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This stuffed pork loin is butterflied open and rolled with boursin cheese, caramelized onions, roasted red peppers, and baby spinach. Smoke the stuffed pork loin on the pellet grill or smoker for a fantastic pork dinner!
Confession time – Pork loin is probably my least favorite cut of meat of all time. It’s incredibly lean, and because of the lack of fat, it tends to dry out very quickly. Not to mention, fat is flavor, and since the loin lacks a good marbling, then it also lacks that rich, fatty flavor that you get from other cuts of pork.
But, it’s hard to deny the value. We often find half pork loins on sale at our local grocery store for 99 cents a pound, and when you’re feeding a large family, meat deals like that are hard to pass up.
*By the way, if you don’t mind dishing out some money for a premium cut of pork, then try our pepper jelly-glazed Kurobuta pork chops!
So over the years, I’ve gotten creative with this cut of pork. And after lots of trial and error, I’ve discovered that my favorite way to cook it is to stuff it with ingredients that keep it moist and flavorful.
I have been making stuffed pork loin for years… everything from mushroom, spinach, and wild rice stuffed pork to cream cheese, bacon, and jalapeno popper pork loin.
Since pork loin is so mild in flavor, it’s also incredibly versatile. Barbecue, Asian, Italian, Mexican… any flavor profile of stuffing will work for this recipe. No matter what ingredients you choose to stuff your pork loin with, here are the basics you need to know.
Ingredients for Stuffed Pork Loin
The great thing about this stuffed pork loin recipe is that you can easily customize it to fit your tastes! Substitute the boursin cheese for goat cheese or a blend of shredded cheddar and cream cheese, add sautéed mushrooms instead of onions, add in cooked wild rice, etc.
Here are the ingredients that we used:
- pork loin – Our pork loin was about 4 pounds, which was perfect for this stuffed pork recipe. The pork will probably be labeled as “half pork loin” in the grocery store.
- boursin cheese – We like boursin for the added herb flavor, but you can easily substitute cream cheese, goat cheese, or other spreadable cheeses. Feel free to add in some shredded or crumbled cheeses as well.
- baby spinach – No need to cook the spinach before hand, because the moisture from the inside of the pork combined with the heat from the grill will do the work for you.
- onions – We added caramelized onions for the perfect bit of sweetness.
- roasted red peppers – We used the jarred peppers to keep this recipe easy, but you can definitely roast your own peppers.
- all-purpose seasoning – We used our own Shake That All Purpose Seasoning, which is great on pork! You can also try our homemade pork chop seasoning that we use for griddle pork chops.
Smoked Stuffed Pork Loin Video
More of a visual learner? Check out the video below for how to butterfly and stuff the pork loin, and watch me make this recipe from start to finish:
Trimming the Pork Loin
Before butterflying the pork open, you’ll probably need to do a bit of trimming. My pork loin had quite a bit of silver skin, or the thin connective tissue membrane, and since it is very unpleasant to chew through, I had to remove that first.
Starting at one end of the whitish-colored silver skin, use a sharp knife to carefully remove any fat and silver skin on the pork loin. *TIP – The silver skin is very strong, so you can actually slide the knife blade under the silver skin and then angle it upwards to avoid cutting down into the meat. Then, carefully slice against the silver skin while also peeling it back and away from the meat.
How to Butterfly the Pork Loin for Stuffing
For the perfect rolled stuffed pork loin, you’ll need to butterfly the loin. To do so, use a sharp knife like a fillet knife, and follow these steps:
- Hold your knife parallel to the cutting board and about one-quarter of the way down from the top of the pork loin (about ½ to ¾ inch down). Begin cutting horizontally into the top of the pork loin, stopping about ½ inch from the other edge. Be careful not to cut all the way through.
- Gently unfold the top flap that you just cut (similar to opening a book). Then use your knife to “turn the corner” and continue cutting the loin, keeping the ½ to ¾ inch thickness, and unfolding the pork loin as you go. *You can also rotate the cutting board 180° so that you’re cutting in the same direction as before.
