This easy stir fried pork tenderloin is combined with spinach for a quick weeknight meal. Serve it over rice with extra vegetables on the side.
Whenever I am looking for a quick weeknight meal to throw together on a busy evening, I think of either a frittata or a stir-fry. I always have several pork tenderloins in the freezer and lately my fridge has boasted a bounty of spinach. If you put these two ingredients together and pair it with some rice, you have a healthful meal, full of lean protein and vitamins. Oh yeah, and plenty of flavor.
Pork loves to wallow in marinades of all types. It soaks up any flavor that you choose to bathe it in. Kind of like a pig in mud, right? I was pleasantly surprised by the tenderness of the pork. The key is to cook it until it is just barely pink.
Credit for this recipe goes to Ying Chang Compestine, who was featured in Cooking Light Magazine several years ago, and wrote the book Secrets of Fat-Free Chinese Cooking. I made small adaptations to the recipe.
How to stir fry pork tenderloin
Cut a pork tenderloin into thin slices.
In a medium bowl, combine soy sauce, fresh lemon juice, rice vinegar and cornstarch. Whisk the mixture together.
Add the pork slices. Toss well and set aside to marinate for at least 10 minutes. I marinated it for about 30 minutes. You see that? It's wallowing.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add 1 pound of spinach. Blanch the spinach for about 1 minute, or until the spinach is bright green. Don't overcook or the spinach will become slimy (nope, no other word for it). Drain the spinach and set aside.
Heat a little avocado oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, the ginger, and red pepper flakes (adjust the amount to suit your spice preference). Sauté for about 30 seconds.
Add the pork and marinade. Stir-fry until the pork is just barely pink inside, 3-4 minutes.
Add the spinach, tossing it with the pork, and cook for 1 minute.
Transfer the pork mixture to a serving bowl or platter and sprinkle with a dash of sesame oil. Garnish with sliced green onions and a good shake of toasted sesame seeds.
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Stir-Fried Pork Tenderloin
Ingredients
The marinade
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
- 1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch
The rest
- 1 pound pork tenderloin thinly sliced
- 1 pound fresh spinach washed & stems removed
- 3 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- ¾ teaspoon red pepper flakes (adjust for spice preference)
- 2 green onions thinly sliced
- ¾ teaspoon sesame oil
- Toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
The marinade
- In a medium bowl, combine soy sauce, lemon juice, rice vinegar, and cornstarch. Whisk well. Add the sliced pork and toss well. Set aside to marinate for at least 10 minutes.
The rest
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the spinach. Blanch the spinach for about 1 minute, or until the spinach is bright green. Don't overcook it. Drain the spinach and set aside.
- Heat avocado oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, the ginger, and red pepper flakes. Sauté for about 30 seconds.
- Add the pork and marinade. Stir-fry until the pork is just barely pink inside, 3-4 minutes. Add the spinach, tossing it with the pork, and cook for 1 minute.
- Transfer the pork mixture to a serving bowl or platter and sprinkle with sesame oil. Garnish with chopped green onions and a good shake of toasted sesame seeds. Serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Disclosure: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Debbie Green
This was actually quite good! I didn’t quite use all of the spices. I only used about 2 tablespoons of ginger, which could’ve been more and 3 teaspoons of minced garlic. I don’t think I would’ve added more garlic. It did produce a lot of liquid, though, even though I took out the pork with the tongs before I stirfry it. I took care of that problem by just sprinkling on more cornstarch after the spinach was added and heating that up with the rest of it. It’s very simple, but doesn’t look as appetizing as it should for its taste. Perhaps adding a little bit of colored bell pepper lightly stir fried would help. I’m thinking of adding reconstituted dried shiitake mushrooms next time. I will put it in my repertoire!
Tangled Noodle
Lovely! Now, all it needs is some freshly steamed rice or noodles. Mmmmmm!
Angie's Recipes
Go get some beer with that! Cool to see someone using REAL sesame seed oil.
Ricardo
Looks delicious, well done 🙂 xx Rico|Receitas
redkathy
I usually buy whole pork tenderloins and always have some in the freezer so I'm always looking a new ways to prepare it. Thanks for sharing this one, it looks delicious.
The Food Addicts
Love stir-fry recipes! I went to a Food Expo last weekend and Kikkoman had a booth there. Hehe. I'm having a give-away on my blog, so please check it out!
HannahBanana aka Amanda
My husband would really love this. Pork tenderloin is so nice to work with (and I'm vegetarian!)