Lomo en salsa de ciruela (LOH-moh en SAHL-sah deh see-ROO-eh-lah) is a whole pork loin browned, then braised in a sauce of prunes, orange juice and red wine blended smooth, and it’s one of the main dishes Mexican families put on the table on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, alongside a stuffed Latin Christmas turkey, roast pork leg and salt cod. It feeds 8 from a single 3½ lb roast, fits in a small oven and slices neatly. The one thing that decides whether it’s juicy is when you take it out: a loin is lean, and past 160°F it goes dry even sitting in sauce.
What this Mexican pork loin is like
How do you make pork loin in prune sauce? Brown a 3½ lb (1.6 kg) boneless pork loin on all sides and set it aside. In the same pot, soften onion and garlic, add red wine, 9 oz (250 g) of prunes, orange juice and stock, simmer 10 minutes and blend smooth. Roast the pork in the sauce at 350°F (180°C), 45 minutes covered and 15 to 30 uncovered, until the center reads 140 to 143°F (60 to 62°C), then rest it 15 minutes. 140 minutes for 8 servings.
Think of it as a pot roast that stays pink: the meat is sliced, not shredded, and the sauce is thick, dark and glossy, sweet from the fruit and sharp from the orange. There’s no heat unless you blend in a chipotle. It is not the same dish as Venezuelan pernil, a bone-in, skin-on pork leg that roasts for most of a day, or the other Mexican Christmas pork, a pork leg in red chile adobo that marinates overnight.
Time. 2 hours 20 minutes start to finish, of which only about 35 minutes is hands-on work. Difficulty, medium: nothing tricky, but without a thermometer it is easy to overcook.
Prunes, not plums, and the rest of the shopping list
Prunes are dried plums. In Spanish the word ciruela covers both the fresh fruit and the dried one, which is why English versions of this recipe sometimes say “plum sauce”. The Mexican Christmas sauce is made with ciruela pasa, dark pitted prunes, sold in the US as prunes or dried plums and in the UK as prunes, usually next to the dried apricots. It has nothing to do with Chinese plum sauce. Fresh plums make a thinner, sharper sauce; there’s a version with them further down.
| You need | US supermarket | UK supermarket | What changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boneless pork loin roast | Pork loin roast, boneless | Boneless pork loin joint | Nothing, it’s the cut |
| Piloncillo | Latin aisle, or dark brown sugar | Dark muscovado sugar | Sugar is a touch less smoky |
| Chipotle in adobo | Latin aisle, cans | Jars of chipotle paste, a little at a time, tasting | Paste gives smoke, a bit less depth |
| Dry red wine | Any dry red | Any dry red | Without it, use stock; sweeter, flatter sauce |
Buying the pork. Ask for a boneless pork loin roast, 3 to 4 in (8 to 10 cm) thick, with a thin fat cap, tied every 1½ in (3 to 4 cm). Do not buy pork tenderloin: it’s a skinny 1 lb muscle that overcooks on this schedule. If it’s all you have, sear it and start checking the temperature after 15 minutes in the oven.
How much per person. I plan on 7 oz (200 g) raw boneless loin per guest when there are two or three sides, 9 oz (250 g) if the pork is most of the meal.
Equipment. A lidded Dutch oven that can go in the oven, a blender, and an instant-read thermometer. No ovenproof pot? Brown the pork and make the sauce in a skillet, then roast in a deep baking dish sealed tightly with foil.
Step by step, with the cues to watch for
Browning
Dry meat, hot pot, and patience. Once a side is browned, the pork lets go of the pot by itself; if it sticks, it isn’t ready to turn. Browning doesn’t seal in juices, but it adds flavor to the meat and leaves a fond that ends up in the sauce.
When the sauce is ready to blend
The prunes should be soft enough to crush against the pot, about 10 minutes at a gentle simmer. Fill the blender only halfway with the hot sauce and hold a towel over the vented lid.
145°F, and why some charts say 160°F
Whole cuts of pork are safe at 145°F (63°C) with a 3-minute rest, and at that point the center is faintly pink. That’s normal and doesn’t mean it’s raw. Older guidance, and some countries still today, use 160°F (71°C). That is also safe; the meat is whiter, firmer and drier, and the sauce helps hide it. Pick one and use a thermometer either way.
Push the probe in from the side into the center of the thickest part. A 3½ lb roast about 3½ in (9 cm) thick usually takes 60 to 75 minutes in the oven in total, roughly 20 minutes per pound at 350°F; start checking 10 minutes after you take the lid off. Pull it at 140 to 143°F (60 to 62°C). Resting 15 minutes adds 3 to 5°F. If it still hasn’t reached 145°F after resting, put it back in the hot sauce for 5 minutes.
Slicing
Remove the twine and slice across the roast, ⅜ in (1 cm) thick, with a long, straight-edged knife. Thinner slices dry out when reheated.
Sauce thickness
It’s right when it coats the back of a spoon and a finger drawn through it leaves a clean line. Too thin after roasting, boil it uncovered until it thickens, checking every couple of minutes. Too thick, loosen it with stock, 2 tbsp at a time.
Make-ahead plan for a holiday dinner
This is a dish that improves overnight, and slicing it cold gives you clean, even slices.
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| 2 days before | Buy the roast and ask the butcher to tie it |
| The night before cooking (optional) | Salt the pork and leave it on a rack in the fridge |
| The day before the dinner | Cook the whole recipe through resting. Cool, then within 2 hours refrigerate the roast whole, in its sauce, covered |
| 1 hour before dinner | Lift off the fat that set on top, slice the roast cold, overlap the slices in a baking dish, pour over the sauce, cover with foil |
| 40 minutes before dinner | Heat at 325°F (160°C) for 30 to 40 minutes, until the sauce bubbles at the edges and the center of the slices reads 165°F (74°C) |
Covered and sitting in the sauce, the slices handle reheating without drying out. Cooking on the day instead? Start about 2 hours 50 minutes before you want to eat, which includes half an hour for the meat to lose its fridge chill.
