Ground Pork Stir-Fry
Looking for a quick, flavorful dinner that comes together in no time at all? This ground pork stir-fry is a total weeknight winner! Made with juicy ground pork, tender veggies, and a simple stir-fry sauce, everything cooks up in one dish for a dinner that’s ready in less than 30 minutes and better than takeout!
Yum, yum, yum!
This meal has been in rotation since 2018, because it’s easy, delicious, and nutritious. 🙌
From a nutrition standpoint, this meal delivers everything I’m looking for – protein, produce, energy (carbs), and flavor. It’s one of the many reasons that stir-fries have a regular spot in our dinner rotation.
The veggies here are very mild as mushrooms and spinach take well to the stir-fry sauce, but you could also switch them up if you want. My kids love both mushrooms and spinach (maybe because we’ve been eating this for so long, though we’ll never know), but broccoli, snow peas, or bok choy would also all be delicious. It’s…
🍽️ Family-friendly: Everyone loves a saucy stir-fry with savory flavors and succulent meat.
⏱️ Fast prep: This meal is ready in less than 30 minutes, making it a great weeknight dinner option!
🥢 Big flavor: Sweet, salty, savory, and umami-packed, this meal is loaded with flavor.
🌶️ Easy to customize: Adjust spice and veggies to your taste. Don’t like mushrooms? Swap them for something else.
🥡 Better-than-takeout: No shade to takeout, but this version is fresh and flavorful and almost as fast!
🍚 Great with rice: Serve over steamed rice, cauliflower rice, or noodles.
You’ll also want to try my orange chicken, ground turkey stir-fry, and beef and broccoli.
Just made this again tonight, it’s in regular rotation in our family. Very quick to make and healthy. Thank you for sharing this! –Norse
Ingredient Notes
You’ll need some fresh ingredients and pantry staples to bring this stir-fried ground to the table: garlic, ginger, soy sauce, brown sugar, cornstarch, rice vinegar, sesame oil, vegetable oil, ground pork, mushrooms, spinach, rice, green onions, and sesame seeds for serving.
- Mushrooms – You can really use any type of mushroom you like. I stuck with basic varieties like white mushrooms and baby bella mushrooms, but you could also use a shiitake or other variety if you prefer. You’ll want to remove the stems and roughly chop them. We tend to add a lot as they cook down a bit, and my family loves mushrooms, but you could also use a little less.
Emily’s Tips & Tricks
- Pro tip: Try toasting your own sesame seeds! I just recently did this and wow, they have so much more flavor than sprinkling them on raw.
- Shortcuts: There are a lot of shortcuts you can take with stir-fry! Microwavable rice is an easy one that will shorten the overall cooking time. Frozen garlic and ginger cubes will cut down on chopping (these are typically located in the frozen vegetable section).
- Feeding kids without pressure: I would recommend serving the stir-fried pork in a pinch bowl (taster bowl) if it’s a new or learning-to-like it food and let everyone build their own rice bowl. Serve the meal with a few items you know your kids will eat, like fruit, milk, and/or bread and butter if they don’t do rice. If they want to pick out the veggies from the pork, let them do it! I tried my best not to pick out veggies for my kids, but they are welcome to do it themselves if they want to, and I am 100% ok with that!
- Variations: When I originally shared this recipe (way back in 2018!) it was a slightly different version, with the spinach and mushrooms cooked in a more simple sauce and then everything was topped with a quick peanut sauce. While that version was delicious, I wanted to streamline it a bit. So we bumped up the flavor of the stir-fry sauce, making the peanut sauce unnecessary. (If you love it, I’ve included it in the recipe card below and have heard from some readers that they like the original recipe best!)
Ground Pork Stir-Fry Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stir Fry
- Cuisine: Asian
Description
This easy ground pork stir-fry is loaded with savory flavor and delicious veggies. It’s a 30-minute, one-pan meal, perfect for busy nights.
Ingredients
- rice for serving
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tsp. grated ginger
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 3 Tbsp. brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp. cornstarch
- 1 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
- 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
- 1 Tbsp. oil
- 1 lb. ground pork
- 16 oz. mushrooms, roughly chopped
- 1 tsp. sea salt
- 8–12 oz. baby spinach
Instructions
- Prepare rice according to package instructions.
- Mix up stir fry sauce. Whisk together minced garlic, ginger, soy sauce, brown sugar, cornstarch, rice wine vinegar, and sesame oil in a small bowl.
- Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet or wok over medium high heat. Add ground pork to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes, breaking up with a spatula or the back of a wooden spoon.
- Add mushrooms to the pork and season with sea salt. Cook, stirring occasionally for about 5-7 minutes, until pork is cooked through. The mushrooms will release moisture as they cook, so if they look really wet, cook until the excess moisture evaporates.
- Add stir-fry sauce and spinach to pan, toss with pork and mushrooms, and cook until spinach is wilted and sauce is thick and glossy.
- Serve pork over rice. Garnish with green onions, sesame seeds, and if desired, serve with extra soy sauce and chili garlic sauce (or sriracha) to taste.
Notes
- Shortcut: Use microwavable or instant rice to make things really quick.
- Peanut sauce: The original recipe published in 2018 included a peanut sauce. I’ve streamlined the recipe and taken it out, but if you loved it, here’s the recipe. You may want to adjust the soy sauce amount in the stir-fry sauce so that it isn’t too salty. In a small bowl, whisk together peanut butter, soy sauce, sriracha (add more if you like spice!), honey, and rice wine vinegar until smooth.
- Ingredients: 2 Tbsp. peanut butter (creamy works best), 3 Tbsp. soy sauce, 1 Tbsp. honey, 1 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar or lemon/lime juice, 1 tsp. sriracha (or more to taste)
- Storage: Store leftover stir-fry in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Reheat in a hot skillet or the microwave, just until heated through.
