Pork tenderloin substitutes

Same animal and same mild flavour, but a noticeably firmer, coarser bite because the loin is not the tender muscle, so a dish that was silky becomes pleasantly meaty instead.

Best for

roasting, pan-searing, medallions, stir-fry strips, recipes with a pan sauce

Do not simply swap weights and reuse the timing. Either cut the loin lengthwise into a two-inch-thick strip so it roasts in a similar 25 minutes, or cut it into inch-and-a-quarter chops and sear those. Brining for 30 minutes in four cups of water with a quarter cup of salt makes a real difference, since the loin is a step drier than the tenderloin. Cook to 145F with a three-minute rest.

Almost eerily similar in size, shape and cooking time, so it slips into a pork tenderloin recipe without changing the method at all, though the flavour is cleaner and more neutral and the texture slightly more fibrous.

Best for

roasting whole, sliced medallions, grilling, recipes with a glaze or pan sauce, leaner meals

Cook to 165F rather than 145F, which takes about five to eight minutes longer, so brining or a wet marinade is worth the trouble. It takes rubs and glazes very well. This is the swap to pick if you are avoiding pork rather than just missing it.

Cut from the loin, so the flavour is identical and the texture is only slightly firmer, and because they are already portioned they suit any recipe that slices the tenderloin into medallions anyway.

Best for

pan-seared medallions, schnitzel, stir-fry, grilling, quick weeknight pork

The one thing to watch is thickness. Thin supermarket chops of half an inch will be overcooked before they brown, so buy chops at least an inch thick, or pound thin ones flat and cook them for 90 seconds a side. Cook to 145F.

Similarly lean and quick-cooking, but milder and considerably more prone to going dry and stringy, and the faintly sweet richness that makes pork tenderloin work with apples, mustard or fennel is simply not there.

Best for

roasting, pan-searing, quick dinners, recipes with a strong sauce

Cook to 165F, brine for 20 to 30 minutes if you have time, and pound the thick end so the breast has even thickness. Because chicken breast has far less fat than even a lean pork tenderloin, lean on the sauce more heavily than the recipe suggests.

Cheap, from the hip end of the loin, and reasonably close in flavour, but it contains more seams of sinew and cooks less evenly, so slices vary from tender to slightly chewy across the same roast.

Best for

roasting, slow-roasting, pork for sandwiches, budget pork dinner

Best treated as a small roast rather than as a stand-in for medallions. Roast at 375F to an internal 145F, rest 10 minutes, and slice across the grain. Trimming out the visible sinew before cooking makes a bigger difference than any seasoning does.

Equally tender and shaped almost the same, but obviously beef, so it tastes richer and more mineral and should be served pink at 130F rather than cooked through.

Best for

roasting whole, medallions, special occasion dinner, steak-style pan sauces

Costs several times more per pound. It is a good swap for a pork tenderloin recipe with a wine or peppercorn sauce and a poor one for anything built on pork's sweetness, such as an apple, maple or mustard glaze. Pull it at 130F for medium-rare, which is a full 15F below where the pork would have gone.

Cut from the shoulder end, so they are fattier and much more flavourful, but they are a slow-cook cut and will be chewy and tough if you give them a tenderloin's 25 minutes.

Best for

braising, slow cooker pork, shredded pork, barbecue

Only use these if you are willing to change the recipe. Braise or slow-roast them at 300F to 325F for two to three hours until they shred at around 200F internal. The result is delicious and completely unlike a pork tenderloin dinner, so treat it as a different meal rather than a substitution.