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Healthy Pork Main Dish Recipes

Find healthy, delicious pork main dish recipes including pork chops, tenderloin and pulled pork. Healthier recipes, from the food and nutrition experts at EatingWell.

Apple-&-Leek-Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

Pork, Apple & Miso Noodle Soup

Apple-&-Fennel Roasted Pork Tenderloin

Cider-Brined Pork Chops

Healthy Recipes with Pork & Apples

Pork’s mild, unobtrusive flavor pairs perfectly with the sweet and slightly sour flavor of apples. Apples are meltingly tender when cooked, which is a nice complement to roasted pork tenderloin and pork chops. These healthy recipes with pork and apples are satisfying meals that are especially tasty in the fall when apples are in season. Try our Apple-&-Leek-Stuffed Pork Tenderloin or Pork, Apple & Miso Noodle Soup for a satisfying, flavorful pork dinner.

Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder with Tequila Citrus Sauce

Pork shoulder makes a wonderful roast because it has enough fat to keep it moist and tender during low and slow cooking. The citrus sauce has a smoky, agave sweetness from the tequila and produces a bright counterpoint to the unctuous meat. Serve any extra sauce for dipping.

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Sausage-Spiked Meatloaves

This Italian meatloaf riff uses sausage to boost its flavor. When you're already cooking meatloaf, it's not much more effort to prep a second meatloaf. The extra one makes a delicious day-after meal (see Tip for ideas for the leftovers) or freeze it for another time.

Slow-Cooker Clams with Bacon, Leeks & White Wine

Yep, you can make slow-cooker clams--and they're absolutely delicious! Savory bacon enriches this broth while white wine permeates the entire dish. Serve the remaining wine to guests with dinner. Don't skip out on the bread! There's much satisfaction to be had in sopping up the broth with a toasted baguette.

Slow-Cooker Shrimp & Chorizo Paella

Paella is an iconic Spanish dish made with rice, seasonings and various meats or seafood, depending on the paella type. Our slow-cooker paella recipe features shrimp, brown rice, turmeric, a host of vegetables and Spanish chorizo--not to be confused with Mexican chorizo, which isn't dried or cured like the Spanish variety.

Spicy Noodles with Pork, Scallions & Bok Choy

These spicy noodles are inspired by a Chinese dish called Ants Climbing a Tree, named for the way the small pieces of ground pork (the "ants") cling to the noodles (the "tree"). The twist in these healthy noodles comes from adding vegetables like scallions and bok choy.

Eggs Benedict Casserole

An eggs benedict casserole is not only delicious, hearty and filling, but it also gives you the ingredients and taste you love from eggs Benedict in an easy, make-ahead form. We suggest making the sauce while your casserole cooks and serving the final product with some fresh fruit.

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Penne Pasta with Sausage, Butternut Squash & Chard

Get dinner on the table even faster by using precubed butternut squash in this creamy pasta recipe. Found in the produce section of large grocery stores, the cut butternut is a little bigger than you need here, so you will have to do some chopping--but the peeling and gutting has been done for you. That means this easy healthy dinner takes just 35 minutes to prep. Score!

Chipotle-Glazed Roasted Pork Tenderloin & Grapes

Grape jelly, with its sweet, fruity flavor, matches with the smoke and heat of chipotle to season this oven-roasted pork tenderloin. In addition to the jelly, whole grapes are roasted along with the pork for a one-pan entree that's ready in just 35 minutes.

Egg, Hash Brown & Bacon Breakfast Skillet

This breakfast skillet is reminiscent of the hashbrown bowl at Waffle House. It's filling and tastes decadent, but is still a pretty low-calorie breakfast. Be sure to use a large skillet because although it may seem too big for the amount of ingredients, you need the surface area to get your potatoes crispy (overcrowding your skillet will just steam them).

Grilled Bone-In Pork Chops

Juicy grilled pork chops with a tiny bit of sweetness and a faint hint of spiciness make for an excellent simple dinner main that pairs with practically any side. A simple brine imparts flavor, but mostly keeps the pork chops from drying out; just don't marinate the meat for any longer than 4 hours or it'll soften the texture.

Skillet Pork Chops with Peas, Carrots & Pearl Onions

This superfast one-dish dinner is full of classic flavor and is such a crowd pleaser that you'll want to work it into your regular weeknight dinner rotation. We call for bone-in pork chops to maximize flavor, but boneless pork chops are a fine substitution. To round out this meal a little more, serve with rice or mashed potatoes.

Cheesy Kale & Spinach Stuffed Pork Chops

With a flavor reminiscent of creamed spinach stuffed inside a tender, seasoned pork chop, this dinner is sure to please. To really make this recipe work best, look for center-cut pork chops with a thin rim of fat on the outside edge. Alternatively, if you'd rather not stuff the pork chop, you can just simply serve the cheesy spinach-and-kale mixture alongside the pork.

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Italian Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Vegetables & Quinoa

For the best flavor in this easy roasted pork tenderloin dish, start marinating the pork the night before or get it going before you head off to work in the morning. Then, when you get home, all that's left to do is roast the pork and vegetables and prepare the quinoa for this easy healthy dinner. This recipe makes extra quinoa--use the leftovers as a base for easy meal-prep lunches, salads, stir-fries later in the week.

Paprika Baked Pork Tenderloin with Potatoes & Broccoli

You'd never guess that this elegant meal comes together on just one baking sheet. While the pork rests, whip together an easy red pepper sauce to complete this impressive and healthy dinner. The sauce would also be delicious with chicken. We're willing to bet this easy sheet-pan dinner recipe will go into heavy rotation on your kitchen playlist.

Red Wine-Braised Pork

This basic braised pork shoulder recipe is a great foundation for all sorts of meals. Try it in our creamy cavatelli pasta (see Associated Recipes), stuffed into a sandwich with provolone and peppers or on top of a pizza.

Creamy Cavatelli Pasta with Braised Pork, Shishito Peppers & Basil

Mayonnaise adds great tang and texture to this easy pasta recipe--who knew? Black garlic, which is fermented, offers a sweeter, more mellow flavor than fresh. Find it at well-stocked supermarkets or substitute cloves of roasted garlic.

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Watermelon Panzanella

Typically, panzanella is made with tomatoes and dressing-soaked bread cubes. Here, the salad goes sweet and savory but keeps the same look with ripe watermelon. Spring for your favorite bread--it has a starring role in this dish. Serving the salad with grilled pork tenderloin makes a healthy dinner that's simple enough for weeknights.

Kimchi Pork Burgers

This amped-up burger recipe swaps out beef for ground pork: it gives you similar nutrition (protein, iron, zinc) but has a milder flavor to allow this recipe's bold Asian flavors to sing.

Maple-Mustard Pork with Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Cauliflower

The combination of sweet maple syrup and tangy mustard makes a flavorful marinade for quick-cooking pork loin chops in this healthy dinner recipe. Serve with roasted sweet potatoes and cauliflower for an easy, tasty meal that's ready in under a half an hour (if you marinate the pork ahead of time).

Instant-Pot Mojo Pork

In Cuba, lechon asado (roast pork) is marinated in mojo, a citrus-herb sauce. In this Instant-Pot pork recipe, the pressure cooker infuses similar flavor into pork shoulder. No pressure cooker? Braise the meat in a large pot in a 300 degrees F oven for 4 to 5 hours.