This Is Ina Garten’s Unexpected Trick for Perfect Pork Tenderloin

As the reigning queen of all things culinary, when Ina Garten speaks, we listen. Ina Garten’s pot roast is legendary, and her easy beef tenderloin is a fool-proof recipe for dinner. Even Ina’s hostess gifts are perfection (hint, she never brings wine or flowers). Sometimes, she offers ideas and techniques that are unusual, but they always make my ears perk up. Since everything Ina does is carefully curated and meticulously tested, I know I can trust her recipes, tricks and tips.

When I flipped through her most recent cookbook, Go-To Dinners: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, there was one recipe in particular that stood out to me. Ina Garten has a method for making pork tenderloin that I had never seen before. Of course, I simply had to give it a try.

Ina Garten’s Pork Tenderloin Trick

Ina Garten’s trick for the most perfect roasted pork tenderloin involves turning off the oven and walking away. Seriously! When I first read the method, it sounded so strange. But could it be the trick I’ve been missing?

Start by placing an oven rack in the top third of your oven and preheating it to a whopping 500°F. While it preheats, take two pork tenderloins out of the refrigerator and allow them to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Prepare the meat with olive oil, fresh rosemary, salt and pepper.

This is when the genius kicks in. Place the sheet pan with the prepared tenderloins in the screaming hot oven for precisely five minutes and 30 seconds. I set a timer on my phone and watched it like a hawk! Then, the moment the time is up, immediately turn off the oven and walk away. That’s right, do absolutely nothing for one hour.

The only thing you have to remember is not to open the oven door. All that built-up heat is needed to gently cook the pork to perfection. When that hour is up, you will cut into the most perfectly cooked pork tenderloin of your life. Ina suggests slicing them thick and serving with a sprinkle of salt and a side of mango chutney (like the one in this mango chutney pork roast recipe).

How does it work?

This recipe works so well because the initial high heat sears the outside of the meat, creating a nice crust. Then, by turning off the oven, the heat gradually goes down while continuing to gently cook the pork. The rest time needed before cutting into the meat is built into the hour it sits in the oven.

Given the fact that Ina tests and re-tests recipes until they are print-worthy, I can imagine she worked tirelessly to come up with this method. For me, I will now never make pork any other way. Upon taking that first bite, I literally said to myself, “How easy is that?”