Make your own comfort food with this breaded tenderloin sandwich. A classic from Iowa and Indiana, but it's found thought out the Midwest and down to Texas.
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The pork tenderloin sandwich is made with a breaded and fried pork cutlet similar to the Wiener Schnitzel. Oddly enough, it is generally made with mechanically tenderized pork loin, not pork tenderloin. But can be made with tenderloin without going through mechanical tenderization, which is easier at home.
Try some other comfort foods. Start with a much healthier version of this recipe Oven Fried Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches. Or move on to other comfort foods Oven Fried Chicken with Gravy, 30-Minute Chicken Fried Steak with Gravy, Fried Pork Chops with Gravy, or a Juicy Lucy Burger.
🐖Ingredients
- Pork tenderloin—trimmed
- Oil—corn or canola
- Bread crumbs—or crushed saltine crackers crumbs
- Eggs and milk
- Pantry ingredients—all-purpose flour, salt, black pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder
- Serving—hamburger bun, mayonnaise, mustard, pickles slices, red onion, tomatoes, lettuce, and many other things.
👨🍳How to make breaded tenderloin sandwiches
- Trim a pork tenderloin and cut it into quarters. Butterfly those sections and flatten them to ¼ inch with a meat mallet or heavy pan.
- Set up two shallow pans. First with milk and egg and second with flour, bread crumbs, and seasoning.
- Dry the tenderloin filets with paper towels. Dip in the first pan, shake off excess, dip in the second pan, and shank off excess. Set on a flat surface while oil gets to temperature.
- Heat ¼ inch of oil in a large pan over medium heat to 350°to 375°.
- Fry the breaded pork tenderloin until golden brown and keep warm on a baking tray in a 200° preheated oven while frying more batches of tenderloins.
- Serve hot on a bun with toppings.
♨️Stovetop frying tips
This is a stovetop frying recipe, so shallowly frying using oil in a frying pan. You can use a countertop deep-fryers if you have one.
- Start with a large frying pan—I use a 12-inch cast-iron pan. But other pans may be used, but heavy pans will hold their heat better.
- The oil should be a neutral oil, like corn or canola.
- The oil temperature must be monitored and kept between 350° and 375°. Start at the high end of the range since the temperature will drop when the tenderloins are added. Turn up the heat when adding the tenderloin.
- If the oil gets colder than 325°, the coating will absorb more oil. But too hot oil will burn. I recommend 350° to 375° as your goal, but 325° to 375° is OK.
❓FAQs
-Start with very dry meat. Dry with a paper towel before starting to coat.
-Use egg as the wash.
-Let the coating sit for 5 minutes before cooking.
-Don't play with your food. Wait for the edge color to change before flipping.
-When you do a flip, use a fork. Try only to flip it once.
You can store them after cooking for a few days and reheat them in the oven at 400° for about 10-15 minutes. You can freeze after cooking.
Yes, see my Oven Fried Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches.
About Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches
For you non-Iowans, this is a small-town classic. Many small towns in Iowa, Indiana, and other states have restaurants that will claim to have the best, most award-winning, or the biggest tenderloin sandwich.
You don't need to say pork; it is understood as "a tenderloin sandwich." The pork producers have a yearly contest to pick the best restaurant version. There are websites dedicated to this much-celebrated delicacy.
The Des Moines Register has a yearly roundup of the best tenderloin sandwiches in the state. It is a much-coveted award that will be talked about for decades. It has been, it is, and always will be a much-loved Iowa tradition.
I hear Indiana has the same passionate love for the tenderloin sandwich, which is embedded in their Hooser's hearts. In the interest of Midwest comradeship, they may use my recipe.
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
Be sure you have pork tenderloin and not pork loin.
Trim pork tenderloin of any fat and silverskin. Cut into four equal size pieces of about equal weight. Next, "butterfly" the pieces. Do this by cutting ¾ of the way through and folding it back to double the size.
Cover each piece individually with plastic wrap or put it in a ziplock bag and pound it to ¼ inch thick.
Set up two pans. In the first, combine 1 egg and ½ cup milk—whip well. In the second pan, 1 cup of AP flour, ½ cup of bread crumbs, 1 teaspoon of salt, and ½ teaspoon each of pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.
Dry the meat with paper towels and coat the meat with egg wash. Shake to remove excess. Coat well in the flour mixture and shake off excess. Let them rest for about 5 minutes on a flat surface before cooking.
Heat ¼ inch of oil in a large pan over medium heat to 350°to 375°. A heavy pan will hold the heat better. You need to check the temperature frequently, and a good instant-read thermometer is great here. Preheat the oven and a tray to 200° to keep batches warm while you do additional pieces.
Place breaded pork tenderloin into the hot oil but do not "crowd the pan." Fry for 3-4 minutes per side. About a minute into each side, shake the pan a little to move the meat a little, keeping it from sticking and helping it be crispy. The edge of the breading starts to brown is the meat is saying, "turn me now."
Cook until golden brown and internal temp of 145° plus. You will need to adjust the burner heat to keep the oil in the 350° to 375° range. You will not be able to keep it perfect, but be aware you need to turn up the heat. Between batches, you should turn the heat down to keep it from overheating.
Transfer the completed tenderloin to the heated oven and pan to keep them warm for serving. Continue to cook your batches of tenderloins.
Serve on a bun with mayo, a pickle, and other toppings of your choice.
