5 Ingredient Instant Pot Pork Tenderloin Recipe (with Cranberry)

If you’re only going to make one SweetPhi recipe, this 5 ingredient Instant Pot pork tenderloin with cranberry sauce gravy is the one! What we all LOVE about this recipe is that it cooks in an Instant Pot and so it’s super super and it creates the most delicious gravy alongside the pork!

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Why You’ll Love This 5-Ingredient Pork Tenderloin

• Only 5 ingredients, big flavor. Minimal prep and pantry staples come together to make the most tender, juicy pork with a rich gravy—no complicated steps required.

• Instant Pot convenience. Let the pressure cooker do all the work, so dinner is hands-off and totally doable on a weeknight (or for Sunday supper – it’s a great family meal recipe).

• Meal prep + freezer friendly. Make it ahead for busy nights, reheat it in the oven, or freeze the pork and gravy separately for a true “heat and eat” dinner later.

• Family-size portions on a budget. Costco tenderloins = 4 full meals, making this recipe perfect for feeding a crew or stocking the freezer without overspending.

• Totally adaptable. Swap in pork roast, thick-cut chops, or even a turkey breast – this simple method still works, just adjust the cook time.

• Kid-approved + company-worthy. It’s one of those unicorn recipes that works for casual family meals and serving guests-comforting, flavorful, and always a hit.

What ingredients do you need to make this cranberry pork tenderloin?

• Extra virgin olive oil: heating up the oil helps get a great sear on the pork tenderloin.
• Pork tenderloin: My favorite lean meat that is super affordable and great for a family
• Garlic cloves: because garlic makes everything taste better
• Cans whole cranberry sauce: if you want to spend a little extra time, you can opt to make homemade cranberry sauce as well.
• Ginger: helps add an extra little kick of flavor

This 5 Ingredient pork tenderloin with cranberry sauce is such a great family dinner.  The pork comes out super tender and is perfect to feed kids too.  Phi shared a funny story about how much Ben loved the gravy.  So much, in fact, that he had two big pieces of pork and wanted lots of gravy. He kept calling the gravy ‘tea’ so he kept saying ‘more tea please’ lol.

To make this meal, follows these simple steps (Instant pot instructions! Slow cooker instructions shared in the recipe card!)

1. Pour oil into Instant Pot and set instant pot to sear setting for 12 minutes. Add in pork tenderloin, pressed garlic and sprinkle pork with salt. Sear pork tenderloin so that a nice brown crust forms. Use tongs to flip it one or two times.

2. Add in 2 cans of whole cranberry sauce and ginger, secure the lid with the valve in sealing position. Pressure cook for 15 minutes, and allow a natural release (about 5 minutes.)

3. Remove the pork tenderloin and put onto a cutting board, allow to rest for 5 minutes, then slice and serve. Pour sauce/gravy into a gravy boat and serve on the side.

4. Please note that the gravy thickens up a little bit as the lid is off, it’s a sauce consistency that thickens a little into what we’d call a gravy.

Some tips for making the best pork tenderloin dinner:

• This is a great make-ahead meal for serving at family dinner. You can make it all ahead and then serve it/warmed it in a baking dish (as pictured below – baked at 300 degrees for 20 minutes).

• Let the Instant Pot naturally release vs. quick release. It kind of sputters a little liquid out of the valve if you quick release it. It still works, it’s just a little shocking, lol.

• You can also make this into a freezer meal by making it, and then freezing the pork and gravy in separate containers.

• You can simply buy pork tenderloins from Costco; there are 2 tenderloins per package and 2 packages sold together, so you get 4 pork tenderloins.

• You could substitute a pork roast for the pork tenderloins.  Or even try thick cut pork chops too. You could also make this with a turkey breast-just increase the cook time, see my post on easy instant pot turkey breast

If you don’t have an Instant Pot, this meal would also work great in a slow cooker!  Just be sure to sear the pork in a pan then transfer it into a slow cooker and cook on high for 2-3 hours (slow cookers vary, so be sure to watch the this so it doesn’t overcook and dry out the pork).  Serve this pork tenderloin with cranberry gravy, alongside broccoli and mashed potatoes.  Of course, you can use any sides you prefer (for fall, squash is another great option!)

5 Ingredient Instant Pot Cranberry Pork Tenderloin

This 5 Ingredient Instant Pot Cranberry Pork Tenderloin is the easiest fall dinner with little clean up!

3.88 from 8 votes

Print Rate

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 27 minutes minutes

Resting time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 42 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 people

Equipment

• Instant Pot
• Grill Tongs
• Measuring spoons

Ingredients

• 2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
• 2 pork tenderloin about 3-4 lbs. total*
• 3 garlic cloves pressed
• 2 cans whole cranberry sauce 14 oz. each. You can also make cranberry sauce from scratch.
• 1 Tbs. ginger grated
• 1 tsp. Kosher salt

Serving suggestions

• Mashed potatoes
• Broccoli

Instructions

Instant pot instructions

• Pour oil into Instant Pot and set instant pot to sear setting for 12 minutes. Add in pork tenderloin and pressed garlic and sprinkle pork with salt. Sear pork tenderloin so that a nice brown crust forms. Use tongs to flip it one or two times. 
• Add in 2 cans of whole cranberry sauce and ginger, secure the lid with the valve in sealing position. Pressure cook for 15 minutes, and allow a natural release (about 5 minutes.)**
  
• Remove the pork tenderloin and put onto a cutting board, allow to rest for 5 minutes, then slice and serve. Pour gravy into a gravy boat and serve on the side. 
  

Slow cooker instructions

• Pour oil into a large skillet and pork tenderloin, browning sides (flipping ever few minutes) for 8-12 minutes.
• Transfer pork to slow cooker. Sprinkle pork with salt. Add in pressed garlic, 2 cans of whole cranberry sauce and ginger, put lid on slow cooker and cook on high for 2-3 hours or low for 5-6 hours. Please note all slow cookers differ a little bit, you just don't want to dry your pork out because the more it overcooks, the dryer it gets. Pork tenderloin is done at an internal temperature of 145 (from a slow cooker mine is usually around 160)
• Remove the pork tenderloin and put onto a cutting board, allow to rest for 5 minutes, then slice and serve. Pour sauce/gravy into a gravy boat and serve on the side.

  Please note that the gravy thickens up a little bit as the lid is off, it's a sauce consistency that thickens a little into what we'd call a gravy. To thicken the gravy create a slurry with 1-2 tbs of corn starch and then add back into the liquid.

Notes

*The pork tenderloins Phi uses are from Costco and are a little bigger than ones we've found at the grocery store. A typical pork tenderloin is between 1.5-2.5 lbs and is a round cylinder. A pork loin has more fat and is bigger. That cut of meat can be used as well, but the cook time will vary.

**I have tried this on quick release, and while it does work just fine, some liquid splutters out of the valve, so I would recommend natural release. 

A note about the cranberry sauce gravy consistency-the gravy thickens up a little bit as the lid is off and the pork is resting, it's a sauce consistency that thickens a little into what I'd consider a gravy.

  

Nutrition

Fiber: -1g