This recipe for Asian Pork Tenderloin is incredibly easy to assemble and pressure cook. The pork tenderloin is perfectly tender and the honey soy sauce explodes with the flavors of garlic, ginger and sesame oil. This is the perfect quick dinner that comes together in minutes.
“Instant Pot” is a brand new for a pressure cooker. (Even if you don’t own a pressure cooker, I’ll explain at the end of this post how to convert this to an oven/stove top.) The sauce is liquid gold! So incredibly delicious!
Pork Tenderloin is one of my favorite alternatives to chicken breasts, because it’s lean and can be prepared so many different ways. We enjoy how tender the pork is and we’ve grilled it… roasted it… but I’ve never really pressure cooked a pork tenderloin before.
Not only did the pork turn out moist and tender– I couldn’t get enough of the sauce! I slathered each slice of pork in that thick and golden honey-soy glaze sauce. Drizzled on the sticky rice was so tasty! Best of all, it took about 15 minutes of mincing garlic and fresh ginger and adding it to three liquid ingredients that I keep on hand at all times (I love Asian flavors). Let me show you how:
In a bowl, measure low-sodium soy sauce, water and add honey…
Add minced fresh garlic (now is not the time to use garlic powder, and you will thank me.)
Add fresh ginger (don’t use powdered, because that will mute the flavor of the sauce).
Add some toasted sesame oil (this is an ingredient I always keep on hand, and store in the fridge).
Give it all a good stir. See what I mean? 15 minutes of prep work. Tops!
Pour the sauce into the Instant Pot, and place the pork tenderloin in. I admit that I debated if I should actually sear the pork first. I decided to just go with the flow. Lock on the lid, set the pressure cooker to 7 minutes (high). For side dishes, I set up a rice cooker and prepped some bok choy to be stir-fried. Once the pressure cooker beeped, allow it to come to a natural pressure release for 7 minutes.
In looking at the cooked pork loin, I was skeptical The pork looked white and bland. Oh no! I thought the recipe was a fail. I was wrong! Once the the meat was slipped over, the pork had absorbed the color of the sauce. Okay, maybe everything will be alright.
While the pork rested, turn the pressure cooker to “saute” and add a slurry of cornstarch and water. This thickened the sauce beautifully. Done! Less than 30 minutes later, dinner was ready to be served.
TASTING NOTES: The pork wasn’t dry at all. The sauce was a-m-a-z-i-n-g! We had a serving left over and I reheated it, and the sauce, for lunch the next day. I’m telling you, someone should bottle that sauce and sell it! I’m definitely keeping this recipe in my back pocket for one of those quick dinners.
CONVENTIONAL WAY TO PREPARE: When I shared this photo on my Instagram, someone asked me if there was an oven version. No, not really. At least, not that I’ve tried. But, if one wanted to make this sauce (and it’s so worth it), you could make it on the stove. Once thickened, set aside. Season the pork with a little salt and pepper, and sear in a hot skillet (with avocado or vegetable oil) on all sides and then slide into the oven at 450F for 15-20 minutes. I’d let it rest and then brush the sauce all over, and serve a little extra sauce on the side.
IN A SLOW COOKER, follow the conventional way to prepare. After searing the pork, place in a slow cooker, add the sauce and cook on low for 4-6 hours.
Instant Pot Asian Pork Tenderloin with a Honey-Soy Glaze Sauce
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 pork tenderloin about 1.5 pounds
For the sauce:
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 tbsp ginger minced; ginger powder not recommended
- 2 cloves garlic minced: garlic powder not recommended
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil Trader Joe's toasted sesame oil recommended
For the slurry/thickener:
- 2 tsp corn starch
- 2 tsp water
Garnish:
- 1 scallion sliced thin, for garnish
- 2 tsp sesame seeds for garnish
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine the soy sauce, honey and water.
- Add the minced garlic, ginger and sesame oil. Whisk together and add to the Instant Pot bowl.
- Add the pork tenderloin into the sauce/liquid, lock on the lid and set to HIGH pressure for 7 minutes.
- One the pressure cooker beeps, allow a natural pressure release for 7 minutes. Make sure all pressure is released and remove the lid.
- Place the pork on a cutting board and loosely tent with foil, to keep warm.
- Turn the pressure cooker to saute and whisk in the cornstarch slurry, constantly stirring until thickened. Turn off the pressure cooker.
- Slice the pork, and pour much of the sauce over the meat. Serve additional sauce on the side. Garnish with sliced green onion and sesame seeds, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Pork tenderloin is a great piece of meat and I really like what you’ve done with it. Don’t know why we don’t cook mush Asian around here.
Thanks so much for this recipe! I’ll be making this for dinner tonight and can tell it will work beautifully. Just got an Instant Pot, so been testing lots of new methods and recipes- have yet to make a clunker. The reason I chose your recipe is that you use fresh flavors instead of a bunch of dried powdered ingredients- that’s how I cook, too..
You are most welcome! I hope you come back and tell me how it turned out!
Awesome! Easy and the sauce is delicious!! Saving the extra for salmon tomorrow night.
Thank you for the positive feedback and for stopping by!
We loved it! Have some of that delicious sauce left for salmon fillets later this week!
The directions don’t indicate when or where to add the honey.
It’s unfortunate that you didn’t email me, as I’m just now seeing this comment. In the pictures, you see that I added the honey with the soy sauce. I apologize for omitting that in the recipe card. It has been edited.
Hi! Can’t wait to make this. I am more than doubling the recipe and using 2 pork tenderloins ( about 4 lbs). Can you tell me how much I should increase cooking time?
This recipe is so fabulous tasting, I think it’s our go to pork loin recipe. Thank you so much for sharing it
I’m so glad you liked this recipe. Thank you for taking the time to leave Feedly.
Would have been nice for some notes on how to adjust for increases of weight.
Thank you for your polite constructive criticism. It’s not hard to adjust for a larger piece of pork loin. Cooking by temperature does wonders. I gave the desired temp. Just check every few minutes. It amazes me how people can be so rude towards a person who provides recipes for FREE.
If I put 2 tenderloins in the insta pot, do I need to cook it longer?
With the Christmas holidays, I apologize that I missed your question sooner. (Email would’ve been faster.) To answer your question, I’m not sure since I’ve never tried this. I would guess that I’d add a few more minutes. Most importantly, that there is enough liquid (I think there should be). It’s worth a try.