- Continue making horizontal cuts across the thickest part of the loin, starting where the last cut ended so that it is one continuous cut, unrolling and opening up the pork as you go.
- When you reach the end, the pork loin should lay flat in a large rectangular shape. You can then use a meat mallet or a rolling pin to gently pound out the loin to an even thickness if needed. This helps ensure that the stuffed pork loin will cook evenly once rolled.
How to Make Smoked Stuffed Pork Loin
After the pork is butterflied open to about ½ to ¾ inch thickness, it’s time to stuff it full of cheese, spinach, and more!
Start by seasoning the flattened pork with your favorite all-purpose seasoning, and then follow these steps:
Step 1: Spread the filling ingredients on the flattened pork loin. Start with the boursin cheese, and use a knife to spread it evenly on the butterflied pork. Be sure to leave about 3″ on one end of the loin without cheese or other ingredients, so that your stuffed pork loin doesn’t ooze cheese all over your smoker grates. Then, evenly sprinkle the other filling ingredients on the cheese including the spinach, caramelized onions, etc.
Step 2: Tightly roll the pork loin with the stuffing ingredients. Starting at the end that has the cheese and filling ingredients, begin to roll tightly. The first few rolls will be the most difficult as you try to get all of the ingredients snug inside, but as the roll gets larger, you’ll get the hang of it. Continue rolling until you reach the end of the loin, then set aside while you make the bacon weave.
Step 3: Make a bacon weave. This step is optional. We have cooked many stuffed pork loins without adding bacon to the outside, but if you want to up the flavor, then everything is better with bacon, and am I right?! On a sheet of aluminum foil, lay about 9-10 slices of bacon out flat right next to each other. Fold every other slice back about 1″, and then lay one slice of bacon horizontally over top. Continue until you have a perfect bacon weave (similar to making a basket weave) on the sheet of foil.
Step 4: Wrap the pork loin with bacon. Place the stuffed pork loin in the middle of the bacon weave. Fold one side of the aluminum foil up and over the pork loin, pressing down so that the bacon weave transfers to the top of the pork. *You may need to pull the bacon off the foil a bit if it sticks. Repeat with the other side of the foil, transferring the bacon weave to the pork. Then, use 3-4 pieces of butcher’s twine to tie up the bacon-wrapped pork so that it stays together on the smoker.
Step 5: Smoke the stuffed pork loin on the grill.
We smoked our stuffed loin at 225°F for the first hour, then for the second hour we bumped up the grill temperature to 275°F. Then, at the start of the third hour, we increased the grill temp again to 325°F for the stuffed pork to finish cooking and to render out some of the bacon fat.
Cook the pork at 325°F until it reaches an internal temperature of 145°F, as read by an instant read thermometer. Then, transfer the smoked stuffed pork loin to a cutting board to rest for about 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
Can I make stuffed pork loin in the oven instead of a smoker?
Yes, although you won’t get that delicious smoky flavor, you could bake the pork loin instead. Preheat your oven to 350°F, place the rolled stuffed pork into a large baking dish or roasting pan, and cook until the internal pork temperature hits 145°F.
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Smoked Stuffed Pork Loin
Equipment
- butcher's twine
Ingredients
- 4 lb boneless pork loin, *Might be labeled "pork loin half" at the grocery store
- 1 medium onion, sliced thin
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 5.3 oz boursin cheese
- 2 cups baby spinach
- ⅓ cup roasted red peppers, rough chopped
- all-purpose seasoning, *We used Shake That All-Purpose Seasoning
- 1½ lb sliced bacon
- 2 tablespoons mayo, optional, for basting
- ⅓ cup Italian vinaigrette, optional, for basting
Instructions
- Heat the pellet grill or smoker to 225℉ with your choice of wood or pellets.
- In a skillet over medium-low heat, sauté the sliced onions with about 1 tablespoon of butter until caramelized.
