“MMMMM, this is good!” is the common response to this meal. It’s a response like this that ensures that I make again and again. 🙂 This Southwestern Pork Stir Fry can’t be any easier to make. One can literally be ready to start eating in 30 minutes, making it a perfect weekday meal. It’s got everything – protein, vegetables, spice, and lots and lots of flavor. For a really hearty meal, you can serve it with a carbohydrate of your choice. I served it with tortillas (flour or corn), cornbread, rice, or our favorite – creamy polenta (recipe below).
The following recipe serves two with a nice serving leftover for lunch the next day. To serve 4 to 5, just double the recipe and use a bigger skillet. The cook times should remain pretty much the same. It’s that easy!
*See Kitchen Notes for more information and applicable links.
- 1 pound pork loin or any lean pork*, cut into ½” cubes
- ½ tsp. ground cumin
- 1 tsp. red chile powder* – your favorite
- ¼ tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. dried oregano
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- ½ large bell pepper, any color, chopped
- 1 cup corn* (frozen, fresh or canned or ½ pound summer squash, cut into ½” cubes.)
- ½ medium onion, chopped
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced
- ½ cup chopped roasted green chile (or roasted, chopped poblano)
- ¼ cup coarsely chopped green olives
- 1 medium tomato, chopped
- 2 Tbsp. cilantro or parsley, chopped
- Juice from ½ lime
Prep the pork – Combine the cumin, red chile powder, oregano, salt, and garlic powder in bowl. Whisk to mix the spices together. Add the pork and coat all of the pieces with the spice mix. Set aside or in the refrigerator until ready to cook. (This step could also be done the night before or in the morning before you leave for work.)
- Chop and prepare all of your vegetables.
- In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the bell pepper, corn, onion, and garlic. Saute’ for 3 minutes.
Turn the heat to medium high. Add the pork and spread it out across the pan. Cook for 3 minutes, flip the pieces over and cook for 2 more minutes or until pork is just undercooked*.
- Add the green chile, olives, tomato, and fresh herb. Cook for another 1 minute, stirring constantly.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the lime juice.
- Serve with your choice of side.
Pork – I would highly recommended pork loin or tenderloin. The cooking time for the pork is quite short so you want a very lean and tender cut.
Cooking Time for the Pork – Cook the pork for as short a period of time as possible, so it will be tender and juicy, not dry and tough. Therefore, have the cooking heat medium high, you should only need to cook it for only 5 minutes (turning once) before adding the remaining ingredients. If you want to check it, then after 5 minutes, pick out the thickest piece of pork in the skillet and test it. It should be a little undercooked in the middle. If so, then add the rest of the ingredients, cook for 1 more minute and remove from the heat. The pork will continue to cook as long as it’s in the hot skillet. If the meat is already cooked through, remove from the heat, add the remaining ingredients and toss for 1 minute to extract some of the liquid from the tomatoes.
Vegetables – This dish can be made with a variety of vegetables. I usually use corn or yellow squash, mainly for the color. However, broccoli, zucchini, sweet potato, butternut or other vegetables can be used. Just adjust the initial cook time (the time before you add the pork) accordingly for the vegetables you are using. Some vegetables will take longer to cook than others.
Green Chile – Any roasted pepper can be used – New Mexico green or red, poblano, or even a roasted sweet red pepper. The addition of the roasted pepper is more for the “roasted” flavor than the “heat” from the chile; however, a little heat is going to hurt you.
Corn – If using canned corn, add at the end, after the pork
Doubling the Recipe – Just double each of the ingredients. The only ingredients you might need to adjust to taste are the chiles (chile powder and green chile). Test the heat factors before increasing. You’ll also need to use a bigger skillet, one in which you can spread the ingredients out in 1 to 2 layers at the most. If you have a big enough skillet, you should be able to leave the cook times the same. You if don’t have a big enough skillet to spread all of the ingredients out, then you should increase the cook times by a bit and stir more often to ensure everything gets cooked evenly.
Suggested sides: Creamy Polenta, rice, cornbread, or flour tortilla
Creamy Polenta
We use creamy polenta as as much as rice. It’s a wonderful side to serve as a side to a meat entree, a meat stir fry like the southwestern pork, or a base for a greens dish. You can also let it set overnight for fried polenta. Below the recipe, you’ll find links to several dishes in which I use creamy polenta.
*See Kitchen Note for more information.
