15 Minute Pork Banh Mi Bowl (Vietnamese- Inspired) (2024)

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This Pork Banh Mi Bowl is the EASY weeknight recipe you’re looking for! Quickly sauteed pork with flash-pickled veggies, it’s ready in about 10 minutes.

We recently moved office locations at work, and it just further proved to me how much I love living in Kansas City! We moved a whopping one mile west and are now immersed in a totally different food scene. My new office location is surrounded by Vietnamese and Italian restaurants.

And, I have to say the Vietnamese cuisine is my favorite! I’m just a short walk away from having an enormous bowl of shaved beef pho or banh mi sandwiches for lunch!

Whatever food is my current lunch obsession typically gives me inspiration for my dinners at home! The big difference is, unlike these AMAZING hole-in-the-wall restaurants cooking up everything from scratch, I’m trying to get dinner on the table in 30 minutes or less. And, I have a kid, a husband and animals underfoot. So, ingredient shortcuts go a long way for me!

I set out to make these Banh Mi Rice Bowls taste like the classic Vietnamese sandwich with the ingredients I already had on hand! I knew that fish sauce would traditionally be in the mix, but I didn’t have any on hand, so I improvised!

This Pork Banh Mi Bowl is ready in 15 minutes. That’s not a typo, or an exaggeration. 15 minutes. If you’re a slow chopper, maybe 20 minutes, but I’m not judging! These bowls have tons of flavor and make great use of simple pantry ingredients, and ground meat.

Substitutions and Additions:

There are so many ways you can modify or adapt this Banh Mi Bowl! Here are a few suggestions:

• I used Thai jasmine rice, but feel free to use brown rice, cauliflower rice or white rice for your banh mi bowls.
• Instead of rice vinegar for the pickling liquid, you can use white vinegar or lime juice.
• I use ground pork in this recipe, but feel free to use ground chicken or ground beef.
• If you don’t want to purchase matchstick carrots, use grated carrot.
• If you don’t love rice, consider serving over rice noodles.
• Add garlic cloves to the pickling brine to add extra flavor to the raw veggies.
• Use fresh ginger in place of the dried ginger.

Or, if you want to add extra flavor and veggies to the mix, serve the pork over the top of this Mixed Vegetable Pulao.

Serving Suggestions:

Serve warm, topped with cilantro. You can also add peanuts, green onions, or spicy sriracha mayo!

If you want to add extra veggies to your meal, I recommend this Easy Asian Cucumber Salad.

Saving Leftovers:

Save leftover pork in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. I recommend

Pork Banh Mi Bowl

Yield: Serves 2

Prep Time: 5 minutes

See Also

Mongolian Pork {Asian Pork Tenderloin}The Best Lobster Bisque (Ruth's Chris Copycat Recipe)Sticky Honey Lemon Chicken Recipe | Gimme Some OvenChicken Chow Mein (鸡肉炒面)

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

This Banh Mi Bowl recipe borrows flavors from the classic Vietnamese banh mi sandwich, in bowl form! Ground pork and rice topped with crunchy veggies.

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked Jasmine rice

For the pickled veggie topping:

• 2 small cucumbers, chopped
• 3 ounces matchstick carrots
• 1 ounce rice wine vinegar
• 1 pinch salt

For the pork:

• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 12 ounces ground pork
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon sriracha sauce
• 4 tablespoons teriyaki sauce

For topping:

• ¼ ounce fresh cilantro, chopped

Optional toppings:

• fresh herbs (green onions)
• extra sriracha or sambal oelek (to add spice)
• spicy mayo (1 part sriracha to 1 part mayo)

Instructions

1. Prepare your rice according to package instructions.
2. Make the quick pickled vegetables. Add cucumber, carrots, vinegar and a pinch of salt to a small bowl. Toss to coat and allow to rest at room temperature while you cook the rest of the dish.
3. Next, make the pork. Add sesame oil to a large skillet, heated to medium-high heat.
4. Add ground pork, ginger and garlic to hot pan. Cook, breaking the pork into crumbles, for 4-6 minutes until the meat is cooked through. Add sriracha and teriyaki sauce, and cook, stirring for about 1-2 minutes to glaze the cooked pork.
5. Add cooked rice to a bowl. Top rice with pork and pickled vegetables, then garnish with cilantro or other optional toppings listed above.
6. Serve warm or at room temperature!

Notes

If you don't have teriyaki sauce on hand, don't worry! Combine 2.5 tablespoons soy sauce (or coconut aminos) with 1.5 tablespoons brown sugar (or white sugar/maple syrup).

Nutrition Information

Yield 2Serving Size 1
Amount Per ServingCalories 857Total Fat 43gSaturated Fat 14gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 25gCholesterol 162mgSodium 1849mgCarbohydrates 62gFiber 4gSugar 11gProtein 52g

The nutrition for this recipe is calculated by an app and may be incorrect.

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originally published on Oct 7, 2018 (last updated Jan 31, 2024)

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