Our Vietnamese inspired ginger pork bowl is a delicious blend of sweet and savory flavors. Packed full of garlic, ginger, and a tasty chili garlic sauce, serve this on a bed of rice noodles or make this lower carb by using palmini noodles. Great for weekly meal prep!
Asian Pork Noodle Bowls are so good!
A protein-rich bowl with flavorful Vietnamese ingredients, our recipe is easy to adapt to a variety of health plans or protein preferences. The seasoned ground meat is great served with lettuce leaves too.
Love making protein packed bowls? Our chicken burrito bowl, BBQ chicken sweet potato bowl, or this Korean ground beef bowl are all great ideas for dinner or meal prep lunches.
Ingredient notes
- Ground pork -Any sort of ground meat works well here whether you have ground chicken, ground turkey, or ground beef.
- Vegetable oil - You can use any cooking oil like olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, etc.
- Garlic - Minced garlic, whether fresh or jarred works great.
- Soy sauce - In place of regular soy sauce, try a low-sodium soy sauce, coconut aminos, or tamari sauce.
- Brown sugar or golden monk fruit (to reduce the sugar)
- Rice vinegar - This adds a subtle zing to this dish, although it is not completely necessary. If this is not a regular ingredient or if it is otherwise not available, it won't hurt to leave it out.
- Chili garlic sauce - I used Lee Kum Kee brand for this recipe, although I have used Huy Fong brand too and both are great! You can also use a homemade version.
- Ginger - You can use fresh minced ginger, Dorot ginger cubes, or ginger paste
- Cornstarch - Acts as a thickener
- Uncooked rice noodles - I used thin rice noodles for this recipe, I find that the thin noodles carry more sauce with each bite more than Thai stir fry rice noodles, but either one works. Swap out rice noodles for rice or stir-fried vegetables.
- Shredded Carrots - Thin small pieces of carrots work best for this recipe to make it easier to eat. It can be shredded or sliced with a vegetable peeler, or thinly chopped.
- Mini cucumbers - 2-3 mini Persian cucumbers or one large cucumber, thinly chopped.
- Garnishes - fresh cilantro, fresh mint, lime wedges.
** Please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post for the exact quantities **
Equipment
- Large drying pan
- Vegetable peeler - to make carrot curls
How to Make Ginger Pork Bowls
This is just a brief overview of the recipe steps. Please get the full recipe instructions down in the recipe card.
Step 1.
Prepare rice noodles according to the package directions. The cooking time varies based on the kind of noodles you buy (thick or thin rice noodles, or if you're using low carb pasta). Set aside.
Step 2.
Cook the ground meat. Saute the garlic, add the ground meat and cook until no longer pink.
Step 3.
Add the seasonings. Reduce heat to low. Stir in the soy sauce, brown sugar (or monk fruit), rice vinegar, chili sauce, and ginger.
Step 4.
Make the cornstarch thickener. To make the slurry, in a small bowl mix the cornstarch and water until blended.
Add the slurry to the pork and allow to simmer for about 1-2 minutes or until the sauce thickens.
Step 5.
Assemble the pork rice noodle bowls. Top cooked rice noodles with pork, shredded carrots, cucumbers, cilantro, fresh mint, and lime wedges. Serve immediately, enjoy!
Dietary Swaps
- Keto: Instead of rice noodles, try zucchini noodles. To thicken the sauce you'll want to use arrowroot powder instead of cornstarch. Instead of brown sugar, use a monk fruit substitute.
- Gluten free: Be sure to check the label of your chili garlic sauce to check whether it's gluten free or not. Opt for a gluten free version of soy sauce.
- Whole30: Swap out rice noodles for cauliflower rice or spiralized vegetables. Instead of cornstarch, use arrowroot powder as a thickener. Leave out the rice vinegar, this won't affect the recipe too much. Swap brown sugar for honey or maple syrup. Low sodium coconut aminos are a great soy sauce replacement.
Recipe Tips
- To create carrot curls, use a vegetable peeler to slice the carrots. They will naturally have a slight curl. To encourage it, loosely wrap a curl around your finger and set it aside. Repeat for the rest of the carrot slices. You can also choose to do this with the cucumbers.
Storing and Meal Prep
- Storing: Store leftover pork bowls in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can store the pork and the noodles together or separately. The veggies might soften a bit being stored with the pork and noodles.
- Reheating: You can reheat the meat and rice noodles in the microwave for 2+ minutes. This recipe is totally great served cold too. Serve with crisp fresh veggies and garnishes on the side.
More Meal Prep Bowl Recipes
We love to eat out of bowls. Relatable?
- Korean Ground Beef Bowl
- Vegan Mediterranean Bowl Recipe
- Sweet Potato Chickpea Buddha Bowl (Vegan)
- 15 Min Smoked Salmon Sushi Bowl
✨ Grab your free printable list of high protein foods to help plan more protein packed meals like this!
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Asian Ginger Pork Bowl
Our ground pork bowl is a delicious blend of sweet and savory flavors. Packed full of garlic, ginger, and a tasty chili garlic sauce. A perfect hearty lunch when you're craving those Asian flavors. Serve on a bed of noodles or jasmine rice, whichever you choose it will be a Whole Lotta Yum!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds Ground pork
- 1 tablespoon Vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon Garlic, minced
- ½ cup Soy sauce
- ¼ cup Brown sugar, lightly packed
- ¼ cup Rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Chili garlic sauce
- 1 tablespoon Ginger, minced (or 2 teaspoons dry ground ginger)
- 1 tablespoon Cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons Cold water
- 14 ounces Uncooked rice noodles
- 4 large Carrots, shredded
- 2-3 mini cucumbers or one large cucumber, thinly chopped
- Fresh cilantro, to garnish
- Fresh mint, to garnish
- Lime wedges, to garnish
Instructions
- Prepare rice noodles according to the package directions, Set aside.
- In a large frying pan over medium heat, saute garlic with vegetable oil until fragrant. (about 30 seconds). Add pork and break into chunks, cook fully until no longer pink (about 5 minutes).
- Reduce heat to low. Stir in the soy sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar, chili sauce, and ginger.
- To make the slurry, mix the cornstarch and water until blended. Add the slurry to the pork and allow to simmer for about 1-2 minutes or until the sauce thickens.
- Top cooked rice noodles with pork, shredded carrots, cucumbers, cilantro, fresh mint, and lime wedges. Serve immediately.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 6 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 673Total Fat 26gSaturated Fat 9gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 15gCholesterol 107mgSodium 1394mgCarbohydrates 70gFiber 3gSugar 10gProtein 36g
The nutrional information is just an estimate and was calculated by an automated calculator. If you're on a restricted health program please manually calculate this information using the brands of ingredients you have since brands can vary.
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