A simple seasoning paste takes a basic pork loin roast from simple to spectacular!
One of the great things about making is a roast is, well, it roasts. In other words, hands-on time is pretty minimal because you put it in the oven and, while the oven does the work, you’re free to do whatever. That’s one of the reasons I like making roast pork, but also other roasts like chicken, leg of lamb, and roast beef.
But when I want to do a little something more special, I pull out this recipe for Rosemary Garlic Pork Roast. It features one of my favorite flavor combinations—rosemary, garlic, and lemon. Those ingredients are turned into an easy-to-make paste that gets slathered onto a beautiful pork loin. It only takes a few minutes to make the paste, and it adds a TON of flavor.
Scroll down to read more about how it all comes together or click here to jump straight down to the recipe.
What Cut Of Pork Should I Use?
Before we go much further, let’s talk about the difference between a pork loin and a pork tenderloin. The names are similar so they’re easily confused. Basically, a pork loin is a pork rib roast without the ribs. It ends up being a long cylindrical piece of meat that’s about 4 inches in diameter and can weigh up to 8 or 10 pounds, although it’s often cut into pieces that are anywhere from 1 to 5 pounds. A pork loin is also used to make boneless pork chops—by just cutting the cylinder into thick pieces crosswise.
A tenderloin is also a cylindrical piece of meat, but it’s much smaller. It only weighs about a pound. Because it’s so much smaller, a tenderloin won’t cook the same as a loin, so they’re not interchangeable in recipes.
Here’s a little more about the difference between the two from the National Pork Board.
Making The Rosemary Garlic Paste
Okay, back to our recipe. To make the flavorful paste that coats the meat, I use a food processor. The benefit of that is I can use tons of fresh rosemary and garlic without having to do a lot of chopping—because the food processor chops it all up for me. Hooray!
I think the paste is a perfect balance of earthy, herbal, and bright. But because it’s so easy to make, it’s easy to experiment with more or less rosemary or garlic, or even adding other herbs. You can even use the paste on your other favorite roasts. Or chops. Or filets. It’s so good you’ll want to use it on all sorts of things.
More Amazing Pork Recipes
I have a collection of delicious pork recipes for you, from roasts to pork chops. Here’s some favorites to get started.
- Bacon-Wrapped Pork Loin
- Spiral Stuffed Pork Loin
- Pork Butt Roast
- Roasted Pork Shoulder Recipe
- Instant Pot Roast Pork
Podcast Episode About Making Pork Roast
Listen to me explain briefly about how to make this roast, along with some other great tips, by clicking the play button below:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
Print
Rosemary Garlic Pork Roast Recipe
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Rest Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 6–8 servings 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Roast
- Cuisine: American
DESCRIPTION
A simple seasoning paste takes a basic pork loin roast from simple to spectacular!
Ingredients
- 1 lemon
- 1 cup fresh rosemary leaves
- 8 cloves garlic
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. pepper (use lemon pepper if you have it)
- 1 (2 and 1/2 to 3 lb.) boneless pork loin roast
- About 3 ribs celery (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Zest, then juice the lemon. In a food processor, combine the lemon zest, lemon juice, rosemary, garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper and pulse until it becomes a coarse, wet paste. Spread the paste all over the pork.
- Put the pork on a rack in a roasting pan fat side up. If you don’t have a rack use about 3 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. (If any parts of the pork are already nicely browned, cover them with a piece of foil before the final roast.)
- 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
- 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 September 2019 and was revised and republished in January 2024.
Love this recipe! The paste full of garlic adds soooo much flavor. Much better than the recipe I used in the past.
Mary, I’m so happy to hear that you liked it! And thank you so much for coming back to let me know :)