Two seasoned pork tenderloins are trussed together, then smoked before a quick sear. The pork tenderloins are then sliced and placed on a toasted baguette and slathered with aioli as well as topped with provolone cheese. A blow torch is used to melt and brown the cheese (although a broiler will work too). The result is a warm, soft and toasted sando that is always a pleaser. Scroll down for the step by step, pic by pic, foolproof instructions for this Grilled Pork Tenderloin Sandwich.

This Pork Tenderloin Sandwich Has a Long History

Back when I worked as a technology dork in IT, I used to reverse sear pork tenderloins a couple times a month and bring them into the office. Everyone chipped in.

Someone bought the bread. Yet another brought the cheese. Someone else brought the sandwich spread. Rather than a blow torch, we toasted these under a broiler in a toaster oven that someone brought in as well.

I still remember the toaster oven because the door would not stay closed and had to be jerry rigged with a coat hanger keep the door shut.

If you’ve read this far, you are a sandwich fan and as you can see from the links below, so are we:

• Ribeye Steak Sandwich, Andria’s style
• Traditional Ribeye Steak Sando
• Crispy Pork Belly Sammich
• Tri Tip Sandwich with Chimichurri
• And finally, Southern Grilled Bologna Sandwich

Grilled Pork Tenderloin Sandwich Ingredients

• 2 pork tenderloins
• Baker’s twine
• Bakers twine
• Salt
• Your favorite BBQ seasoning (we used Mudville BBQ Prime Sweet)
• 2-3 baguettes
• Aioli (or your favorite sandwich spread)
• 8 ounces provolone cheese slices (or use your favorite cheese)

How to Grill Pork Tenderloin and not Dry it Out

One inherent problem with pork tenderloin is the shape. There’s a fat end and a skinny end. The fat end will be raw when the skinny end is dried out. The quick fix to that is truss two pork tenderloins together. Place the fat end of one tenderloin against the skinny end of the other, and vice versa. Truss them together and you have one even chunk of meat, albeit divided in two.

Here are our two pork tenderloins.

Notice the fat ends (held in each hand) and the skinny ends at the bottom:

Place them on the cutting board, on top of each other.

The skinny end of one on top of the fat end of the other, and vice versa at the other end:

With baker’s twine (also called butcher’s twine) truss them together:

Then salt and season all the way around the outside of the trussed pork tenderloins:

We used Mudville BBQ Prime Sweet to season the tenderloins:

Why not Season the Pork Tenderloins first?

Some will want to season the two pork tenderloins and then tie them together. I don’t recommend this for two reasons:

1. Tying two seasoned pork steaks together is a huge mess and a ton of the seasoning will be wiped off and require a re-seasoning

2. Where the seasoning is between the two tenderloins will not dry out and form into a bark/crust. The rub will be wet and gloppy. It’s a technical term.

Prepare the Grill

The grill is set for two zone grilling with a hot zone and a cool zone. The hot zone is for direct searing (later in the process) and the cool zone is for cooking the meat indirect

Indirect cooking allows us to bring the meat temp up slowly and thus ensures it is cooked through and yet remains juicy. It also imparts a nice smoky flavor we don’t get if we sear first and cook indirect second.

For smoke wood we used hickory:

First We Smoke

Drop the tied pork tenderloins onto the side of the grill with no direct heat.

Obviously, the coals are on that far side of the Primo kamado:

Close the lid, but don’t go far.

This is tenderloin, which is extremely lean. It’s tender but also has very little fat which means it won’t take long to cook.

After about 20 minutes, I flipped the grilled pork tenderloin to ensure even cooking on both sides:

After about 45 minutes, we’re already at 145F degrees:

That’s right, my Temp Tongs can also take the temp of the pork!

I know, cool, right!

Also, I would recommend pulling these at 135F and searing. Indeed, we got a little caught up in the filming and let the pork tenderloin cook a bit too long.

Keeping the lid open so the tenderloins don’t cook any more, and wait for the temps of the hot side of the grill to get to more than 500F degrees.

And Then We Sear

Then drop the grilled pork tenderloin on the hot side to get a quick char.

We are already at 145F, which is our target temp, so I’m not going to sear long

Flip as soon as you get a little browning:

Once the pork tenderloin is charred a but on both sides, remove from the grill and allow to rest for a couple minutes:

While the coals were heating up, I dropped in my cast iron griddle insert for the Primo which serve two purposes.

First, it allowed me to get some even toasting on my baguette:

The other reason is that the next recipe I did the day I filmed this one used that griddle.

Thus, stay tuned for a link to the Grilled Scallops on a Cast Iron Griddle.

