39 Pork Recipes You Need To Try Making This Fall

There's no meat quite like pork. While chicken and turkey are too lean and ground beef is too fatty, pork stands a firm middle ground. Since it's also derived from a relatively large animal, you can get different cuts of meat suited to several dishes. For example, if you're making pulled pork, you should opt for a pork shoulder that can hold up to several hours in a slow cooker or smoker. But if you're looking for a quick-cooking, easy-to-make addition to chili, stick to ground pork. 

Pork doesn't come without its pitfalls (or pig-falls). It is prone to overcooking and drying out, which can be fatal for almost any recipe that uses the ingredient. Most pork chops, roasts, and loins should only be cooked until an internal temperature reads 145 F and rest for at least three minutes until it's cooked through. Ground pork, conversely, should be cooked to 160 F and does not require a rest time. Being a master at making pork at home is all about knowing these small yet crucial details and selecting the perfect recipe. Here are some of our favorites. 

A roast is perfect for both a special occasion and a Sunday night dinner. Our pork loin roast is made with seasoned loin in a slow cooker for five hours, but the recipe can also be modified to use a pork shoulder instead. After the loin is finished cooking, smother it in a gravy made with the leftover juices and serve alongside mashed potatoes and greens. 

Recipe: Slow Cooker Pork Loin Roast

Pork tenderloin is a recipe that every home cook should know how to make. Not only is it simple to bake in a roasting pan (which will fill your oven with the delicious aroma of garlic, onions, and herbs), but you can also serve it with almost any side dish. It's important to note that this pork tenderloin will need about 25 minutes per pound to cook, which means you can easily scale it to feed a crowd. 

Recipe: Simple Roasted Pork Tenderloin

If you have 20 minutes to prepare dinner, go for this filling pork chop recipe. This recipe is cooked in the air fryer rather than on the stove or in the oven, which will give you much more time to prepare your sides. It's also perfect for cooking novices looking for a set-it-and-forget-it meal option that pairs well with a garden salad or garlic mashed potatoes. Date night fare, anyone?

Recipe: Easy Pork Chop

Pernil is the Puerto Rican version of roasted pork that is traditionally served during the holidays because it takes so long to cook. It's coated in jarred sofrito and sazón seasoning packets, so it's relatively easy to season and bring together with store-bought ingredients. You can marinate your meat overnight and then roast it on a rack in the oven for a few hours until the outside is crisp and flavorful. 

Pernil is traditionally served with arroz con gandules (rice and pigeon peas), but you can also opt for regular rice too. Just be sure to save your leftover pork for Cuban sandwiches. 

Recipe: Slow-Roasted Puerto Rican Pernil

We guarantee you won't go back to ground beef tacos after making your own al pastor tacos. While the traditional version of these tacos is made on a spit, similar to shwarma, this recipe takes things slightly simpler with a slow cooker. You can use the meat, pork shoulder seasoned with Mexican spices and pineapple, for soft-shelled tacos or it can be used as a protein on a rice bowl or sprinkled on a salad. We love it alongside Mexcian street corn and garnished with lime wedges and freshly chopped cilantro. 

Recipe: Slow Cooker Al Pastor

If you're looking for a stick-to-your-ribs dinner, this pork chop recipe is guaranteed to do the trick. The sauce is filled with umami-rich button mushrooms, garlic, and onions, and it's especially creamy thanks to the addition of double cream. 

For an extra flavor boost, try adding some wild mushrooms, like porcini, or chopped bacon, to the sauce. Your smothered pork chops can be served with noodles, rice, or potatoes and a refreshing bowl of greens.

Recipe: Creamy Smothered Pork Chops

Apples are the standard pairing for pork, but this recipe utilizes another sweet addition: peaches. The fruit is subdued with a blend of spices and seasonings like Thai chili pepper, ginger, vinegar, and a shallot, so it takes on a tangy flavor that accents the pork well. Plus, the base of peppery, bright arugula will keep this meal balanced and brimming with exciting flavors. 

This seared pork keeps well for several days in the refrigerator. That makes it perfect for meal prepping and the lingering taste of summer throughout the week.

Recipe: Seared Pork with Peach Chutney

Pork chops are notorious for drying out quickly. But with a sous vide, you'll lock in the moisture of this cut and ensure succulent meat every time. 

For the best color on these chops, we recommend searing them in a pan with butter and thyme after you've pulled them out of the sous vide. You'll also get a sublime, savory flavor that will pair well with roasted potatoes and green beans. 

Recipe: Sous Vide Pork Chops

Pulled pork is a game-day favorite. Not only is the meat so tender, but it's best paired with a favorite barbecue sauce and a soft brioche roll. 

