Pork Skewers In the Oven

These pork skewers or pork souvlakia, as we call them in Greek, are so soft, juicy and tasty. It’s quite an easy recipe with only a few ingredients needed to assemble the skewers and a sauce to marinate the pork meat. The secret here is to marinate the pork cubes for a few hours or ideally from the night before to get all that flavored and juicy meat. These pork skewers can be served as a meze with some pitta bread and tzatziki sauce on the side or as a main with some fries or mashed potatoes.

Why you should try my recipe

• The most tender & juicy pork skewers you’ve tried.
• Great on their own or in sandwiches and wraps.
• Simple and easy to find ingredients.
• Just an oven tray to clean after. Not messy at all!

Ingredients & How-to

The main ingredients that I use for the pork skewers are pork, peppers, tomatoes, onions and a sauce to marinate the meat.

01. Depending on what you can find at your local market and how much time you have, you could make the pork skewers with precut pork cubes or you can get a pork joint and cut it yourself into 1in/2cm cubes. I usually buy a piece of pork joint around 1kg / 2lbs and then cut it into cubes myself.

02. For better results, I marinate the pork from the previous night and leave it in the fridge. Then I’m ready the next morning to assemble the skewers and toss them in the oven. If you can’t leave them overnight, then I recommend leaving the pork cubes to marinate for at least 2 hours to get as much flavor as they can from the sauce.

The sauce for marinating the pork skewers contains mainly wine, mustard, olive oil and some herbs & spices. If you don’t have or you prefer not to use wine then you can substitute with a little bit of balsamic vinegar, just ¼ of a cup. I do not add any lemon to my marinade as that will make the meat go hard. You can drizzle the pork skewers with lemon after they are cooked.

03. For assembling the pork skewers, I’m using some vegetables along with the pork cubes. I like to use onions, tomatoes and peppers. I cut the veggies around the same size that my pork pieces are. I cut one pepper into four lengthwise, remove the seeds and then cut each one into smaller pieces.

04. For the onions, I take a large one, peel it and cut it into four from stem to root. Then carefully, I remove the slices and cut the big ones in two. You could keep the core onion pieces, which are very small, separately in a bowl and add them to the tray between the skewers or save them for a stew or casserole. Nothing goes to waste here.

05. For the tomatoes, I cut them into four, remove the flesh and cut each piece into two or three depending on the size. Similar to the onions, you can keep the tomato flesh and add it to the tray in between the skewers or use it in another dish or why not, in your salad.

06. When I’m ready to start assembling the skewers, I just gather around me all the bowls with pork cubes, peppers, tomatoes, onions and a large baking tray. You could add them in any sequence that you like. I usually start by adding a piece of onion and then add a piece of pork, pepper, pork, tomato, pork and go on until around two fingers from the top of the skewer.

07. Try not to press them too close together but not too much apart either.

08. When I finish assembling all the skewers, I add them to an oven tray. If I have any leftover tomatoes, peppers and onions then add them between the skewers too.

09. I add a bit of water to the bowl where I was marinating the pork cubes and then added it to the tray. I cover the tray with some kitchen foil to let them cook slowly and keep all their juices and then towards the end, I remove the foil and let them cook for a bit longer to get a nice color.

Serving suggestions

Drizzle the pork skewers with a little bit of lemon juice when you take them out of the oven and serve right away. You can have them as an appetizer, meze or main dish with some chips or salad or rice. If you have some pitta bread and tzatziki sauce, you can make a greek pitta wrap! Yum Yum!

The oven pork skewers with veggies are also great for baby led weaning and toddlers as long as you remove the wooden skewer. As with all my recipes, I have salt in my ingredients but you can skip it if you are preparing this for little ones where you want to control their daily salt intake.

Storage

You can store any leftover skewers in the fridge for the next day. You could also prepare the pork cubes with the marinade and freeze them. Then, when you want to cook them, defrost and assemble the skewers.

FAQ

• How long do I need to marinate the skewers? Ideally you should marinate the skewers overnight to allow the meat to rest and absorb all the flavors. If you don’t have enough time then I recommend leaving the meat to marinate for at least 2 hours before assembling the skewers.

• Are pork skewers freezable? Pork skewers are freezable before being cooked. Add the marinade sauce and the meat cubes to a freezable ziploc bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. To cook, defrost the meat, assemble the skewers and bake according to the recipe.

• What cut can I use for pork skewers? Look for a boneless pork shoulder or neck cut to make oven pork skewers. In some super markets you could also find precut pork cubes if you don’t have the time to cut it yourself.