork Tenderloins
- 📖 Recipe
Feature comment from Mark:
"Great recipe, easy to follow directions. Taste fantastic"
Grilled pork tenderloin is a near-perfect go-to grill recipe. It is healthy, delicious, juicy, and fork-tender. It is eloquent but makes an easy weeknight meal or BBQ in only 30 minutes.
Grilled pork tenderloin is one of my favorite "cooking for two" meals, but it is easy to scale up to large gatherings.
👨🍳How to Cook a Pork Tenderloin on a Gas Grill—Step-by-Step
1. Trim the tenderloin of any excess fat and the silver skin.
2. Optional brine if you want. Wash off before proceeding.
3. Dry and season to your taste. Place on a preheated 450° to 500° grill.
4. Close the lid and rotate ⅓ every 5 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 145 °—about 25 minutes.
5. Tent lightly with aluminum foil for 5 minutes before serving.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
⏲️How long to grill pork tenderloin on gas grill
It takes about 25 minutes to grill a pork tenderloin to 145° (medium-rare) with a 450° grill temperature.
- Rare(less than 145°)—Not recommended due to USDA safety recommendations.
- Medium-Rare (145°-150°) will take about 22-27 minutes.
- Medium (150°-155°) will take about 27-30 minutes.
- Medium-Well(155°-160°) will take about 29+ minutes.
- Well Done(160°+)—Not recommended due to dryness and texture.
Times will vary by the size and thickness of the pork tenderloin, your grill, and the exact temperature of the grill surface.
Times are provided to help with planning, but never cook by time; always cook to a final internal temperature. The meat will rise 2° to 4° after removal from the grill.
✔️Tips to get it right every time
- The biggest secret I can tell you about pork tenderloins is that they are not round, flat, or square. They are a triangle, so there are three sides. So, whether cooking on a grill or in a pan, cook three sides and don't force them into a shape that is not natural.
- A pork loin is NOT a tenderloin. They are different cuts of meat and do not cook the same. If you are not sure, just the size will tell you. The tenderloin usually weighs about 1 to 1 ½ pounds. A huge one could push towards 2 pounds. If you think you have a four-pound tenderloin, you are mistaken.
Seasoning/Marinades
Just coarse salt and black pepper are enough. I suggest All Purpose Seasoning - 7:2:1 and 7:2:2, with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Try pork rubs like BBQ Dry Rub or Chipotle Dry Rub. But any seasoning or herb mix will generally work well.
For a special occasion, try a marinade, like Balsamic Marinade Pork Tenderloin or Alton Browns Chipotle Lime Pork Tenderloin. Add a glaze with Honey Garlic Pork Tenderloin. Or for the best BBQ you will ever eat with my Memphis BBQ Pork Tenderloin.
Optional brine
Brine is not needed and will add time. It will also add more moisture and tenderness, but realize that it is already very tender and moist.
A good starting point for brining is 1 tablespoon of salt per cup of water. You can fancy up your brine with sugar or brown sugar. Use about the same amount of sugar as salt. You can add garlic or other things for flavor.
An hour or two is enough time. Of course, refrigerate during the brining, rinse the tenderloin with running water, and pat dry at the end. If you do brine, do not season with additional salt.
♨️Grill setup
Almost any gas grill or charcoal grill will work. The grill surface temperature needs to be between 450 ° and 500°, which requires 60-75% power on most gas grills.
A charcoal grill may be used if you can control the surface temperature. Don't crank up the heat; watch the surface temperature. You will not need to create a large fire; you will probably need to use the grill vents to help adjust the temperature.
For help on grill surface temperature, please see my A Beginners Guide to Grill Temperature on a Gas Grill.
🍴What to serve with grilled pork tenderloin
We frequently serve with BBQ sauce. I suggest serving with hot vegetables like Grilled Mixed Vegetables or Grilled Asparagus. We also like potatoes of some type, like Grilled Little Potatoes or Grilled Baked Potatoes without Foil.
A fresh salad goes with everything. Try our delicious Fresh Spinach Salad with Bacon, Caprese Pasta Salad, or Macaroni Salad.
