These Vietnamese Ground Pork Bowls come together so quickly and are so flavourful! Make them as an easy weeknight dinner or prepare them on the weekend as a meal prep. You only need a handful of ingredients and you’ll have dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes!

Trust me when I say this Vietnamese ground pork recipe is absolutely addictive. It’s one of those recipes that I can just whip up last minute but am still excited to eat every last bite of. A spin-off of my Bun Cha Inspired Meatballs Meal Prep, minus the effort it takes to roll meatballs, this is a flavourful way to enjoy ground pork.

Close up of a plate of rice with ground pork on top and a small dish of green onions on the side.

Why You’ll Love This Ground Pork Bowl

It’s super easy as all you have to do is saute the aromatics then add the pork! It comes together so quickly.
It’s packed with flavour as we use a ton of aromatics, lemongrass, fish sauce, and soy sauce.
I know everyone’s kitchen is different so I hestiate to call all the ingredients kitchen staples but I almost always have these ingredients on hand so I can usually make this without planning. Well, a little planning of thawing my ground pork but other than that, everything is usually in my pantry and fridge!

Ingredients You’ll Need

Ingredients needed to make Vietnamese ground pork bowls.

olive oil — or any neutral oil of your choice. Vegetable oil, canola oil, or avocado oil works as well.
onion — I dice up a small yellow onion.
minced garlic — I always have a ton of garlic frozen.
red Thai chili — also called bird’s eye chili or bird’s chili.
lemongrass paste — I use lemongrass paste from a tube. You could use fresh lemongrass but I prefer the paste for ease and I like that it can be stored long-term in the fridge.
ground pork
brown sugar — feel free to use regular brown sugar or light brown sugar.
soy sauce — light/low sodium soy sauce is what I use.
dark soy sauce — I like to add a dash of dark soy sauce to add some extra colour to the dish. If you don’t have dark soy sauce, you can simply replace it with regular soy sauce.
fish sauce — don’t worry, it won’t taste fishy.
you’ll also need some rice if you want to make this into a rice bowl. Here’s how to make jasmine rice.

How to Make This Vietnamese Pork Rice Bowl

Pan with onions, garlic, chili, and lemongrass.

To a non-stick skillet over medium heat, add olive oil and the diced onion, minced garlic, diced red chili, and lemongrass paste. Saute for 2 to 3 minutes until the onions have softened.
Add the ground pork and saute, breaking up the pork with a wooden spoon.

Ground pork broken into pieces in a pan.

Brown sugar, dark soy sauce, soy sauce, and fish sauce added to the pork.

When the pork is around 50% browned, add the brown sugar, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and fish sauce to the skillet.

Stir until combined. Then allow the liquid to cook down, stirring every minute or so.
You can allow the liquid to cook all the way down or leave some behind so it’s a little saucy. I prefer to cook it all the way down.
Once done to your liking, serve it over a bowl of rice.

Close up of a plate of rice with ground pork on top with a spoon that scooped the food to a side.

Recipe Tips and Notes

Red Thai chili having the seeds removed.

To easily deseed the red Thai chili peppers, roll the chili peppers between your fingers or on the counter and then cut off the stem. Then squeeze out the loosen seeds.
Be careful to wash your hands or use gloves when working with chili as it make cause your hands to burn a bit. I speak from experience!
Feel free to add more red Thai chilis to increase the spice levels.
Fresh lemongrass will work as well but be sure to mince it up finely and only use the tender part of the bottom third of the stalk. That is the part that is edible.
Feel free to add more brown sugar to the pan to make the pork sweeter.

Close up of a plate of rice with ground pork on top.

Make Ahead Tips

Meal prep: once cooled, store the cooked pork in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the fridge with some rice. Coconut rice and cilantro lime rice goes really well with this as well.
Freezer: allow the pork to cool before transferring them into an airtight container before storing them in the freezer. They can last for up to 3 months. Reheat by thawing in the fridge overnight and then microwaving or sauteing in a pan.

Vietnamese Ground Pork Bowls

5 from 23 votes

Print Rate

Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 15

Total Time: 20

Servings: servings

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced finely
2 tbsp minced garlic
5 thai chili, deseeded and diced
1 tbsp lemongrass paste
1 lb ground pork
¼ cup brown sugar
2 tbsp soy sauce, low sodium
1½ tsp dark soy sauce, optional
2 tbsp fish sauce
4 cups cooked rice, to serve

Instructions

To a non-stick skillet over medium heat, add olive oil and the diced onion, minced garlic, diced red chili, and lemongrass paste. Saute for 2 to 3 minutes until the onions have softened.
Add the ground pork and saute, breaking up the pork with a wooden spoon.
When the pork is around 50% browned, add the brown sugar, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and fish sauce to the skillet.
Stir until combined. Then allow the liquid to cook down, stirring every minute or so.
You can allow the liquid to cook all the way down or leave some behind so it’s a little saucy. I prefer to cook it all the way down.
Once done to your liking, serve it over a bowl of rice.

Tried this recipe?Did you make this recipe? I’m always so happy to hear about it! I’d love to see how it turned out. Tag me at @CarmysHungry on Instagram so I can see it! If you enjoyed the recipe, I’d really appreciate a comment with a 5 star rating! ♥

Nutrition Per Serving

Author: Carmy

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Vietnamese

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