19 Easy Ground Pork Recipes

A pack of ground pork can go a long way when you’re trying to make dinner work on a budget. It’s usually cheaper than ground beef, chicken, or turkey, but it still brings plenty of rich flavor to the table, and it works in everything from quick noodles to saucy bowls and easy skillet meals. I love an ingredient that can save a few dollars and still keep dinner from feeling repetitive! So if you’ve been overlooking it at the store, these 19 Ground Pork Recipes will give you plenty of easy, budget-friendly ways to put it to good use!

Fast Noodle Dinners

Noodles are always a hit with our audience because they check alllll the right boxes. They’re quick, easy, packed with flavor, and usually built around pantry staples. These ground pork noodle recipes are some of our readers’ favorites, and they’re every bit as delicious as you’d expect.

1. Dan Dan Noodles

This easy Dan Dan noodles recipe has the makings of a repeat dinner. It turns spaghetti, ground pork, peanut butter, and chili crisp into a bold, nutty, spicy noodle bowl in just 30 minutes. I also love that it gives you restaurant-style flavor without a mile-long ingredient list!

2. Pork and Peanut Dragon Noodles

A true Budget Bytes favorite, these pork and peanut dragon noodles have more than 200 5-star reviews and counting! The sweet, salty, rich, crunchy combo really does hit everything you want in a fast noodle dinner, and the whole thing is ready in 25 minutes for just a couple of dollars total.

Bowl Meals

I’m always glad to have a few bowl meals in rotation because they tend to do a lot with very little. You get protein, carbs, plenty of texture, and a built-in excuse to toss in extra vegetables, which makes these feel practical and satisfying at the same time.

3. Teriyaki Meatball Bowls

These teriyaki meatball bowls are a solid meal prep option. You get jasmine rice, pork meatballs, homemade teriyaki sauce, and broccoli all in one bowl, and they reheat great for work lunches or easy dinners!

4. Bánh Mì Bowls

These bánh mì bowls take the flavors of bánh mì sandwiches and turns them into an easy bowl with ground pork meatballs and quick pickled carrots and onions. I love adding pickled vegetables to just about any bowl meal, and they do a lot of heavy lifting flavor-wise here!

5. Pork and Cherry Rice Bowl

I think these pork and cherry rice bowls are probably one of the more unexpected recipes in the bunch, and that’s exactly why it stands out! The sweet-savory cherry and pork combo keeps it interesting, but it’s still a quick rice bowl that’s done in about 35 minutes.

6. Hoisin Stir Fry Bowls

Color, texture, big flavor, quick cook time? These hoisin stir fry bowls understand the assignment. They’re ready fast, work with ground pork, and the spicy peanut sauce is the kind of thing that makes them feel put together without much effort. I think this recipe would be great as lettuce wraps if you want to skip the rice, too!

7. BBQ Meatballs with Cheese Grits

These BBQ meatballs with cheese grits feel a little different from the rice-based bowls above, with a cozier, comfort-food vibe that still fits right into an easy dinner rotation. I like that this ground pork recipe feels hearty enough for cooler weather without becoming fussy or taking a ton of time to make!

More Easy Dinner Recipes With Ground Pork

These ground pork recipes go in a few different directions, but they all have the same budget-friendly, flavor-packed energy that makes them worth keeping in your dinner rotation!

8. Pineapple Pork Hawaiian Burgers

If you want a burger that breaks out of the usual ketchup-and-mustard routine, these pineapple pork Hawaiian burgers are a good one to try. Juicy ground pork patties get topped with sweet pineapple, melty Monterey Jack, green onion, and a quick teriyaki-style sauce for the sweet-savory flavor combination my family loves.

9. Bún Chả (Vietnamese Meatballs)

This bún chả recipe is light, fresh, and a great reminder that ground pork doesn’t always have to feel heavy. The Vietnamese-style meatballs are served with rice noodles, vegetables, and herbs, and it’s also a great option for make-ahead meals. I recommend following the storage instructions in the blog post and storing any leftover meatballs separately from the noodles & vegetables so everything stays as fresh as possible!