- Ingredient notes: Use high-quality espresso beans for best results. Whole milk creates the creamiest foam, but plant-based options like oat or almond milk also work.
- Prep ahead: If you want to prep this meal ahead, I would recommend mixing up the stir-fry sauce up to a day in advance. Shake or stir before using as the cornstarch will settle. You could also cut up your mushrooms (though that does go quick!) and make your rice.
- Special tools: My rice maker is a staple, and if you make rice (or stir-fry!) frequently, it’s a must for the easiest, always-perfect rice.
- Serve with: rice, cauliflower rice, noodles, chili crisp oil, and sriracha.
Serving Suggestions
Rice is a classic, but there are other options as well!
- Noodles – Almost any long noodle will work! Rice noodles, soba noodles, udon noodles, or even spaghetti. Toss cooked pasta into the pork and veggie mixture and toss to coat.
- Rice – I always recommend choosing the rice that you enjoy most, as nutritionally, there is not a huge difference between white and brown rice. It’s a good time to think about what will be most satisfying for you. At our house, we typically stick with white rice. I like basmati or jasmine rice with stir-fry recipes, but you could also go for a long grain rice as well.
- Veggies – If you want to add in extra veggies or to cut down on the carbs, serve over cooked cauliflower rice.
About the Author
Emily Dingmann is a recipe developer, nutrition expert, and founder of My Everyday Table. She specializes in creating easy, healthy recipes that help busy parents feed their families well every single day, without the stress. With a degree in Nutrition and over 20 years of experience, Emily shares family-friendly meals that are practical, nourishing, and full of flavor. Learn more about Emily’s approach to everyday cooking and nutrition here.
Food styling and photography by Loren Runion.
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Great healthy recipe for busy weeknights. I usually use tahini instead of peanut butter, just a personal preference. Thank you so much!
Oooh, love that swap, Karen! Thanks for sharing!
Amazing recipe! My husband and I loved it.
Hi Sharon, so glad you enjoyed! Thanks for sharing!
Was so sad when my leftovers were gone!!
Haha, I know how that goes!
This recipe was delicious. I made a few minor changes due to what I had on hand and to increase vegetables vs. the recipe, but didn’t change the taste profile. I used half of a chopped onion cooked with the pork instead of the green onions, added half a bag of frozen peas I’ve wanted to get rid of, increased the spinach, increased the amount of sauce, and mixed rice into the pork mixture at the end, as I will be taking this to work for the next few lunches. I’ve never used ground pork in a stir fry before, and I really like it. I will definitely be making this again. Thank you!
Yay, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! And I’m going to be trying it with peas next time, great idea. Thanks for sharing the changes, I know others will find this helpful as well.
Yummy!
I used small breakfast sausage links because I had them and browned them a a first step, added chopped onion to the stir fry and used crushed peanuts as a garnish instead of including them in the sauce. It was quick , easy and delicious. Thank you!!!
Oooh, what a great twist! Thanks for sharing, Patricia!
Hi, this was delicious! And so simple to make. My daughter (9) who doesn’t like mushrooms or spinach announced that she now likes both! Easy to add other veggies like shredded carrots. The PB sauce is so yummy- it pushes the dish over the top! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Best review ever! Thank you! Glad you all enjoyed it.
Hello, I’m excited to try this recipe this evening. However, even after choosing print ‘options’, when I printed it, it also printed all the ads making it 4 pages! Of course I did front to back, but ads so distracting as well as flipping pages. But most of all, could not print to include the entire Nutritional Facts and NF gave info as 4 servings and not 1. Can I his brother fixed, or any suggestions?
Oh I’m so sorry! I’ll check with my network to get this fixed. Thanks for letting me know.
Made this wo the ginger bc included my father who doesn’t care for ginger. Me time though will include the ginger for myself and husband.
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks!
Just made this again tonight, it’s in regular rotation in our family. Very quick to make and healthy. Thank you for sharing this!
Yay! Love hearing this, thanks for letting me know.
Love it! Takes a bit of time to prep but well worth it.the peanut sauce adds a great addition of flavor.yum yummy yummy..
Hi Sasha, so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for your comment. 🙂
I used Kale instead of spinach and I don’t have a wok so I used my favorite, cast iron dutch oven. Cast iron skillet was not deep enough for kale. Excellent meal. Will do this again. Even the leftovers were delicious. Thank you.
Great to hear, Jim! Thanks!
Excellent! Delicious.
So glad you enjoyed, thanks Gayle!
This was delicious, easy, and a big hit for the whole family!!
Only giving 4 stars because we prefer the original recipe. Went to make this and couldn’t remember how the original goes and for the first time it was a bit bland. We did make the new sauce but didn’t love it as much. I wish I had the original memorized because it was a staple dinner in our home. Can you please reshare the original so we can continue to make it as we can’t remember if the garlic, ginger, etc. was still supposed to be in the original?
Awwww, sorry you don’t like the new version as much! So instead of making the stir-fry sauce, you’ll cook the garlic and ginger with the pork and then make the peanut sauce separately. (Peanut sauce recipe is in the recipe card in the notes section!) Let me know if you have any other questions and I’ll help you figure it out.
This recipe sounds really good with both sauces. My questions are if you use the peanut sauce, do you not add any cornstarch?
And my other question is your recipe calls for rice wine vinegar, is that the same as rice vinegar or is it the same as rice wine or something else all together.
The cornstarch helps to thicken the stir-fry and give it a glossy texture, but you could omit it if you didn’t want it. If you’re going to use the peanut sauce, you can really cut down on the soy sauce, I would use 1 tablespoon instead of 1/4 cup. And yes, rice vinegar and rice wine vinegar are the same thing, I see them called both! Either will work.