Ground Pork Fried Rice Recipe

An irresistible skillet dinner whipped up in about 30 minutes! Make this Ground Pork Fried Rice recipe when you're craving a quick and satisfying meal that's packed with savory flavor and wholesome ingredients.

This easy pork fried rice is perfect for busy weeknights or when you're in the mood for comforting Chinese-inspired flavors without the hassle of takeout.

Ground pork, snow peas, carrots, ginger, garlic, fresh green onions, and soy sauce combine to make an utterly satisfying family dinner!

And if you're looking for more better-than-takeout recipes, you need to make my Teriyaki Beef Bowls, Teriyaki Turkey Rice Bowl, Teriyaki Shrimp Sushi Bowl, and Honey Butter Garlic Chicken next!

Why you'll love this recipe

• Make it in advance - Many of the ingredients can be prepped ahead of time!
• Easy to customize - The swaps and substitutions are endless in this recipe.
• Packed with flavor - Aromatics like garlic and ginger make this pork fried rice recipe anything but bland.
• Texture - Crisp, fresh veggies and crunchy cashews make for a satisfying bite.

Ingredients needed

• Ground pork - Often times pork fried rice is made with pork belly, pork loin, pork tenderloin, or leftover pork chops. I like to use ground pork because it's quick-cooking and guaranteed to stay tender.
• Cooked white rice - Cook your white rice in advance and let it fully cool down and chill in the fridge. Even better if you can do this night before! Leftover rice is the key to fried rice recipes.
• Onion - Use white or yellow onion, whatever you have on hand!
• Frozen peas - No need to thaw these in advance.
• Carrots - You can slice your carrots into thin slices like I did, match sticks, or dice them into small squares.
• Snow peas - Snow peas don't need any additional prep!
• Green onion - Use both the green and white parts.
• Fresh ginger and garlic - Added for flavor and aroma. Peel your ginger root and then mince or finely grate it.
• Soy sauce - Low-sodium is best, but full-sodium is okay too.

How to make Ground Pork Fried Rice

Before you start, make sure you have all of your ingredients chopped, measured, and ready to go! Once food is added to the hot pan, everything cooks quickly and requires constant attention.

Step 1 - Add the ground pork to your wok and cook the pork over medium heat in a small amount of cooking oil. Remove the pork from the wok (or frying pan) and set it aside.

Step 2 - Add the frozen peas, carrots, onions, and snow peas to the hot wok. Cook the vegetables over medium heat to high heat for about 4 minutes. Consistently toss the vegetables around the pan to avoid burning. Add the minced fresh garlic, minced ginger, and green onion to the frying pan. Cook for an additional minute.

Step 3 - Push the vegetables to one side of the pan and add the cooked cold rice to the frying pan. Stir-fry the rice for about 3-4 minutes over medium to high heat. Let the rice brown and crisp up to your liking.

Step 4 - Add the cooked ground pork back to the large skillet and stir the pork into the rice and vegetables. Continue stir-frying your ground pork, rice, and vegetables until they are fully combined.

Step 5 - After combining the main ingredients together, you can add your sauces and seasonings. Add the garlic powder, sesame oil, soy sauce, and hot sauce. Give the ground pork stir fry a good mixing together again and then remove it from the heat.

Step 6 - I like to top my fried rice with crunchy cashews. Toasting the cashews is optional. If you want to keep this a one-pan recipe, then don't bother toasting the cashews.

If you don't mind dirtying another dish, then toasting the cashews is totally worth it! In a small frying pan, lightly toast your chopped cashews in sesame oil using low heat. Sprinkle with salt. The cashews will toast quickly so keep an eye on the pan!

Remove the cashews from the pan and sprinkle them on top of your stir-fried rice, veggies, and ground pork. Serve the fried rice with extra soy sauce on the side, and enjoy!

Substitutions

• Meat - If you don't want to use ground pork, use ground turkey instead! You could also use pork belly or leftover roast pork chopped into small pieces. Chicken and shrimp are also commonly used in stir fry.
• Vegetables - Try adding green beans, red pepper, bean sprouts, mushrooms, or sugar snap peas.
• Rice - Stir fries are regularly made with different types of white rice, like jasmine rice, sushi rice, or basmati rice, and also with different types of long-grain brown rice.

Variations

Stir fries also commonly include oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, and fish sauce. Many Chinese stir-fries also add in small pieces of scrambled eggs.

Expert tips

• Cook your rice ahead of time and allow it to completely chill in the refrigerator. It is best to do this the day/night before you plan on using it. This recipe is an excellent way to use up leftover rice!
• If you forget to cook your rice a day in advance, then you can give it a quick chill in the freezer. After it is cooked, spread it out on a sheet pan and put it in the freezer for about 30 minutes. You want to use chilled cooked rice because it will crisp up when it hits the hot frying pan. Warm, freshly cooked rice will not crisp up. Instead, it will get soggy and clump together.
• One of the easiest, no-fail ways to cook rice is using a rice cooker!
• Be careful when adding in your aromatics, aka your fresh garlic and fresh ginger. You don't want them to burn in the high heat. Since you will immediately be tossing them into your vegetables, they should be fine. Just be careful when they make direct contact with the hot wok.
• Use high-heat cooking oil like peanut, canola, grape seed, or avocado oil when oiling your wok.
• Do not cook your stir-fry in sesame oil! Sesame oil is a low-heat cooking oil and should only be used as a finishing oil at the end of cooking.
• Don't start cooking until all of your ingredients are chopped and measured out! Stir-fries are cooked quickly using high heat, so you do not have time to stop cooking (stirring) and measure or chop your ingredients after you start.