Pork kebab marinated with lemon is guaranteed to be soft and tender, much juicier than the classic one.
Cooking pork kebab in lemon is also tempting because of its naturalness, so this method can be considered natural. And the popularity of the recipe is growing from season to season.
Ingredients:
- Meat 1 kg (pork)
- Lemon
- Onions - 2 pcs.
- Peppercorns 5 pieces
- Bay leaf 2 pieces
- Salt to taste
Preparation of pork shish kebab in lemon marinade:
1. Wash the meat and cut into portions.
2. Add salt, pepper, bay leaf and peppercorns.
3. Cut the onions into half rings, but if you plan to then fry the onions along with the kebab, then the onions must be cut into rings. Add it to the meat, mix well and put it under pressure in the refrigerator overnight.
4. Cut the zest from the lemon so that there is no aftertaste and cut into slices.
5. 2 hours before frying the kebab, you can add lemon. If you put it in earlier, the meat may lose its taste. Before skewering, you need to mix the kebab well again.
Pork shashlik recipe with lemon and mayonnaise
Mayonnaise marinade is good because it prevents the meat from drying out during frying and it turns out juicy.
Ingredients:
- Pork - 2 kg
- Lemon - 1 pc.
- Mayonnaise - 250 ml
- Onion - 2 pcs.
- Ground black pepper
How to cook pork kebab in mayonnaise with lemon:
1. Place pork, pre-cut into pieces suitable for frying on skewers, into a pan, add mayonnaise, salt to taste, pepper, lemon juice and onion cut into rings.
Mayonnaise should evenly cover all pieces of kebab, but the meat should not “drown” in mayonnaise.
2. Mix well and leave for 2 hours at room temperature. You can fry it.
Pork shish kebab in lemon juice
Ingredients:
- pork meat - 2 kg
- onion - 500 g
- black pepper - 1 teaspoon
- red pepper - 1 teaspoon
- ground coriander - 2 teaspoons
- dried thyme - 1 teaspoon
- garlic - 5 cloves
- juice from half a lemon
- vegetable oil - 2 tbsp. spoons
- salt - 1 tbsp. spoon
How to marinate pork in lemon juice:
1. Rinse the meat, remove films and cut into pieces.
2. Chop the onion thinly so that it imparts more flavor to the meat.
3. Place meat and onions in a bowl, sprinkle with salt and black pepper, mix thoroughly. Let stand for 15 minutes.
4. Cut the garlic into thin slices, add to the meat, add all the spices, squeeze out lemon juice and add vegetable oil to bind the marinade. It will also be necessary to prevent the shish kebab pieces from burning in lemon juice.
5. Cover the basin with a flat dish and place pressure - a 5-liter canister of water. Leave for 4-6 hours. You can fry it.
We haven’t tried any kind of kebabs, but this year we cooked them for the first time. The kebab turned out great, so I’m happy to share the recipe for it with you. After the step-by-step recipe, I will additionally write other recipes with lemon and onions that will help you prepare juicy, tasty kebab.
The list of ingredients for preparing this kebab is not extensive and consists of spices, onions, lemon and mayonnaise. Each of these components will influence the taste of the kebab in one way or another. The main violin in this pork kebab recipe will, of course, be lemon. Thanks to it, the kebab will become soft, since the acids contained in lemon soften the meat, and the kebab will also acquire light citrus notes.
Onions are no less important in the recipe. If you look at barbecue recipes, you will see that almost all recipes use onions and this is not surprising. Onion juice, just like lemon juice or wine, helps produce soft kebab.
When preparing pork kebab with lemon and onions, you can’t do without spices. It is advisable to use dried spices; in addition, you can add savory, hyssop, thyme, and basil to the marinade. Don't skimp on the spices, there should be a lot of them.
There is a great variety of marinades for barbecue and each has its own flavor. Try cooking kebab with lemon and onions, and perhaps this marinade will become your favorite. Meat marinated without vinegar and lemon ends up with a slight sourness. The main thing is not to overdo it with lemon. The kebab recipe involves using pork neck or ribs; in the second case, the kebab can be fried on a grill or grill grid.
Shish kebab with lemon and onion
The best option is to choose chilled meat for barbecue, but, in extreme cases, defrosted meat will do. The only caveat is that you need to defrost the pork in natural conditions, leaving a plate of meat on the table, or even better, in the refrigerator overnight.
pork shish kebab recipe without vinegar
Ingredients:
- 1.5 kg pork pulp,
- 1 lemon,
- 1 tbsp. Sahara,
- 4 things. onions,
- salt and spices to taste.
