Pork Tenderloin Stuffed With Butternut Squash And Spinach

October 8, 2025 by Leave a Comment

stuffed tenderloin

This is the perfect fall or winter meal, savory pork tenderloin stuffed with roasted sweet butternut squash and spinach. It’s tender and juicy and exploding with flavor. Easy to make for a weeknight and fancy enough for a dinner party.

roast squash

I love cooking with autumn squash, it’s just a nice transition into the cooler months and roasting up some butternut squash is one of my favorite things to do because it’s so versatile.

stuffing a tenderloin

Be sure to use pork tenderloin in this recipe, not a pork loin. A tenderloin is smaller, leaner and cooks faster and a pork loin is larger, fattier and cooks slower. Here’s a similar version I made with a pork loin.

You’ll need to butterfly the tenderloin, but it’s very easy, slice it lengthwise and open it like a book and pound it down nice and flat.

stuffed and tied

Then all you’ll have to do is stuff it with your pre-roasted squash and spinach, roll it up and tie it with some twine and it’s ready to roast.

autumn pork

And don’t forget you can make it your own, maybe add some creamy cheese like goat or fontina, maybe some caramelized onions and of course you can make a pan sauce.

This is delicious, unique and always a hit, I hope you enjoy!

Pork Tenderloin Stuffed With Butternut Squash And Spinach
 
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Autumn inspired flavors with this pork tenderloin stuffed with roasted butternut squash and spinach.
Author:
Ingredients
  • 2 lb. pork tenderloin, not a pork loin, butterflied
  • 1 smallish butternut squash, diced small and pre-roasted
  • 1 bag of fresh spinach
  • 2 small smashed garlic
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • fresh sage leaves
  • butchers twine
Instructions
  1. Dice and pre-roast your butternut squash tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper at 400F until lightly golden, cool and set aside.
  2. Take your pork tenderloin and trim off the silver skin.
  3. Butterfly the meat by slicing it lengthwise without cutting all the way through.Open it like a book, cover with plastic wrap and pound it about a half inch thick pounding nice and even all around.
  4. Rub the smashed garlic all over the meat.
  5. Drizzle the meat with olive oil, salt and pepper.
  6. Spread the top of the meat with the roasted squash, enough to cover (you'll probably have leftover but that's a good thing)
  7. Top the squash with the fresh spinach, enough to spread around.
  8. Do another quick drizzle of olive oil all around.
  9. Roll it up tightly and tie it with kitchen twine to ensure everything stays inside and keeps it's shape.
  10. Use sage leaves under the twine and to decorate platter.
  11. Sear the tenderloin first then place into a hot 400F oven for around 20-25 minutes or until internal temperature is at 145.
  12. Let it rest 10 minutes before slicing.
  13. Enjoy!

 

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Stuffed Pork Roast with Apples and Cranberries

November 27, 2023 by 4 Comments

apple cranberry stuffed

Tis the season for entertaining and this stuffed pork loin with apples and cranberries is perfect for a gathering you might be having.

It certainly looks complicated but actually it’s very easy to put together, it can even be done a day ahead of time. The confusing part to some might be how to butterfly the meat. You actually open it like a book and then each side of the “book” you open that up. Here’s a visual that will help you, and you’ll see just how easy it is.

stuffed loin

Once you open it up fully you can spread your flavored filling all around. Here I used apple with dried cranberries, garlic, thyme and a sprinkle of bread crumbs. You’ll then roll it up tightly and tie it with butchers string.

pork loin

The apples and cranberries compliment the pork so well, serve it with a green vegetable on the side and maybe some cranberry sauce, a simple and elegant meal to serve your guests.

plated stuffed loin

Add or subtract anything in the stuffing/filling that you choose, choose your favorite variety of apples, maybe dried apricots instead of cranberries or dried cherries, toss in some mushrooms, chopped spinach, make a full bread stuffing if you wish, the stuffing possibilities are endless!

