Grilled Honey-Jalapeño Pork Skewers

Photo by Linda Campos / Styled by Catrine Kelty

This is a handy recipe to have in your back pocket. The blended ingredients work double duty as a marinade and a sauce. Reserve half the mixture, zhoosh it up with chopped sweet onion and more cilantro and you’ve got a zesty condiment to spoon over the skewers. Pork tenderloin, boneless loin or boneless country-style ribs are all good choices for a quick pass over the grill. The recipe works equally as well with boneless chicken thighs. It’s a good idea to taste your jalapeños for spiciness and add more or less according to your taste. If you really want to turn up the heat, you can use serrano or habanero peppers instead. When adding the ingredients to the blender, measure the oil before the honey. The “liquid gold” will then slip right out instead of clinging to the measuring spoon.

Serves 4

2 jalapeño peppers, flesh and seeds roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves
1 large bunch cilantro, leaves and stems chopped
1½ teaspoons ground cumin
juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons neutral oil, like avocado or light olive oil, plus more for grilling
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon kosher salt, and more to taste
2 pounds pork loin, tenderloin or boneless country-style ribs, cut into 1½-inch pieces
1 small sweet onion, finely chopped

Place the jalapeño, garlic, half the cilantro, cumin, lime juice, 2 tablespoons oil, honey and 1 tablespoon salt in a blender. Blend on high speed until bright green and smooth.

Place the pork in a shallow ceramic baking dish or in a zip-top bag. Pour over half the marinade and stir to coat all the pieces. Thread the pork onto metal skewers and season with salt. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 3 hours.

Combine the remaining marinade with the rest of the chopped cilantro and the chopped onion and set aside or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Prepare a charcoal grill with a hot side and a cooler side, or turn a gas grill to high on one side and medium on the other. Brush the grill rack to clean it. With a wadded paper towel, quickly brush the grill grates with oil.

Grill pork skewers on high for about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to the cooler side of the grill and cook for about 3–4 minutes more per side for a total of 10–12 minutes cooking time. Serve the skewers with the reserved sauce.

This recipe appeared in the Summer 2024 issue as part of a larger story on Honey.