We are here to show you how to cook pork bites on the stove in a cast iron skillet, or in an air fryer. With a sweet savory dry rub, honey and a bit of garlic these nuggets are a family favorite recipe. Once you get the hang of these you will want to use other proteins too like making fish nuggets, on and on!
Garlic butter pork bites with a drizzle of honey are to die for. They are even kid friendly which is a major win! Bite size pork roast or butt is easier to eat and soaks up more of the wonderful rub and sauce for a ton of flavor. (affiliate links present)
How to Cook Pork Bites
We are going to explain how to make these on your stovetop in a skillet. Below there are instructions for air frying them as well if you prefer. In a pan I will say that they will come out more moist as they sit ini the butter and can really soak up all those wonderful flavors. You would do the same thing whether you make chicken bites, with steak or pork.
The real secret to this 30 minute recipe is our easy to throw together pork dry rub y’all. It is a must for lotsa lotsa flavor!! So good that we make it in large batches and store it in a sealed container in our spice cabinet. That way our prep is that much easier. Just spoon in a few tbsp in a bowl, toss and you’re ready to cook!
We use the same basic mixture to make our baked pork chops dry rub recipe that people RAVE over. It was time to tweak that one into an easier to eat, faster to cook dish that we could serve over rice. That is our type of meal, rice bowls that is. Add a steamed veggie like broccoli right on there too and you have a nutritious meal everyone will love.
Boneless Pork Cubes Recipe
Like I said, there are many larger cuts out there you can dice up. Typically I will choose whatever is on sale but leaner is not always best because a bit of fat will keep it tender. Now if you bought the whole pig and hate to waste any part or pieces, you could do the same with pork liver too!
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
- Paprika
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 pinch salt and pepper to taste
- 1.5 lbs pork cut into bite size pieces
- Butter
- Honey
- Minced garlic
Now with the rub it will crisp up and bake right on to the outside of the meat pieces making each bite super bold. Adding the garlic and honey at the end to saute together amplifies everything and the sweetness caramelizes a bit so it’s sweet and savory WOW.
If you have your own favorite spice blend then by all means you could use that, and our step by step process and timing. If you wanted more sweetness you could add 1 tbsp brown sugar. For a spicy blend add 1/2 tsp (or more) dry Sriracha or red pepper flakes.
- Cut pork chops into bite size pieces, about 1.5″x1.5″.
- Season the pork bites with the onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne pepper and salt and pepper to taste. Toss to coat well.
- Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium high heat.
- Add the pork bites to the heated skillet, and sear on all sides until nearly cooked through.
- Mix in the garlic, honey and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice is nice too.
- Stir and saute until the pork is done to 145 degrees F.
Air Fryer Pork Bites
You would follow the same directions to coat bite size pieces with dry rub, except preheat air fryer machine to 380 degrees for 5 minutes. You would basically use the same steps as when we made steak bites in air fryer in basket but with this meat. The biggest difference between the two would be the timing.
With poultry or pork it is important to ensure the internal temperature is safe. With beef you can keep it pink and more rare. These need to be 145 degrees F. Since these are small it is still a quick cooking time so don’t go far and check often until you get the hang of it. Larger pieces will take 1 minute longer.
Garlic Butter Pork Bites
You could easily cut this in half or double if you wanted a larger batch for more people. Let me tell you that I make all sorts of nugget style recipes when I have meat that needs to be used up. It is less tricky than baking the whole piece and is super fast to cook. If I find a sale I will use whatever cut they are offering, cut into bites like this.
Our pork dry rub is the all time best and super popular with those who have made this recipe. It is a sweet and savory mixture that caramelizes a bit on the outside of the pork nuggets in the cast iron skillet.
You can basically use anything but a thicker cut like pork roast, butt or pork loin work well. We have even used chops or liver to make garlic pork bites on the stove or in the air fryer.
If they are already cooked I would not freeze leftovers, rather I would keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. To reheat sit on the counter for 20 minutes, heat butter in a skillet and heat until warmed. Drizzle honey on top and enjoy again with rice or vegetables.
Pork Nuggets
Want to serve a whole meal with ingredients of the same size? Add another high protein choice with tofu bites that are crispy as ever and not fried in oil either. If there are any other questions you might have let us know below and I’ll get back to you on those too. 😉
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Pork Bites
Equipment
- 1 pan or air fryer
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs pork roast, liver or butt cut into bite size pieces
- 4 tbsp butter
- Pork Dry Rub mix this up to use or use ingredients below
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 pinch salt and pepper to taste
- 3 tbsp honey
- 3 tsp minced garlic
Instructions
- Season the pork bites with the onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne pepper and salt and pepper to taste. Toss to coat well.
- Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the pork bites to the heated skillet, and sear on all sides until nearly cooked through.
- Mix in the garlic, honey and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice is nice too. Stir and saute until the pork is done to 145 degrees F.
- ** air fryer ** follow directions to coat bite size pieces with dry rub, except preheat machine to 380 degrees for 5 minutes. Spray basket with non stick spray. Pour in and cook for total of 4-6 minutes or so (depending on how thick and large yours are) Shake basket gently half way thru until pork is done to 145 degrees F inside.