Tender chunks of pork coated in sage-flavoured flour and pan-fried until golden, then simmered in a creamy onion-based gravy with fresh pears. Served with rice and your favourite vegetable, this pan-fried pork with pears and onions makes a deliciously different quick and easy supper.
Supper with a difference
If you like the combination of pork and apples in a meal (I’m thinking pork and apple sauce here), I think you’ll love this dish of pan-fried pork with pears and caramelized onions.
It’s made by pan-frying tender chunks of pork that have been coated with a mixture of flour and sage until they are golden brown, and then combining them with pears and caramelized onions in a creamy sauce. Browning the pork in this way locks in all the juices, resulting in tender chunks of pork that are full of flavour.
The flavour combination might sound a little strange, but believe me, this dish just works. Pork loves sweetness, and the fruitiness of the pears combined with sweetness of the caramelized onions provides the perfect flavour combination. Add a little sage for good measure and serve it all in a creamy sauce on a bed of fluffy rice and you have a meal that will set your taste-buds alight!
Time saver
This dish for pan-fried pork with pears is very quick to make. From start to finish you can have it on the table in half-an-hour, so it’s perfect for those busy week-day nights when you don’t have much time.
And as a bonus, this is all made in one pan, so there’s less washing up to do too.
What ingredients do I need?
As you can see from the image above, you need surprisingly few ingredients for this delicious pan-fried pork dish.
This recipe makes sufficient for 4 people, and you can get the complete recipe on the printable recipe card at the end of this post
- Pork – for this recipe I used pork leg steaks which I cut into bite-sized pieces. The pork leg steaks have a nice marbling of fat running through them which makes the meat extra juicy.
- Onions – the onions should be peeled and finely sliced.
- Pears – peeled and core removed, then cut into small chunks.
- Cream – for adding to the sauce. You can use either double or single cream.
- Dried sage – pork and sage pair really well together. You can use freshly chopped sage instead of dried sage, but because dried herbs have a much stronger flavour, you will need approximately 3 times as much fresh sage as dried sage.
- Garlic – this is optional, but I like to add it for extra flavour. You can use fresh cloves of garlic, or simply use ready-crushed garlic from a jar.
- Flour – used both for coating the meat and for thickening the sauce.
- Stock cubes – for the gravy. I like to use vegetable stock cubes because I find that a beef stock cube upsets the delicate flavour of this dish. If you prefer you can substitute the stock cubes with pear cider.
- Salt – optional and to taste.
- Sunflower oil – for frying the meat and onions.
How to make pan-fried pork with pears and caramelized onions
You will need a large frying pan with a lid. You could use a wok if you prefer.
Preparation
I like to gather all my ingredients and prepare them before I start cooking. It makes cooking the recipe is so much faster, and ensures I don’t forget a vital ingredient!
- Cut the pork into bite-sized pieces and remove any excess fat and sinews.
- Place the pork into a bowl with half of the flour, the dried sage and the salt and mix thoroughly to combine. Leave to stand while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- Peel the onions and pears Slice the onions thinly and cut the pears into smallish chunks. Set aside until needed.
- Dissolve the stock cubes in 2 cups of boiling water and set aside.
Fry the meat and onions
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry the pork in batches over a medium heat until the pork is nicely browned on all sides. Stir the meat as it is cooking to ensure it browns evenly (image 1 above).
- Transfer the browned pork to a plate and set aside while you fry the onions.
- Add the onions and garlic to the same pan, turn down the heat and saute until the onions turn translucent and start to brown. Take your time over this step – it will take about 5 minutes (image 2 above). If necessary, add a little extra oil.
- Once the onions have softened stir in the remaining flour taking care to remove any lumps.
- Add the stock and continue to stir until the stock starts to thicken (image 3 above).
- Add the meat back into the pan, cover with a lid and leave to simmer for 10 minutes (image 4 above).
- Now add the pears, cover with the lid again, and simmer for a further 10 minutes. If the sauce is too thin, remove the lid of the pan for the last 5 minutes. This will allow some of the liquid to evaporate and thicken the sauce naturally.
- Finally, stir in the cream, taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.
- Serve with rice and a side helping of your favourite vegetables. I like to use peas for a dash of colour, but carrots or broccoli would work just as well.
- If you are very hungry, add some crusty bread rolls to help soak up all the delicious gravy.
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Make ahead
You can make this pan-fried pork and pear casserole ahead of time, up to the point where the pears have been cooked, but before adding the cream. Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
When you are ready to serve the dish, heat it through on the stove, then stir in the cream.
Can I freeze it?
Yes, you can freeze this dish for up to 3 months. Just allow to cool and transfer to a suitable freezer container.
To use, allow to defrost in the refrigerator and then heat on the stove until piping hot.
If you enjoyed this recipe for pork with pears and onions, you may like to dry some of my other pork dishes.
- Creamy paprika pork goulash
- Sticky oven-baked pork spare ribs with honey glaze
- Crispy pork knuckle with saute potatoes
- Leftover roast pork in garlic sauce
- Sheet pan pork chops with broccoli and honey garlic sauce
Convert grams to cups
To help you convert your recipe measurements, I have created a handy Cookery Conversion Calculator which will convert ingredients between grams, ounces, tablespoons, cups and millilitres. I hope you will find it useful.
If you live at a high altitude you may find you need to adjust your baking recipes to compensate for this. You can read about how to do this in this post on baking at high altitudes.
Pin for later
Why not pin this recipe for pan-fried pork with pears and onions to your pinterest board so you can make it later. Just click the image below.
Creamy pan-fried pork with pears and onions recipe
Creamy pan-fried pork with pears and onions
(Click the stars to rate this recipe)
Equipment
- Large frying pan or wok with lid
- Spatula
- Shark knife
- Chopping Board
Ingredients
- 1¼ lb (570g) pork leg steaks cubed
- 1 large onion finely sliced
- 2 medium pears peeled and roughly chopped
- ½ cup cream single or double
- 2 vegetable stock cubes dissolved in 2 cups boiling water
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 teaspoon dried sage
- 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
- 2-3 tablespoons sunflower oil for frying
Instructions
Preparation
- Cut the pork into bite-sized pieces and remove any excess fat and sinews.
- Place the pork into a bowl with half of the flour, the dried sage and the salt and mix thoroughly to combine. Leave to stand while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- Peel the onions and pears Slice the onions thinly and cut the pears into smallish chunks. Set aside until needed.
- Dissolve the stock cubes in 2 cups of boiling water and set aside.
Pan-fried pork
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large frying pan and fry the pork in batches on a medium heat until it is nicely browned on all sides. Stir the meat as it is cooking to ensure it browns evenly.
- Transfer the browned meat to a plate and set aside while you fry the onions.
- Add the onions and garlic to the same pan, turn down the heat and saute until the onions turn translucent and start to brown. Take your time over this step – it will take about 5 minutes – you may need to add a little extra oil.
- Once the onions have softened stir in the remaining flour taking care to remove any lumps.
- Add the stock and continue to stir until the stock starts to thicken.
- Add the meat back into the pan, cover with a lid and leave to simmer for 10 minutes.
- Now add the pears and cover with the lid again. Simmer for a further 10 minutes. If the sauce is too thin remove the lid for the last 5 minutes.
- Finally, stir in the cream, taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.
- Serve with rice and a side helping of your favourite vegetables.
Notes
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutrition information has been calculated using an on-line calculator, and is intended for information and guidance purposes only. If the nutrition information is important to you, you should consider calculating it yourself, using your preferred tool.
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