Sheet-pan pork shoulder with potatoes and kale
Diced pork shoulder baked on a sheet pan with potatoes and kale is one of the favourite meals at The Wallet's home. Made from low-cost ingredients, it comes together with minimal prep work and takes about 25 minutes in the oven.
- Pork shoulder and pork butt are among the cheapest cuts of meat, at half the price of chicken. While these cuts are usually slow-cooked, they do surprisingly well when they are diced and baked on a sheet pan.
- Potatoes are a key ingredient in this dish, although gnocchi or even ramen noodles would work just as well. Yellow, red, white, or baby potatoes hold their shape well on the sheet pan.
- Kale pairs well with the pork and the potatoes, but so would bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, or broccoli.
- Herbs or spices complete the dish. Whatever combo is on hand will do. Even a soy sauce marinade will flavour the meat and work especially well when ramen noodles and bell peppers are used instead of potatoes and kale
Note: At The Wallet's house we feed 5 adults on a fairly small budget. We cook without precise recipes, use whatever is on hand, and usually aim for plenty of leftovers. Ours is a family kitchen rather than a test kitchen. We hope that visitors to this site will be able to replicate our meals even without precise ingredient amounts.
Getting a head start: Some of the prep work can be done ahead of time to speed dinner up. For example, the meat can be diced, portioned, and frozen for future use. Then a portion can be thawed in the fridge the night before the meal. Or the meat can be diced the day before and marinated overnight.
General directions:
- Preheat the oven to 425°F
- Cut the meat in 1 inch dice.
- Cut the potatoes in 1 inch dice
- Coat meat and potatoes in oil and herbs or spices first, then add frozen kale or any other vegetables and toss until well coated in oil,
- Cover one or two baking sheets with parchment paper for easy cleanup
- Spread meat, potatoes, and veggies in a single layer on one or two baking sheets
- Bake for about 25 minutes or until the meat is done
Leftovers can be kept in the friedge for several days and can be reheated in the microwave.
Soy sauce marinade: Here is a 5-2-1 soy-sauce marinade that is very versatile. The 5-2-1 formula applies across all measurements, whether it's teaspoons, tablespoons, or cups:
- 5 parts sweet soy sauce
- 2 parts dark soy sauce
- 1 part rice vinegar