50 Perfect Pork Recipes to Make for Dinner Tonight
Pork Chops Pizzaiola
Great pork recipes often take a backseat to other meal mainstays like beef and chicken. But pork dishes for dinner can be just the thing to get your family out of a food rut. Need some quick ideas? We put together Parade's 50 best pork recipes to make it easy for you to pick something delicious for dinner tonight.
So whether you want a fun take on pork chops, tasty pork tenderloin or even beer-braised pork ribs, you'll find something amazing in our list of dinner recipes featuring pork.
Related: 65 Best Grilled Pork Recipes
Best Pork Recipes and Dishes
Pork Chops Pizzaiola with Arugula Salad
Photo by Eva Kolenko
Looking for a fun twist on pork chops? "Pizzaiola sauce gets its name because it features the typical pizza ingredients of olive oil, garlic, oregano and tomatoes," says food blogger Gina Homolka. "Usually served with steak or chicken, it’s also a great way to jazz up pork chops for a quick weeknight meal."
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Marinated Pork Tenderloin with Honey, Lime and Chipotle
This marinade and sauce combine the smoky spiciness of this amazing chile with zesty lime and sweet honey and the result is fantastic. The cumin, garlic and oregano add an exotic yet subtle element—they should not be left out. The pork takes these flavors so well and I really recommend you marinate it as long as possible. I left this one in the fridge for about 24 hours and it came out absolutely perfect. I paired it with some creamy mashed potatoes, sauteed spinach and a glass (or two) of a nice Ribera del Duero, and it was an exceptional dinner.
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Barbecued Pork Burgers with Coleslaw
Jennifer Davick
Change things up with these amazing barbecued pork burgers. Dress them up by topping the patties with coleslaw.
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Related: Best BBQ Pork Recipes
Pork Chop Gumbo Skillet
Photo by Mark Boughton Photography / Styling by Teresa Blackburn
“This dish reminds me of the gumbo that was such a big part of my upbringing near New Orleans,” Nan Kelley (One Pan Nan) says. “It delivers all the flavor in a fraction of the time.”
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Ham & Noodle Casserole
Mark Boughton Photography / Styling by Teresa Blackburn
Creamy, comforting and crowd-pleasing, this Ham & Noodle Casserole dish is perfect for leftover ham—or buy a ham steak from the meat case.
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Banh Mi-Inspired Skillet Meatballs
MEGAN KENO
Dress up frozen meatballs with this simple one-pan supper adapted from Cast Iron Gourmet by Megan Keno. A riff on a bahn mi sandwich, it starts with frozen pork meatballs—you can substitute beef, turkey or chicken meatballs—tossed in a mixture of sweet chili sauce and teriyaki sauce. Then stir in a few fresh veggies and herbs like shredded carrots, sliced jalape?o and minced cilantro. Serve over rice or noodles and dinner is done!
Maple Glazed Pork Tenderloin
Jon Ashton
A pork tenderloin cooks fast and this easy marinade from Parade Chef Jon Ashton keeps the meat juicy. Pork tenderloins vary in size from 3/4 to 1 1/2 lb—just look for two tenderloins that are roughly the same size so they’ll be cooked through at the same time.
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Tacos al Pastor: Guy Fieri's Favorite Tacos
Jennifer Davick
If anyone knows a good taco, it’s Guy Fieri. Try this sweet-and-spicy pork for Cinco de Mayo, or any time of year.
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Sausage Alfredo Pasta Bake
This delicious Italian Sausage Alfredo Pasta Bake gets some help from a few store-bought ingredients, but it sure doesn't taste like it. A hearty, comforting meal on the table in almost no time, you can't go wrong with a pasta bake recipe for a meal the whole family will love. If you have some dinner rotations you can't get enough of, don't think of it as a rut. Just love them as favorites, and always look for new ways to switch things up a bit!
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Double Pumpkin Pork Chops
Nisa Burns
I made this recipe for double pumpkin pork chops, which utilize pumpkin pulp as well as pumpkin seeds. The result was fantastic. Give it a try for an easy and festive weeknight dinner this week.
