If mediterranean flavors are your thing then you will love souvlaki. Simply translated to “meat on skewers”, Souvlaki is a lemony, herby greek version of a classic meat kebab.
Traditionally, souvlaki is made with pork, but you can easily swap it out for boneless chicken, beef or lamb in this recipe.
A marinade of olive oil, fresh lemon juice, dijon and red wine vinegar is generously seasoned with freshly ground black pepper, greek oregano, rosemary, paprika and sea salt and once the pork has married into those fabulous flavors, we are going to thread it onto skewers and grill to sweet, caramelized perfection.
Let’s get started…
Begin by trimming the silver skin off of 2 pounds of pork tenderlion. The silver skin is that super thin layer of connective tissue found running along side your tenderlion. It will not melt away like fat usually does, so it is best to remove it.
Cut the tenderlion in half lengthwise and then slice little medallions that are about 1 inch wide and 1/2 in thick out of each strip. Use the texturized side of a meat tenderizer to pound each piece once. We aren’t trying to make the pieces super thin, but we do need to pop a few holes into each piece to allow the maximum amount of marinade to be incorporated.
Transfer all of the pork into a large bowl and set it aside while we create the marinade…
The spice blend we are creating is best made using a mortar and pestle with whole peppercorns and coarse sea salt, but if you do not have one, we can work around this step.
With a mortar and pestle, add 1 teaspoon of whole peppercorns into the mortar and grind until you no longer sea whole peppercorns. Add 2 teaspoons of coarse sea salt and grind until both are fine in texture. Add 2 teaspoons of dried greek oregano, 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary and 1 teaspoon of paprika and grind until everything is evenly distributed and smelling fantastic.
If you do not have a mortar and pestle, combine 1 teaspoon of black pepper, 2 teaspoons of kosher salt, 2 teaspoons of dried greek oregano, 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary and 1 teaspoon of paprika in a small dish.
Now that your spice blend is ready, add 1/3 cup of a neutral oil, 4 finely minced cloves of garlic, 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of dijon mustard into the pork and massage until every piece is coated.
Add the spice blend and mix until everything is evenly distributed and let the pork sit at room temperature for 60 minutes or cover and chill for up to 12 hours.
A few notes before we start grilling…
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- If you ended up chilling the pork, let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before grilling.
- If you are using bamboo skewers, soak them in water for 30 minutes so they don’t burn.
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Thread the pork pieces onto your skewers leaving an inch or two at the end to grab onto when the skewers need flipping.
Set your skewers off to the side and place a flat skillet or grill pan over medium to medium heat.
Grill the skewers for 3-4 minutes per side brushing with the leftover marinade before flipping. The souvlaki is done when all sides are caramelized and the internal temperature reaches 145 degrees.
Take a look at that beautiful caramelized pork. It is so inviting and tastes even better than it looks. Trust me…
There is so much flavor in this souvlaki. The oil based marinade helps to keep everything nice and juicy and the spice blend really drives home those mediterranean flavors.
Grilling the skewers over a nice, hot grill pan helps to caramelize the edges making them beautifully crisp and chewy.
The crisp outer edges and the tender meat inside make souvlaki one of my favorite pork preparations.
Souvlaki is best accompanied by some juicy tomatoes, thinly sliced red onions, some lemon wedges and tzatziki sauce. The pork can be enjoy straight off the skewer, over a bed of greens or in a pita.
Kalí órexi!
Greek Souvlaki
Ingredients
- 2 - 2 1/2 pounds of pork tenderlion
- 1 teaspoon of whole peppercorns
- 2 teaspoons of sea salt
- 2 teaspoons of dried greek oregano
- 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon of paprika
- 1/3 cup of a neutral oil
- 4 cloves of garlic, finely minced
- 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon of dijon mustard
Instructions
- Add a teaspoon of whole peppercorns into a mortar and crush until fine. Add 2 teaspoons of sea salt and crush until incorporated into the peppercorns. Add 2 teaspoons of dried Greek oregano, 1 teaspoon of rosemary and 1 teaspoon of paprika and crush until completely combined. Set aside for now.
- Cut the pork tenderloin into 1 inch pieces and lightly pound each piece with a meat tenderizer and transfer into a large bowl
- Add 1/3 cup of a neutral oil, a tablespoon of dijon mustard, 4 cloves of finely minced garlic, 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of dijon mustard and massage until all of the pork is coated
- Add the seasoning mixture and mix until evenly distributed
- Let the pork marinade at room temperature for 60 minutes or chill for up to 12 hours
- Thread the marinaded pieces of pork onto soaked bamboo skewers or metal skewers
- Grill over medium to medium high heat for 3-4 minutes per side until caramelized on the outside and cooked through with an internal temperature of 145 degrees
- Serve with sliced tomatoes, red onions, lemon wedges and tzatziki sauce
