This Pork Kebab recipe comes together quickly (and can be adapted to a broiler/toaster oven–if you don’t own an Air Fryer). Boneless pork ribs are quickly marinated in a Polynesian flavored sauce. The vegetables and fresh pineapple are a perfect accompaniment with these kebabs. An Air Fryer does a great job of charring meat and vegetables and is perfect during hot weather. No oven to heat up the kitchen! This recipe would also work with chicken. It’s delicious!
The more recipes I make with our Air Fryer, the more I appreciate how handy this appliance is. There’s no preheating the oven (yay, for hot days) and food cooks very quickly. I found this recipe in America’s Test Kitchen’s “Air Fryer Perfection” cookbook.
The recipe looked simple enough to make. I had fresh cut pineapple I picked up at Trader Joe’s. All I need to buy was boneless country-style pork ribs. Done!
One of my favorite ways to enjoy fresh vegetables is when they are grilled. I am so impressed with how easily an Air Fryer accomplished a flavorful char. Let’s start with the marinade:
Grate fresh garlic and ginger. My favorite tool to grate small items is this grater. Microwave the garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes and oil in a large bowl. Next, add 2 pieces of the pineapple to the mixture. I found that mincing the fresh pineapple was easier than just mashing it with a fork (per the original recipe).
To that mixture add ketchup, cider vinegar, pineapple juice (I used the juice that was in the cut-up pineapple container), brown sugar, and soy sauce (I always use low-sodium). Add the pork (or chicken) and evenly coat. Set that aside.
Cut the bell pepper, onion and fresh pineapple into a bowl and coat with remaining olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
There are so many models of Air Fryers to choose from! My Air Fryer has two baskets. I like that model so I can cook two different items at the same time. Otherwise, I split one recipe into two baskets, if necessary. My baskets are a bit narrower, so it was necessary to cut the skewers to fit.
The beauty of this Air Fryer is that pre-heating isn’t necessary. I appreciate the non-stick insert that separates drippings. The first thing to do is air fry the vegetable/pineapple skewers for about 5 minutes.
Flip them over and then set the pork skewers on top– at an angle (I couldn’t do it perpendicular because the basket isn’t wide enough). Air Fry the pork for 12-15 minutes.
Would you look at that char?! It’s a thing of beauty. This took less than 15 minutes.
Dinner was ready in 30 minutes. Rice would be a perfect side dish, but I’m watching my carbs. I decided to make an Asian-themed cucumber salad.
This recipe is for two servings, but it can easily be doubled. Let’s eat!
TASTING NOTES: My Air Fryer is getting a lot of use, lately. On days when the kitchen is hot, I don’t want to turn on the oven. Why bother, when an Air Fryer can bake, roast and broil so easily? We really enjoyed this recipe. I want to make this recipe with chicken (dark and white meat) and a lot more veggies.
I’m not drinking much alcohol nowadays to maintain my weight loss. Otherwise, this Malibu Mai Tai Cocktail would go perfectly with this meal.
Air-Fryer Polynesian Pork Kebabs with Pineapple and Onion
Equipment
- wooden skewers 6" or cut to fit your air fryer basket
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil divided
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1½ teaspoons grated fresh ginger
- ¼ teaspoons red pepper flakes
- 1½ cups fresh pineapple 1-inch pieces; divided
- ¼ Cup pineapple juice
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 4 teaspoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons packed brown sugar
- 12 ounces boneless country-style pork spare ribs trimmed and cut into 1½-inch pieces
- 1 red bell pepper stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1½-inch pieces
- 1 small red onion halved and cut through root end into 6 equal wedges
- Salt and pepper
- 5 6-inch wooden skewers
Instructions
Before You Begin:
- At the meat counter, country-style ribs can have widely varying proportions of light and dark meat; be sure to choose those with a greater amount of dark.
For the quick marinade:
- Microwave 4 teaspoons oil, garlic, ginger, and pepper flakes in large bowl until fragrant, about 30 seconds, stirring once halfway through. Finely mince 2 pineapple pieces and mash with fork until mostly smooth. Add to the bowl. Stir in ketchup, soy sauce, cider vinegar and sugar. NOTE: I added any remaining pineapple juice into the marinade. Taste and adjust to your liking.Add pork and toss to coat; set aside.
Thread the veggies and pineapple:
- Toss remaining pineapple, bell pepper, and onion with remaining 2 teaspoons oil in separate bowl and season with salt and pepper. Thread 1 piece of onion onto wooden skewer. Thread one-third of pineapple and bell pepper onto skewer, followed by second piece of onion. Repeat skewering remaining vegetables and pineapple with 2 more skewers. Arrange skewers in air-fryer basket, parallel to each other and spaced evenly apart. Place basket in air fryer, set temperature to 400 degrees, and cook for 5 minutes.
Thread the pork:
- Meanwhile, thread pork evenly onto remaining 2 skewers. Flip and rotate pineapple-vegetable skewers, then arrange pork skewers on top, perpendicular to pineapple-vegetable skewers. Return basket to air fryer and cook until pork registers 140 degrees and vegetables are crisp-tender, 12 to 16 minutes, flipping and rotating pork skewers halfway through cooking.
- Serve with cooked rice as a side dish. (I made an Asian Cucumber Salad.)
Notes
Nutrition
Calls for 2 TBS Apple cider vinegar, but nowhere in the recipe mentions it. Where does the Apple Cider Vinegar go?? It’s 2 TBS. That’s a lot to leave out.