Pigs are recognised as suitable biomedical models to study obesity and obesity-related diseases; however, little is known about adipose tissue development and adipogenesis in pigs. In this study, the temporal expression of key genes involved in lipid metabolism was investigated during porcine adipogenesis and the metabolic fate of exogenously administered palmitic acid (16:0) was examined in differentiating preadipocytes. The expression of genes encoding elongases and desaturases increased simultaneously with those involved in fatty acid and triacylglycerol synthesis during porcine adipogenesis, and a high biosynthesis of monounsaturated fatty acids was measured prior to storage in differentiating preadipocytes. Although the total fatty acid oxidation in differentiating preadipocytes was low, differentiating cells showed increased expression of hormone-sensitive lipase and mitochondrial and peroxisomal genes. These data provide new insight into the temporal expression of genes involved in lipid metabolism during porcine adipogenesis and suggest a possible role of elongation and desaturation events prior to lipid accumulation in porcine adipocytes.