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Martha Stewart's Beer-Braised Pork Ribs
Martha Stewart
Martha Stewart's beer-braised pork ribs is a hearty, comfort food recipe to fill the whole house with delicious flavors. Throwing the ribs in the slow cooker (after an overnight soak in a few bottles of beer), then letting them braise all day, allows you plenty of time for recreation—or rest and relaxation—your call. You just need to quickly finish the ribs in the oven, to allow the sticky glaze to caramelize a bit, then serve with rice, potatoes, or another starch and perhaps, a salad. This is the ultimate solution to barbecuing in colder weather!
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Orange-Scented Pork & Veggie Stew
Photo by: Steven Mark Needham
Many classic stews call for beef broth and red wine to flavor the gravy. In this “white meat” stew, white wine and chicken broth do a delicious job.
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Roasted Rack Of Pork
Steven Mark Needham
Marinating this roasted rack of pork overnight infuses it with incredible flavor.
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Grilled Pork Chops with Peach Salsa
Ben Fink
This grilled pork chop dinner is the perfect balance of sweet and savory, and it's ready in just 10 minutes.
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Pork Egg Roll Skillet
Krista Marshall
One of my biggest weaknesses is definitely Asian cuisine—I could probably eat it every single day and never tire of it! But let's face it, sometimes it isn't the healthiest choice out there. So when I find a way to have all the flavors I love in a dish that is a little better for me, you can bet I'm a happy camper. That's exactly what you get with this recipe—all the great flavors inside an egg roll, with no wrapper!
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Pork Chops with Cherry Tomatoes and Green Beans
Photo by: Con Poulos
Cherry tomatoes, green beans and moist pork chops make a colorful and easy one-pan meal.
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Thai Balls
John Kernick
This recipe, created for The Food Network by Daniel Holzman & Michael Chernow of New York's The Meatball Shop, captures all the fresh, wonderful flavors of Southeast Asia. Be careful not to chop the herbs too finely and feel free to add extra chiles if you prefer your meatballs extra spicy. The garnish—crunchy peanuts, basil and grated carrots hit with rice wine vinegar and soy sauce—is a killer. Serve it with peanut sauce.
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Mardi Gras Muffaletta
Celebrate Mardi Gras all year with a spicy sandwich that hails from New Orleans.
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Sausage & Wild Rice Casserole
Krista Marshall
Sometimes you just need comfort food. You need to sit down to a meal that is hearty, maybe a little rustic, filled with flavor, and feel better about the day. It's like a big hug. That's exactly what you get with this Sausage & Wild Rice Casserole recipe.
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Bourbon-Marinated Pork Tenderloin
Kentucky bourbon and molasses add a pleasantly sweet, smoky character to tender, juicy pork. Try this recipe from the Kentucky Bourbon Festival in Bardstown, Kentucky, where the spirit has been made since 1776.
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Watermelon Salad & Pork
Mark Thomas
Sweet, juicy melon is a nice contrast to crispy, pan-fried pork. Adapted from Bon Appetit's Fast, Easy, Fresh. For more recipes like this one, go to bonappetit.com.
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Jamie Deen's Roast Pork Loin with Sausage, Figs, and Fresh Herbs
John Kernick
We make this recipe a lot at home. It has the "I slaved in the kitchen all day" look, but really takes no time at all. If you’re looking for a memorable celebratory meal, the layers of flavor wrapped into this pork loin make this a surefire bet. Just be sure to have copies of the recipe to share with your guests; I guarantee they’ll ask. We served it up here with some sautéed baby kale.
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Best-Ever Slow Cooker Bolognese Sauce
Lori Lange
Bolognese is a hearty Italian meat sauce that combines beef, pork, and pancetta with traditional vegetables and porcini mushrooms. It develops its flavor from long, slow simmering- which makes Bolognese Sauce the perfect recipe for making in the slow cooker! This recipe makes a large batch, but it's wonderful to have on hand. Eat half for dinner tonight, and freeze the other half to enjoy later. To make this dinner completely gluten-free, I chose to serve this delicious slow cooker bolognese sauce over spaghetti squash. Delicious!
