Pork Loin Roast Recipe (Honey Garlic)
- Preparation 20 min
- Cooking 60 min
- Servings 6
- Freezing Absolutely
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🍯 The best pork roast I’ve ever eaten
I’m choosing my words and I’ll say it again: this is the best pork roast I’ve eaten in my life! If you think pork roast is dry, this one is going to change your mind for good. It’s juicy when you slice it, the crust is glazed with honey and garlic, and the sauce you pour over it at the table is so good you’ll want to double it. Serve it when you have friends over, you won’t be embarrassed one bit.
🔥 Seared in a skillet, then basted three times
Two moves make all the difference. First, the loin goes into a hot skillet, three minutes per side, until it’s properly browned all over. Then in the oven you baste it three times: at the start, halfway through and near the end. Each layer of honey sauce caramelizes over the last, and that’s how you get a lacquered crust that crackles a little under the knife. At 375°F it won’t burn, I promise.
🌡️ 140°F, then ten minutes under foil
That’s the secret to juicy, and it’s where everyone goes wrong. I pull the loin at 140°F in the centre, no more. During the ten-minute rest under a sheet of foil, the heat keeps climbing on its own to 145°F, and that’s when I slice it. Overcooking a pork roast is what makes it dry, and it happens fast. A thermometer settles the question for good.
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🌡️ Pull it at 140°F, slice it at 145°F
Food safety authorities in Canada and the US require pork to reach a safe internal temperature, and this method gets it there. I pull the loin at 140°F because stored heat keeps cooking the meat during the rest: in ten minutes under foil it climbs on its own to 145°F. Check with your thermometer before slicing. If you wait for 145°F in the oven, you’ll land at 155°F on the plate, and that’s where it dries out.
🥄 Always split the sauce in two
Never baste with the same sauce you’re going to serve. Half goes on the loin during cooking, the other half stays in a separate bowl for the table, fresh and untouched. The cooked half gives you the lacquered crust. The fresh half, poured over the slices, brings that raw garlic and honey hit that makes everyone at the table look up.
🍯 Double the sauce, honestly
The recipe amount is enough, but you’ll want more. It’s so good that I’d tell you to double it and put the extra on the table in a small jug. It costs next to nothing, takes two minutes, and nobody is going to complain.
🔥 Sear until it’s really browned
Three minutes per side over medium heat, without moving the meat. That browning in the skillet is what gives you roast flavour, and the oven alone doesn’t do it as well on meat straight from the fridge. Don’t be shy about colour: a loin that’s barely blond out of the pan makes a bland roast.
🍖 Fat side up
Set the loin on the sheet with its fat cap on top. As it melts during cooking, that fat bastes the meat on its own and mixes with the layers of sauce to build the crust. If your loin is very fatty, score the fat in a crosshatch without cutting into the flesh, and the sauce will cling even better.
📅 Getting ahead
The roast gets cooked the same day, but the prep can all be done the night before. The spice mix in a small labelled jar, the sauce whisked and split into two containers, one marked “cooking” and one marked “serving”. You can even rub the spices onto the loin and keep it wrapped in the fridge overnight. The next day, take it out thirty minutes before searing, and you have an hour to host while the house smells like a Sunday roast.
🫙 Leftovers: in a sandwich or reheated
It keeps three to four days in an airtight container in the fridge. Sliced thin and cold in a sandwich the next day with a little Dijon, it’s nearly better than supper. To reheat, do it gently in a skillet with a spoonful of sauce, never in the microwave on full, or it dries out. I don’t freeze it.
✅ What to serve with my honey garlic pork loin roast
Potatoes, always. My perfectly crispy baby potatoes are my favourite alongside, or mash if you want something to catch the sauce. My maple glazed carrots make a perfect side because they roast at the same temperature, at the same time as the loin. A sharp green salad on the side cuts through the sweetness of the glaze.
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Ingrédients
- 1 boneless pork loin roast, 3 lb (1.4 kg)
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) olive oil, for rubbing
- 1 tsp (5 ml) sweet paprika
- 1 tsp (5 ml) garlic powder
- ½ tsp (2 ml) onion powder
- ½ tsp (2 ml) dried thyme
- ½ tsp (2 ml) dried rosemary
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) olive oil, for searing
Honey garlic sauce
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- ¼ cup (60 ml) honey
- 3 tbsp (45 ml) low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) olive oil
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Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and line a rimmed baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.
- Pat the pork loin dry with paper towel, drizzle it with olive oil and rub it in well.
- In a small bowl, mix the paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper. Rub the mixture all over the meat, underneath included.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sear the loin about 3 minutes per side, until it’s well browned all over. Set it on the baking sheet, fat side up.
- In a bowl, whisk the garlic, honey, soy sauce, Dijon and olive oil. Divide the sauce in two: one half for basting during cooking, the other half set aside for serving.
- Brush the loin with a first coat of sauce and put it in the oven.
- Roast for about 1 hour, basting again halfway through and near the end, until a thermometer inserted in the centre reads 140°F (60°C).
- Take the loin out, tent it loosely with foil and let it rest 10 minutes. Check that it reaches 145°F (63°C) in the centre before slicing.
- Slice and serve, drizzled with the reserved sauce.
Sear it first, then roast it hot, and pull it early. Searing in a skillet gives you the browned crust the oven can’t build as well on its own. Roasting at 375°F, about 20 minutes per pound, cooks it through without drying it out. And pulling it at 140°F, then resting it ten minutes under foil until it reaches 145°F, is what keeps a lean cut like loin juicy.
The widely used target for a whole cut of pork is 145°F after resting. The trick is not to wait for that number in the oven. Pull the loin at 140°F: during a ten-minute rest under foil, carry-over heat brings it up to 145°F on its own. Check with a thermometer before slicing. If you pull it at 145°F, it’ll climb well past that and start to dry out.
“Pork roast” is the general term for any large cut of pork cooked in the oven, and it often means shoulder, which is fattier and better suited to long, slow cooking. A pork loin roast is a specific cut from the back: lean, tender, easy to slice cleanly, and quicker to cook. It’s also different from pork tenderloin, which is a much smaller, thinner muscle that cooks in a fraction of the time.
At 375°F, figure about 20 minutes per pound, so roughly an hour for a 3 lb loin. But the thermometer decides, not the clock: ovens vary and so does the thickness of the roast. Start checking around the 45-minute mark and pull it at 140°F in the centre. Then add ten minutes of resting before you slice.
Not with this recipe. At 375°F, a honey glaze brushed on in three coats caramelizes without burning, and covering it would stop the crust from forming at all. The foil is only for the rest, once the loin is out of the oven. If your oven runs hotter than mine and the top darkens too fast, lay a sheet loosely over it for the last fifteen minutes.
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