September is here.
The kids are back in school. Football is starting. Pumpkin spice is showing up in places pumpkin spice probably has no business being.
But your garden?
Your garden did not get the memo that summer is ending.
The tomatoes are still coming. The peppers are piling up. And if you planted zucchini this year, there’s a decent chance you currently have one on your counter roughly the size of a Louisville Slugger.
So before we abandon summer entirely for chili, sweaters and everything apple-cinnamon, let’s put that late-summer harvest to work.
Fire up the pellet grill. We’re making dinner.
The Perfect Late-Summer Meal: Pork + Whatever the Garden Gives You
One of the best things about cooking with a pellet grill is that you don’t need an expensive cut of meat—or a complicated recipe—to make a really good dinner.
That’s where pork tenderloin comes in.
Pork tenderloin is lean, cooks relatively quickly and takes on wood-fired flavor beautifully. It’s also often a more budget-friendly choice than premium cuts of beef, making it a great option when you want dinner to feel a little special without turning Tuesday night into a steakhouse bill.
Pair it with vegetables straight from the garden—or whatever looked good at the farmers market—and you’ve got dinner.
Our late-summer menu:
Smoky Maple Pumpkin Spice Pork Tenderloin
Grilled Garden Vegetables
Fresh herbs or a simple herb butter to finish
That’s it.
Simple ingredients. Good smoke. Great dinner.
Pumpkin Spice…On the Grill?
We know. Pumpkin spice on pork sounds a little questionable.
Stay with us.
Pumpkin spice is really just a blend of warm spices—and those same flavors pair surprisingly well with pork, especially when you add a little maple, smoke and savory seasoning.
Better yet, you can make a jar of the basic blend and keep it around for everything from hot cocoa to your next fall grilling experiment.
Homemade Pumpkin Spice Blend
- 4 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
- 1½ teaspoons ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
Mix everything together and store it in an airtight container.
And no, we’re not dumping pumpkin spice straight onto the meat and calling it dinner.
For the pork, we’re using just a little of the blend alongside maple, Dijon, smoked paprika and garlic. You get a hint of those warm fall spices while the savory seasonings and wood-fired flavor keep it firmly in barbecue territory.
Think fall barbecue, not pumpkin spice latte.
Pick Your Pellets
Before you fire up the grill, let’s talk smoke.
For this meal, our first choice is Grillers Gold Competition Blend. It gives the pork enough wood-fired flavor to stand up to the maple, Dijon and warm spices without overpowering it—and it works beautifully with a mixed basket of garden vegetables, too.
Want to lean a little more into the sweeter side of the pork? Grillers Gold Fruitwood Blend is another great option. The lighter, slightly sweeter smoke is a natural match for pork and plays especially well with the maple and pumpkin spice flavors.
For the garden vegetables, either blend works. Competition Blend gives you a little more traditional barbecue character, while Fruitwood keeps things lighter and lets those fresh tomato, pepper, zucchini and corn flavors shine.
Our pick for the whole meal: Fill the hopper with Grillers Gold Competition Blend and cook everything together.
One hopper. One grill. One seriously good late-summer dinner.
Smoky Maple Pumpkin Spice Pork Tenderloin
You’ll Need
- 1–2 pork tenderloins
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon homemade pumpkin spice blend
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Optional: a pinch of cayenne if you like a little heat
- Grillers Gold Competition Blend or Fruitwood Blend Premium Hardwood Pellets
Fire Up the Pellet Grill
Preheat your pellet grill to 375°F with Grillers Gold Competition Blend pellets.
Pat the pork dry and remove any silver skin.
Mix the maple syrup, Dijon mustard, olive oil, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and pumpkin spice together. Season the pork with salt and pepper, then coat it on all sides with the maple mixture.
Place the pork directly on the grill grates and cook until the thickest part reaches an internal temperature of 145°F.
Remove the tenderloin from the grill and let it rest for at least three minutes before slicing.
And yes—use the thermometer.
Pork tenderloin is at its best when it’s juicy, not when we’ve cooked it into submission.
Now Raid the Garden
This is the part where we’re intentionally NOT giving you a strict recipe.
Because the whole point is to use what you’ve got.
Grab a grill basket or cast-iron skillet and start gathering vegetables.
Try:
- Zucchini or summer squash
- Bell peppers
- Onions
- Cherry or Roma tomatoes
- Eggplant
- Sweet corn
- Green beans
Cut everything into reasonably similar-sized pieces and toss with olive oil, salt, pepper and a little garlic.
Then put it on the pellet grill alongside the pork.
Harder vegetables will need more time, so things like potatoes or thick pieces of corn should go on first. Softer vegetables like zucchini and tomatoes can join the party later.
Give everything an occasional toss and let the heat and wood smoke do the rest.
No complicated sauce required.
When vegetables are coming straight from the garden at the end of summer, sometimes the best thing you can do is stay out of their way.
Got More Garden Than Dinner?
We know how this goes.
You plant four tomato plants in May because that seems reasonable.
By September, you’re leaving tomatoes on neighbors’ porches under the cover of darkness.
Don’t let that extra produce go to waste. The pellet grill can help with that, too.
Extra tomatoes?
Smoke them with onions and peppers and turn them into salsa or tomato sauce.
Too many peppers?
Roast them on the grill, peel them and freeze them for later.
Zucchini everywhere?
Cut it lengthwise into thick planks, brush with olive oil and grill it. Add Parmesan at the end and suddenly someone might actually ask for more zucchini.
An abundance of corn?
Put it right on the grill and finish it with butter, salt and your favorite seasonings.
Herbs taking over?
Chop them into softened butter with garlic and a pinch of salt. Melt a spoonful over the sliced pork just before serving.
Suddenly, “we need to use this stuff before it goes bad” sounds a whole lot more like dinner.
Don’t Put the Grill Away Yet
Labor Day may unofficially mark the end of summer, but it definitely doesn’t mark the end of grilling season.
In fact, some of the best pellet-grill cooking is just getting started.
Cooler evenings. Football weekends. Pork, apples, squash, chili, smoked soups—and yes, apparently even pumpkin spice.
But for now?
Take one more walk through the garden.
Grab whatever is ready.
Pick up a pork tenderloin.
Fill the hopper with Grillers Gold Competition Blend Premium Hardwood Pellets and make one more meal that tastes like summer—with just a little hint of fall around the corner.
Because the best way to deal with an overflowing garden might just be to fire up the grill.