March 11, 2019

Instant Pot Cranberry Pork Tenderloin

This Instant Pot Cranberry Pork Tenderloin is a juicy pork tenderloin covered in a delicious cranberry sauce, made quickly and easily in an Instant Pot.

Cooking Class

A few weeks ago my husband and I went to a pork cooking class. It was the best type of class: we watched someone do all the work and ate what he made. Our favorite food was hands down a pork loin in a cranberry sauce.

As I’m always looking for food inspiration, and I knew everyone in my family would love the cranberry sauce, I wanted to recreate something similar in my kitchen.

Instant Pot

I decided to make the dish using pork tenderloin, as I like its juiciness. And I wanted to make the dish in my Instant Pot, since I like to shave as many minutes off dinner preparation as I can. Less time in the kitchen for me means fewer opportunities for my children to cause destruction in my house.

Cooking pork tenderloin in an Instant Pot could not be any faster. Granted it takes about 10 minutes for the pressure to build up and another 10 minutes for it to release, but it only cooks for TWO minutes. That’s just crazy.

Instant Pot Cranberry Pork Tenderloin

The cooking instructor for our class gave us copies of his recipes, but I didn’t want to just copy his. First that’s not fair, and second, I like putting my own spin on things. So, I read his recipe for the sauce, took a few basics, i.e. using various versions of cranberries, and made it into the ideal sauce for our family.

This Instant Pot Cranberry Pork Tenderloin was a hit with my husband and both of our children. Because let’s be honest, no one is ever sad about eating Craisins. Here are a few tips for making this dish:

Two minutes in the Instant Pot gets the temperature to 145-150 degrees, which is a nice, juicy pink. If you want your tenderloin to be more well done, then add one minute.
The sear is for one minute. If you go longer, you risk overcooking your pork.
Cooking time can vary depending on the thickness of your particular pork tenderloin(s). My recommendation is going for two minutes, and if it isn’t done to your liking, close the lid and let it sit in the juices for longer. It’s easy enough to let it cook a bit more that way.
My Instant Pot only has one temperature for saute mode, which is too hot to make the sauce. If you have a pressure cooker where you can adjust the heat, you may be able to make the sauce in that.

Instant Pot Cranberry Pork Tenderloin

This Instant Pot Cranberry Pork Tenderloin is a juicy pork tenderloin covered in a delicious cranberry sauce, made quickly and easily in an Instant Pot.

4.60 from 5 votes

Course: Dinner

Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 2

Servings: servings

Calories: 470

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Ingredients

2 1/4 pound pork tenderloin
1 tbsp olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2-3 tbsp red wine
1 tbsp unsalted butter
4 cloves fresh minced garlic
14 ounce can whole berry cranberry sauce
1 1/2 cups cranberry-apple juice
1 tbsp fresh thyme chopped finely
1 cup dried sweetened cranberries
2 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp cornstarch

Instructions

In a small sauce pan over medium heat, melt butter. Add garlic and saute for about 1 minute, or until garlic is fragrant and slightly browned. Then, add cranberry sauce, juice, thyme, dried cranberries, ketchup, brown sugar, and vinegar. Stir well.
Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and let simmer until mixture starts to thicken, about 5 minutes.
Remove 1/4 cup of mixture from pot. Gradually whisk cornstarch into removed liquid. Once well combined, add back into pot, while continuously whisking. Let simmer for 2-3 more minutes, or until thickened. Remove from heat and set aside.
Sprinkle salt and pepper evenly over pork tenderloin.
Heat olive oil in Instant Pot on saute mode. Add tenderloin and brown on each side for 1 minute. Remove from pot and set aside.
Add wine to pot and use spatula to get up any burned bits of pork from the bottom of the pot. Turn off Instant Pot.
Add cranberry mixture and pork to pot. For a temperature of 145-150 degrees (a light pink center, meat is juicy), cook on high pressure for 2 minutes. Let natural release for 10 minutes, then finish releasing any pressure still present.
Remove pork from pot and let pork sit for 5 minutes before cutting. Cut pork into very thin slices. Serve with sauce in pot.