Cooking process:
Rinse the piece of pork and dry it with a towel to remove excess water. Be sure to wash the meat with cold, clean water, simultaneously cleaning it from bones and other unnecessary elements. Cut the meat into medium-sized pieces. Then place in a deep saucepan, salt the pieces of pulp. Cut the lemon into several parts. Using your hands, squeeze as much lemon juice as you can onto the kebab and mix with your hands. Add granulated sugar and mix again.
Remove the skins from the onions and cut them into half rings. Add the onions to the pan and stir again. Now add salt to taste (2-2.5 tsp), also spices for barbecue - this can be a regular mixture of ground peppers. Mix everything again, cover the pan and leave at room temperature for an hour, then refrigerate. As you can see, the lemon marinade is very simple.
The meat will be thoroughly marinated in 10 hours. At room temperature the process will go faster, the meat will be ready in 4 hours.
Thread the pork pieces onto skewers.
Fry over coals, avoiding the appearance of flames. To prevent the meat from burning and drying out, the skewers need to be turned periodically. You can also sprinkle the kebab with water from time to time. Some craftsmen pour wine, kvass or beer on the barbecue.
To understand whether the kebab in lemon and onion is ready, you need to make cuts - if the meat is too pink or blood appears, then it is too early to remove the skewers from the grill.
Serve the kebab with sauce, satsebeli is ideal, as well as fresh vegetables and herbs. Bon appetit!
Yulia Smirnykh told how to cook shish kebab with lemon, photo by the author.
Outdoor recreation is traditionally accompanied by cooking barbecue. For this dish, the meat must be soaked in advance; the composition of the marinade determines the further taste of the kebabs and their softness. Pork soaked in onions and lemon juice when fried over a fire turns out tasty and juicy.
To prepare pork skewers marinated in lemon juice, prepare:
Ingredients
- Pork (it is better to select neck tenderloin) - 2 kg
- Onions - 4 pcs.
- Salt - 1.5 tbsp. l.
- Pepper - 0.5 tsp.
- Lemon - 2 pcs.
- 6. Skewers or grill net
Instructions
- First you need to create a marinade. Peel the onions, do not halve them with a longitudinal cut, but cut them into medium-sized rings. Place the onion slices in the pan in which you plan to soak the meat. The lemon is cut into round pieces 0.7-1 cm wide.
The meat is prepared in the most usual way - washed (the water should drain), cut into large pieces (about 5 cm) and placed in a pan. Then pepper and salt future kebabs.
Squeeze the citrus slices into a container, pouring lemon juice over the pork pieces and onions. When these three ingredients react, a natural marinade is formed, without the use of vinegar or other additives. Be sure to mix all layers of food with a spoon or clean hand.
- The pork is infused in the lemon marinade for several hours, so it is better to soak the kebab overnight. If you plan to fry them in the evening, then marinate the pork 6-8 hours in advance. It is advisable to stir every two hours and press down the pieces a little.
- The pieces marinated in lemon juice are put on a skewer, not pressing tightly against each other. It is also advisable to alternate meat pieces with onions.
- After making a fire, wait for the coals to form; they are the ones that provide the necessary heat. Fry pork kebabs, marinated in lemon juice, over coals at a distance of 20-30 cm. Every 5-7 minutes, the skewers must be turned so that the non-fried side of the meat is facing the heat source. From time to time, sprinkle the tops of the pieces with marinade. To do this, pour the juice into a bottle and make a hole in the lid.
- In 30-40 minutes the dish will be ready. Serve kebabs with vegetables or ketchup.
Shish kebab is everyone's favorite picnic dish.
But you can cook it at home: in a kebab grill, in the oven, even in a slow cooker.
Of course, this is not quite the same, but still, you shouldn’t deprive yourself and your family of the pleasure of tasting pork kebab with lemon and onions just because going out into nature is impossible for some reason.
General principles for preparing pork skewers with lemon and onions
To ensure that the dish does not disappoint you, choose the right meat. For juicy and soft pork kebab with lemon and onions, it is better to choose meat from the neck. It is not too greasy and quite soft. But you can buy something else, just remember: good kebab comes from good meat. If you get a tough and unappetizing piece, it is unlikely that you will be able to transform it into a flavorful pork kebab with lemon and onion: it is better to use it to cook broth, make minced meat and add it to cutlets, or use it to make meat gravy.