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Pulled Pork Poutine
Mark Boughton Photography/ styling by Teresa Blackburn
Poutine (pronounced poo-tin)—fried potatoes with a variety of toppings—is a Canadian favorite, served in pubs all over the country. It’s traditionally made with chunks of cheese called curds, formed before cheese is pressed into molds and aged. Mozzarella, which we use here, is a good substitute.
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Puerto Rican Roast Pork
A good rule of thumb for roasting pork is to cook the roast half an hour for every pound.
Root Beer-Spiked Pulled Pork Sandwiches
When I was pregnant with my son, there was one thing I craved beyond any other: root beer. I searched high and low for the best root beer in the land. I tried the artisan sorts as well as the generics. It all came back to Mug. Mug root beer was the one that seemed to satisfy my craving the most. No longer pregnant, I still crave the stuff, and it makes a good cooking marinade for pulled pork too. This recipe serves a large crowd or a hungry family with leftovers for days to come.
Baked Pasta in a Pork Ragu
Theresa Graco
A classic Italian meal loaded with pork and kicked up a notch with crushed red pepper. This dish serves eight people and can easily be made in advance. It's the kind of meal you want to make when friends come over for dinner because it's guaranteed to be loved by all.
Smeared Hog with Groundhog Gravy a'la Car
The West Virginia RoadKill Cook-off is one of the region’s most exciting and fun annual events. In years past, many TV crews have done filming of this wild and wacky festival. If you’ve ever wanted to taste exotic dishes like squirrel gravy over biscuits, teriyaki marinated bear or deer sausage, this is the place for it.
Harry Caray's Meatballs
iStockphoto
It’s no surprise that Chicago is a sports-mad city—it boasts teams from all five major pro sports. Harry Caray’s Italian Steakhouse, founded by Chi-town’s legendary baseball announcer and housing a museum’s worth of athletic memorabilia, has invited former NFL pros to mingle with game watchers on Super Bowl Sunday. The menu’s crowd-pleasers are the sturdy pork-and-beef orbs.
Danny Trejo's Easy Carnitas Tacos
Tacos - photography by Mark Boughton / food styling by Teresa Blackburn
This simple recipe for easy carnitas (slow-cooked Mexican-style pork shoulder) with all the fixings is adapted from actor Danny Trejo’s forthcoming cookbook, Trejo’s Tacos, which features recipes from his popular Los Angeles restaurant chain of the same name. It makes a generous amount of pork, and leftovers freeze well.
Glazed Baby Back Ribs
Jennifer Davick
Baby back ribs are meaty but small, so they cook faster than other ribs.
Pasta with Butternut Squash & Sausage
Liz Pearson
Roasted vegetables and smoky sausage make a tasty dinner. At only $2.37 per serving, it's a comforting and budget-friendly meal that will be a lifesaver on busy weeknights!
Maple-Peach Glazed Ham Steak
Bobby Flay
Let the glaze sit at room temperature to allow flavors to meld while the ham bakes for the first 20 minutes.
Related: 25 Best BBQ Pork Recipes
Coca-Cola Carnitas
Ken Goodman
"I learned Coke was the secret to making carnitas during my many trips to Mexico visiting my family’s produce farms," says celebrity chef Jet Tila. The recipe is from 101 Epic Dishes, his new cookbook, authored with his wife, culinary educator Ali Tila. The book focuses on helping home cooks boost their kitchen skills while perfecting classic, crowd-pleasing dishes. In this recipe, the sugar and caramel in the soda infuse the meat with delicious flavor and great color. Photo credit: Ken Goodman.
Avocado Stuffed Meatballs
Elizabeth Nyland/Cooking with Avocados
Meatballs are a favorite in our house, simply because they are a simple, quick meal to make that the kids love. They are perfect for little hands to pick up without the need for utensils and also delicious in many kinds of sauces. My kids will even eat them cold the next day for lunch! You may think stuffing them would be difficult, but the secret is to use a very small amount. Be careful when folding over the edges to seal up the meatball, as the filling can seep out a bit. For an exotic flair, try using a tablespoon of minced preserved lemon rind in place of the lemon zest and juice.