5.0 from 1 reviews
Stuffed Pork Roast with Apples and Cranberries
 
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An elegant dish to entertain with and easy enough for week night meals.
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Ingredients
  • Pork loin, the size of your choice but for my post here I used a 3 lb. roast
  • 1 shallot, chopped finely
  • 1 large apple of your choice, chopped finely
  • dried cranberries, a good handful
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • thyme
  • butter
  • a sprinkling of breadcrumbs
  • fresh herbs to place under twine
  • ********
  • You can double everything depending on how big your roast is, don't worry about exact measurements, taste and go along.
Instructions
  1. Slice open the pork with a sharp knife lengthwise but not slicing it all the way through, it should open like a book. Then each side needs to open like a book as well. Please refer to the link in my post to see a visual on how to do it easily.
  2. After it's butterflied open, cover with some plastic wrap and with a meat tenderizer pound it as even as you can all around. Then season with salt and pepper.
  3. For the stuffing; In a sauté pan add a nice dollop of butter, add the shallot and garlic, then the apple pieces and cranberries, saute til softened but not mushy.
  4. Season with salt, pepper and the thyme to your taste.
  5. Sprinkle the mixture with breadcrumbs, it will help hold the filling together better.
  6. Let it cool down a little bit then spread the mixture all over the opened pork, not quite all the way to the ends.
  7. Roll up and secure with butchers twine in a few places so it doesn’t open.
  8. Season the outside with salt and pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil.
  9. Sear the pork roast all around on each side then place some fresh herbs under the twine.
  10. Place into a 375F oven til internal temp reaches 145. After 30 minutes or so keep checking the temp in the middle so you know where you're at because you don't want to overcook it and dry out.

 

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Butternut Squash – Filled Roasted Pork Loin

January 9, 2014 by 10 Comments

butternut squash stuffed roastWhat do you get when you open up a pork loin, rub it down with garlic, olive oil and tuscan herbs, smother it with roasted mashed butternut squash and then tie it back up? I’ll tell you… The most delicious flavor combination with an absolutely beautiful presentation!

Tuscan herbs I saw this recipe in the cookbook Fabio’s Italian Kitchen, the minute I saw the photo I was smitten and couldn’t wait to make it. Swirls of butternut squash between layers of pork, what’s not to like!

This is the second time I’ve made this roast, the first time I followed the original recipe but this time I adapted it a little bit using those Tuscan herbs in that cute little crock above that were gifted to me by family who vacationed in Florence, Italy a few months ago. It’s a combination of sage, rosemary, crushed peppercorns and thyme.

cut and rolled out pork loin The most important thing about this recipe is that you have to cut open your pork loin properly and turn it into a 1/4 inch thick slab. The book explains how to do it but I needed a visual so I found a YouTube that showed me very quickly how to do it. After I opened it up I pounded it down to the thickness I wanted.

pork loin with Tuscan herbsThen all you have to do is rub your herby mixture all over the top which adds to the overall flavor as your end result.

pork loin spread with butternut squashsquash spread

Next, take your pre-roasted and mashed butternut squash and spread that on top of your herb mixture. Feel free to use your favorite mix of herbs, any combination would do. In the book Fabio just used garlic with minced sage which I tried the first time and that was very, very good!

rolled pork roast

Now carefully roll up the loin not pressing down too much as you don’t want that filling to squish out, then tie it up with some butchers twine!

cooked roast

I like roasting it on a rack so that it crisps up all over, make sure you follow the internal temperature posted so that the roast stays moist, you can be adventurous and possibly have a creamy cider sauce to serve along with it.

When it’s finished let it rest about fifteen minutes before cutting into it, I like to cut right through the middle first.

stuffed pork

It’s all about cutting the pork loin correctly, then I promise you’ll have no problem achieving that perfect spiral.

This dish tastes amazing and it’s a pretty spectacular presentation. It’s just perfect for the fall season,Thanksgiving or any holiday get together.

Here’s my adapted version.

Butternut Squash – Filled Roasted Pork Loin
 
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Ingredients
  • 1 small butternut squash, cut lengthwise, seeds scooped out and roasted until tender at 375 F.
  • 1 pork loin 2½ lb.
  • 1 large garlic clove, minced finely
  • 3 tablespoons or more of a Tuscan dry herb mixture of sage, rosemary, thyme and cracked black peppercorns
  • 3 tablespoons of olive oil
  • heaping teaspoon of salt
  • butchers twine
Instructions
  1. After the squash is cooked tender and cooled, mash it up.
  2. In a small bowl mix the olive oil, herbs, garlic and salt together and let it sit for a bit.
  3. Open up your pork loin to ¼ inch thickness
  4. Rub oil and herb mixture all over the top.
  5. Spread mashed butternut squash on top and all over herb mixture.
  6. Start at one end and roll up and tie with butchers twine.
  7. Place pork loin in a roasting pan, brush with more oil and herb mixture then roast in the oven at 375 F. until internal temperature reaches 165 F.
  8. Cut into thick slices and present the whole loin at the table for serving.
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