Easy Barbecue Pork Loin Recipe

Written by Pam Published on January 10, 2019

The main dish every evening at our home is usually meat based. No matter how often I’ve tried to convince the men in my family we should eat a mostly vegetarian diet, their answer is a resounding “No!” I slip in one or two meatless meals each week, but the rest of the time it’s meat-palooza. This week I found an amazing sale on pork loin; $2.50 for a two-pound pork loin. I snapped up six of them and placed them in the freezer. I had the meat. Now I needed six different ways to prepare them. We enjoy bar-be-cue so I experimented with a recipe for homemade sauce. The result was this succulent Barbecue Pork Loin recipe.

Barbecue Pork Loin Recipe

The secret of this recipe is cooking the sauce before you add it to the pork loin. I wasn’t sure about the sauce when I mixed the ingredients together, but once I added it to the base ingredients and cooked it for a few minutes I changed my mind. It was pretty ding dang good. It’s gluten-free and dairy-free too so it’s a good choice when you need something allergy-friendly. I served this with red cabbage, herbed potatoes and onions, and a lemon cream cheese pound cake. It was such a hit that the entire meal is being added to our menu plan rotation. If you like, you can add a diced onion or a diced bell pepper to the sauce recipe for variety and extra flavor. This sauce can be made in advance and kept in the refrigerator for up to three days.
barbecue pork loin

Printable Barbecue Pork Loin Recipe:

Easy Barbecue Pork Loin Recipe

Ingredients

1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 cup diced onion (optional)
1/4 cup diced green bell pepper (optional)
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon celery seeds
1 tablespoon mustard (I use Dijon)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1 (2 to 3 pound) pork loin

Instructions

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter.
Add garlic, onion (if using), and pepper (if using). Cook, stirring constantly, for three minutes. Remove from heat.
In a separate bowl mix together ketchup, brown sugar, soy sauce, mustard, celery seeds, salt, and hot sauce.
Add the ketchup mixture to the garlic mixture. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Place pork loin in a 9″ by 9″ baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.
Pour barbecue sauce evenly over pork loin.
Cook in a 350 degree oven for approximately 40 minutes (or around 20 minutes per pound.)

barbecue pork loin recipe

If you’re new to cooking, here’s a tip. Invest in a meat thermometer. You can find small thermometers for $4 to $5 dollars. According to the National Pork Board you should cook chops, roasts, loins, and tenderloin to an internal temperature of 145° F, followed by a three-minute rest. I like my pork to be medium-well done so I cook to an internal temperature of 158. Having a meat thermometer available makes it easy to check the internal temperature and ensures my pork stays tender. No one wants dried out pork. This is the thermometer I use. (affiliate link)
Pork loin and potatoes