Our pulled pork recipe is made in a slow cooker for about four hours, which means you can prepare it before you leave for the tailgate and make it in bulk to serve all of your football fans. Pair your pulled pork with a crunchy coleslaw, and you'll have the perfect meal for a cold fall day. 

Recipe: Easy Pulled Pork

You might be familiar with jerk chicken, but have you ever considered using that seasoning for other meats? It's the perfect match for pork because it ties Caribbean flavors like Scotch bonnet peppers and pimento berries (allspice) with a familiar American classic. 

For the best flavor, marinate your pork overnight before grilling it on a pan or outdoor grill until crisp. You should also let the meat rest after cooking to ensure all those flavors are soaked in the soft meat. 

Recipe: Jerk-Marinated Pork Chop

Bowls are our go-to for dinner and lunch. This rendition is paired with Asian flavors like lemongrass, ginger, and peanut, all mixed together with freshly chopped veggies and warm white rice. The pork itself is made with ground meat, cooked and seasoned in a simple skillet before being assembled in the bowls. 

If you're making this as a meal prep, store the rice and the pork together and garnish with sauce and fresh veggies right before eating. It's a customizable crowd-favorite that is a great addition to your meal rotation. 

Recipe: Thai Ginger Pork Bowls

This recipe is a Japanese version of fried pork loin that can be sliced and used for bowls, sandwiches, or atop a warm bowl of curry. The key to getting the perfect texture on the outside of your pork loin is to use panko breadcrumbs and only panko breadcrumbs. These flakes will absorb less oil during frying, which means they will come out with the perfect crunchy texture every time.

We recommend serving the tonkatsu with tonkatsu sauce, which you can find at your local Asian or international market. It's a sweet and tangy condiment made with fruits and veggies, as well as punchy spices like ginger and cloves. Dress both the meat and cabbage with this sauce for the full eating experience.

Recipe: Crispy Pork Loin Tonkatsu (Rosu Katsu)

Apple cider and pulled pork are quintessential fall delights. But paired together, you'll get a flavorful, juicy pork dish perfect for filling sandwiches or serving over rice. 

The key to smoking this meat is to cook it low and slow, which allows the fat to render and the collagen to break down. You'll also need to spray the meat every two hours as it smokes to keep it moist, which means this isn't a protein you can just walk away from. The cooking time takes upwards of nine hours, and you'll also need to allocate about an hour for the meat to rest. It's not easy, but the caliber of fall-off-the-bone pork you get will be well worth it. 

Recipe: Apple Cider Smoked Pulled Pork

If you find yourself spending too much money on Chipotle carnitas, it's about time that you learn to make your own. This recipe is made with pork shoulder, loin, or leg roast, cooked in a slow cooker with orange slices, orange juice, onions, and stock until juicy and soft. After your carnitas have been shredded, you can add them to your tacos or rice bowls or serve them on burger buns with coleslaw. 

Recipe: Slow Cooker Carnitas

Cuban sandwiches are a bite of multiculturalism sandwiched between soft, sweet Cuban rolls. There are two kinds of pork used in this recipe: pork butt and deli ham. 

The sandwich is assembled with layers of the two types of meat, Swiss cheese, mustard, and pickles, before being pressed and cooked on a panini press. If you have leftover roast pork, you can put it in the fridge for other recipes like rice bowls or burritos or have Cuban sandwiches throughout the week. 

Recipe: All-Out Cuban Sandwich

We're a big fan of one-pot (or pan) meals for busy weeknight dinners. This wholesome meal is made with thick-cut pork chops, slathered in honey mustard, and baked with reg onion, potatoes, carrots, and parsnips. 

Once the chops have been seared in a pan and the veggies parboiled, everything is added to a sheet pan and tucked in the oven for about 25 minutes. Serve the meal hot and store the leftovers in your fridge for up to three days.

Recipe: Honey Mustard Sheet Pan Baked Pork Chops

This pork steak recipe has a bite of Asian flavor from hoisin sauce, grated ginger, and five-spice powder, making it an exciting addition to your dinner rotation. You can marinate the meat in the sauce for about thirty minutes before plopping it on the grill — just be sure to avoid overcooking to prevent drying the loin steak out. We recommend serving this steak with garlic or sesame mashed potatoes, but you could also use it as an accompaniment to rice or noodles too. 

Recipe: Sticky Hoisin Pork Steak

Braising is our favorite way to prepare pork because it keeps the meat soft and flavorful and can be made in the oven with ease. This Asian-inspired rendition uses miso paste and hot mustard powder to impart a unique, bright flavor to the meat. It can be served with rice and pickled veggies or used as a protein for your favorite bowl of pork ramen or lettuce wrap.

