Five Easy & Delicious Pork Marinades

Did you know that a simple marinade can add amazing flavour to your next pork meal?

From the loin portion of the pork comes pork chops, pork loin roasts, and pork tenderloin.  The loin is the leanest part of the pork and the meat is flavourful & lean.  With minimal marbling, these cuts can dry out when cooking. 

A few ways to minimize the loss of moisture from the pork loin:

• keep the fat on the cut while cooking; you may be tempted to trim the fat cap off your pork loin roast or trim off the fat around your pork chop - leave it on while cooking so the fat can lend moisture to the lean meat
• consider brining - soaking your pork in a water & salt bath can add moisture to your meat; for a simple brine recipe check out this pork chop recipe
• marinating - add moisture to the pork by allowing it to marinate for a few hours before cooking; ideally marinate overnight or for a minimum of an hour

We recently tested FIVE pork marinade recipes head to head.  With a kitchen full of pork chops, we crafted five different marinades, allowed the chops to marinade all day, then cooked them on the grill.

The marinades added tons of flavour and moisture to the chops.  The kids cleaned up their plates in no time!

At the end of the taste test, we all had a different favorite!

Best way to marinate:

A marinade works best when it can get soaked up by the meat on all sides.  You can use a shallow baking dish for marinating.  Pour the marinade into the baking dish, then add your meat.  Flip the meat so that all sides are coated in marinade.  Cover the dish and refrigerate.  To ensure all sides get coated in marinade, you will need to flip the meat periodically to coat all sides.

I prefer to use a large zippered freezer bag for marinating.  Fill the freezer bag with the marinade, then add the meat to the bag.  Squeeze out as much air as you can as you seal the bag.  Then squish the marinade around in the bag to coat all sides of the meat.  Set the bag on a plate or into a shallow dish to collect any spills that may happed, then tuck into the fridge for the marinating time.  I find this method works best to ensure the most contact time of the marinade to the meat.

Length of time for Marinating:

For best results, try to marinate your meat the night before you plan to cook it.  Giving your meat 12 to 24 hours to marinate will help to tenderize the meat and infuse the flavours.  If you are short on time, even an hour of marinating will make a difference.

Here's the five pork marinade recipes.  The marinades can be used to marinate 4 to 6 pork chops, 1 pork loin roast, or a couple of pork tenderloins.

For each of the marinade recipes, mix all the ingredients in a small bowl, then use them to marinate your pork.

PORK MARINADE RECIPES

 Honey Mustard Marinade

• 4 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons dijon
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced

Rosemary Garlic Marinade

• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon rosemary (dried or fresh)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced

Italian Marinade

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon honey, melted
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon each dried thyme, oregano, and basil
• 1/2 teaspoon reach salt & pepper 

Sweet & Spicy Marinade

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons soya sauce
• 1 tablespoons worcestershire
• 1 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon each salt & pepper

Honey Garlic Marinade

• 4 tablespoons honey, melted
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons soya sauce
• 3 cloves garlic, minced

Instructions for all marinades:

Whisk all ingredients in a small to medium bowl.  Pour marinade into a zipper large freezer bag or into a shallow baking dish.  Add meat to the bag/container.  Flip meat around to coat marinade on all side.  Seal bag and remove as much air from the bag in the process.  If using a shallow dish, cover the dish with a lid or plastic wrap.  Move marinating meat to the fridge to marinate overnight or for a minimum of 1 hour.