To make the meat even juicier and softer, it should be marinated before frying. Moreover, the pieces must be kept in the marinade for at least 9 hours.
There are a huge variety of different marinade recipes, some of which you will find on our website. However, many believe that the best option is pork skewers with lemon and onions. These additives ensure the softness and juiciness of the dish, without burdening it with unnecessary flavor nuances that not everyone likes. However, it’s worth trying other options: maybe you and your loved ones will like it the most! Actually, you can combine different additives to create a marinade for pork kebab with lemon and onion. For example, mayonnaise, kefir, etc. are suitable for this purpose. These ingredients add some flavor. At the same time, we must remember that after all, lemon and onion are the most natural and unpretentious. They do not kill the taste of the meat, but only make it softer.
Grill pork shish kebab with lemon and onion over coals, avoiding open fire. A sheet of paper will help you determine the desired height: slowly lower it towards the coals. If it starts to burn, the height is ideal for meat. However, for the first 3-5 minutes you need to lower the skewers and hold them there, turning them often: this is necessary so that the pieces “grab” and the juice does not leak out of them. To check the readiness of the meat, you need to lightly cut a piece: light juice indicates that the meat is ready, pink - that it still needs to be held over the coals, the absence of juice - that the kebab is already overcooked.
Recipe 1. Pork shashlik with lemon and onions in a classic marinade
Pork neck - half a kilo
Lemons - 2-3 pieces
Onion - small onion
Rosemary - 1 sprig
Dry spicy herbs for meat - a spoon or one and a half, to taste
Garlic - a couple of cloves
Squeeze juice from lemons. Grind the onion with a food processor and squeeze the juice out of it, mix with lemon. In a mortar, crush the garlic with herbs and salt, dilute with lemon and onion juices.
Cut the pork into pieces as equal in size as possible. Immerse them in the marinade, cover with a lid smaller in diameter than the bowl with meat, and place a jar of water on top. This is done to ensure that the meat is completely immersed in the marinade.
Soak the pork in this way for several hours, then lightly squeeze and cook as usual.
Recipe 2. Pork shish kebab with lemon and onion with mayonnaise
Lemon - 1 large
Mayonnaise - 150 ml
Onion - large onion
Mint - 5-6 sprigs
Dried thyme - pinch
Cut the pork into pieces of approximately equal size, the onion into rings, and the lemon into semicircles 6-7 mm thick. Finely tear the mint with your hands or cut with scissors.
Mix mayonnaise with kefir, mint and thyme.
Place meat, lemon and onion in a bowl and mix everything. Pour in the marinade, cover with a lid and leave in a cool place for 8 - 12 hours, or up to a day.
Remove pieces of meat, onion and lemon from the marinade and place them on skewers. Prepare pork skewers with lemon and onions as usual.
Recipe 3. Pork shish kebab with lemon and onion “Spicy”
Pork - about a kilogram
Onion - large onion
Dry wine - 100 ml
Soy sauce - 50 ml
Sugar - a good pinch
Curry, coriander, nutmeg, ginger (dried) - all together 2 teaspoons
Honey - tablespoon
Squeeze the juice from the lemon, mix it with wine (to your taste: white or red), honey and soy sauce. Mix dry herbs and curry with sugar and stir into the marinade.
Chop the onion with a knife or grater.
After cutting the meat into pieces of the required size, coat it well with sour cream, then mix with onion, put in a bowl or pan and pour over the marinade.
Leave to marinate for at least 8 hours, then remove from the marinade and thread onto skewers.
Recipe 4. Pork shish kebab with lemon and onion “Pineapple”
Pork neck (in this case, other meat is undesirable) - kilogram
Pineapple - half, good and not very ripe; you can, although worse, use canned
Lemon - 1 small or half
Olive oil (can be sesame or even sunflower) - 2 tablespoons
Onion - a pair of onions
Sour cream - 100 ml
Chop the pineapple and lemon and puree them with a blender or food processor. Add butter and sour cream, mix everything thoroughly.
Cut the onion into rings and cut the pork neck into pieces. Place in a saucepan and mix with pineapple marinade. Leave for 10 hours.
Remove the marinated meat from the pan, lightly shake off the marinade and string it onto skewers, along with onions.