Recipe
Breaded Pork Tenderloin Sandwich—Iowa Style
Ingredients
- 1 pork tenderloin - trimmed
- ¾ cup oil - corn or canola
- 1 egg
- ½ cup milk
- 1 cup AP flour
- ½ cup bread crumbs
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Trim pork tenderloin of any fat and silverskin. Cut into four equal size pieces of about equal weight. Next, "butterfly" the pieces. Do this by cutting ¾ of the way through and folding it back to double the size.
- Cover each piece individually with plastic wrap or put it in a ziplock bag and pound it to ¼ inch thick.
- Set up two pans. In the first, combine 1 egg and ½ cup milk—whip well. In the second pan, 1 cup of AP flour, ½ cup of bread crumbs, 1 teaspoon of salt, and ½ teaspoon each of pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.
- Dry the meat with paper towels and coat the meat with egg wash. Shake to remove excess. Coat well in the flour mixture and shake off excess. Let them rest for about 5 minutes on a flat surface before cooking.
- Heat ¼ inch of oil in a large pan over medium heat to 350°to 375°. A heavy pan will hold the heat better. You need to check the temperature frequently, and a good instant-read thermometer is great here. Preheat the oven and a tray to 200° to keep batches warm while you do additional pieces.
- Place breaded pork tenderloin into the hot oil but do not "crowd the pan." Fry for 3-4 minutes per side. About a minute into each side, shake the pan a little to move the meat a little, keeping it from sticking and helping it be crispy. The edge of the breading starts to brown is the meat is saying, "turn me now.
- Cook until golden brown and internal temp of 145° plus. You will need to adjust the burner heat to keep the oil in the 350° to 375° range. You will not be able to keep it perfect, but be aware you need to turn up the heat. Between batches, you should turn the heat down to keep it from overheating.
- Transfer the completed tenderloin to the heated oven and pan to keep them warm for serving. Continue to cook your batches of tenderloins.
- Serve on a bun with mayo, a pickle, and other toppings of your choice.
Your Own Private Notes
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- This recipe will work with tenderized pork loin.
- Use the coating you want. Vary the spices and components
- The temperature of your oil is very important. I suggest corn or canola oil.
- To help the coating stick better:
-Start with very dry meat. Dry with a paper towel before starting to coat.
-Use egg as the wash.
-Let the coating sit for 5 minutes before cooking.
-Don't play with your food. Wait for the edge color to change before flipping.
-When you do a flip, use a fork and stick it on the edge. Try only to flip once. - Good refrigerated after cooking for 2-3 days or frozen for about 3 months. Reheat after thawing in a 400° oven for 10-15 minutes.
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Originally published August 9, 2012. Updated with greatly expanded options and explanations. Photos have been refreshed, and a few from other cookings have been added to help explain—finally, a table of contents and a puppy picture.
Chuck
Years ago in Knoxville IOWA @ Kone Corner they made a giant tenderloin sandwich the size of a dinner plate. It was fantastic. Does anyone know how this was done?
Thanks.
Ruth
How much does the pork tenderloin weigh that you call for in this recipe? Seems like I have a lot of flour mix left over. The loins are very good, better than a restaurant as my husband puts it.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Ruth,
Welcome to the blog.
The Tenderloins are about 1 1/2 lb. usually. You are right, you can decrease the coating volume but I always have problems with breeding when I'm skimpy. So I always have a bit too much.
I need to rewrite this recipe a bit. Most people are using the oven fried version at https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/oven-fried-pork-tenderloin-sandwiches/ which is less of a mess.
Thanks for the note and rating.
Dan
David Fatka
Can you use Canola oil to deep fry in?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi David,
Welcome to the blog.
Yep, any vegetable oil in fine. I usually use corn or canola oil or mixture. Anymore though I usually do my oven version which is easier with less mess. https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/oven-fried-pork-tenderloin-sandwiches/
Thanks for the note and rating.
Dan
Will from Waterloo
Best meat sandwich in the world. Great recipe, great tips. A ten for sure.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Will,
Welcome to the blog and sorry for the delayed response.
Glad you enjoyed the recipe. This and my oven version seem better to me than what I have had in Iowa in recent years. Too many restaurants are using premade.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Alice Cato
If someone knows Millies recipe would you post it to my Email Thank you
Sherrie
I’d like that recipe as well. It was the top of the line tenderloin sandwich.
Frank Schroedl
The recipe is good
Try making pork cutlet the easy way
Pork loin is best, but you can use trimmed, boned pork chops or steaks.
1. Trim and bone chops or steaks
2. Pound them out with a tenderizing hammer ( Both sides )
3. Dip in egg and milk mixture
4. Press your pork into crushed cracker crumbs (Premium) Don't use cheap salteans
5. Pan fry in corn oil until golden brown
Enjoy!
It's rare there are any leftovers
Lyle Mains
Frank, try soaking or marinating the loin overnight, after pounding out to desired thickness in buttermilk. Dredge in milk/egg, flour, then dredge again, and coat with panko bread crumbs. Fry 3 minutes on a side, in 350 degree peanut oil!
Nancy Brousseau
I grew up eating these in Iowa. Always made with coating of eggwash and crushed cornflakes. Am going to make them for my grandkids. Had forgotten how good they were.
DrDan
Thanks for the note and rating. I really like this but due to the fat I have moved on to the oven baked ones at https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/oven-fried-pork-tenderloin-sandwiches/ and I now like them better. Overall easier.
Dan
Dr Dan
I just had to put this in the top 10...
Kingdango
Yum, sharing this with Jenni...
Chris
I've seen that state specialty on some of the food travelogues on TV but haven't tried making myself. Yours looks so nicely cooked and I bet it was tender.