5 Easy Pork Marinade Recipes Perfect For Dinner Tonight

Pork marinades keep meal-time interesting. You can switch them up so you and and your fellow diners never get bored. Best of all, you can start marinating your meat before bed, or in the morning, so you just need to toss it in the oven come dinnertime.

A good marinade contains fat (oil), an acid (such as vinegar or lime juice) and aromatic herbs and spices. To maximize flavour, let your meat mix and mingle in the marinade for a few hours, or even overnight. Ready to get started? Here are five different summery pork marinade recipes, or one for each night of the week. Feel free to swap out the recommended cuts for your favourite—you can also use these marinades for chicken and beef.

Filipino-Style Pork Marinade

Serves 6 Prep 25 min; total 2 hr 55 min Use: Pork shoulder (Pork blade, sirloin roast or chicken thighs would also work)

• Soak 18 skewers in hot water for 20 min.
• Whisk 1/3 cup each 7Up or Sprite, soy sauce and brown sugar, 3 tbsp white vinegar, 2 tsp sesame oil and 1 tsp each garlic powder, black pepper and hot-red-chili flakes in a medium bowl.
• Add 750g pork shoulder, cut into 3-in.-long strips about 1/4 in. thick and stir until coated. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
• Position rack in top-third of oven, then preheat broiler. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.
• Thread each pork strip onto a skewer in an “S” shape, pushing down so skewer isn’t exposed. Arrange on prepared sheet. Brush with marinade.
• Broil, flipping once with tongs, until meat loses its pink colour and edges start to char, 6 to 8 min.

Ginger Mojito Pork Marinade

Serves: 2 to 3 Prep: 10 min; total 40 min Use: 1 pork tenderloin (or small, boneless pork loin)

• Whisk 1/3 cup lime juice (about 4 limes), 2 tbsp honey, 4 tsp rum, 1 tbsp canola oil, ¼ tsp ground ginger and ¼ tsp salt in a wide shallow bowl.
• Using the tip of a small knife, make shallow slashes all over 1 pork tenderloin, then coat in lime mixture evenly. Turn occasionally.
• Preheat oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
• Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium-high. Add 1 tsp oil, then pork. Sear meat, turning often, until dark golden brown, 5 to 7 min. Transfer pork to prepared sheet, then brush with marinade.
• Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of pork reads 155F, 20 to 22 min. Let rest 5 min, then slice. Sprinkle with ¼ cup shredded fresh mint.

Jerk Pork Marinade (not too hot!)

Serves 4 Prep 10 min; total 1 hr 25 min Use: 6 to 8 bone-in, centre-cut pork chops (or boneless butterfly chops)

• Chop 6 green onions and 2 jalapenos, including seeds.
• Place in a food processor with ¼ cup each canola oil, lime juice and soy sauce, 1 tsp allspice and 1/2 tsp each salt, garlic powder, dried thyme leaves, nutmeg and cinnamon. Puree until thick.
• Place 6 to 8 bone-in-centre-cut pork chops (about ½-in thick) in a resealable zip-top bag. Pour in just enough marinade to cover. Reserve remaining marinade for dipping. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Arrange chops on parchment. Brush both sides of chops with marinade from bag.
• Roast chops, flipping halfway until pork is cooked through, 15 to 20 min. Serve with reserved marinade.

Orange-Scented Pork Chops

Serves 4 Prep 5 min; total 15 min Use: 4 bone-in centre-cup pork chops (boneless loin chops)

• Whisk 2 tsp orange zest, ¼ cup orange juice, 2 tbsp each sesame oil and brown sugar, 1 tbsp medium curry powder and ½ tsp salt in a large bowl.
• Add 4 centre-cut, bone-in pork chops, at least 3/4-in. thick and turn to evenly coat.
• Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Arrange chops on parchment. Brush both sides of chops with marinade.
• Roast chops, flipping halfway until pork is cooked through, 15 to 20 min.

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Hawaiian-Style Pork Kebabs

Serves 4 to 6 Prep 15 min; total 45 min Use: 2 pork tenderloins (or sirloin steak)

• Soak 8 large skewers in hot water for 20 min.
• Whisk ¼ cup ketchup, 3 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp sesame oil and 4 minced garlic cloves in a large bowl.
• Stir 2 pork tenderloins, halved lengthwise and cut into 1-in. chunks, into ketchup mixture and turn to coat. Let stand 20 min.
• Toss 16 1-in. pineapple chunks, 8 thick red onion wedges and 1 red bell pepper, quartered, then halved, with 1 tbsp canola oil in a bowl to evenly coat.cfvc
• Position rack in top-third of oven, then preheat broiler. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.
• Alternately thread meat, pineapple and vegetables onto skewers.
• Broil, turning skewers twice with tongs, until meat loses its pink colour and edges start to char, 10 to 12 min.

Originally published in May 2018.