Scaling up for 12 or 20
| Guests | Raw pork | Sauce |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | 2⅔ lb (1.2 kg) | 1 batch |
| 8 | 3½ lb (1.6 kg) | 1 batch |
| 12 | 5¼ lb (2.4 kg), 2 roasts | 1½ batches |
| 20 | 8¾ lb (4 kg), 3 roasts | 2½ batches |
Several 2½ to 3 lb roasts beat one giant one. Roasting time follows the thickness of each piece, not the total weight, so two roasts set 2 in (5 cm) apart in a big pan take about as long as one.
Mistakes that dry out the pork
- Cooking to the clock. Two roasts of the same weight but different thickness finish at different times. Use the thermometer.
- Slicing straight out of the oven. Skip the 15-minute rest and the juices end up on the board. And never slice it hot to store it: keep it whole until the day you serve.
- Roasting uncovered the whole time. The sauce reduces too far and scorches at the edges. Lid on for 45 minutes, off at the end.
- Sauce too sweet. Very soft, sweet prunes plus the sugar. Start with half the piloncillo, taste after blending and correct with a squeeze of orange or a pinch of salt.
- A clove taste. Blending the whole cloves. Fish them out first.
Allergens. Gluten-free if your stock is (check the label). Wine and some prunes contain sulfites. Without chipotle there’s no heat, and most kids like the sweet sauce; note that the alcohol in the wine doesn’t fully cook off.
Stuffed loin and other versions
- Stuffed with prunes (lomo mechado or relleno). Very common for Christmas in Mexico. With a long, thin knife, make 3 or 4 lengthwise slits into the roast and push in ⅓ cup prunes, 3 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped, and ¼ cup walnuts, broken up. Tie, brown and carry on as written. Take the temperature in the meat, not the stuffing, and cut the salt on the meat to 1½ tsp because of the bacon.
- Butterflied and rolled. Open the loin into one flat sheet about ¾ in (2 cm) thick, spread the stuffing, roll tightly and tie every 1¼ in (3 cm). Each slice shows a spiral of prune; time is similar because the roll ends up about as thick as the original loin.
- On the stovetop. Same lidded pot over low heat, turning the pork every 15 minutes and watching that the sauce doesn’t catch. Start checking the temperature after 40 minutes.
- Smoky and spicy. Blend in 2 chipotles and 1 tbsp of their adobo.
- With fresh plums. Swap the prunes for 2 cups of chopped, pitted fresh plums and skip the sugar if they’re ripe. Tarter and thinner; reduce it longer at the end.
The pork is what drives the cost; the prunes come second. A whole untrimmed loin you tie yourself usually costs less than a pre-seasoned one.
Serving, storing and reheating
On a Mexican Christmas table it comes with a cold salad and a pasta or mashed potatoes. It goes very well with creamy Mexican apple salad, the beet and orange Christmas Eve salad, a creamy Mexican white spaghetti, or creamy mashed potatoes to take the sauce. For a bigger spread, Mexican Christmas bacalao is the other classic main, and a pot of hot Mexican Christmas punch to drink.
- Fridge. Refrigerated within 2 hours, in a covered container, 3 to 4 days; best whole and in the sauce.
- Freezer. 2 to 3 months, sliced and covered with sauce. Thaw overnight in the fridge.
- Reheating. Covered, in the sauce: in the oven as in the make-ahead plan, or in a covered skillet over low heat with 2 to 3 tbsp stock for 6 to 8 minutes, to 165°F (74°C). In the microwave, use medium power in 1-minute bursts.
- Leftovers. Sliced cold into a crusty roll with a spoonful of sauce, they make the sandwich for the day after.
Pork loin in prune sauce FAQ
Do I need to marinate the pork overnight? No. The sauce only gets a few millimeters into the meat. Salt is what seasons it inside, so if you want to do something ahead, salt the roast the night before.
My pork is pink in the middle. Is it undercooked? Not if it reached 145°F (63°C) and rested. Pork cooked to that temperature stays faintly pink.
Can I cook it from frozen? Thaw it in the fridge first, about 24 hours for every 4 to 5 lb. From frozen it won’t brown, and the outside overcooks long before the center is done.
Can I use a slow cooker? I don’t recommend it for loin: the long, low cook takes this lean cut well past the point where it slices juicy. For a slow cooker, pork shoulder is the better choice, though it becomes a shredded dish rather than a sliced roast.
Nutrition per serving
Per serving (7 oz / 200 g raw pork with its share of sauce, no sides or chipotle), worked out ingredient by ingredient from the quantities above:
- Calories: 549 kcal
- Protein: 41 g
- Carbohydrates: 28 g
- Fat: 29 g, including 9 g saturated
- Fiber: 3 g
- Sugars: 18 g
- Sodium: 870 mg
The pork accounts for about 396 kcal of each serving and the prunes about 75. Trimming the fat cap lowers the fat; salted store-bought stock raises the sodium.
This isn’t a dish I grew up with. I’m Venezuelan, and our December pork is the pernil, but for a small table a whole leg is too much, so this is the roast I make. I always cook it the day before, so the kitchen is free on the 24th, and I slice it cold because the slices come out even. One chipotle goes in the blender: my son Dylan doesn’t notice it, and I do. Josnaisis.