The Best Apricot Stuffed Pork Loin

How to make the best cranberry and apricot stuffed pork loin - This recipe is baked in the oven and is simple and easy to prepare. Impressive pork roast dinner that is perfect for holiday meals.

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We used to have big Christmas dinners at my Old Grandma's house. The whole family would gather there and spread out a huge buffet on Grandma's old chest freezer, and the kitchen table even with all of its leaves added wasn't big enough to hold all of us. She set up the card table as a kids' table in the living room.

The last couple of times that we had a big Christmas feast, my older sister made this stuffed pork loin for Christmas dinner. I didn't know if I would like it since I don't love dried fruit, but I thought it was splendid. I think you will too.

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Why this is the best stuffed pork loin recipe

This is an impressive and equally delicious meal that is beautiful enough for a dinner party, special enough for a holiday meal, and easy enough for a Sunday supper. Apricot stuffed pork loin with pan drippings gravy will be a big hit no matter when you serve it!

This stuffed pork loin recipe uses a handful of common ingredients that are easy to find at your local grocery store.

The stuffing is made from dried fruit which becomes moist, juicy, sweet, and tender during baking.

This is a very easy recipe. There are a number of steps, but they are straightforward and easy to follow. It's definitely a special occasion kind of meal, but it can be made ahead to make your holiday prep easier and quicker!

This meal is allergy-friendly and good for special diets. This recipe is dairy-free (no cheese!), gluten-free (no bread!), egg-free, and nut-free. It contains jelly and dried fruit, so it's not keto, but as a special occasion meal, it's okay for bariatric diets. As always, be sure to check the labels of your specific ingredients to make sure that they are appropriate for your dietary needs.

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What you'll need to make apricot stuffed pork loin

EQUIPMENT

• Garlic press - You will only press 2 of the garlic cloves. Most of them will be used whole.
• Butcher's twine - You need some kind of string to tie the pork loin together or else it will open up while baking and the filling will all fall out.
• Baking sheet - This needs to have raised edges as the pork loin will make a lot of drippings while it cooks. If you use a cookie sheet, the drippings will flow all over your oven and make a huge, smokey mess. You could also use a deeper roasting pan, and that would be fine.
• Carving board - You'll need something to cut the pork on. A heat-safe cutting board will also be fine.
• Strainer - This is to strain the drippings before adding them to the gravy. If you skip this step, your gravy will be lumpy.

INGREDIENTS

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See the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page for all measurements and nutritional information.

• Extra virgin olive oil - You're going to infuse this with whole garlic cloves.
• Whole garlic cloves - These will need to be peeled, and most will be used whole. You will only press 2 of them to add to the glaze. You absolutely CANNOT use garlic powder garlic in place of this garlic. I would also not recommend using minced garlic from a jar. Buy two bulbs of garlic. They are cheap.
• Whole center cut pork loin - You can use a pork tenderloin if you prefer. I use a pork loin because they are cheaper and with the sauce come out nice and juicy. Tenderloin is a better cut of meat, much more expensive, and comes out more tender and juicy.
• Salt & pepper
• Fresh rosemary - Snip this with scissors. That is much easier than attempting to chop it with a knife.
• Dried apricots - These need to be cut into ½-inch pieces. If you prefer, you can use another dried fruit in place of apricots.
• Dried cranberries - These add color and a nice tart flavor.
• Apple jelly - This will get brushed on the pork loin as a glaze, and it's also used to make gravy to pour over the cooked pork. You could subsitute another flavor of jelly, such as apricot or even peach, but make sure it's jelly and not jam or preserves. Jelly is smooth and even with no chunks. I guess it wouldn't be the end of the world if your gravy had chunks in it, but it would look weird and people might think you messed up your gravy when actually you didn't.
• White rum or port wine - This really makes the gravy sing. If you must leave it out, you could apple juice instead.
• Chicken broth - This is for the gravy.
• Cornstarch - This thickens the gravy.

