Easy Recipes Using Ground Pork for Every Night of the Week
These are my favourite recipes using ground pork, from sticky peanut noodles to one-pot meatballs & rice, all under £2 a portion.
I’ve been making recipes using ground pork for years now and I genuinely don’t think it gets the credit it deserves. It’s cheaper than beef, it browns better than turkey, and it takes on flavour like a dream. Whether you’re after something quick on a weeknight or a batch cook that’ll sort your lunches for the week, pork mince works across so many different cuisines, it’s crazy.
These are the six I keep coming back to, all under £2 a portion and all made with stuff you can grab at any regular supermarket. If you’re looking for new ground pork recipes to add to the rotation, you’re in the right place.
Table of Contents
My Top Ground Pork Recipes
Meatballs in Tomato Sauce
This quick and easy dinner includes juicy, homemade meatballs in tomato sauce. Each bite of this recipe includes a delicious, thick tomato sauce that you’ll want to soak up with rice, bread, or by the spoonful.
It’s inspired by an Italian-style red sauce, so you can expect a great texture and flavour. It’s the perfect easy weeknight recipe for busy professionals and parents.
Creamy Tuscan Inspired Rigatoni with Pork Mince
I’ve been making this since uni and it still surprises me how good it is for £1.02 a portion. The pork mince mimics the flavour of Italian sausage meat without the extra fat or cost, and when it’s browned properly & brought together with crème fraîche, sun-dried tomatoes & loads of spinach it really gives you everything you’d want from a Tuscan pasta but so much cheaper.
This makes 6 portions, freezes well and holds up in the fridge for days, which makes it one of the ground pork recipes I reach for first when batch cooking. One thing though: please do not wash the pan between browning the mince and making the sauce. All those stuck-on bits of ground pork at the bottom are flavour and you want them in the sauce.
Peanut Sauce Noodles (High Protein Lunch Bowls)
Imagine ground pork cooked with honey & soy until sticky and caramelised, then tossed with noodles in a creamy peanut sauce made entirely from stuff already in your cupboard. If you’re after easy ground pork recipes with few ingredients, this is probably the one to start with – it’s ready in 15 minutes and packs 39g of protein per portion. No wonder I make this pretty much every week!!
These are brilliant for meal prep if you layer the mince, then the noodles, then the cucumber into containers, as they’ll keep for 3 days. Just take the cucumber out before you reheat because nobody wants warm pickled cucumber.
Creamy Tuscan Gnocchi (One-pot & under 20 minutes)
The gnocchi has the same bones as the rigatoni but a completely different vibe! It cooks straight in the chicken stock so the starch thickens the sauce as everything simmers, and you end up with something sooo nice and creamy.
It takes only 20 minutes to get this on the table, and since we cook it all in one pan, you’ll have no extra dishes waiting for you later. Honestly, this is one of the simpler ground pork recipes here & also one of the cheapest. The lemon juice at the end is important, by the way, as it cuts through the crème fraîche and makes the dish even fresher & brighter.
One-Pan Cajun Dirty Rice Recipe (Ready in 30 Minutes!)
If your dinners have started feeling a bit samey, this dirty rice will definitely shake things up. It’s bold, a bit smoky, a little spicy & it’s made in one single pan in 30 minutes.
The pork mince cooks down with peppers, onion, garlic & Cajun seasoning until everything is nice and flavourful, then the rice simmers in beef stock until it turns that dark murky colour that gives dirty rice its name.
As far as recipes using ground pork go this one is probably the most underrated on the list. The jalapeños are listed as optional but I’d encourage you to at least try them because they add something that really complements the dish. The rice also tastes even better once the flavours have had time to settle, so go ahead and make a big batch – this is one of those ground pork dinner ideas that’s even better as a leftover.
Minced Pork Noodles
These noodles really give takeaway a run for its money. It has chewy udon noodles, browned pork mince, chestnut mushrooms, pak choi, spring onion, ginger and a soy and rice wine vinegar sauce finished with a squeeze of lime. So so so good!
One tip I really swear by for this one is to add a tiny pinch of sugar directly into the mince before you brown it. It sounds weird but it helps it caramelise & get some colour which makes such a difference to the final dish. Serve with fresh coriander, a wedge of lime and chilli flakes if you like your ground pork meals hot.
Meatballs and Rice Recipe (Easy & One Pot!)
Everything cooks in one pot – the meatballs, the tomato sauce, the rice, the veg, and it costs £1.28 a serving, which still gets me every time. If you’re looking for ground pork dinner recipes that don’t feel like a boring midweek compromise, this is the one for you.
The smoked paprika in the sauce is so simple but it really elevates the flavour, and the browning step for the meatballs is non-negotiable too. Don’t skip it, don’t rush it, as that’s what keeps them juicy inside & gives the sauce something to actually hold onto. I make a double batch of this whenever I get the chance.
Tips for Cooking Ground Pork
If you’re working through these easy ground pork recipes for the first time, or just looking for ground pork recipe ideas to add to your rotation, a few things make a big difference:
- Brown it hot & leave it alone. Don’t stir it for the first few minutes, just let it sit on a high heat until it gets some colour. That’s where the flavour is in most recipes for ground pork.
- Go for 5% fat pork mince if you can. It’s lean enough to keep things healthy but still has enough fat to stay juicy.
- Season the pork before it goes in the pan, not after. Even just salt & pepper helps it develop flavour.
- Pork mince is almost always cheaper than beef mince, usually around £2.50–£2.65 for 500g in most UK supermarkets, which works out to well under 60p of protein per serving across these recipes using ground pork.
- It freezes brilliantly both raw and cooked, so buy a couple of packs when it’s on offer and freeze what you don’t use.
Ground Pork Recipes FAQ
If you’re wondering what to do with ground pork, this post is a great place to start. There are obviously so many great recipes with ground pork out there, but these six here are the ones I keep making. Italian pasta, Cajun rice, Asian noodles, classic meatballs – all under £2 a portion.
Yes, exactly the same thing, just different names! Ground pork is the American term, pork mince is what you’ll see in UK supermarkets. Any of these recipes using ground pork work with standard UK pork mince straight from the supermarket shelf.
Lean 5% fat pork mince is a solid source of protein and lower in fat than you’d expect. The recipes in this post range from 31g to 39g of protein per serving, which is pretty decent for the price.
Yes, both raw and cooked. Raw pork mince freezes well straight from the supermarket pack. All the cooked recipes on this list are also freezable except the peanut sauce noodles, which don’t freeze well because the sauce goes grainy and the noodles lose their texture.
If you’re in a pork mood but you’re not feeling like using pork mince, you could try my baked pork shoulder steak recipe which happens to be one of the most popular recipes on my blog! Or an even easier recipe could be my thin pork chops in the air fryer, they’re super quick and delicious!
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