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One Serving Vegetable Pork Bowl

Name: One Serving Vegetable Pork Bowl
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Cuisine: Asian-inspired
Ingredients: 1 teaspoon olive oil; 4 ounces ground pork; 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/4 cup white mushrooms, sliced; 1/4 cup yellow onion, peeled and chopped; 1 small carrot, peeled and chopped; 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced; 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger; 1 cup spinach, loosely packed; 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce; 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar; 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 1 cup cooked white rice

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by:

Danielle

2 comments

updated: 09/22/2021

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This One Serving Vegetable Pork Bowl is a simple stir fry meal that’s packed with flavor and perfect for one! Seasoned ground pork and vegetables in a delicious sauce come together in just 15 minutes. Serve with your favorite rice for a quick and easy weeknight dinner.
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one serving vegetable pork bowl served with cauliflower rice and green onions on top As a meal prepper, I’m commonly making meals that serve 3-4, and then saving the leftovers for the days after. Leftovers for the win!

But what if there are no leftovers? What if I have random veggies in my fridge that need to be used up? What if I only need to cook for myself tonight?

Leftovers are fabulous and time saving, but fresh cooked meals are the bee’s knees too. And sometimes, you just need to cook for you. Enter this One Serving Vegetable Pork Bowl.

Where is this recipe from?

This recipe comes from The Ultimate Cooking for One Cookbook: 175 Super Easy Recipes Made Just for You, by Joanie Zisk of OneDishKitchen.com. Cooking for one has never been easier!

I’ll admit, cooking for one is not something I do often. BUT, there are times when I just want a satisfying and delicious home-cooked meal for only me. Now I know exactly where to look!

From breakfasts to dinners to desserts, this book has easy, economical recipes that anyone can make, PLUS tips and tricks for grocery shopping for one.

Huge shoutout to Joanie for sharing her cookbook with me!

cookbook where the recipe for one serving vegetable pork bowl comes from

Times when one serving recipes come in handy:

Meal plan filler meal: If you need a meal to fill one spot and make zero leftovers, this is it! Sometimes you can do your best to plan out every meal but you’ve got a hole in the plan.

Recipes like this are here for just that occasion. You don’t need leftovers, you aren’t meal prepping or cooking for the family, you just need some fresh cooked dinner.

Leftover veggies to use up: Random leftover veggies such as ONE carrot, a couple mushrooms, 1/4 of an onion. Don’t let them go to waste! Use these scraps for this recipe.

You want a fresh meal for just you: If you cook for yourself all the time, you’re probably familiar with trying to reduce a recipe from 4 or 6 servings to one. Here’s another meal you can add to your rotation without having to do any extra math! Easy, delicious, fresh.

You don’t want leftovers: Some people love leftovers. Some people hate them. I obviously love the leftovers, but sometimes I still might not want them around. If we’re going on a trip or I have lots of other food on hand, I don’t always want to make leftovers.

What are the ingredients in this One Serving Vegetable Pork Bowl?

This One Serving Pork Bowl is full of simple ingredients and pantry items you probably already have in your home. If you don’t have these exact veggies, that’s okay! Substitute what you have on hand in similar quantities.

ground pork – I get my ground pork from ButcherBox (affiliate link); humanely raised and free of antibiotics!
white mushrooms, yellow onion, carrot, spinach – The main veggies in this Vegetable Pork Bowl. I think the onion, mushrooms, and spinach are vital, but you could always swap the carrot for bell pepper or just add any other veggies extras you have in the fridge.
garlic – Adds a ton of flavor, don’t skip!
ground ginger – More aboard the flavor train! I wouldn’t skip this either, but you could probably substitute fresh ginger if you have it on hand!
soy sauce & apple cider vinegar – These help make up the sauce for the bowl! If you’re paleo or Whole30, I think it would be appropriate to swap the soy sauce for coconut aminos.
rice – Completes the dish! You can use your favorite rice, or swap for cauliflower rice.

ingredients before cooking for the one serving vegetable pork bowl

ingredients close up of carrots and mushrooms for the recipe

How can I customize this One Serving Vegetable Pork Bowl?

Veggie swaps: My favorite veggie addition to this meal would be to add some red bell pepper for a hint of sweetness.

I did say earlier that the white mushrooms, yellow onion, carrot, and spinach are vital to the recipe, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world if one of them was left out. Add more of the other veggies to make up for it!

Add some heat: Toss some red chili pepper flakes on top or add some chili garlic paste to the stir fry if you like the heat!

Change the rice: Use white rice as the recipe has written, substitute with brown rice instead, or keep it lower calorie and use cauliflower rice instead (pictured!).

What do you do with the leftover ground pork?

Most of the time when you purchase ground meat, it comes in a 1 pound pack. This recipe calls for 4 ounces of ground pork, which is a quarter of a normal size pack of ground meat.

Here are some options for how to use up the remaining 12 ounces of ground pork you have just opened:

portion into 4 ounce servings and freeze: If you cook for one often, chances are you’ll be needing another 4 ounce portion chunk of ground meat. When you portion out your first 4 ounces for this recipe, make the rest of the pack into three more 4-ounce portions to save you time later. Store in a sealed container in the freezer. Don’t forget to label!
make a meal plan and use it up: Take a few minutes to set up your meal plan for the week. Plan dinner or lunches with the rest of your ground pork so it doesn’t go to waste.

Recipe ideas for using leftover ground pork: meatballs, egg roll in a bowl, add to red sauce + pasta, fried rice, tacos, and more!

cooked veggies in a pan for the one serving vegetable pork bowl

Buy veggies in small servings HACK

If you want to buy lots of different vegetables in small quantities, I suggest hitting up the salad bar at your local grocery store. Since you purchase everything by weight, you can grab exactly what you need and pay for nothing more. This is a great veggie buying method if you cook for just you a lot!

Can this One Serving Vegetable Pork Bowl be doubled to serve two?

Absolutely. If you’re cooking for two, it is totally feasible to double this recipe and have one serving for each person. Sometimes doubling a smaller recipe can be easier than trying to reduce a larger recipe.

You can still accomplish goals such as no leftovers and use up extra veggies, while serving a two people with the exact size of dinner they need!

one serving vegetable pork bowl pictured from above

More quick dinner recipes from Project Meal Plan:

Thanks for checking out this One Serving Vegetable Pork Bowl! If you’re digging this one serving meal, tag me or use #projectmealplan or #onedishkitchen on social media to share your own version!

About Danielle

Hi, I’m Danielle! I’m a PNW gal on a mission to help you reduce food waste, and save both time and money with meal planning and make-ahead recipe ideas! I’ve got weekly meal plan templates and recipes waiting for you! Read More