Bacon Wrapped Smoked Pork Tenderloin Stuffed with Roasted Red Peppers and Cheese

Bacon Wrapped Smoked Pork Tenderloin Stuffed with Roasted Red Peppers and Cheese

Smoking a pork tenderloin is a wonderful thing. I have probably smoked this cut of pork as much as any other piece of meat. It is reasonably priced, super tender and has a wonderful flavour when it comes out of the smoker.

I will smoke pork tenderloins just straight up with a bit of rub and BBQ sauce. It is delicious like that and also great sliced or chopped up to be used in other dishes including chili, pasta, salad, wraps and more. The possibilities are just endless.

But, my favourite way to prepare a smoked pork tenderloin is to stuff it. There are many different ways to stuff it and, over the years, I have stuffed tenderloins with many things. During the next couple weeks I will be sharing a lot of recipes with different types of stuffing that are all excellent.

Bacon Wrapped Smoked Pork Tenderloin Stuffed with Roasted Red Peppers and Cheese tall

This stuffing is made with a mixture of cream cheese and grated mozzarella. Along with the cheeses, I also mixed in some minced roasted red peppers which provides a wonderful rich flavour to the stuffing.

Stuffing meat is great, but there is always the fear of the stuffing spilling out. With pork tenderloin that can be a common occurrence because it is not as large of a cut of meat and it is difficult to make a large pocket to hold the stuffing in place. Tying a stuffed cut of meat with kitchen twine helps to keep the stuffing where it is supposed to be.

Instead of tying up the pork tenderloin, I try a different approach. I wrap the stuffed meat in bacon. This does multiple things to help the finished product. First, it does keep the stuffing in place. Even melted cheese usually stays inside the meat. Check out the pic below and you can see that just a little bit of cheese was bubbling out.

On top of that, bacon keeps the meat moist and juicy which is great, cause a lean cut of meat like pork tenderloin can be known to dry out. The other reason I do this is because it is bacon! Everything is better with bacon – right?!?

Bacon Wrapped Smoked Pork Tenderloin Stuffed with Roasted Red Peppers and Cheese in smoker

If I am smoking a pork tenderloin without stuffing and no bacon, I tend to smoke at a lower heat, usually set at 225F and smoke it until it reaches 145-150F. This results in a moist, nicely smoked piece of meat.

For a stuffed pork tenderloin, wrapped in bacon, I like to smoke it at a higher heat. Primarily, I do this so that the bacon will render and crisp up. A temperature of 275F works very well and, when stuffed, I prefer to smoke till 165F. The result is a bacon that is perfectly cooked, pork that is still moist and a cheesy stuffing that is gooey and delicious!

Bacon Wrapped Smoked Pork Tenderloin Stuffed with Roasted Red Peppers and Cheese close

I have a number of different pork tenderloin recipes for the smoker:

Bacon Wrapped Smoked Pork Tenderloin Stuffed with Roasted Red Peppers and Cheese

5 out of 5
15 reviews
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A delicious recipe of bacon wrapped smoked pork tenderloin stuffed with roasted red peppers and cheese. Made in an electric Bradley smoker.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 40 minutes
Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

  • 2 pork tenderloin
  • 1/3 cup roasted red peppers diced
  • 1 cup cream cheese softened
  • 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
  • 10-12 bacon slices
  • 1/4 cup honey

Instructions

  • Trim the pork tenderloins of any fat and membrane. Holding knife horizontally, slice the pork tenderloin in half being careful not to pierce through the other end.
  • In a small bowl, mix together the roasted red pepper with the cream cheese and mozzarella cheese.
  • Spread the cheese and red pepper mixture evenly in the openings of the pork tenderloin. Close up the tenderloins ensuring that the cheese stays inside the pocket of the meat.
  • Wrap the tenderloins with the bacon and place on smoker rack. It may be wise to have the tenderloins with the cut open side facing up, so that any melted cheese will stay in the pocket and not ooze out.
  • Set the smoker to 275F using wood of choice (hickory, apple or cherry work great).
  • Smoke the pork until they reach an internal temperature of 165F and the bacon is rendered and starting to crisp, approximately 2 1/2 - 3 hours.
  • With about 30 minutes left of smoking, brush the honey all over the bacon and then continue smoking until fully cooked.
  • Remove the pork tenderloins from the smoker and let them rest for about 10 minutes. Slice into 1 inch medallions and serve.

Bacon Wrapped Smoked Pork Tenderloin Stuffed with Roasted Red Peppers and Cheese

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Bacon Wrapped Smoked Pork Tenderloin Stuffed with Roasted Red Peppers and Cheese

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Leave a comment and let me know how it turned out. Or, take a picture to share on Instagram and tag me @theblackpeppercorn.