Pasta with Peas and Ham
Jim Franco
Save time and money with this weeknight staple at only $0.88 per serving!
Pork Dinner Ideas
Garlic and Herb-Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Garlic Gravy
Jaime Miller of Maple Grove, Minnesota, wowed judges at the 2000 Gilroy Garlic Festival in California. She took third place for her savory, gravy-topped pork.
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Green Chile Stew
Tender pork, green chile, and potatoes create a succulent, hearty Southwestern stew. This recipe earned Shauna Franzoy an honorable mention at the Hatch Valley Chile Festival in New Mexico.
Related: 30 Ridiculously Easy Recipes Using Ground Pork
Alex Guarnaschelli's Brisket Cheeseburgers with Red Cabbage Slaw
Mark Boughton
Colorful, tangy slaw provides a nice counterpoint to rich brisket patties in these burgers from Alex Guarnaschelli, executive chef of Butter restaurant in New York City, judge on Chopped, defending champion on Iron Chef Gauntlet and host of Food Network's online series, Fix Me a Plate. Don't have a meat grinder at home? Ask the butcher to grind the brisket for you.
Slow Cooker Creamy Ham and Potato Chowder
Better Homes and Gardens
I'm still trying to warm up the USA with soup. This recipe is family-friendly (no weird stuff in there for kids who are eyeing the bowl suspiciously), and it's so easy to make in the slow cooker too. This Creamy Ham and Potato Chowder is guaranteed to warm you up and fill you up.
Pork Tenderloin with Blueberry Sauce
The combination of savory and sweet makes this pork tenderloin dish hard to resist.
Sausage and Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash
Krista Marshall
Sausage and apple stuffed acorn squash is filled with rustic woodsy flavors from the apple and mushroom and it's a complete meal (with meat and veggies), all in one gorgeous package. Plus, it is hearty enough for any hungry weeknight crowd and low-carb! You can even sub gluten-free breadcrumbs for the real ones if you want.
Pork & Sausage Jambalaya
This recipe hails from "The Jambalaya Capital of the World," Gonzales, La. Gonzales is home to the annual Jambalaya Festival, which features dozens of varieties of the zesty Cajun-Creole rice dish, including one very large batch (pictured above).
Grilled Pork Tenderloin & Peaches
Enjoy the sweet and savory flavor of grilled pork with peaches agrodolce. If peaches are no longer available at your supermarket, defrosted frozen peaches will do.
Rich Autumn Pork Stew with Beer
If you cook for a family, you want to make meals that are frugal and flavorful. This fabulous recipe can feed four for under $10.
Goat Cheese Quesadillas
Sweet, juicy mango is a fresh, fruity complement to creamy goat cheese and salty ham. Roasted red peppers pack even more flavor.
Wolfgang Puck's Wiener Schnitzel
Wolfgang Puck, the ruler of a food empire, cherishes this dish from his Austrian childhood.
Slow Cooker Ham and Potato Chowder
This chowder has big bites of ham, chunks of potato and other veggies as well. It's thickened with cream in the last stages of cooking to give it a texture that wraps you in warmth.
Maple-Bourbon Glazed Ham
Parade
Try this amazing maple bourbon glazed ham and you will not be disappointed. And here's a tip for you: Hams are generally sold in halves—the shank end and the butt end. We recommend buying the shank end, because it’s much easier to carve than the butt end, which includes the hip joint.
Pork Italiano Sandwich Perfect for Game Day
Roast Pork Italiano is a sandwich I grew up eating in South Philadelphia, and one that is a real crowd-pleaser. The meat can easily be made ahead and heated up on game day.
Mike Ditka's "Da Pork Chop"
When we asked "da Coach" Mike Ditka what he likes to enjoy on game day, he told us "Da Pork Chop." Lightly seasoned, roasted, then finished to perfection, Da Pork Chop is one of the most popular items on the menu at Da Coach's Chicago restaurant, Ditka's.
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