10. Nam Sod (Thai Pork Salad)

This Thai pork salad is probably one of the fastest recipes in this entire round-up, with just 20 minutes total time! The lime, ginger, and chili dressing keeps it vibrant and fresh, while the pork makes it filling enough to count as dinner. I love how this recipe proves just how many directions ground pork can go!

Delicious Pork Dumpling Recipes

These dumpling recipes are a little more weekend-project than quick weeknight throw-together, but I think they make great use of ground pork. The fillings are simple, flavorful, and easy on the budget, and the fact that you can freeze extras makes them even better.

11. Pork Gyoza

Homemade dumplings always feel a little impressive, but this pork gyoza recipe keeps them approachable. You get 50 gyoza from just half a pound of ground pork plus cabbage, aromatics, and wrappers, which keeps them wildly budget-friendly compared to restaurant dumplings!

12. Pork and Ginger Pot Stickers

If you’ve got a little extra time and want something fun to make, these pork and ginger pot stickers are a great pick. The ground pork filling is bulked up with cabbage and seasoned with fresh ginger, garlic, and green onion. Bonus: you can freeze extras, so one batch can stretch into another dinner later on (I’m all about cooking once and eating twice!)

Recipes with Ground Beef and Pork Mix

Using a blend of beef and pork is a smart middle ground when you want some of beef’s deeper flavor but still want to keep costs from creeping too high. The pork brings richness and tenderness, the beef adds flavor, and together they make a lot of comfort food favorites feel especially satisfying on a budget.

13. Swedish Meatballs

These Swedish meatballs are such a good example of why a beef and pork mix works so well. The pork keeps everything rich and tender, while the warm spices and creamy gravy make this feel like a cozy dinner without much effort. I definitely recommend grating the onion as shown in the recipe because it adds a LOT of flavor and helps the meatballs stay nice and juicy!

14. Cabbage Rolls

Cabbage rolls take a little more time, but they’re the kind of comfort food that really pays you back. Tender cabbage leaves are wrapped around a hearty filling of ground beef and pork, rice, onion, and seasonings, then baked in a simple tomato sauce until everything is soft, savory, and full of flavor!

Try Swapping to Ground Pork For these Recipes

Ground pork is a pretty easy swap in a lot of recipes that call for beef or chicken, especially when there’s already a good sauce, plenty of aromatics, or a mix of vegetables involved. In most cases, you won’t need to change much beyond maybe draining a little extra fat if your pork is richer. Pork is typically cheaper than other ground meats, so this swap is also an easy money saver!

15. Sliders

These sliders are written with ground beef, but I think they work just as well with ground pork! They serve a group, bake up in one batch, and come out melty and golden in about 35 minutes, which makes them just as useful for dinner as they are for parties.

16. Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry

Our beef and cabbage stir fry already has endless room for customization, so I’m sure swapping in ground pork would be very straightforward. You’d still get a fast 30-minute dinner with lots of flavor, and the pork would be especially good with the cabbage. Since this stir fry recipe is low-cost and pantry-friendly, this swap makes a lot of sense when pork is the better buy.

17. Goulash

Ground pork would work really well in this American goulash. The original recipe cooks the pasta and meat in the same pot with a homemade red wine tomato sauce, so there’s plenty of flavor built in to support the swap. If you’re not sure about swapping the beef for pork, I’d probably do half beef and half pork the first time to see if you like it!

18. Picadillo

This is one of the easiest swaps in the bunch. Picadillo is already sweet, savory, tomato-y, and deeply flavorful, so ground pork would slide right in and still give you a dinner that feels balanced and bold in just 30 minutes. The pork would be especially nice if you want the filling to stay a little more tender and juicy.

19. Chicken Lettuce Wraps

My family loves these chicken lettuce wraps, and I know they’d be just as good made with ground pork. The filling is already quick, saucy, and full of texture from the vegetables and water chestnuts, so pork would make it a little richer and more savory!