Recipe: Miso-Mustard Braised Pork Butt

Move over apples; there's an even better fruity pork combo in town. This recipe is not only made with whole chunks of pineapple but it's also seasoned with a few cups of pineapple juice. The loin is baked over the pineapple and onion pieces and served with a fruity sweet-and-sour sauce made with fruit juice, brown sugar, vinegar, and soy sauce. Pineapple pork loin can be served with many different side dishes, including white or seasoned rice. 

Recipe: Pineapple Pork Loin

If you have leftover apples from your autumnal festivities, consider making them into chutney stuffing for these pork chops. The apple pieces pair well with the soft, succulent pork chops. Plus, you'll love having these leftovers for lunches throughout your busy week. 

You can find all of the ingredients for this recipe at your local grocery store, including the garam masala, bay leaves, cinnamon, and cumin. This recipe pairs well with a Chardonnay, Riesling, or sparkling pinot noir and a side starch of rice or mashed potatoes. 

Recipe: Apple Chutney-Stuffed Pork Chops

Hold on to the lingering flavors of summer with these pesto pork chops. For this recipe, you can use store-bought pesto and buy extra basil leaves to accent your plate. Mix the pesto with a splash of oil and use it to marinate your meat before cooking for a few minutes in a skillet. Serve your pork chop with rice or mashed potatoes, and don't forget to add an extra sprinkle of freshly grated Parmesan cheese on top as well. 

Recipe: Pesto Pork Chops

Italian flavors meet pork chops with this uniquely marinated recipe. It's made with homemade pesto, which includes toasted pine nuts, basil, parsley, Parmesan, and oil, enveloped around thick-cut pork chops. This cut is baked on a sheet with vine tomatoes and asparagus for an easy one-pan meal that can be enjoyed up to three days after. We love that you get the pesto's fresh flavor and the produce's sharpness in every bite.

Recipe: Pesto-Marinated Pork Chops

The flavors in this pork shoulder recipe will transport you straight to the Philippines. First, the pork is marinated with adobo seasoning for at least an hour. Then, it's cooked down in a Dutch oven with the remaining sauce. Each bite of juicy pork is mixed with tropical bites of mango salsa. For a delicious and unique dinner, serve your meal with cilantro, rice, and lime wedges. 

Recipe: Filipino Pork Adobo with Mango Salsa

These chipotle-adobo pork chops are the perfect recipe to pull out when it's still warm enough to use the grill. Each chop is covered with canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce mixed with lime juice and garlic. This pepper variety imparts a spicier flavor to this cut, which is perfect when paired with the smoky nature of the grill. After letting the meat rest for a little while, you can serve it with Mexican street corn or seasoned rice.  

Recipe: Chipotle-Adobo Pork Chops

Why order takeout when you can make it yourself? This pork fried rice recipe is made with minced pork combined with chopped veggies and leftover rice. It's essential that the rice you use for this recipe is old because it has less moisture and will get to the perfect Chinese restaurant-level fried rice you crave. Besides using this as a side dish for other Asian recipes, you can make this the centerpiece of your meal or as a filling for lettuce wraps or taco shells.

Recipe: Pork Fried Rice

Pork shanks are a great special-occasion recipe, especially when they're made with the leftover tomatoes from your summer harvest haul. Since the fruits are broiled, they bring a unique sweetness that is bound to complement the red wine used in the recipe. The sauce is also made with a unique ingredient, chili crisp, along with a hefty serving of butter and balsamic vinegar. 

This recipe is a whole meal in itself, especially when combined with the tomatoes. You can also serve the dish with mashed potatoes if you want a more filling starch accompaniment. 

Recipe: Garden Tomato Pork Shanks

You might think there's no purpose for the shelf-stable Parmesan cheese you buy in the Italian aisle at the grocery store. But for this air-fryer parmesan pork chop, the dry cheese is preferable. It's a kid-friendly dish that you can make in just over 10 minutes in your tabletop appliance. And when you're ready to crisp up your chops again for lunch, pop them back into the air fryer for five minutes. 

Recipe: Air Fryer Parmesan-Crusted Boneless Pork Chop

A cold fall day is perfect for a warm bowl of soup. These dumplings are stuffed with a medley of seasoned pork, green onions, and aromatics. And since these dumplings are relatively small, a single pound of pork can make enough dumplings for you to freeze and store them for a busy weeknight dinner idea. Plus, these dumplings utilize store-bought wrappers, which saves you a ton of time (and, frankly, agony). 

Recipe: Pork and Chive Dumplings in Garlic-Miso Broth

Gone are the days of standing over the stove cooking your pork chops. The cuts are seasoned with maple syrup, oil, balsamic, and garlic sauce, so it's relatively versatile and easy to throw together. 

