This veggie-heavy Thai ground pork stir fry is so simple to prepare, and SO full of flavor! Just a few simple ingredients and it is on your table in no time.
I’m always excited about the recipes I share with you all, but today’s recipe has me EXTRA excited!
This recipe was inspired by Ben’s step-mom Ning, who is the most amazing Thai chef you will ever meet. Ning made a ton of delicious Thai food for us when we visited them in Thailand, but for some reason I kept thinking about how much she used ground pork. Because ground pork isn’t exactly something I use a lot of here in Canada.
I vaguely remember Ning making us a ground pork soup that was supposed to cure hangovers, and some ‘glass noodles’ (aka: vermicelli/rice noodles) with ground pork and an amazing sauce.
Inspired by Ning, I came up with this recipe for a lemongrass-infused Thai ground pork stir fry.
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I sure do love Thai flavors (have you checked out this Thai Butternut Squash Soup, or these Thai Beef Koftas?), but I’ve yet to make a stir fry with Thai ingredients, until now!
Firstly, I love how many veggies are in this stir fry. Now if you don’t have a spiralizer
, don’t worry! I just did it because I had these gargantuan carrots in the fridge that were just perfect for spiralizing. Matchsticks will work perfectly in this recipe as well.
Secondly, this recipe is so flipping easy, and doesn’t have 8000 ingredients. SO simple!
This recipe gets its flavor from the aromatics: lemongrass, shallot, ginger and garlic. Make sure you remove the outer leaves from the lemongrass, and only use the pale section of the stalk, as the green parts are reeeeeally chewy. Not good. And chop the heck out of it, you want really finely chopped lemongrass.
The second reason that this recipe has SO much flavor is the sauce…if you can call it that! It’s half fish sauce and half brown sugar…and you’re going to think I’m playing a mean trick on you because it does smell very fishy when you throw it in the pan.
But it bubbles with the aromatics for a few minutes, thickens ever so slightly and any trace of fishiness is replaced by a beautiful sweet and savory flavor.
Then you toss everything in the sauce. The pork absorbs so much of the sauce and is the perfect compliment to the flavors! Serve over rice with some fresh cilantro leaves.
This lemongrass Thai ground pork stir fry is SO simple, so tasty and another fun recipe to use your spiralizer!
Looking for more healthy pork recipes? Try this Instant Pot Pork Tenderloin with Soy Ginger Sauce
This veggie-heavy Thai ground pork stir fry is so simple to prepare, and SO full of flavor! Just a few simple ingredients and it is on your table in no time.
- 450 g/1 lb lean ground pork
- 6 cups veggies such as zucchini, carrots, green beans and peas, spiralized or cut into matchsticks
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 stalk lemongrass minced (1/4 cup)
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon ginger minced
- 2 shallots finely chopped
- 1/4 cup fish sauce
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- Cilantro
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In a large non-stick pan, cook the ground pork for 5-8 minutes, until cooked through and no pink remains. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and drain any excess liquid from the pan.
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Add the vegetables to the pan and cook for 5-8 minutes, until tender (if cut in matchsticks, cook these for 3 minutes longer than any spiralized veggies).
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Remove from pan and set aside.
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Add olive oil to the pan, and cook the lemongrass, garlic, ginger and shallots for 3-4 minutes, until softened. Stir together the fish sauce and brown sugar, then add to the pan.
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Return the gound pork to the pan and toss to coat in the sauce.
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Return the veggies to the pan and stir.
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Serve over rice.
This is not a spicy stir fry. If you'd like to add some spice, try adding half a Thai chile in with the aromatics.
The leftovers are great and keep for 2-3 days in the fridge.
Products used in this recipe:
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Laura MacNeil
This was really good, but a little sweet to my taste. Next time, I’ll cut the sugar by half.
Denise
Hi Laura! Thanks so much for your review 🙂
Karly
YUM! My family is full of stir-fry fanatics, so this is bound to be a hit! Love that it’s a litttttle on the lighter side, too! Delish!
Denise
Thanks, Karly! We love stir fries too…so simple!
helen @ Scrummy Lane
How wonderful, Denise! I actually made a similar dish to this myself a few weeks back, and I added a fried egg on the top – you should try that, although I suppose it would add on a few more calories.
Love the spiralized veggies!
aimee @ like mother like daughter
i love THAI flavors too. This dish looks so good, with the spiralized veggies and so much flavor in the sauce! Can’t wait to try it soon!
Alaina @ A Not So Quiet Kitchen
This look amazing!! I LOVE Thai food!! And I love lemongrass but have only ever used it in soups before! I bet it’s amazing in this stir fry!! Can’t wait to try it!!
Cheyanne @ No Spoon Necessary
Thai food is amazingly delicious, and this pork stir fry looks to die for! Loving the flavors you have going on here and ALL those veggies! YES! Dinner perfection, girlie! Cheers!
Sarah @Whole and Heavenly Oven
Oh my goodness, you sure know how to make a gorgeous stir-fry, Denise! I am DYING over all the beautiful Thai flavors you loaded into this stunning skillet. Seriously, is it dinnertime yet??
Andrea @ Cooking with Mamma C
So colorful! It’s special to share recipes inspired by our loved ones, isn’t it? I’ve been using fish sauce for a while as a replacement for Worcestershire sauce (which has soy) and really enjoy the flavor. Nice recipe!
Denise
Fish sauce is so funny, isn’t it? Smells HORRIBLE but tastes so good! Thanks, Andrea 🙂
Kelly
This looks SO good, Denise! Anything with Thai flavours always has my heart! 🙂 Love the lemongrass and all those pretty spiralized veggies!
Denise
Thanks so much, Kelly! I think I’m addicted to spiralizing 😀
Ashley - The Recipe Rebel
I really need to get more adventurous with my cooking! I’ve always been a little intimidated by Thai food but I love the flavors in this! We have started using ground pork more and more as the price of beef went higher so this is perfect!
Denise
I almost never use ground pork but I really loved how it goes with Thai flavors. Thanks, Ashley 🙂
Alice @ Hip Foodie Mom
Denise, I love this dish! Anything with lemongrass and fish sauce and I’m on board! 🙂 Thanks for sharing this great recipe! I’d love to meet Ben’s step-mom Ning! She sounds fabulous!
Denise
Ha ha! You would love Ning she’s such a character!! Thanks, Alice 🙂
Gayle @ Pumpkin 'N Spice
You had me lemongrass! I’ve only cooked with it once before (and a long time ago, too!) but I still remember the flavor. And since I love thai food, this sounds extra delicious. It sounds like Ben’s step-mother makes some delicious thai food, too. You are now convincing me that I need to make a thai dish asap, as it’s been WAY too long. And I love the looks of this, especially with all of those fresh veggies in there!
Denise
It’s so good! I always put a big chunk of lemongrass in stuff, then fished it out, so I’m glad to have figured out the mincing technique…so much easier 🙂