Recipe 5. Pork shish kebab with lemon and onion “Cognac”
Onion - 2 onions
Meat (pork) - 1 kg
Soy sauce - 1 tablespoon
Black pepper, coriander, basil, oregano, nutmeg, sweet paprika powder
Vegetable oil - about a quarter cup
Cut the meat into pieces of the desired size, the onion into wide half rings. Mix pepper, coriander, and herbs and sprinkle them over the meat and onions, then stir and leave it like that.
Mix cognac, juice of half a lemon, soy sauce and vegetable oil. Pour the marinade over the meat and onions and leave in a cool place for several hours.
Recipe 6. Pork shish kebab with lemon and onion and mineral water
Many believe that it is the highly carbonated mineral water in the marinade that will allow the meat to become juicy and soft.
Highly carbonated mineral water - liter
Pork - one and a half kilograms
Lemon - 1 fairly large
Onion - 3 medium heads
Dried basil, marjoram, thyme and other herbs - a heaped tablespoon
Mix herbs and pepper, add a pinch of salt.
Cut the lemon and the onion, peeled in advance: the lemon into circles, as for tea, and the onion - some into thin rings, and some into rather wide rings. Stir the lemon and onion, squeezing them slightly to release the juice.
The pork should be cut into cubes of approximately the same size and not too large, mix them with lemon and onion and squeeze a little more so that the meat is covered with lemon and onion juice. Then stir in a mixture of herbs and pepper with salt.
Pour mineral water over the kebab, which is designed, thanks to the bubbles, to help the marinade penetrate deep into the fibers of the meat.
When stringing pork onto skewers, do not forget the largest pieces of onion - it should also turn out tasty.
Recipe 7. Pork shish kebab with lemon and onion with kefir
Pork neck meat - 1 ½ kg
Lemon - medium size
Onion - 2 large onions
Various spicy dried herbs (you can just take a mixture for meat or barbecue)
Black pepper, salt
Peel the onion; Cut part of it into neat pieces for stringing mixed with meat on skewers, and chop part of it using a blender, meat grinder or food processor.
Also chop the lemon using one of the mentioned devices.
If you don’t have a blender, a food processor, or even a meat grinder, you can grate everything on a coarse grater, but it’s hard to grate the onion: your eyes water.
Mix the resulting slurry of lemon and onion with spices and herbs and spread on the meat. Place it in a bowl and shake a few times until all the pieces are coated with the onion-lemon mixture. Place large pieces of onion there. After this, pour kefir over the kebab and place in a cool place for 8 - 10 hours.
When it’s time to fill the skewers, in addition to the pork, you should also thread pieces of onion onto each one.
Recipe 8. Pomegranate barbecue sauce
The question arises: what to serve with pork kebab with lemon and onions? In addition to traditional ketchup or store-bought barbecue sauce, it’s worth preparing something special.
Pomegranate juice (it’s better, of course, homemade, because store-bought contains a lot of sugar and other additives - maybe natural, but not “pomegranate”...) - 1 glass
Red wine, preferably semi-sweet, but semi-dry is fine - 1 glass
Starch - 1 ½ teaspoons
Basil, parsley, celery, cilantro in any combination - half a glass, chopped
Red hot pepper - a small pinch
Salt - half a teaspoon
Mix wine and pomegranate juice and place on the stove. Stirring, cook over very low heat. When the mixture boils, add salt and pepper, cover and cook for another quarter of an hour, waiting for the sauce to thicken. Add the greens and leave to cook for another couple of minutes, during which time stir the starch in a quarter glass of water. Pour the starch into the sauce, stirring at the same time to avoid lumps. Once the sauce is thick enough, remove it from the heat and cool.
Recipe 9. Feta kebab sauce
Feta type cheese - 200 g
Lemon - half a small
Garlic - 1 clove
Thick sour cream - 100 g
Spicy fresh herbs (basil, dill, celery, mint, parsley, etc., to taste) - half a bunch
Squeeze the juice from half a lemon, chop the greens a little, peel the garlic, break the feta. Place cheese, garlic, herbs and sour cream in a blender bowl and puree. Dilute with lemon juice. If necessary, add a spoonful of olive oil.
Pork kebab with lemon and onion: tricks and tips
The meat must be salted immediately before cooking, otherwise it will not be well soaked in the marinade.
Pork should be marinated in enamel, clay, or glass containers; steel pans are less suitable for this purpose, and aluminum pans are not suitable at all.
If desired, pork kebab with lemon and onions can be prepared not on metal skewers, but on wooden skewers. This is especially convenient if you are preparing a dish not on the grill, but at home, say, in the oven. Before cooking, immerse wooden skewers in water overnight.
