I think the apple cider gives this jerk marinade a special, little unconventional touch. Being from Virginia’s apple region, the apple cider was only natural. On top of the heated coals, sprinkle apple or hickory wood chips that have been soaked in water for taste. When the chips start burning, you may start grilling. This goes excellent with grilled pineapple as a side dish.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 14 mins |
| Additional Time: | 8 hrs 5 mins |
| Total Time: | 8 hrs 49 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 habanero peppers, seeded
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 bunches green onions, chopped
- 1 (1 inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled
- ¼ cup apple cider
- ¼ cup white vinegar
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ½ tablespoons packed brown sugar
- ¾ teaspoon mustard seed
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup wood chips, soaked (Optional)
- 2 ½ pounds pork tenderloin, butterflied and pounded to 3/4 inch
Instructions
- Combine habanero peppers, onion, green onions, ginger, and garlic, in a blender or food processor. Blend until quite fine. Add cider, white vinegar, soy sauce, olive oil, and sugar. Season with mustard seed, salt, pepper, thyme, allspice, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Continue to blend until smooth.
- Place the pork tenderloin in a shallow casserole dish. Spread mixture on all sides of the meat (wear gloves or use a spatula). Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours.
- Preheat grill for medium-high heat.
- Lightly oil grate. Add soaked wood chips to coals, if using. Grill slabs of tenderloin, turning as needed, about 6 to 7 minutes on each side, or until the internal temperature has reached 145 degrees F (63 degrees C).
- Remove meat from grill; allow to rest for 5 minutes. Slice thinly and serve.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 248 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 11 g |
| Cholesterol | 79 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 27 g |
| Saturated Fat | 3 g |
| Sodium | 1125 mg |
| Sugars | 5 g |
| Fat | 11 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I’m trying to figure out these 5 star reviews here for this pork because I was so disappointed in it. A lot of time and energy getting all these ingredients out and putting it all together for a real nothing dish. What a waste of a tenderloin. My husband didn’t care for it either.
I made this today…the tenderloins were very tender and juicy! Nice n spicy, though some of the spices would be omitted if I make it again(cinnamon &I nutmeg). I used a jalapeño and some cayenne pepper I also served it with a raspberry sauce. Good marinade.
I’m so glad I found this again. I made it years ago and enjoyed, but stopped making it because I thought it was a little to adventurous for the little ones once they came along. Now they are a little older, and I was so excited to make it again, for them! I made this exactly as the recipe states, and it is amazing! If you are sure to not get any seeds in there, is has just the right amount of heat. I love spicy food, and this gives me enough heat for my palate, but not to much for the kids. Will be adding this to my rotation!
Fantastic! Because half of my family loves spicy food and the other half cannot eat it at all, I processed the marinade without the habanero, divided the marinade, and added minced habanero to one part. I used rib-cut pork chops, and everybody loved them! Served with Jamaican Cabbage from this site.
Even with a couple of changes, this worked out very well! Ok, more than a couple, but the flavors are still the same. Used butterflied pork roast because it’s cheaper. Only marinated for 4 hours because I didn’t have time to do more. Cooked in oven rather than grill. Used fresh cayenne rather than habanero because that what I had in the garden. But even with all of those changes, the seasonings were the same and the pork was fabulous!!
This was delicious! The only thing I did different was to omit the habeneros… I know jerk is supposed to be spicy but I didn’t have any peppers on hand AND my hubby is a total spicy whimp, so I decided to just go for the flavor without the spice. The meat was SO tender and flavorful and it was perfectly cooked after grilling for 6 minutes on each side. It was just two of us and we polished off the whole tenderloin!
Fantastic, i butterflied the tenderloin and marinated rubbed in the majority of mixture in the center and then folded closed, placed on grill direct over coals for about 3minutes each side then placed away from coals and cooked for 30 minutes at 300. This was the most moist tenderloin i have ever made grilled or not. The kids loved it atually devoured it. I served with Basmatti rice and a mango pineapple salsa with honey which complemented the spices of the meat.
Really Good, Used dried Spices. Highly seasoned!
I followed the ingredients list except for the green onions because I didn’t have any and I let the meat marinade for about 3 hours. I cooked it on my grill pan instead of on the grill. This was very very good. Incredible flavorful. This one is company worthy.
This recipe ROCKS! The pork was tender and so flavorful. Will be my summer go-to for company. Made exactly as written with the exception of the habanero, I used some cayene and a couple of shakes of Tabasco. Thanks for a great recipe, VAGRILL.
This is a great marinade if you make a few changes! I took out the allspice and habanero peppers, added more garlic, and used apple juice instead of cider. My changes takes the traditional “jerk” flavoring out, but it still makes a great marinade.
Add cayanne pepper,cumin, chili powder and fresh cilantro and this is a great recipe……
I’d give it a 4.5 if I could.
Excellent, Agree with other reviews that it could have been spicier, but that is just personal preference. I added some red pepper flakes after reading the other reviews but I would still kick it up more the next time.
I loved the taste of this marinade…and loved that i threw everything but the meat in the blender and then marinated overnight so it was sooo easy to just grill the meat. some might like this a bit hotter, so leave the seeds or add another habanera.
This was fantastic. I did make a few changes. I added O.J., maybe 1/4 cup and some honey to the marinade. We have a Chinese Habanero plant so I used two of those. Next time I will add a few more because we like our food super spicy.
I was surprised how easy it was to prep and my family was astonished I made it. My husband said it’s better than our fav restuarant dish.
This had great flavor, but I thought it would have been a little spicier. I am definately going to continue experimenting with it though, because it has a lot of potential.
This was a good recipe, but it was spicy enough.
Really tasty, though I reduced the amount of habanero due to preference. I served it with jamaican peas and rice.