And here’s the toasted buns for the pork tenderloin sandwich:

I didn’t coat these buns with any fat. No butter, no oil. Thus, the toasting took all of about 60 seconds.

Thus, don’t walk away after you put the bread on.

Also, you don’t have to put down a cast iron griddle as you can toast the buns right on the grill grates.

Once the bread is toasted on both sides, hit one side with the aioli (or mustard, or mayo, or garlic parmesan dipping sauce, or basil pesto, or whatever):

We only hit one of the baguette halves, but I could’ve gone with the aioli on both of them.

Time to Carve the Grilled Pork Tenderloin

Remove the trussing and carve into thin strips:

And a close up of the grilled pork tenderloin.

Pink is not bad for pork loin and pork tenderloin:

Then, assemble that sando:

Slice the provolone in half (or whatever cheese you choose) and then layer that down:

While you can slide this part of the sandwich in the broiler for about 90 seconds to brown and bubble that cheese I have a better option

BLOW TORCH!!

The trick here is to keep the flame just off the cheese which allows the heat created at the end of the fire to melt the cheese and not the propane flame:

Ironically, the best pics from from when the fire hits the cheese and blossoms like this.

Toasted cheese”

Sorry, but I’m loving this browned cheese:

It sort of looks like toasted marshmallows!

Complete the Pork Tenderloin Sandwich

Finally, top the pork tenderloin sandwich with the other side of the baguette and get to work:

I’m not the only one that wants some of this epic pork tenderloin sandwich:

I’m not going to go into what went down, but this fella wound up with my sammich:

Grilled Pork Tenderloin Sandwich Summary:

I can’t tell you how much I love this pork tenderloin sandwich. This is indeed my spirit sandwich. Savory, cheesy, a little garlicky (from the aioli), and toasty from that toasted baguette. While you may prefer a different cheese or sandwich spread, simply swap out your favorite, just go with this template and put your own stamp on it. I promise you, it will be fantastic.

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Recipe Card:

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Grilled Pork Tenderloin Sandwich

Pork tenderloin, reverse seared before being sliced and placed on a baguette. We blowtorch the cheese on top for this grilled pork tenderloin sandwich

Course Entree, Finger Food, Main Course, Sandwich

Cuisine American, American Fare, Finger Food, Sando, Sandwich

Keyword #Primo, Aioli, Baguette, Blow Torch, Blowtorch, Broiler, Charcoal, Charcoal Grill, Grilled Pork Tenderloin, Grilled Pork Tenderloin Sandwich, Kamado, Kamado Grill, Pork Tenderloin, Pork Tenderloin Sandwich, Pork Tenderloins, Primo Grill, Primo Kamado, Primo Kamado Grill, Primo Oval XL, Provolone, Provolone Cheese, reverse sear, reverse seared, Sandwich, Sandwiches, Tenderloin, Tenderloins, Toasted Baguette, Toasted Bread, Toasted Cheese

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Resting Time 5 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Equipment

• baker's twine

Ingredients

• 2 Pork tenderloins
• Salt
• Your favorite BBQ seasoning We used Mudville BBQ Prime Sweet
• 2-3 Baguettes
• Aioli Or your favorite sandwich spread
• 8 ounces Provolone cheese slices Or use your favorite cheese

Instructions

• Set the pork tenderloins on a cutting board. Place one on top of the other, with the fat end of one on top of the skinny end of the other, and vice versa. Truss the two tenderloins together with baker's twine
• Season the trussed pork with salt and your favorite BBQ seasoning
• Prepare the grill for two zone cooking with coals on one side with the smoke wood (we used hickory) and a cool side with no direct heat. Target temperature inside the grill is 275F (+/-25F). Place the meat on the side with no direct heat and close the lid. After about 20 minutes flip the grilled pork tenderloin over for even cooking.
• When the pork tenderloin reaches 135F (about 40 minutes) open the lid and crank up the hot side of the grill to over 500F. Sear the pork tenderloin over the hot coals.
• Searing the grilled pork tenderloin will bring it up above the 145F degrees recommended by the USDA
• Remove from the grilled pork tenderloin from the heat and and allow to rest for 5 minutes. While the pork rests, toast the buns.
• Carve the pork tenderloin. Apply the aioli (or your favorite sandwich spread) on the toasted buns, layer down the pork and half slices of provolone. Place the open face sandwich under a broiler or hot the cheese with a blowtorch, being sure to keep the flame just off the cheese. Once the cheese is browned and bubbled, top with the other bun and enjoy.

Additionally, here are some more pics of the process for your viewing pleasure as well as for my Pinterest page

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