Stuffing a pork loin not only adds flavor—it significantly ups the WOW factor!
Want to serve something that tastes great AND looks impressive? Look no further than this Spiral-Stuffed Pork Loin. It’s perfect for Christmas, Easter, Sunday night dinner, or whenever you want your guests to say “wow!” It’s easier than it looks, especially with my step by step guide.
Scroll down to read more about how it all comes together or click here to jump straight down to the recipe.
Video: How To Spiral Stuff A Pork Loin
Ways To Stuff A Pork Loin
There are a few different ways you can stuff a pork loin. The simplest way is to cut the cylinder of meat lengthwise so it opens up like a book, add the stuffing, and close it up again. Sometimes this is called butterflying and it makes for slices of meat that look like this pork tenderloin.
Another way to do it is to make a hole down the middle of the loin, creating a sort of tube and filling the tube with stuffing. It makes for slices that have a donut-shaped piece of meat with the stuffing in the center.
My favorite, though, is a spiral-cut—because its slices are the most impressive, beautiful spirals of meat and filling. Confusingly, this is also sometimes called butterflying, even though it’s completely different than the first option. It’s also sometimes called a rolled pork loin or roll cut because the final pork loin roast looks like a jelly roll. Either way, it’s not that hard to do and even if you don’t do it perfectly, once the meat is rolled back up, cooked, and sliced, most of the “mistakes” will magically disappear!
How To Make Stuffed Pork Loin:
Start with the loin on a large cutting board. (Don’t know the difference between a pork loin and a pork tenderloin? Jump over to this post here.)
Put the meat perpendicular to you and make a cut along one side of the cylinder about 1/2-inch from the edge with a sharp knife, stopping short of the cutting board by about 1/2 inch. You’ll end up with a 1/2-inch flap of meat, running the length of the cylinder, on the same side as your cutting hand (your right if you’re right-handed).
Change your knife so it’s parallel to the cutting board. Starting where the flap meets the cylinder, cut into the meat (away from the flap), keeping your knife 1/2 inch above the cutting board.
Continue this cut, pulling the meat away from the knife with your other hand, like you’re unrolling a carpet. Eventually, you’ll have one large rectangle of meat that’s about 1/2-inch thick. Ta-da!
If there are places that the meat feels too thick, make a shallow slit in those spots and press the meat open (you can see where I made a slit like this towards the right in the photo above).
If the surface of the meat looks a little ragged or there are holes, don’t worry too much. Most of those imperfections will be unnoticeable once the roast reaches the dinner table.
Add your stuffing to the top of this rectangle, using my recipe below or your own. About a 1/4-inch thickness is ideal.
Starting at what was the inside of the meat, reroll it into a cylinder, then tie it with kitchen twine.
Now, you’re ready to roast!
And like I said, once your spiral cut roast gets to the table, the slices not only look impressive, but they’re tasty, too. Because the stuffing adds flavor to the roast through and through!
Stuffing For Rolled Pork Loin
For my stuffed pork loin recipe, I use a mixture of panko breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, dried herbs, salt, and black pepper mixed with melted butter. I usually use an Italian seasoning blend for mine, but you could use a different blend or combine a few herbs like oregano, rosemary, and thyme.
Check out the comments for other delicious ideas or add your own. I love to see the variety my readers come up with!
More Pork Loin Recipes
If all of that stuffing and rolling seems like too much work, or if you were planning to stuff it and your day got away from you and you have less time, you can always just roast the pork loin as is, without stuffing. This is my best method for cooking a pork loin roast in the oven or try one of the other recipes below.
Podcast Episode: Stuffing Pork Loin
Listen to me explain briefly about how to make this stuffed pork loin, along with some other great tips, by clicking the play button below:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
Print
How to Stuff Pork Loin Recipe
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 8–10 servings 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
DESCRIPTION
Stuffing a pork loin not only adds flavor—it significantly ups the WOW factor!
Ingredients
- 1 (3 1/2- to 4 lb.) boneless pork loin roast
- 1 cup panko
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
- 2 Tbsp. dried herb blend (Italian herb blend, herb de Provence, or make your own)
- 1 1/2 tsp. salt, divided
- 1 1/2 tsp. pepper, divided
- About 5 ribs celery (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Meanwhile, place the pork on a cutting board, fat side down. With a sharp boning or carving knife, cut down along one long side of the loin, about ½ inch from the edge, stopping ½ inch from the cutting board. Turn the knife parallel to the cutting board and cut inward ½ inch above the cutting board, unrolling the roast like a carpet. Continue until the loin is one long flat piece, about ½ inch thick.
- Mix together the panko, cheese, butter, herbs, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Spread the mixture all over the pork. Beginning at the end that was the interior, roll the roast up and tie with kitchen twine every 1 ½ to 2 inches. Sprinkle with the remaining ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper.
- Put the pork on a rack in a roasting pan fat side up. If you don’t have a rack use about 5 stalks of celery arranged in the pan.
- Roast until the internal temperature is 145-160°F, 20 to 25 minutes per pound. 145°F is considered safe for pork according to the USDA. It will be moist and slightly pink in the center. If you prefer your pork fully white and well done, then go with the 160°F temperature.
- Cover the roasting pan with foil and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, increase the oven to 475°F.
- Roast uncovered for another 10 minutes, until the meat is nicely browned.
- Remove the twine, slice the roast, and serve immediately.
Love this recipe? I’d appreciate it if you could scroll down and add a *5 star rating* to help others know they’ll love it as well!
Notes
- Note: For even more flavorful meat, brine the pork before you roast it. But if you do, cut the salt in this recipe to a little more than 1/2 teaspoon. See this post for how to brine and why it makes such a difference.
This post originally appeared in February 2019 and was revised and republished in August 2024.
Omigosh!! Thank you for this recipe. This saved my dinner party!
I am in Mexico, had company arriving in 30 minutes. When I opened the package with what I thought was a small pork loin … it UNROLLED in my sink!!!
After several minutes of panic, I Googled “what to do with flat piece of pork meat”. This recipe came up! I whipped up the stuffing, rolled it and threw it in the oven. FABULOUS!!!
The cooking time was perfect! The spices delicious! And, it was Sooooo impressive-looking for company! Me? Chef Extraordinaire today. :-)
Only changes to the recipe, I had no Panko and I had no twine. I crushed Saltines and omitted salt from the spice mixture, and I had no twine so I soaked some toothpicks and wooden skewers. I added a small smear of oil to the outside of the roll and added a bit of the spices as a rub.
Wow! Judy! You improvised and made it work! I love the saltines and toothpicks ideas. Great to know those worked in a pinch. I’m really happy to have been of help and that your dinner party went so well. Thank you for coming back to let me know :)
I made this last Christmas and I’m going to make it again this year. It is both delicious and easy.
This is probably the prettiest meat dish I’ve ever made. I didn’t think I could pull it off because the picture looks so nice. But I followed your instructions and it worked. Everyone complimented me on the taste too so, a success for me tonight. Thank you!
Chase, I’m so so so happy it turned out for you. I agree that it’s one of those things that looks prettier than I can do myself, and then I did it and was like, wow! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
A thin layer of Grey Poupon prior to placing your stuffing is helpful. OR, add one finely diced Granny Smith apple, 2Tbl lemon juice, 1/4 C brown sugar and 1 teaspoon dry mustard to your stuffing, THEN ROLL. The last 20 mins of baking, brush with 1/4 C apple juice, 1 teaspoon salt and 3Tbl brown sugar (simmered for 10 mins to blend flavors, stirring almost constantly).
Thanks for sharing with us, Tim!