I have a confession to make: it’s not often that I invent a recipe out of thin air. Usually I tend to re-create tried-and-true traditional dishes using a wide array of sources. However, with today’s recipe – a roasted pork sirloin – I made the whole thing up, mostly out of necessity. Although there are a lot of recipes out there for how to cook pork sirloin, many of them looked less than great, and there didn’t seem to be a universal approach to cooking this cut of pig.

I chose to tackle this dish for another reason, as well: it’s a fairly affordable cut of pork. That seems like a tragedy – to have an affordable, readily-available selection of meat available but no tasty method of preparation – and I wanted to fill that vacuum. Luckily, US Wellness Meats agreed with me, and let me try out one of their 4-lb. Pork Sirloin Roasts.

You’ll Need :

1 U.S. Wellness Meats Pork Sirloin Roast (4 lbs)

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp each kosher salt and black pepper

1/2 tsp each dried thyme and rosemary

For the sauce:

1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored and diced into small cubes

1/4 cup chicken stock/broth

1/2 cup applesauce (no sugar added)

1/2 cup honey

1 tbsp white wine

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp cinnamon

It will take a day or two to thaw this roast in the fridge, so be sure to pull it out of the freezer at least two days before needing it.

Combine the salt, pepper, garlic, and herbs into a small bowl. The herb rub used on this roast is similar to my eye of round roast recipe, and for good reason: it works! This savory outside rub makes a crisp, salty outer shell around the roast which pairs beautifully with the honey/apple sauce we’ll create later.

Preheat your oven to 475 degrees. Rinse the roast and pat it dry with paper towels. Rub the roast with the herb mixture, and place the roast on a baking sheet that is lined with tin foil and a wire rack. Place the roast in the oven on a lower rack and cook for 30 minutes at 475 degrees, then reduce the heat to 350 and roast for another 60 minutes. Start checking it after 45 minutes with an instant-read thermometer. Once it’s reached an internal temperature of 145, remove the roast from the oven, put it onto a cutting board, tent it with tin foil and let it rest for ten minutes.

In a pan, add the chicken broth, applesauce, honey, white wine, black pepper, and cinnamon and heat on medium heat. Pour any of the roast’s leftover drippings from the cooking sheet into the sauce as well. Simmer on medium heat for five minutes, allowing the honey to thicken the sauce as it reduces.

Add the apple chunks and reduce the heat to low, and allow it to continue to simmer for a couple minutes as you prepare the roast.

Remove the tin foil and carefully cut away the kitchen twine holding the roast together.

Slice into thin slices and place them in a serving dish.

As you plate the pork slices, pour some of the sauce over the slices. You don’t need a ton of sauce, just enough to have a little with every bite. Enjoy!