Veg and Pork Tenderloin Stir Fry

This is my veggie-packed, slightly sweet and slightly sour pork tenderloin stir fry. It is another dish in my series of quick, healthy, and Chinese-inspired weeknight dinners.

After I made this dish for the first time, I could NOT stop thinking about it. It started off as a “throw random ingredients into a pot for dinner” type of meal, but somehow turned into a flavor profile that reminded me of sweet and sour pork (but much better)! 

I’ve been documenting all my weeknight Chinese-inspired recipes, and this one fits the bill perfectly. It’s a one pan meal, having both protein and veggies, coming together in ~30 minutes, and it can be enjoyed by itself or over a hot bowl of rice or noodles. Now, let’s get into the most important notes of the recipe! 

Ingredients: 

Pork Tenderloin – One of my favorite cuts of pork, pork tenderloin is a small ~2.5” wide by 12” long strip of super tender meat. It’s important that you buy pork tenderloin and NOT pork loin. The loin is much larger and should be cooked differently. 

Pork Marinade – The marinade ingredients include soy sauce, sugar, and salt. I slightly velvetize the pork by adding water and cornstarch, a classic Chinese trick used to tenderize meat slightly. You can skip the cornstarch and water if you want since pork tenderloin is already so tender. It’s more important to keep the cooking time short. 

Vegetables – I use a combination of broccoli, zucchini, carrots, and spinach. I cook the broccoli, carrots, and zucchini at the same time, so it’s important to cut them into sizes where they finish cooking around the same time. If you decide to substitute other veggies, just keep this in mind. 

Sauce – There are 2 components to the sauce:

• The sauce that’s made from the cooked down tomatoes + shallots
• The savory soy + rice vinegar + sugar + salt + chili oil mixture that adds another layer of depth

Other dishes in my Chinese inspired weeknight dinner series:

Private chef tips:

• DO NOT overcook the pork tenderloin
  • I learned how to cook pork tenderloin in stir fries from my dad, and even to this day, he still harps on the point that “it’s hard NOT to overcook the pork tenderloin, and you MUST stop cooking immediately once the color has changed.”
  • It doesn’t matter how much you velvetize your pork – if you overcook it for several minutes, it’s going to be chewy and tough. Watch your pork closely when you stir fry and remove from the heat right as it changes color. It’s really not that hard as my dad thinks, just pay attention 🙂 
• “Sweat” your tomatoes and shallots
  • The oil, tomatoes, shallots, and salt turn into the sauce for this dish. Don’t be afraid to add a generous amount of oil here, or else you’ll end up with a watery sauce that isn’t emulsified. Plus, since this pork tenderloin is quite lean, the oil you add to the tomatoes and shallots will be the only fats in the dish. 
• Always taste and adjust seasoning at the end. 
  • I usually call for adding a pinch of salt to the pan whenever you add new unseasoned ingredients, but you always want to taste the final product at the end and add more salt or black pepper if it feels like it’s missing something. Salt is a critical ingredient to bring out all the flavors, and it’s a common mistake for home cooks to undersalt.

FAQ – Veg and Pork Tenderloin Stir Fry

Step by Step Instructions:

Before cooking:

1. Prepare the vegetables – slice the zucchini, julienne the carrot, and prep the broccoli into small 1” pieces. Place them on a large plate or in a bowl. Also slice the shallot and set this aside in a separate bowl.

2. Slice the pork into very thin, ⅛” thick pieces. 

3. Add porks to a bowl and marinate in 1 teaspoon of cornstarch, 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1 tablespoon of water, and 1 tablespoon of soy sauce. Mix very well, then set aside and marinate while you work on the sauce. 

4. Make the sauce by combining all the ingredients (details listed in the recipe below) in a bowl or jar.

Cooking Steps:

1. Heat a large pan on medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of neutral oil, then add the marinated pork tenderloin. Cook and stir fry for 2-3 minutes, or until the pork is barely cooked through. It’s OK if there are still some pieces that don’t look cooked through – it will finish cooking later. 

2. Remove the pork from the pan (this can be the same bowl it was marinating in, as you WILL COOK THIS AGAIN).

3. To the same pan, add 2 more tablespoons of oil, the sliced shallots, cherry tomatoes, and a large pinch of salt. Cover and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes.

4. After 5 minutes, remove the lid and the tomatoes should be soft enough to “burst” open. If the tomatoes are still a bit hard, cook for another 3-4 minutes. Use the back of a spatula to burst all the tomatoes. Give everything a good mix, then add in all the vegetables and another large pinch of salt. Cover and cook for another 3 minutes on medium heat. 

5. Add in 2 handfuls of spinach, the pork, and the sauce, and cover for another 2 minutes. 

6. Taste, adjust seasoning with more salt and pepper as desired, then serve (this goes great with rice or noodles)!

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