Pork skewers are quite popular in my family. Actually I should say skewers in general, because no matter what type of meat I use, they always go fast. My kids especially love ‘em for some reason. I prepare several versions of skewers, but the cooking and preparation process is always pretty much the same. I just swap the ingredients up as bit.

The version I’m going to show you today uses pork tenderloin, several types of vegetables, some bacon and kielbasa. Since my kids love oven baked potatoes, I will use the spare place on the baking sheet and fill it with potato wedges. And to make this a complete meal, I will also prepare a simple vegetable salad to serve with the pork skewers.

TIP: Looking for more pork tenderloin recipes? Check my Grilled Pork Tenderloin Steaks and Pork Tenderloin Schnitzels.

TIP: This is a great dish to cook with your kids, they love to thread the marinated chunks of meat on the skewers and get their hands dirty while doing so. Try that too 🙂

My Pork Skewers Ingredients:

For the skewers:

2 pork tenderloins approx. 1kg (2lbs)
500g (1lb) potatoes
large red onion
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
large kielbasa or sausage
200-250g (½ lb) bacon

For the marinade: 

4 tbsp. olive oil
½ tsp dried thyme
½ tsp dried rosemary
2 tsp red paprika
1-2 tbsp. mild yellow mustard
2-3 tbsp. soy sauce
2 cloves crushed garlic 
1 tsp salt or to taste
black pepper to taste

For the vegetable salad:

1 large cucumber
1 pack of rucola (rocket)
handful of red radishes
cherry tomatoes
lime juice
1 cup sour cream
olive oil
2 tsp sugar
salt & pepper to taste

How to make pork skewers:

Watch the video or scroll down for step by step instructions:

How do cook these pork tenderloin skewers?

1. The process is simple, it just takes a few steps. The first thing to do is to cut about 500g (1 pound) of yellow potatoes into wedges, then boil them in salted water. Give it 20-25 minutes, no need to cook them fully as they will still bake in the oven.

2. I’m cooking for 5 people, which means I need 2 pork tenderloins. These are usually 500g (1 pound) each. Remove the silver skin with a sharp knife, then cut them into about 1-1.5cm (½ inch) thick chunks.

3. Now it’s time to marinade the meat. We will need olive oil, dried rosemary and thyme, red paprika, mild mustard, soy sauce and crushed garlic. Don’t forget to add salt and pepper to taste. Check the exact measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of this page.

4. Mix everything together properly so the seasonings distribute properly and let the meat marinate for at least 30 minutes. If you have the time, feel free to let the meat marinate for longer in order to make the flavors infuse our tenderloin chunks better.

5. My pork skewers come with quite a bit of veggies, so let’s prepare those now. We need one large red onion, 1 red and also a yellow bell pepper. And to get some more flavors in, let’s use a nice smoked kielbasa or sausage and some nice smoked bacon.

6. Simply slice everything into bite size pieces, check the video at the top of the page if you’re not sure what sizes to aim for. But really, no need to overthink this, skewers are very forgiving so do not worry about the sizes too much.

7. Now it’s time to thread everything onto the skewers. You can use wooden or metal ones, both work just fine. Some people do recommend to soak wooden skewers in water before use, but I’ve never done this to be honest. It probably makes sense when preparing skewers on a coal or wood fired grill, but when baking the skewers in the oven, it doesn’t matter at all.

8. When it comes to the threading, there is just one rule to follow. Try to mix the meaty parts with vegetables. So start with a piece of the bell pepper, then add a chunk of the meat, then a piece of onion, then bacon… it’s entirely up to you though. Feel free to change the order to your likings.

9. The amount of ingredients I listed for this recipe should be enough to make 5 nice pork skewers, depending on the size of the actual skewers used.

10. Grease a sheet pan with olive oil, so neither the pork skewers nor the potatoes stick to the bottom. Place the threaded skewers on the sheet and move them to one side as much as possible, so we are left with enough space for the potatoes.

11. Fill all the spare space on the sheet with our pre-cooked potato wedges. Don’t forget to season the potatoes with olive oil, salt and some black pepper of course. Now cover the sheet with aluminum foil and start baking. Set the oven to 200-220 C or 450 F and bake for 25 minutes.

12. Let’s use the 25 minutes we have to make the salad. We will need a pack of fresh rucola (rocket leaves), a handful of red radishes and then some cherry tomatoes. Cut everything into small pieces and mix properly. Add some lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and mix again.

13. If you like simple salads you can stop here, but I like to add some more flavors to mine. Mix a cup of sour cream or Greek yoghurt with 2 teaspoons of sugar and some more lime juice. Pour this simple dressing over the salad and mix it in. You can also add some more salt and black pepper to taste.

14. Now it’s time to take the sheet with our pork skewers out of the oven and remove the foil. These are pretty much cooked by now, we just need to broil the potatoes and meat for a bit, so they catch some nice color. Let’s flip the skewers now and put them back into the oven. Repeat the flipping process again after 10-15 minutes. Once the potatoes are golden brown, we are done and it’s time to serve.

15. I like to put one skewer into the center of a larger plate, then the potatoes and salad on the sides. As simple as that. So what do you think? I’d say my pork tenderloin skewers turned out pretty good, do you agree?

Optional tips for these pork skewers:

• Do you like spicy food? If so, whisk some chili flakes or hot sauce into the marinade.
• You can use a different type of meat too. Chicken thighs work great for example.
• A simple coleslaw salad would go very well with these pork skewers for sure. Here is my simple coleslaw recipe, maybe give that one a try.
• Obviously, the longer you let the meat marinate, the more intense the flavor will get. Let the meat marinate overnight in the fridge for best results.
• Want to make a sheet full of skewers at once? Cut the potatoes into circles and thread them on the skewer directly.
• Looking for an alternative skewers recipe? Try these steak kabobs in the oven from Jack.