Pork Souvlaki with Homemade Tzatziki
If you love Mediterranean food or find yourself constantly craving Greek takeout, this one needs to go into your rotation.
This pork souvlaki is simple, flavorful, high in protein, and surprisingly easy to make. The pork only needs about 30 minutes to marinate, but somehow tastes like it’s been soaking up all that lemony, garlicky goodness all day.
For this recipe, I use pork tenderloin, which is an incredibly lean cut of meat that I don’t think gets nearly enough love. It’s also a great source of B vitamins, including thiamine and riboflavin, which play important roles in energy metabolism.
And because you simply cannot have souvlaki without tzatziki, we’re making that from scratch too. Creamy Greek yogurt, fresh cucumber, lemon, garlic, olive oil... you really can’t go wrong.
Pork Souvlaki Ingredients
For the pork:
2 pounds pork tenderloin
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 large garlic cloves, minced
Dried rosemary, to taste
Dried thyme, to taste
Wooden skewers, if using
Homemade Tzatziki Ingredients
1/2 cucumber, grated (hot house or english cucumber)
1 cup Greek yogurt
1.5 tbsp lemon juice, more if you like a tangy tzatziki
1 clove of fresh garlic, finely grated
1/2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil to drizzle on top
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Salt, to taste
Fresh dill, optional
A note on the dill: Traditionally, dill is right at home in tzatziki. I left it out because my husband isn’t a fan—and, conveniently, I didn’t have any. But if your heart is calling you toward dill, answer the call.
The video did not specify exact quantities for the tzatziki ingredients, so these can be adjusted based on how much sauce you’d like to make.
How to Make Pork Souvlaki
1. Cut the pork
Cut the pork tenderloin into roughly 1-inch pieces. I like them slightly larger than bite-sized—think two-bite pieces.
2. Make the marinade
Add the pork to a large bowl. Pour in the extra-virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, shallot, garlic, rosemary, and thyme. Toss everything together until the pork is thoroughly coated.
Cover and allow the pork to marinate for 30 minutes. If you want to prep ahead, you can refrigerate it in the marinade for up to about 8 hours, although 30 minutes gives it plenty of flavor.
3. Soak your skewers
If you’re using wooden skewers, place them in water while the pork marinates. This helps keep the wood from burning or charring excessively while cooking.
4. Skewer the pork
Thread the marinated pork pieces onto your prepared skewers.
5. Cook
Cook the skewers on a hot grill, grill pan, or electric broiler, turning as needed so the pork cooks evenly on all sides. Cook the pork until the thickest pieces reach an internal temperature of 145°F, followed by at least a 3-minute rest,.
How to Make Homemade Tzatziki
1. Grate the cucumber
Grate your cucumber, then squeeze out as much excess water as possible. This step matters. Cucumbers are mostly water, and removing that moisture keeps your tzatziki thick and creamy instead of turning into cucumber soup.
You can squeeze the cucumber using your hands, a clean kitchen towel, or cheesecloth if you happen to be the kind of person who actually keeps cheesecloth around.
2. Add the Greek yogurt
Transfer your drained cucumber to a bowl and mix with plain non-fat Greek yogurt.
3. Add lemon and garlic
Stir in fresh lemon juice. Finely grate the garlic directly into the yogurt mixture. Grating it helps distribute that garlicky flavor throughout the entire sauce.
4. Finish the sauce
Add a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil, freshly ground black pepper, and salt to taste.
If you’re using dill, stir it in now.
Taste and adjust the lemon, garlic, salt, or pepper until it’s exactly how you like it.
Serve It Up
Pile the hot pork souvlaki onto a platter and serve it with a very generous amount of homemade tzatziki for dipping.
You can turn this into a complete meal with a simple Greek salad, roasted vegetables, pita, rice, or whatever Mediterranean-inspired sides you love.
And if pork isn’t your thing? Chicken works beautifully here too. The same bright lemon, garlic, olive oil, and herb marinade pairs perfectly with it.
Simple ingredients. Thirty minutes of marinating. One ridiculously good tzatziki sauce.
This is healthy food that actually makes you excited to eat. And that’s what Foodhappy is all about.