- 3 cups water*
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ¾ cup coarsely ground cornmeal* (polenta style cornmeal)
- ¼ cup feta, crumbled (optional)
- In a medium size sauce pan, bring the water with the salt to a boil.
- Reduce heat to low and SLOWLY whisk in cornmeal. Cover.
- For the first 5 minutes, stir at least once for during each minute to ensure it doesn’t clump or stick to the bottom of the pot.
- Continue cooking on low, covered, stirring frequently until polenta becomes thick, approximately 15 minutes.
- Add the feta. Stir to combine.
- Remove from the heat and cover until ready to serve. Stir again before serving.
Ratio of water to polenta – You can increase or decrease the quantity of this dish by using the ratio of 1 cup water to 1/4 cup coarse cornmeal.
Polenta – Use a coarse ground cornmeal instead of a fine ground or corn flour. Some products are even called “polenta-style” cornmeal. You can buy a ready-made polenta, but I prefer to make my own because it’s so easy.
Leftovers – If you have leftover polenta, pour it into a pan or glass, refrigerate and let set overnight. Remove, slice and fry over medium-high heat in a non-stick pan with a touch of butter or oil.
This creamy polenta can be served with a variety of dishes. Here are a few suggestions:
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It’s funny, I only ever think to make polenta with Italian dishes. Thanks for helping me think outside the box. Looks delish!!
Thanks Sherri! I’m such a polenta lover that sometimes I serve it as the main dish. 🙂
Ummmmm……Yum! Sorry, that was me drooling for a moment! Love the idea of a sausage dish with creamy polenta, a perfect combo! It looks so delicious, Hugs, Terra
I said sausage, but meant to say pork LOL:-)
I thought I knew a thing or two about stir-fry until I saw this recipe! What a brilliant idea to use Southern spices in a stir-fry dish! This is definitely going to my to-make list. Thank for sharing!
This looks absolutely delicious, MJ – I love the vibrant colours! I quite like pork but I’m not very inventive with it. I’ll genuinely have to try this recipe – I’m sure my hubby would love it 🙂
Lovely! Peach Lady I am really excited to try your creamy polenta recipe. I love feta. 🙂
Wow! This stirfry looks amazing! You inspire me to use more southwestern flavors and what better way to use than in a dish like this! Polenta is the perfect accompaniment! Great post, MJ!
Thanks Bill! I’m so glad that I can inspired you with the flavors of the southwest. They are quite different than the flavors where you are, but I do believe you’d love them.
I know I would agree with Bobby, this looks fantastic! You have so much flavour packed into the dish, MJ. Thanks for sharing and making my mouth water.:)
You are most welcome Nancy! Any time! 🙂 Thanks!
Delicious Stir fry MJ I love it.
Thanks Swathi!
I love such meals that are not just tasty but also quick to fix. Reading the ingredient list, I can imagine how delicious meal this must have been 😀
Thanks Darlin! I love them too. I guess that’s why the husband calls me the queen of quick and easy. 🙂
I must give southwestern a go – is that a bit like Tex Mex? Cheers
Yes, it’s a bit like Tex Mex. Some of the ingredients crossover, but the green chile and red chile powder is more of a New Mexico thing.
My choice of carbs for that one is got to be tortillas
That’s my choice about half of the time as well Raymund. 🙂
I always find something here that I want to make. I can’t eat pork but I would guess chicken would work, as well, and I love the creamy polenta as a side.
Thanks so much Chaya! Yes, this would be great with either chicken or beef.
Mmm, I bet this would be great with a sunny-side egg on it for brunch, too. Fabulous dish.
Oh the egg sounds good! Thanks Carolyn!
I think I would have the same response as Bobby. I love all of the flavors! And I’m sure it went perfectly with polenta. As much as I love it, I don’t make polenta at home that often. Reading this is reminding me that I must make it soon. Lovely dish MJ!
Thanks so much Gomo! This does go great with polenta, but it’s also great with rice and tortilla and probably would be good with noodles. 🙂
Sounds like a really lovely dinner for me.
Thanks Cquek!
I want to try Polenta! I’m a pork person and I would probably say mmmm tooo!!!
Thanks so much Peachy!
Heheh, I love getting feedback like that too from my hubby. It’s funny, often the dishes I work the hardest on getting the quietest responses 🙁 and the throw-togethers (happily my usual technique ;-)) get the most enthusiastic greetings (go figure!). This is a delightful looking meal MJ full of color and lip-smacking delicious ingredients. We tend to serve stir fries of all varieties on cabbage (cole slaw) but I’m thinking the polenta would be a lovely change, especially this time of year when even in California ;o) the temps are dipping a bit and we are craving slightly warmer foods…great idea!
