I know, I know, you are like, “she did what with those tortilla chips?”
Settle down, it isn’t crazy. I promise. And if you really think about it, you will be like, “why did I not think of that?”
Right? You had that minute of hesitation, didn’t you?
Ok, maybe you are not silly like me and sit at your desk during the day thinking about what new recipe you can make for dinner.
Even more so, you probably do not have a mental inventory of all the food in your house at any given time. On top of that, you probably do not sit there trying to figure out what to make with those items so you don’t have to make an embarrassingly excessive 4th trip to the store in the last 2 days {yes, I am pretty sure Jim, the cashier, at the grocery store knows me by name…. and moved to town only 6 months}.
This is me most days, specifically this past Monday. I knew I had a pork tenderloin thawing at home, but what to do with it was stumping me. I almost rarely make pork tenderloins, normally when I have one I cut it into thick pork chops to speed up the cooking process. With this small tenderloin, I thought I would give it a go whole. Little did I know, I would make a recipe that would have The Hubby asking me to make it again, and soon!
I made a pork tenderloin coated with pulverized {this is the technical term} tortilla chips.
Let’s just pause for a second to really appreciate that combo.
Dinner doesn’t get much better than this. The salt of the chips, mixed with a few all-star seasonings kills it on flavor. The best part of all, the house smalls like fresh, hot tortilla chips for the whole hour the pork is in the oven.
I haven’t yet even told you about the corn salsa yet. I may or may not have sat at the kitchen counter ‘taste testing’ the salsa with the leftover tortilla chips while the pork was finishing up. This black bean corn salsa is not complicated or complex, but it is flavorful and addicting. You will find that the salsa recipe is extra large for the size of pork tenderloin I paired it with, that was very deliberate. You will both have salsa for snacking while cooking and healthy portions to eat with dinner. You may even consider making the salsa alone just to eat with a plate of tacos or a big bag of chips.
I hope you are thinking about when you plan to make this recipe, and if you have chips at home to make it tonight.
Enjoy!
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XOXO,
Rachel
P.S. I am falling for Instagram Stories… so don’t forget to follow & tag me if you are making one of my recipes!! * you might even get to see a glimpse of garden projects this weekend😉
Tortilla Chip Crusted Pork Tenderloin + Black Bean Corn Salsa
Pork Tenderloin
- 1 1/2 pound Pork Loin Filet or Tenderloin
- 1 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup tortilla chips (crushed)
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper (or 1/2 teaspoon if you like spice)
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Corn Salsa:
- 1 15.25 oz can sweet corn (drained and rinsed)
- 1 15.25 oz can black beans (drained and rinsed)
- 2 roma tomatoes (diced)
- 1/4 cup red onion (diced)
- 1/2 cup cilantro (chopped)
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- salt & pepper
- In shallow dish, add buttermilk and pork. Turning to coat pork with buttermilk. Allow to marinate for 1 hour at room temp, turning every 10 minutes. You can marinate for longer by placing buttermilk and pork in a gallon bag and storing in the refrigerator. You will want to take the pork out 30 mins-1 hour prior to cooking.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- In a gallon ziplock bag, add tortilla chips. Using a rolling pin or wine bottle, crush chips until they resemble a coarse powder.
- Add seasonings to crushed chips and stir until fully incorporated.
- Place chip mixture in a shallow bowl. Remove the pork tenderloin from the buttermilk marinade and place it in the bowl of breadcrumbs. Dredge the tenderloin in the crushed chip mixture, pressing the tenderloin firmly into the chips as you roll it to help the crumbs adhere.
- Prepare a sheet pan by covering the pan with aluminum foil and placing a baking rack on top.
- Place chip crusted tenderloin on the baking rack and bake at 375°F for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until the internal temperature is 160°F. (If you prefer your pork pink on the center, you can remove at 145°F, per the USDA guidelines).
- While the pork is cooking, make the black bean corn salsa.
- Add drained and rinsed corn and black beans to medium bowl.
- Chop tomatoes, onions, cilantro, then add to corn and black beans.
- Stir in garlic powder, cumin and lime juice. Salt and pepper to taste. You can add a chopped jalapeno or ground chipotle pepper to taste if you prefer spice. Cover salsa and store in refrigerator until pork is ready.
- Remove the pork from the oven when done and let rest on the rack for 10 minutes.
- After resting, cut 1/2 inch thick medallions with a sharp knife. Serve with black bean corn salsa and rice.
Comments
9 responses to “Tortilla Chip Crusted Pork Tenderloin + Black Bean Corn Salsa”
This coating looks SCRUMPTIOUS! So crunchy and a great way to upgrade pork tenderloin!
i LOVE the idea of tortilla chips! I love pork tenderloin and chips, why not mix them. I think this looks great!
Always looking for a new way to make a great tasting pork tenderloin. This is awesome.
I can’t say enough about how much we like this recipe. So much flavor, and the pork was perfectly juicy! You have to try it soon 🙂
This looks so yummy! I love the coating as I’m sure it adds a nice crunch! 🙂
It was a great crunch, and a nice flavor from the chips. Such a different flavor from bread crumbs! You will need to try it out 🙂
This is such an interesting coating option. I don’t eat pork but would love to try this with chicken!
This looks absolutely delicious!! I’m adding it to my list of recipes to try!
This pork tenderloin looks so tasty! I’m definitely adding this to my must try recipe to-do list–thanks for the inspiration!