How to make the best apricot stuffed pork loin

1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and pre-heat oven to 250ºF.
2. Heat olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add 12 whole garlic cloves and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden, about 5 minutes.
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3. Remove cloves with a slotted spoon and set aside to use later; reserve oil.
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4. Turn pork loin fat-side down. Slit lengthwise, almost but not quite the whole way through, to form a long pocket, leaving a ½-inch border of unslit meat at each end.
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5. Brush cavity with some of the reserved garlic cooking oil, and sprinkle generously with salt and black pepper and 1 tablespoon of the rosemary.
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6. Line cavity with sautéed garlic and apricots; sprinkle with cranberries.
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7. Tie loin together with kitchen twine at 1 ½-inch intervals.
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8. Turn loin over so that the fat side is up and the cut side is down. Brush meat all over with remaining oil, and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.
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9. Warm ¼ cup apple jelly. Press the remaining garlic into the warm jelly. Sprinkle in the remaining rosemary. Brush this mixture onto the meat.
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10. Roast at 250ºF until a meat thermometer stuck into the center registers 125ºF to 130ºF. (Start checking at 1 ½ hours.)
11. Remove pork loin from the oven; raise oven temperature to 400 degrees. Brush loin with pan drippings, return to oven, and continue to roast until the loin is golden brown and the internal temperature in the center registers 155ºF to 160ºF, about 20 minutes longer. For even more attractive coloring, broil until spotty brown, 3 to 5 minutes.
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12. Let roast rest 15 to 20 minutes; transfer to a carving board.
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13. Stir juices around pan to loosen brown bits. Mix chicken broth with cornstarch in a small bowl. Pour drippings through a strainer into a small pan, and stir in alcohol, chicken broth with cornstarch and remaining 2 tablespoons of jelly; whisk into a sauce. Simmer until slightly thickened.
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14. Remove the butcher's twine. Slice the stuffed pork loin into half-inch slices. Serve each slice with sauce poured on top and a side of roasted asparagus and CrockPot mashed potatoes.
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Cook's Tips for the Best Stuffed Pork Loin

It is crucial that you tie the pork loin to keep the stuffing inside! If you don't, you will end up with stuffing all over the pan instead of inside the pork.

If you can let the drippings sit after straining, you'll be able to pour off a lot of the fat that rises to the top. It will take 10-15 minutes for the fat to separate and rise to the top.

How to make stuffed pork loin ahead

This is an easy recipe to make ahead, and that will make your day-of preparations much easier. Do everything up to tying the pork loin, then place it in a roasting pan and cover it tightly with plastic wrap. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

To roast the stuffed pork loin, remove it from the fridge, prepare the apple glaze, and roast. It will probably take an extra 15-20 minutes to roast because it will be chilled in the center rather than room temperature. Keep an eye on it and keep using your meat thermometer. If it starts to get too brown, put some foil over it. And if it looks like it's drying out, grab a baster or a spoon and spread the pan drippings over the meat.

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Variations

If you're so inclined, you could chop half of a sweet Vidalia onion and cook that with the garlic cloves in the beginning. Then add the cooked onion with the cloves into the filling of the pork loin.

You could mix in crumbled bacon with the fruit filling.

As I said in the ingredients section, I use a simple pork loin for this recipe. It's generally not my favorite cut of pork because it tends to be tough and dry, but in this recipe, it stays nice and moist and pleasant. If you prefer, you can make a stuffed pork tenderloin. A tenderloin is a better cut of meat because it's more tender and juicy. It's also a lot more expensive.

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I make this stuffed pork loin the easy way - by slicing the roast with a sharp knife and adding the stuffing to the center. I've seen stuffed pork loin done in a different way, where the loin is sliced horizontally to make a long, thin sheet of even thickness (this is called "butterflying") and then the filling is spread out across the whole thing and the butterflied pork loin is then rolled up. I don't do it that way for three reasons. First, that method is too fussy for me; I like easy. Second, you need a whole lot more filling to do it that way. Third, the filling spills out of the edges when you do it that way, and I don't want to lose my precious fruit filling. I want it all to stay inside the roast.

What to serve with stuffed pork loin

Because I serve this at holiday meals, I like to pair it with my extra-fancy make-ahead CrockPot mashed potatoes. They are rich and creamy, with sour cream and cream cheese mixed into the potatoes. They hold up well to the pan dripping sauce that you make with this pork loin.

Two other recipes I like to serve with this stuffed pork loin are my roasted garlic asparagus and roasted Parmesan carrots. Both are delicious vegetable sides that go nicely with the sweet pork.

Try these other delicious pork recipes:

• Crock Pot Pulled Pork Loin
• Sweet Balsamic Pork Roast in the Instant Pot
• Smokey BBQ Sliders with Chicken or Pork
• Homemade Dry BBQ Pork Spice Rub
• BBQ Pulled Pork Pizza
• Polynesian Pork Chops
• Honey Maple Glazed Pork Chops

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