Thanks Kelly! Totally agree about the response to meals. I threw together a quick meal tonight and got the same response, where last night, it took and hour of cooking. About halfway through his meal, Bobby goes “This is pretty good.” 🙂 Stir fry over cole slaw – that sounds interesting. I’ve never done that. I’ll have to give it a try.
Oh, this looks like one quick and amazing meal…from the stir fry to the polenta! Super!
Thanks so much Liz!
A great stir-fry, Tanya. I especially like the inclusion of corn. Those little kernels sure do brighten up a dish and a great taste to the mix. Serving this over polenta is a great idea, too.
Thanks John! The corn not only adds color, but it also a different texture and taste as well.
Love this, especially the feta in the polenta!
Thanks Debra! I use feta a lot in polenta and even grits, but then I love feta. 🙂
Yum! This dish looks so good! I love all the flavors you’ve used here. I’ll have to give this a try!
Thanks Renee! If you do make it, I hope you enjoy it.
Hi Mj,
This looks so delicious! I somehow cook very little pork at home, we do enjoy it though. Will have to give this a shot.
Thanks Asmita! We don’t eat a lot of pork either but when we do, I do enjoy it.
Anther reason why I need to find somebody here who sells pork. So difficult to find MJ, you have no idea. I would make your stir fry every week once for dinner and I know we would be satisfied. =)
Thanks Helene! I forgot about pork and where you live. I bet it is hard to find. You could easily substitute with chicken or beef.
This is a great dish MJ, wholesome and colorful. Perfectly cooked too! I was wondering, can I sub feta with any other cheese in polenta? Better still, can I sub cheese with something else?
Thanks so much Minnie! Yes, you can substitute the feta with just about any cheese of your choice or just leave it out entirely. The cheese does provide some of the creaminess of the finished polenta, so to compensate for leaving it out, add a little more water, or some butter, or a little cream or milk/milk substitute.
I love all the stir-fries (I think that stir-fried food with touches of different ethnic cuisines constitutes 80% of my meals!) and this one looks particularly luscious with the bright colours and the obligatory chile’s presence. I have started to use pork tenderloin in stir-fries some time ago and I find it better because it doesn’t dry as quickly as loin. I have never put corn into my stir-fries though I have canned corn constantly in my pantry (I put it into salads all year round). It sounds like an excellent idea!
Thanks Sissi! I agree that stir fries cross many cultures. It all depends on the seasonings. I usually don’t use corn in stir fries either, but it just works with this particular seasoning and the other ingredients in this dish. Yellow squash also works quite well, but I don’t think you get yellow squash where you are. Like you, I always have corn as well, but it’s usually in the freezer. Have a great weekend!
I do have yellow squash, but have never stir-fried it (usually used in stews). I must try it one day.
Great stir-fry, MJ! Looks delicous.
Thanks so much Viviane!
I love this kind of dishes: quick to make and you have a single course that could save your dinner…
I’ll try it 🙂
Thanks Giulia! This one has saved me many times. 🙂
I love using pork loin and tenderloin! Haha you are funny – I can relate about husband’s response which make me continue making the dish. I like making “guaranteed” dishes like that. It’s easy win!
Thanks Nami! Husbands know what they like and I’m thrilled when it’s so obvious. 🙂 Yep – easy win!
Just looking at that bowl, I would definitely agree with Bobby — MMMMM! 🙂 Bobby is a lucky man to have you cooking these easy but mouthwatering dishes! Well, almost weekend my friend and I wish you both a very good one. 🙂
Thanks so much Ray!! Hope you have a wonderful weekend as well!
Love the idea of taking stir-fry and using Southwestern flavors rather than Asian ones! Brilliant! Anything with pork gets my vote, too – this sounds so delish. Your polenta looks terrific, too. I make mine pretty much the same way as you do. In particular, I don’t stir constantly (as some recipes suggest). You can do that, but you can get away with less, and still have great texture. Really nice meal – thanks.
Thanks John! Well, when your pantry is full of southwestern seasonings, you’re always looking for way to use them. 🙂 I use to have Bobby stand and stir the polenta constantly, then one night when he was here, I tried the intermittent stirring and it worked just fine. I’m with you – the texture works for me. 🙂 Have a great weekend!
What a fantastic stir fry!! Only you can do such beautiful southwest cooking. 🙂
Thanks so much Ramona!