Ground pork is a versatile and budget-friendly ingredient that can be used in a variety of delicious and healthy recipes. It's a staple in many cuisines, especially Asian dishes, and is a great source of protein. Whether you're looking for a quick weeknight dinner or a cozy comfort food, ground pork can be the star of the show.
Why Ground Pork?
Ground pork is a flavorful meat that pairs well with different seasonings, sauces, and vegetables. It's also easy to cook with, making it a great option for busy weeknights. Plus, it's often more affordable than other meats like beef or chicken.
Ground Pork Stir-Fry: A Quick and Versatile Meal
One of the easiest and most popular ways to use ground pork is in a stir-fry. This recipe is fast, requires no fancy ingredients, and can be customized to your liking.
Ingredients:
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce (or tamari for gluten-free)
- Assorted vegetables (mushrooms, onions, carrots, leafy greens like bok choy)
- Ginger and garlic
- Rice wine vinegar
- Chili oil (optional)
- Cooked rice for serving
Instructions:
- Brown the pork: Place the ground pork in a hot skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Let it cook undisturbed for a few minutes until it's dark brown on the bottom. Flip and repeat on the other side. Once cooked through, add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and break up the meat, cooking until browned on all sides. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Sauté the vegetables: Drain off most of the oil from the pan, leaving about a tablespoon. Add diced onion and cook for 3 minutes, then add garlic and ginger and sauté for 30 seconds, stirring continuously. Add mushrooms and carrots and cook for about 5 minutes more. Add the leafy greens and cook until wilted.
- Combine and season: Add the cooked ground pork back to the skillet. Stir in the rice wine vinegar, chili oil, and remaining 1 tablespoon of soy sauce. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.
- Serve: Serve over cooked rice.
Tips and Variations:
- Get creative with vegetables: Use any vegetables you like, such as bell peppers, green beans, or broccoli.
- Add some heat: Add sriracha or cayenne pepper for a spicy kick.
- Use different sauces: Experiment with fish sauce or oyster sauce for different flavor profiles.
- Make it low-carb: Serve over cauliflower rice instead of regular rice.
Other Delicious Ground Pork Recipes
Ground pork can be used in many other dishes besides stir-fries. Here are a few ideas:
- Meatballs: Ground pork is a great base for meatballs, whether you're making Italian-style meatballs in tomato sauce, Swedish meatballs in creamy gravy, or Asian-inspired curry meatballs.
- Tacos: Use ground pork as a filling for tacos, seasoned with taco seasoning and topped with your favorite toppings.
- Dumplings: Fill pan-fried pork dumplings with savory ground pork, napa cabbage, and spices.
- Sloppy Joes: Make Asian Sloppy Joes by mixing ground pork with hoisin sauce, ketchup, fresh ginger, and garlic.
- Casseroles: Add perfectly seasoned ground pork, tender rice and vegetables, and cheesy sauce, all slow-cooked to perfection to create easy ground pork slow cooker casserole recipe.
- Soups: Add ground pork to soups like Vietnamese Pumpkin Soup (Canh Bi Do) for a tasty, nutritious, and filling meal.
- Meatloaf: Make a veggie-forward twist on classic meatloaf. No breadcrumbs are used, making it an easy low-carb dinner.
- Burgers: These juicy ground pork burgers are so flavorful and are ready in just 15 minutes!
- Ramen: Warm yourself up with a comforting bowl of pork ramen noodles.
Tips for Cooking with Ground Pork
- Don't overcook it: Aim for an internal temperature of 160°F (71°C) to keep it juicy and tender.
- Brown it in batches: For extra flavor, try browning it in batches instead of all at once.
- Buy the best quality pork you can afford: Fewer toxins in the fat and the meat mean healthier ground pork.
- Drain the fat: Pork is fatty, so be sure to drain it into a paper-towel lined bowl or some other vessel instead of dumping it directly into the trash. Please do not pour it down the drain!
Ground Pork and Dietary Considerations
- Paleo: Swap the soy sauce for coconut aminos and fish sauce, and then use some other starch or base besides brown rice, such as cauliflower rice, roasted kabocha squash, or baked sweet potatoes.
- Low FODMAP: Feel free to skip the onions and garlic and stick with just the green tops of scallions / green onions to keep this low FODMAP.
- Keto: Ground pork is perfect for a low carb, keto diet.
Korean Ground Pork
For a flavorful and easy dish, try Korean Ground Pork.
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Ingredients:
- Ground pork
- Gochujang paste (Korean chili paste)
- Soy sauce
- Ginger
- Garlic
Instructions:
- Add the ground pork to a frying pan over a medium high heat and cook until browned, breaking up any large clumps as it cooks.
- Add the gochujang paste, soy sauce, ginger, and garlic.
- Cook until the sauce has thickened and the pork is coated.
- Serve with rice and your favorite Korean side dishes.
Tips and Variations:
- Find Gochujang Paste: Gochujang Paste is a pretty important ingredient in Korean Cooking. It is a thick and spicy red paste usually made from fermented soybean, chili powder, glutinous rice, malt powder, and salt. It adds a great umami taste to recipes and is well worth sourcing if you can. There isn't really a like for like replacement for these delicious paste. But if you have searched high and low and can't find it anywhere but really want to use this recipe, then my suggestion would be a mixture of tomato paste (puree) and some sriracha. How much you want to use will depend on your spice level. So i would use a mix of equal amounts of tomato paste and sriracha.
- Serve with Korean side dishes: Pickled Daikon Radish (the bright yellow item in my bowl) - this is a popular Korean item. Look for it at Asian grocers that specialize in Korean foods. Kimchi - this is another great item to serve with this. Nori Seaweed - crumble a few small sheets and sprinkle onto your rice for some added flavour.
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