23 Easy Ground Pork Recipes for Fast and Hearty Dinners
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 & Food Styling by Kendra Vaculin1/23Pork 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.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Lillian Chou2/23Pork 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.
Photo by Joe Woodhouse4/23Sunshine Broth With Frikadelki
When you need a big bowl of comfort, this simple soup recipe with grated carrot and tender meatballs is just what the doctor ordered.
Photo by Frankie Gaw6/23Lion’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.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, Prop Styling by Christina Allen, Food Styling by Emilie Fosnocht7/23Lazy 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.
Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne8/23Creole 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.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Emilie Fosnocht, Prop Styling by Emma Ringness9/23Red Curry Pork and Rice Cake Stir-Fry
Photo by Alex Lau, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Lillian Chou11/23Pork Wontons With Sesame Sauce
12/23Coconut-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.
Ditte Isager14/23Rigatoni 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.
Photo by Chelsie Craig, Food Styling by Pearl Jones15/23Adobo-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.
Photo by Emma Fishman, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Sophie Strangio18/23Caramelized Pork and Cucumber Stir-Fry
Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Thu Buser, Prop Styling by Paola Andrea23/23Zucchini 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.