- While the onions are cooking, trim the silver skin and excess fat from the pork loin. Then, butterfly the pork loin, cutting and unrolling, until it is about ½ to ¾" in thickness. After the loin is butterflied, it should be in a large rectangular shape that is even in thickness. *See notes for tips on butterflying.
- Season the top side of the flattened pork loin with your all-purpose seasoning. Then, use a butter knife to spread the boursin cheese over the pork loin, leaving about 3" on one end without cheese or filling. Add the baby spinach in an even layer on top of the cheese. Top with the caramelized onions and the jarred roasted red peppers.
- Starting at the end that has the cheese and filling ingredients, begin to roll the pork loin tightly, stuffing the ingredients inside as needed as you go. Continue rolling until you reach the end of the loin, then sprinkle the outside with all-purpose seasoning. Set aside while you make the bacon weave.
- Lay out a sheet of aluminum foil or parchment paper on your work surface. Make a bacon weave – 1) Place 8-9 strips of bacon parallel to each other vertically on the foil, leaving a very small gap in between each strip. 2) Starting from the top, fold back every other strip of bacon about 1 inch. 3) Lay a strip of bacon horizontally across the unfolded strips. 4) Unfold the folded vertical strips back over the horizontal strip you just placed. 5) Then fold back the vertical strips that were not folded the first time. 6) Place another strip of bacon horizontally, alternating over-and-under pattern from the first horizontal strip. 7) Continue the process, folding back the alternating vertical strips and adding horizontal strips until the lattice is complete.
- Carefully take the stuffed pork loin and place it in the middle of the bacon weave. Tuck the bacon up and around the pork loin. *TIP – Use the parchment or foil to help you roll the bacon around the stuffed pork. Then, use 3-4 pieces of butcher’s twine to tie up the bacon-wrapped pork.
- Place the bacon-wrapped pork loin on the grill, and smoke for 1 hour at 225°F. After 1 hour, adjust the temperature of the grill to 275°F, and cook for an additional 1 hour. After the second hour, adjust the grill temperature to 325°F. Cook the pork until the internal temperature reaches 145°F. *Total cook time for us was 2 hours and 40 minutes, but times will vary. Always cook to the proper internal temperature.
- Optional Vinaigrette Basting – In a small bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons mayonnaise and ⅓ cup Italian vinaigrette. When the pork loin reaches about 120℉ internal temperature, begin basting the loin with the Italian mixture. Baste about 2-3 times, allowing the mixture to set up in between each.
- Once the pork internal temp reaches 145℉, remove the smoked pork loin from the grill and transfer to a cutting board to rest. Rest for about 15-20 minutes, then cut into slices that are about 1 – 1.5" thick and serve. *Be sure to remove the butcher's twine before serving.
Video
Notes
- Feel free to experiment with the stuffing ingredients. You may substitute goat cheese or a cream cheese and shredded cheddar blend for the boursin cheese. Substitute sautéed mushrooms for the caramelized onions, add cooked wild rice, etc.
- The bacon weave is optional. I have made stuffed pork loin many times without the bacon wrapping, and it is still fantastic.
- Butterflying the Pork Loin – 1) Hold your knife parallel to the cutting board and about one-quarter of the way down from the top of the pork loin (about ½ to ¾ inch down). Begin cutting horizontally into the top of the pork loin, stopping about ½ inch from the other edge. Be careful not to cut all the way through. 2) Gently unfold the top flap that you just cut (similar to opening a book). Then use your knife to “turn the corner” and continue cutting the loin, keeping the ½ to ¾ inch thickness, and unfolding the pork loin as you go. 3) Continue making horizontal cuts across the thickest part of the loin, starting where the last cut ended so that it is one continuous cut, unrolling and opening up the pork as you go. 4) When you reach the end, the pork loin should lay flat in a large rectangular shape. You can then use a meat mallet or a rolling pin to gently pound out the loin to an even thickness if needed.
