This pork tenderloin recipe is easy, relatively inexpensive to make, nutritious, and incredibly good! The pork cooks in 15-20 minutes in your air fryer, and clean up is minimal. Depending on the size of your air fryer--mine is a medium size--you may need to cook the pork in two batches, but the second tenderloin is easy to cook as the first tenderloin rests. A rosemary and garlic topping complements the savory spinach filling for the tenderloin, and the pork comes out of the air fryer moist, full of flavor, and with an enticing aroma. The pork goes well with sweet potatoes and a nice salad. Enjoy!
Air Fryer Spinach-Stuffed Rosemary Pork Tenderloin -- Serves 4
1 1/4 pounds of pork tenderloin, silver skin removed and cut into four equal pieces,
crosswise
1/4 cup of chopped onion
1 - 1 1/2 cups of chopped fresh spinach
1/4 cup of plain Greek yogurt (fat free is fine)
1/4 teaspoon of pepper
1/4 teaspoon of salt (optional, I don't use it, but I watching the sodium)
2 teaspoons of chopped garlic
2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese
Topping
1 tablespoon of chopped fresh rosemary (or use a teaspoon or two of dried rosemary)
1 tablespoon of chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of pepper
1 teaspoon of paprika (sweet)
2-3 teaspoons of olive oil
Cut six to eight pieces of cooking string/twine, each about 10 inches long. Spritz with non-stick cooking spray one or two pieces of aluminum foil cut to fit your air fryer basket and an inch or two up the sides. Lay two of the four pork pieces on the aluminum foil. Add the onion to a small bowl with a teaspoon or two of water and microwave it for a minute or two until it softens a little. Stir in the spinach until it softens (if necessary, microwave it with the onion for 30 seconds). Stir in the chopped garlic until mixed in well. Add the yogurt, pepper, and Parmesan and stir them into the spinach mixture. Spread the spinach mixture evenly on top of the two tenderloin pieces on the foil. Top the spinach mixture with the remaining two pieces of pork tenderloin, trying to line up the top pork pieces as much as possible with the bottom pieces. Slip three or four pieces of the cooking string under each of the two stuffed tenderloins, spacing each of the string pieces a couple of inches apart. Tie the strings on top of the tenderloins to hold the meat/stuffing together and clip off the excess string.
Mix all of the topping ingredients together well and rub the pork all over with the topping. If you can, let the pork sit for 30-60 minutes to absorb the flavors from the topping. You also can prepare the pork to this stage, cover it with plastic wrap, and refrigerate it to cook later in the day. Just let the pork sit out at room temperature for 15-30 minutes to take some of the chill off before cooking it. When you're ready to make the pork, lower one or two of the pieces into your air fryer basket--using the aluminum foil as a sling--put the basket in the air fryer, and air fry the pork at 360 degrees for 15-20 minutes. The pork should reach 145 degrees. Remove the pork from the air fryer--again using the foil as a sling--and let the pork sit, loosely covered with foil for 10 minutes. Remove the strings before slicing and serving the pork. If you need to cook the second piece of stuffed tenderloin, do it while the first piece is resting.