The exact cooking time will depend on how thick your chops are, so it's best to use a thermometer to determine when to pull your meat out of the air fryer. You can use the leftover meat for sandwiches or serve it with roasted veggies or rice. Dinner couldn't be any easier. 

Recipe: Air Fryer Pork Chops

For those unfamiliar, larb is a classic Thai meat salad made with mince and seasoned with an aromatic blend of lemongrass, lime, and ginger. Each wrap is stuffed with a blend of toasted glutinous rice, which has been blended down into a powder. 

You can top it with extra chilis for a strong spice profile or stick to the crunchy cabbage, mint, and cilantro that are used as a garnish. Larb is traditionally served in little gem lettuce, which is a light vessel for these flavorful wraps. 

Recipe: Thai Pork Larb

Pork spare ribs are some of the best appetizers to serve — especially when you get to lick the sauce off your fingers afterward. You can use St. Louis-style or baby back ribs for this recipe. 

To remove some of the gamey taste of the pork, we recommend boiling the ribs in coffee granules and sake to pull out some of that astringent flavor. The barbecue sauce for these ribs is amped up with some tasty additions like gochujang (Korean chili paste), garlic, sesame oil, and ginger. 

Recipe: Spicy Oven-Baked Pork Spare Ribs

Ribs are a classic barbecue food, and with this recipe, you can make them in your home kitchen. The ribs are smoked at a low temperature until flavorful before being finished off on the grill. Our favorite part about this recipe is the upgraded sauce, which is made with classic BBQ sauce, Worcestershire, apple cider vinegar, and a hint of brown sugar. You can't get more homestyle than that. 

Recipe: Smoked Country-Style Ribs

There are tons of opportunities to play around with taco filling. If you're looking to step up your taco game, try filling it with smoked pork tacos. The meat has been cooked on the smoker for about three hours until it's tender before being sliced and stuffed into corn tortillas with homemade guacamole, cilantro, pineapple, and radishes. It's crunchy, fresh, and a light filling for your taco night. 

Recipe: Smoked Pork Tacos

Pork chops can be dry and unappetizing, but when paired with a delicious sauce, the dessert can be taken up to a new level. This recipe pairs a crisp, pan-seared chop with a creamy sauce made with apples, parsnips, sage, and thyme. It's creamy, herbaceous, and something that will leave you wanting to lick the plate afterward. You can serve this recipe for a special date night or for a regular weeknight meal.

Recipe: Pan-Seared Pork Chops With Parsnip-Apple Purée

Lettuce wraps are the perfect light lunch idea for the week. We love adding ground pork to our lettuce wraps because it's distinctively fatty, contrasting the crunchiness of the lettuce, chopped peppers, and carrots. 

Top your wraps with toasted cashews and a squirt of siracha, and you'll have a spicy, textural meal that you can enjoy with a side of rice or on its own. If you're meal-prepping this for the week, we recommend storing the meat and the veggies separately to ensure the wraps are crunchy, even two days later. 

Recipe: Ground Pork Lettuce Wraps

Instant Pots are designed to make life easier, including when you have to make pork tenderloin. This kitchen appliance allows you to scale up the recipe to cook for a crowd and only requires one pot, so the cleanup is minimal. 

To develop a crisp on the outside of the meat, you're going to want to sear it on the "hot" setting for five minutes before adding your aromatics and broth to allow it to cook through. You can even make gravy in the pot after you've pulled the meat out to rest. Your Instant Pot pork tenderloin is best served with green beans and rice, but it can also be a good staple to add to your meal prep boxes. 

Recipe: Instant Pot Pork Tenderloin

"I want my baby back, baby back, baby back..." We all know the song. Now is the time to put your cooking skills to work and whip up some baby back ribs. 

Since you're making these ribs at home, you can amp up the spice to your liking or leave them marinated overnight for more flavor. When you're ready to bake, wrap the ribs in foil and bake for a few hours before taking it to the grill to finish the meat. 

Recipe: Baked And Grilled Baby Back Pork Ribs

Your slow cooker can be used for so many dishes, including this warm pork chili verde. The homemade sauce is made with broiled tomatillos, jalapeños, and poblanos, which gives the pork a strong, piquant flavor. Combined with onions and cilantro, you'll get a bit of heat in every bite. You can eat the shredded pork shoulder with cheese and sour cream or stuffed into a burrito with rice and beans.

Recipe: Pork Chili Verde

A cold, rainy fall day can be made abundantly better with a bowl of chili. This chili is super protein-dense and made with both beef and pork belly for a punch of meaty flavor. Plus, you'll get the fibrous boost from mushrooms, carrots, and tomatoes folded in. Serve your chili in a bowl topped with cheese and sour cream, or spoon it into baked potatoes for a wholesome meal. 

Recipe: Paleo Beef and Pork Chili