Brown Sugar Cinnamon Glazed Grilled Pineapple is an excellent dessert with ice cream. During berry season, we choose Fresh Strawberry Pie.
How to store leftovers
Leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 4 days and reheated in a microwave. I love to slice up cold leftovers on a green salad.
❓FAQs
.Work a finger or butter knife under it and work it off. A sharp knife may be needed if there are a few spots. Sometimes, the back of the knife blade may work better than the butter knife.
The pork is done at a minimum of 145° internal temperature in the thickest part. According to the USDA, that is the minimum safe internal temperature with a 3-minute rest after cooking.
You must check the temperature with an instant-read thermometer or meat thermometer.
🐖About Pork Tenderloins
The tenderloin refers to the psoas muscle along the lower back. It is chicken tenderloin in chickens or beef tenderloin (filet mignon) in cattle. The psoas muscle is generally the most tender cut since it is not used for movement.
The tenderloin usually weighs about 1 to 1 ½ pounds. A large one could push
towards 2 pounds. PLEASE BE SURE YOU HAVE A TENDERLOIN AND NOT A PORK LOIN.
📖 Recipe
Grilled Pork Tenderloin
Video Slideshow
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Ingredients
- 1 pork tenderloin - about 1 ½ pounds
- Kosher salt and pepper to taste - I use 7:2:2
Optional Brine
- 4 cups water
- 4 tablespoons kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons sugar
Instructions
- Trim the tenderloin of any excess fat and the silver skin.
- Optional Brine: Start with 4 cups of water with 4 tablespoons salt in a food-storage plastic bag. Add 2-4 tablespoons of sugar if you want. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours. When done with the brine, remove it from the brine and rinse under running water. Do not use seasoning with salt if you brined.
- Pat dry and season to your taste. Preheat the grill to a surface temperature of 450° to 500°—medium-high on most grills. Clean and oil grate well.
- Place over direct heat, closing the lid. Rotate ⅓ every 5 minutes until done to your liking, about 25 minutes for 145°.
- Remove from the grill a few degrees less than your desired final temperature. Tent lightly for 5 minutes before serving.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- Remember it is triangular meat not round. So a flip is ⅓ of a rotation.
- Brine if you have time but results are still excellent without a brine.
- Cook over medium to medium-high heat. Use a grill surface thermometer to get 450° to 500°.
- Season any way you want but do not add more salt if you brined.
- The final internal temperature of 145°-150° is nicely done.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
© 101 Cooking for Two, LLC. All content and photographs are copyright protected by us or our vendors. While we appreciate your sharing our recipes, please realize copying, pasting, or duplicating full recipes to any social media, website, or electronic/printed media is strictly prohibited and a violation of our copyrights.
Publisher note: Originally Published May 21, 2017. I have re-used pictures from other posts. This is a total update of a guide I published the first year of the blog that greatly needed a rewrite.
Fufu says
Perfect! No brining or marinating. Just rubbed on olive oil garlic and rosemary. Served with homemade rhubarb chutney. Tis the season. OMG yum.
Jonny says
I made this and it was fantastic. It was an easy but delicious Mother’s Day lunch made wen we got home from church. I did the brine while we were out and then seasoned with black pepper and crushed rosemary. I also used Hickory wood chips in a smoke box for added smoke flavor.
Roasted Brussel sprouts in a foil pack as a side.
Thanks Dr. Dan!
Don says
Do you cook the Pork Tenderloin over Direct heat and the Indirect? Or over Direct heat the entire time at 450 ish?
Thanks
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Don,
Welcome to the blog.
Direct heat entirely in the 450°range. The grill surface temperature is the most important part in getting the correct internal temperature with nice color on the outside without burning.
You could sear than go indirect but that complicates the process needlessly.
Dan
chris says
have used the recipe twice, both turned out great, thanks!
Peter says
I make it based on time. Tenderloins don’t vary that much in size. Employ direct and indirect methods. Works with gas or charcoal(full chimney). Place over direct high heat. Rotating until a slight char all the way around. Move to the indirect side, close the lid and wait 18 minutes. Remove and rest for 5. Beautiful medium-well.
