A savory solution: One‑pan pork loin and roasted veggies
I love oven-baked meals, especially when I can put all the ingredients in one roasting pan. That's why, instead of frying pork chops in a pan, I lay the chops on vegetables and don't have to do anything else. The dinner bakes, I have a clean kitchen, and time to read a book. I experiment with different add-ins, but I have my favourite set.
The perfect one-pot dish meets the dietary needs of the whole family. For such a meal, you can always add a slaw or a light green salad, but it's not necessary. The roasting pan contains everything that should be on the plate: juicy meat, potatoes, and colourful vegetables.
Version with root vegetables
For the simplest version of this recipe, you need only meat and basic root vegetables — potatoes, carrots, parsnip, and celery. Mix the vegetables with your favourite spices, such as herbal pepper, paprika, or garlic.
If you want a nice sauce to drizzle over the meat in the roasting pan, add 2-3 onions. Midway through baking, pour about 475 mL of broth over the meat and vegetables. You can quickly prepare such essence using homemade frozen broth cubes.
Pork loin with oven-baked vegetables recipe
For baking, choose fresh meat from a good source. If you want it to be even juicier, you can — before placing them in the roasting pan — additionally sear them in a pan to seal in the juices. You can achieve a similar effect by placing the slices of pork on hot vegetables.
Ingredients:
- 1 kg of boneless pork loin,
- 4 tablespoons olive oil,
- 1 teaspoon ground sweet paprika,
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic,
- salt, pepper to taste,
- 500 g of potatoes,
- 2 carrots,
- 1 zucchini,
- 1 eggplant,
- 1 red bell pepper,
- optional: a few sprigs of fresh rosemary or thyme.
Instructions:
- Slice the meat into pieces about 1 cm thick, rub with olive oil mixed with spices: paprika, garlic, salt, and pepper. Cover with a lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Slice the eggplant and rub with salt to remove bitterness. After 10 minutes, rinse under running water and dry with a paper towel.
- Peel the potatoes and carrots. Cut all vegetables into slices or simply into smaller pieces; for example, you can cut the potatoes into half-moons and the pepper into thicker sticks.
- Transfer vegetables to a baking dish, drizzle with olive oil, and mix. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- After 15 minutes, place the slices of marinated pork among them. Optionally, add a few sprigs of rosemary or thyme. Cover everything with a lid or aluminum foil and place back in the oven, this time for 1.5 hours.
