Pork Tenderloin with Gravy -- The Kitchen That Keeps Growing

I drove to Grinnell Saturday. Roger was in the garden — the garden that is his whole world now, the 82-year-old man who tends six tomato plants and twelve sunflowers with the same care he once gave four hundred acres. He's slower but he's still Roger. He still watches the crop reports. He still calls Jack on Wednesdays.

Thursday was tater tot hotdish, because Thursday is always tater tot hotdish and the schedule doesn't change for anything — not pandemics, not loss, not the passage of years. The tater tots go in at 375 and come out golden and the family eats them and the eating is the Thursday and the Thursday is the structure and the structure holds. But I also made pot roast with more carrots earlier this week, because the kitchen doesn't only look backward. The kitchen grows.

Seed starting continues at the Holloway household — the windowsill green, the grow lights purple, the soil mix precise. The annual miracle of February and March: things grow even when everything says they shouldn't. The growing is the argument against everything.

The pot roast I made earlier that week had me thinking about all the ways a kitchen grows alongside the people in it — Roger’s garden, the seedlings under the grow lights, the Thursday hotdish that never changes. This pork tenderloin with gravy carries that same spirit: tender, unhurried, and deeply satisfying. Load it up with carrots, let the gravy do its slow, generous work, and let it remind you that some meals are less about the recipe and more about the act of making something nourishing for the people you love.

Pork Tenderloin with Gravy

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 2 lbs pork tenderloin (1–2 tenderloins)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, sliced
• 4 large carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 2 tbsp cold water
• Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish

Instructions

1. Preheat and season. Preheat your oven to 375°F. Pat the pork tenderloin dry with paper towels, then season all sides generously with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.
2. Sear the pork. Heat olive oil in a large oven-safe skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sear the tenderloin on all sides until golden brown, about 3–4 minutes per side. Remove pork and set aside.
3. Cook the vegetables. In the same pan, add the sliced onion and carrots. Sauté over medium heat for 4–5 minutes until softened slightly. Add minced garlic and cook 1 more minute.
4. Build the braising liquid. Pour in chicken broth and Worcestershire sauce, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Nestle the seared pork tenderloin back into the pan among the vegetables.
5. Roast. Cover with a lid or foil and transfer to the preheated oven. Roast for 45–55 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the pork reaches 145°F. Remove the pork and let it rest on a cutting board for 10 minutes before slicing.
6. Make the gravy. Place the pan with the vegetables and braising liquid back on the stovetop over medium heat. Whisk together cornstarch and cold water in a small bowl until smooth. Pour the slurry into the pan, stirring constantly, and simmer 3–4 minutes until the gravy thickens.
7. Serve. Slice the pork tenderloin and arrange on a platter alongside the carrots and onions. Spoon the gravy generously over the top and garnish with fresh parsley.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 280 | Protein: 34g | Fat: 9g | Carbs: 12g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 520mg