Recipe Roundup

23 Easy Ground Pork Recipes for Fast and Hearty Dinners

Quick cooking? Check. Flavor powerhouse? You bet.
Lion's head big mac held with two hands.
Photo by Frankie Gaw

Deeply savory flavor and tenderness can take hours to coax out of some cuts, but these ground pork recipes are a different story. Quick oven meatballs with a fresh, crunchy salad? They’re yours in 45 minutes. A fan-favorite stir-fry? Even quicker. Of course, if you’re hanging out at home and want a spicy Italian ragù to simmer away (hands-off) all day, that’s another great way to cook ground pork. If you’ve only ever used it in lettuce wraps or meatloaf and never gotten excited about it, we promise that digging into our best ground pork recipes will convince you to add a pound to your grocery cart pretty much every time you shop.

Thinking about other weeknight-friendly pork options? Here are some pork tenderloin ideas, and head over here for pork chops galore.

  • Photo of a meatball and cucumber salad in a bowl.
    Photo & Food Styling by Kendra Vaculin
    1/23

    Pork Meatballs and Cucumber Salad

    You’re guaranteed to find weeknight dinner ideas in this collection of ground pork recipes. This one’s a staff favorite: Castelvetrano olives and golden raisins add pops of flavor to quick and juicy pork meatballs, served on a swoosh of yogurt with an herby cucumber salad.

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  • Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Lillian Chou
    2/23

    Pork and Chive Dumplings

    Make a big batch of these gingery dumplings, then freeze on a baking sheet before packing into bags for speedy future dinners, served with a quick side of bok choy. Meal prep has never been tastier.

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  • Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich
    5/23

    Yum Woon Sen

    Got a few ounces of ground pork to use up? Add it to this refreshing glass noodle salad with shrimp and a citrusy, spicy dressing.

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  • Photo by Frankie Gaw
    6/23

    Lion’s Head Big Macs

    This recipe from cookbook author Frankie Gaw transforms the iconic Lion’s head meatball into a juicy burger patty. It’s drizzled with a tangy sauce (made with mayo, ketchup, mustard, pickle relish, honey, and sriracha) and piled onto a sesame seed bun with slices of cheese, pickles, onion, and crunchy cabbage leaves.

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  • Photograph by Isa Zapata, Prop Styling by Christina Allen, Food Styling by Emilie Fosnocht
    7/23

    Lazy Cabbage Rolls

    Instead of individually wrapping this riff on Ukranian cabbage rolls, you’ll incorporate the cabbage right in with the rice and pork filling and just shape into rough ovals before baking.

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  • Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne
    8/23

    Creole Rice Dressing

    You can’t have Thanksgiving in Louisiana without this dish, the ultimate vehicle for sopping up turkey gravy. But when it’s not Thanksgiving, you can still enjoy this hearty combination of rice, ground meat, diced aromatics, Creole seasoning, and hot sauce. Half of the pork can be subbed out for ground turkey if you prefer.

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  • Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Emilie Fosnocht, Prop Styling by Emma Ringness
    9/23

    Red Curry Pork and Rice Cake Stir-Fry

    Store-bought red curry paste provides the punch this crowd-favorite rice cake and ground pork stir-fry recipe needs. Garnish with lots of scallions just before serving.

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  • Photo by Frankie Gaw
    10/23

    Grandma’s Pearl Meatballs

    Combine pork, fresh ginger, and green onions into a meatball, then roll each one in pearl-like grains of glutinous rice before steaming.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Lillian Chou
    11/23

    Pork Wontons With Sesame Sauce

    Whipping an egg into the filling of these simple dumplings makes them especially fluffy and moist. You might want to double the sauce recipe: “I can see the sauce being yummy with some noodles and stir fried veggies too,” notes one reviewer. Sounds like a good meal plan to us.

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  • 12/23

    Coconut-Harissa Meatballs

    If you have a jar of harissa and a can of coconut milk in your pantry, you’re just minutes away from these saucy, easy pork meatballs.

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  • Photo by Laura Murray, Food Styling by Yekaterina Boytsova
    13/23

    Pork and Shiitake Congee

    A little marinated ground pork and sautéed shiitake mushrooms add a savory bass note to this silky Chinese rice porridge. Let each eater top their bowl with scallions and chili oil if desired.

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  • Ditte Isager
    14/23

    Rigatoni With Spicy Calabrese-Style Pork Ragù

    Here’s a good weekend project: Simmer a big batch of this spicy pasta sauce, then freeze for easy Tuesday night meals or even a no-fuss dinner party. “Just a lovely homey recipe that perfumed my house all afternoon with mouth-watering aromas,” says one reviewer. If you wanted to sub this in place of Bolognese in your signature lasagna, we’d cheer you on.

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  • Photo by Chelsie Craig, Food Styling by Pearl Jones
    15/23

    Adobo-Style Eggplant

    Cooking eggplant with vinegar, soy sauce, and touch of sugar gives it bright and savory flavor; a bit of ground pork adds richness to the dish, which is best served with rice.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Kate Buckens
    16/23

    Sesame Pork Burgers

    One reviewer writes: “These have been in our regular rotation for 2 years now!” Each burger sits on an English muffin with a crown of crunchy cabbage slaw, fresh cilantro, and tangy pickles.

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  • Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Mieko Takahashi
    17/23

    Cheesy Pork and Tomatillo Skillet

    Served as an appetizer, this meaty, cheesy, saucy skillet dip will draw party guests like a magnet. But you can also make it any day and call it dinner.

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  • Photo by Emma Fishman, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Sophie Strangio
    18/23

    Caramelized Pork and Cucumber Stir-Fry

    Oyster sauce brings umami-rich, sweet-meets-salty flavor to anything it touches. We love it with deeply caramelized ground pork, tender cucumbers, and sliced chile. Don't worry if you don’t have a wok; a large skillet over medium-high heat will work fine to get the pork crisp and deeply brown.

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  • Christopher Testani
    21/23

    Homemade Fresh Chorizo

    Use this simple combo as a filling for tacos, or fry it up with eggs for breakfast.

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  • Photo by Noah Fecks, Paul Wagtouicz
    22/23

    Laab Moo

    This laab is flavored with mint, fish sauce, cilantro, lime leaves, and thinly sliced pork liver. Deck out the platter with crispy pork rinds, cucumber slices, cherry tomatoes, and cabbage leaves.

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  • Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Thu Buser, Prop Styling by Paola Andrea
    23/23

    Zucchini Sausage Rolls

    Ground pork recipes tend to be so flavorful that they actually don’t require a ton of ground pork. There’s about as much zucchini as meat in these puff-pastry-wrapped sausage rolls, which means the filling is flavorful and not the least bit dry.

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Following stints at StarChefs and Saveur, Joe joined Epicurious in 2016 where he’s written about how to make the very best biscuits, the singularity of third-culture cooking, and the ultimate cream cheese frosting. Currently, he works across both BA and Epi as the senior SEO editor for cooking stories, which... Read more
Senior SEO Editor, Cooking
The Epicurious editorial team develops original recipes, and publishes stories about cooking better, faster, and more creatively, sustainably, and affordably. See our full masthead, here.
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