Lew Lowther says
I tried your conversion to metric option. It converted cups-to-ml, but did nothing with pounds or tablespoons in the recipe, nor did it make any changes whatsoever in the Instructions, most notably temperature! Dunno if the recipe is any good. The half-baked attempt at making it accessible was enough to put me off.
TB says
Just made on weber 1200 gas grill. I have never had better or more tender. i marinated overnight did not brine. (Used soy sauce, garlic, maple syrup, horse radish, olive oil) The PL we bought was cut in half length wise. I did 3 min. on larger sides (I was afraid 5 min would be too long), then propped them up against a rolled up piece of foil to do 2+ min on thin sides. placed foil under tapered end once it reached 130 degrees while larger end continued to come up to 130. Then tented off grill 5min. to rest. 140 degrees was perfect.
Mark says
Great recipe easy to follow directions Taste fantastic
Lenny says
You said:
"For me, I use a super-duper Weber that can get very hot, and that will be a small amount over 50%."
50% of what?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Lenny,
Welcome to the blog.
50% means only halfway on the knob. So 50% power to the burner.
Hope that helps. Please ask if you have other questions.
Dan
T. Charles says
I make a cream sauce out of creamed corned to place on the bottom of the plate, then place grilled pork medallion on top. Sides of fresh colorful vegetables, bean, red pepper, yellow squash, zucchini, carrots, taters, onions, etc.
Janet Mince says
Excellent instructions and easy to follow! Used a pre-seasoned pork loin but wrapped in bacon just because I can. Lol. Turned out great and didn't overcook.
Ron says
Dr. Dan
I used the thin copper grill mate on top of the grates to keep from getting direct flames. Grilled it until the tenderloin reached 145 and let it rest 10 minutes. Turned out awesome. You did a great job explaining all of the needed details. 👍 5
Todd says
Can I wrap it in aluminum foil and grill it
DrDan says
No, I would not with this recipe/instructions. You probably should look around for somebody that uses foil that way. I have not, so can't really discuss it. But this works great without foil.
Dan
Marc Guerin says
I’m adding garlic salt and smoked paprika to my brine. Hopefully it will taste good when I cook it
Katie Perry says
Dr. Dan, I hope you can advise me in regard to converting a pan-sear-then-roast pork tenderloin recipe to the grill. Ina Garten has a lovely "Herb Marinated Pork Tenderloin" recipe on Food Network's site that I'm crazy about. In Arizona, turning the oven on in the summer is really bad for your electric bill. Can you foresee any particular deviations to your instruction given that I have two tenderloins (approximately 1.1 lbs) and they will be marinated in a lemon/olive oil/fresh garlic + herb mixture? I like my tenderloin on the pinker side, so the grilling aspect makes me nervous. I would appreciate any wisdom in this regard as I want to make it for my special someone as a welcome home.
DrDan says
Hi Katie,
I see two choices for the grill.
First her recipe up to but not including the searing. At that point, my instructions after a brush of oil on the tenderloin. You need to keep the surface temperature 400-450. It should take about 20-25 minutes.
Option #2. Is to use a large grill pan or cast iron skillet. Preheat it on the grill and then sear and finish in the pan.
Both options require you know the surface temperature of the grill accurately. The biggest mistake people make is not knowing their grill temp. So a $10 grill surface thermometer from Home Depot or Amazon should be fine. I use a $200 plus one from Thermoworks. Also, a instant read meat thermometer.
Personally, I would do #1.
Also for important meals, I never, never, never use a new technique. A trial run is indicated here. You have variables of the grill surface temp, the movement of air in the grill, the wt and thickness of the tenderloin. Yep, a trial run first.
Hope that helps
Dan
Janice says
I LOVE your commentary about Pork Tenderloin / Chicken Tenders & Filet Mignon!! Great info I've never heard anyone explain so clearly!!!
DrDan says
Hi Janice,
I think I played too much "name that muscle" 40 yrs ago in med school. But some muscles like the psoas are more for positioning then strength or movement. The more the muscle is used, the tougher it becomes. I couldn't find a good diagram that I could legally use so I used one I had and drew in the tenderloin.
Thanks for the comment. I just finished cooking this again tonight and my wife gave another 5.
Dan