Cast Iron Pork Fajitas
By Amanda LuchtelPublished on October 28, 2020
Time
55 minutes
Yield
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients
Before You Begin
Serve the fajitas with pico de gallo, avocado or guacamole, sour cream, your favorite hot sauce, and lime wedges. A nonstick skillet can also be used here; in step 3, add 2 tablespoons of oil to the skillet, swirl to coat, and heat until the oil is just smoking.
Instructions
- Combine 2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, cumin, chili powder, granulated garlic, oregano, and allspice in bowl.
- Cut tenderloins in half crosswise. Working with 1 piece at a time, cover pork with plastic wrap and, using meat pounder, pound to even ¾-inch thickness. Pat pork dry with paper towels and sprinkle with spice mixture.
- Heat 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat for 3 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons oil to skillet and swirl to coat. Place pork in skillet and cook until meat is well browned on both sides and registers 135 to 140 degrees, 5 to 7 minutes per side. Transfer to carving board, tent with aluminum foil, and let rest while preparing pepper mixture.
- Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil and bell peppers to now-empty skillet and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in onion, remaining ½ teaspoon salt, and remaining ½ teaspoon pepper and cook until vegetables are just softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Off heat, stir in cilantro and lime juice.
- Slice pork thin crosswise. Stir any accumulated pork juices from carving board into vegetables. Push vegetables to 1 side of skillet and place pork on empty side. Serve pork and vegetables with tortillas.
Time
55 minutesYield
Serves 4 to 6Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
Restaurants have an advantage when making multipart dishes such as fajitas—a team of cooks. But we wanted a weeknight version that would involve just one cook and one pan: the trusty cast-iron skillet. Chicken, steak, and shrimp are the usual suspects for fajitas because they’re tender and cook quickly. We wanted to branch out with another popular quick-cooking, tender cut: pork tenderloin. Seasoned properly with a generous amount of a complex, boldly flavored spice mixture, we knew it would be a hit. To fit two tenderloins side by side in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet, we cut the tenderloins in half crosswise. Pounding the cylindrical tenderloins into ¾-inch-thick steaks increased their surface area and helped ensure even browning. First searing the pork and then cooking the vegetables while the pork rested was an easy call to make; because the skillet was already hot, the peppers and onion blistered, softened, and browned very quickly. And in a happy twist, we found that the bits of delicious spice rub left behind after removing the meat adhered easily to the vegetables, distributing more flavor throughout the dish.
Before You Begin
Serve the fajitas with pico de gallo, avocado or guacamole, sour cream, your favorite hot sauce, and lime wedges. A nonstick skillet can also be used here; in step 3, add 2 tablespoons of oil to the skillet, swirl to coat, and heat until the oil is just smoking.
Instructions
- Combine 2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, cumin, chili powder, granulated garlic, oregano, and allspice in bowl.
- Cut tenderloins in half crosswise. Working with 1 piece at a time, cover pork with plastic wrap and, using meat pounder, pound to even ¾-inch thickness. Pat pork dry with paper towels and sprinkle with spice mixture.
- Heat 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat for 3 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons oil to skillet and swirl to coat. Place pork in skillet and cook until meat is well browned on both sides and registers 135 to 140 degrees, 5 to 7 minutes per side. Transfer to carving board, tent with aluminum foil, and let rest while preparing pepper mixture.
- Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil and bell peppers to now-empty skillet and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in onion, remaining ½ teaspoon salt, and remaining ½ teaspoon pepper and cook until vegetables are just softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Off heat, stir in cilantro and lime juice.
- Slice pork thin crosswise. Stir any accumulated pork juices from carving board into vegetables. Push vegetables to 1 side of skillet and place pork on empty side. Serve pork and vegetables with tortillas.
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