Roast pork fillet wrapped in bacon with added fragrant sage leaves. A tender and moist pork main dish, perfect for any night of the week.

Roast pork fillet wrapped in bacon with the fragrant addition of fresh sage leaves make an impressive main dish on any dinner table.

This recipe for roast pork fillet ended up on the blog after Michelle and I were having a talk about food.

She mentioned having a healthy sage plant growing in her garden. When I think sage, pork immediately comes to mind, a flavour match made in heaven.

This roast pork fillet makes a great Sunday roast, but is not a dish you have to slave hours over. I love a Sunday roast, but if I’m busy in the garden I don’t want to spend hours cooking. This roast pork dish fits the bill perfectly!

This quick, but impressive dish is one I make regularly when I have friends round for dinner, it’s easy to double up on. But equally we have it for a quick mid week dinner too.

Pork fillet wrapped in bacon and sage sliced in half to show the inside and some fresh sage leaves to the back.

How to roast pork fillet?

Roast pork fillet, or roast port tenderloin as it is also known, is a very simple roast to both prepare and cook. Start by removing any excess fat and sinew from the fillet, then you can work on adding flavour.

Pork fillet is a very lean meat, there is very little to no fat on this cut. For that reason you need to take real care not to overcook it.

By adding the smoked streaky bacon to the roast pork tenderloin, you are adding an extra layer of protection to the meat. The fat on the bacon will also baste the meat while it is cooking.

How to prepare roast pork tenderloin with bacon?

Strips of smoked streaky bacon on a wooden board. — Lay the streaky bacon strips out on a board as shown above. Keep each strip of bacon close to the next and avoid too much gapping.

A layer of streaky bacon strips with a piece of seasoned pork fillet on top . — Season the pork fillet with black pepper and lay over the bacon as shown above.

A layer of bacon strips topped with seasoned pork fillet and sage leaves. — Rub the sage leaves in a little olive oil and lay over the pork fillet as shown above. You can either leave the leaves whole or you can finely shred – whichever is your preference.

Bacon strips being wrapped around a pork fillet with sage leaves. — Pick up each rasher of bacon in turn, folding over one side of the bacon rasher, followed by the other half. Each rasher should cross over the pork fillet, covering it completely.

A full sized pork fillet wrapped in smoked bacon with fresh sage. — Once the more fillet has been completely covered with the bacon, gently pick the fillet up and place on a large roasting tray, Place the folded side on the bottom of the dish as this will stop the ends of the bacon rashes from curling up during the cook.

What temperature should I cook pork tenderloin to?

I take pork fillet to an internal temperature of 70C, remove it from the heat and cover it with some loose kitchen foil and leave it to rest for 5-10 minutes before carving up.

By allowing the pork to rest, the meat will still continue to rise internally.

Can this dish be prepared in advance?

You can prepare this pork dish in advance and allow it to sit in the fridge until you are ready to cook. Dishes like these are ideal when you have people for dinner, leaving you more time to spend with guests.

If feeding a crowd simply double or triple the recipe. I’ve cooked 5 fillets in one go when I’ve had large numbers to cater for.

What can I serve with roast pork tenderloin?

I don’t think you can have enough roast pork fillet recipes in your repertoire, as its such a quick meat to prepare and cook.

This is a go to recipe for me, particularly coming into the busy party season, but also a regular quick roast any day of the week.

Pork works really well with green vegetables like cabbage; brocolli and peas. I also love it with some roasted root vegetables like: beetroot; carrot; parsnip; butternut squash and onion.

Some of my favourite sides to serve roast pork fillet with are:

Potato side:

Vegetable side:

A large fresh bunch of sage on a wooden board.

Substitutions:

Our roast pork tenderloin has been flavoured sage and smoked streaky bacon. Pork and sage are a great flavour combination and the smoked bacon really brings the dish together.

Bacon:

However, if you don’t want to use smoked streaky bacon, you can easily use unsmoked streaky bacon instead.

I have also used thinly sliced strips of pancetta and also thin slices of Parma ham to wrap the pork fillet in, if that’s all I have in my fridge.

What you are looking for is something to protect the pork fillet and add just a little saltiness to the sweet pork meat.

Herbs:

I have used sage in this recipe, however, you could also use fresh thyme leaves. Pork and thyme work equally well together.

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Additional recipe suggestions:

If you like this recipe then why not try some of our other recipes:

Roast Pork Fillet with Bacon & Sage

Roast pork fillet wrapped in streaky bacon with fragrant sage leaves, quick to prepare and cook. This roast pork tenderloin makes a delicious dinner dish, without taking too much effort!

5 from 6 votes

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Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 40

Total Time: 55

Servings: servings

Calories: 499kcal

Author: Lesley Garden

Ingredients

Instructions

Prepare the pork fillet by removing any fat and sinew. Leave the fillet whole and season with pepper (do not add salt as the smoked bacon will add salt to the dish).
Lay the streaky bacon flat out on a board with the edges touching lengthways.
Finely cut the sage leaves and mix with the olive oil. Rub over the entire pork fillet then place the fillet directly onto the bacon slices.
Wrap the bacon around the pork fillet to ensure that the pork is covered, leaving no gaps.
Place on a baking tray and cook in a pre-heated oven at 180CFan for 30 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 70C. Remove from the oven and leave to rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing up and serving.

Notes

This dish is also delicious using thyme leaves in place of the sage. Simply substitute the sage leaves for thyme leaves, taking care to give the thyme a gently grind in a pestle and mortar to release the herb oil.

Nutrition Facts

Roast Pork Fillet with Bacon & Sage

Amount Per Serving (200 g)

Calories 499 Calories from Fat 324

% Daily Value*

Fat 36g55%

Saturated Fat 11g69%

Cholesterol 142mg47%

Sodium 519mg23%

Potassium 722mg21%

Carbohydrates 1g0%

Protein 39g78%

Vitamin A 25IU1%

Calcium 9mg1%

Iron 2mg11%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

• Please note that the nutrition information provided above is approximate and meant as a guideline only •

Course : Main Course

Cuisine : British

Keyword : dinner party, Easy, Simple

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5 from 6 votes (3 ratings without comment)

Chloe Edges

Thursday 26th of November 2020

I was looking at a pork fillet the other day wondering what I'd do with it.. Now I know I'll buy it next time I'm in the shop!

Lesley

Friday 27th of November 2020

Thank you Chloe, pork fillet done like this is a favourite in my house. The added bacon adding much needed fat to this very lean cut of meat. Lesley

Janice Pattie

I love pork fillet and sage goes so well with it. This looks really tasty.

Thank you Janice, I love this dish for it's simplicity, not too much to it but full of flavour. Lesley

Cat

Pork wrapped in more pork?! This sounds like my absolute dream! This looks so delicious.

Exactly - pork with more pork - a winner in my book! Lesley