Oven Roasted Pork and Apples

I wish you knew how wonderful my house smells right about now.

You can know about this, if you make this recipe. And I have to insist you put this on your dinner menu next week!

My Oven Roasted Pork and Apples recipe is prepped and ready for the oven in under 10 minutes. Then all we have to do is sit back and relax, let some amazing flavors develop, and gobble this up.

Into a big baking dish, I combine gala apples and mirepoix. Saying "mirepoix" makes me sound like a fancy restaurant chef, but this is just a term that means chopped carrots, celery, and onion. It tends to be a major part of most of my soup recipes as well!

The vegetables become tender and slightly sweet in the oven, which compliments the apples in a wonderful way. For an earthy, lemony bite, I toss the vegetables with fresh thyme leaves. The pork gets marinated quickly with a dijon mustard vinaigrette. The marinade, along with the natural juices from the vegetables, make this pork tender and ta-die-for!

We decided to enjoy this as a low carb dinner, but you can feel free to add anything you want -- diced sweet potatoes or yukon gold potatoes would be very happy alongside the apples and mirepoix. You can sub out the carrots for parsnips or turnips, or bulk up the veggies with some green beans. I love the combination of the mustard, apples, and pork--it's like they were made for each other--but if you choose to use chicken, I think you'd be just as happy.


Here's what you need for Roasted Pork and Apples* (Print Recipe!)

1 pound pork tenderloin or chops, cut into 4 pieces
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup baby carrots
3 large celery stalks, chopped into 1-inch pieces
1 large vidalia onion, chopped into large pieces
2 gala apples, sliced
2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed and lightly chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Here's what you do

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Drizzle a few tablespoons of olive oil is a rectangular casserole or baking dish.

Season pork with salt and pepper on both sides. In a small flat bowl, whisk together the mustard, vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper. Dip each piece of pork in the marinade and flip to coat.

Toss the carrots, celery, onion, apples, and thyme in the baking dish. Season with a touch more salt and pepper. Shake the pan gently to evenly spread the vegetables out into a single layer in the bottom of the baking dish.

Rest the pork on the vegetables and drizzle the remaining marinade on top. Bake for 25 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and the pork is cooked through (should read at least 160 degrees on a food thermometer). Enjoy!

*Gas Stove Girl Original Recipe