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Recipe Rating




22 comments

  • 5 stars
    This is terrific! I added 1/2 tsp. crushed garlic and little diced jalapeño peppers to this outlined cheese mixture and it gave the bacon-wrapped pork loin just the right flavor and a little kick. Smoked 2.5 hrs on 275with apple pellets in my Traeger until bacon was crispy. Guests all asked for second slice. Can’t wait to make again!

    • Reply
  • 5 stars
    Awesome stuff! We were big fans and super easy to prepare.

    • Reply
  • 5 stars
    This look delicious. I am a newbie and want to try this tomorrow. My roast is 2.3 lb. How do I adjust the smoke time? TX.

    • Reply
    • It is so hard to say because it can really vary depending on the shape and thickness of the roast. Do you have a meat thermometer? That is the best way to gauge and monitor the smoking. Take it out of the smoker once the internal temperature reaches 165F.

      • Reply
  • 5 stars
    OK – this was the BOMB. Based on what was in the fridge, I changed it up just a little. Jalapeno cream cheese and a roasted orange pepper, some grated parmesan and some kale.. Wrapped in bacon. The bacon wouldn’t reach around this fatty so I used toothpicks to hold it in place and keep the tenderloin from losing all the yummy goodness packed in there. I’m not fancy and I use a simple barrel grill. I put my charcoal on the right and a pan under the roast on the left.. Kept that thing at about 270 for a couple of hours. Perfection. Thanks Steve!

    • Reply
    • Sounds amazing! So glad you enjoyed it.

      • Reply
  • I’ve made this great recipi e gonna make it with a turkey tenderloin!!

    • Reply
  • 5 stars
    Wow… I made this on my camp chef smoker…wow it actually impressed me.. delicious.. tastes just exploded in my mouth.
    I stuffed a large tomato with the remaining cream cheese and cooked for 15- 20 min.
    I roasted my own sweet peppers the night before also.
    Wow.. recommend this recipe to everyone!!!

    • Reply
  • 5 stars
    I love this recipe! It’s got easy, has great flavor and makes plenty. I’m making it for the second time today. I use peppered tenderloins to add a little bite and thy are amazing!
    One suggestion is if your tenderloin has a narrow end, trim it off. I find the more uniform the loin, the easier it is to stuff and no one gets a medallion with less cheese.

    • Reply
    • Do you cook to internal temp or time? After being in the smoker for 1 hr and 30 min internal temp is 168.

      • Reply
  • 5 stars
    I love this recipe! It’s easy, has great flavor and makes plenty. I used some peppered tenderloin I had and they worked great!

    • Reply
  • 5 stars
    As a Chef, I’m always trying to trying push myself to be more creative. As such, I’ve been doing a stuffed pork tenderlion, using the biggest I can find, but flanking them, spreading a stuffing mixture of finely chopped fresh spinach, dried/sweetened cranberries, chopped pecans and orange zest atop a ‘bed/smear’ of goat cheese mixture(OJ, S&P, smoked Paprika & O. powder). Wrapped in latticed, thick-cut bacon, so ked at °275 for 1.5-2hrs, to °160 internal, basting w/a sweet, vingar-based sauce the last 45 mins or so…
    It’s a request of several now, especially around the holidays, but I’m wanting somethimg NEW this year. Your recipe combos have given me new ideas and now I have a month to play with them before the events start…sweet, thank you!

    • Reply
    • Thanks!! Love your stuffing mixture. Will have to try it out.

      • Reply
      • Water in water pan or no???

        • Reply
        • Yes, I use water in the pan.

          • Reply
  • Tips for making this on a charcoal grill?

    • Reply
    • Try to keep the temperature steady and as close to the temp in the recipe as possible. Also use the indirect grilling method with the coals off to the side. That will help prevent the pork from overcooking. Hope that helps!

      • Reply
    • 5 stars
      Use the snake method for smoking.

      • Reply
  • 5 stars
    This is delicious! I substituted harvarti dill cheese and also added garlic. Thanks very much for sharing the recipe!!

    • Reply
  • 5 stars
    Bacon wrapped oink? Yummy. No bacon, don’t have time for a store run, next time. Great idea to spice up the norm

    • Reply
  • This is happening tonight! Thanks for the recipe. I love slow cooking a tenderloin, but I get tired of the same ol recipes. Hubby will LOVE this!

    • Reply
  • 5 stars
    I tried the bacon wrapped tenderloin. I substituted the red peppers with New Mexico green chili mixed with the cream cheese and mozzarella It was the best tenderloin I’ve ever eaten. Thank you very much.

    • Reply

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