This Keto Pork Stir Fry combines browned ground pork with garlic, ginger, chiles, sambal oelek, soy sauce, scallions, and cilantro. Serve the spicy pork in crisp butter lettuce cups for an easy 20-minute dinner with only 3 net carbs per serving.
What Makes This Ground Pork Stir Fry So Great?
- Fast. A Keto dinner is done in less than 30 minutes.
- Easy. A simple one-skillet meal done on your stovetop.
- Low Carb. Only 3 net carbs per serving.
- Gluten Free. Unlike some other stir fry recipes, this one doesn't use rice or noodles (just make sure you use gluten-free soy sauce).
- High Protein. Packs 20 grams of protein per serving.
- Delicious. A stir fry recipe that is flavored with incredible aromatics.
This is a delicious, flexible Asian-inspired dish that takes inspiration from several different cuisines to create an incredibly easy and tasty weeknight meal.
Can You Make A Keto Stir Fry?
The main issue with stir fry recipes is that they use hoisin and oyster sauces all of which have sugar in them.
That makes it really hard to make a keto stir fry. In fact, this is part of why people find it so difficult to get good low carb Chinese recipes at all.
Well, we are about to fix that. In this ground pork recipe I've stayed away from bottled sauces. Instead, all of the flavor in this keto stir fry is going to come from the aromatics, and from the pork and chilis.
Another issue with stir fries is that they serve over rice or noodles. We are going to use butter lettuce cups instead.
What Is In Keto Stir Fry?
- Ground pork- Ground pork is relatively low in fat content, so there is no need to drain any excess fat from it after it is cooked.
- Olive oil- This adds some much needed fat to the lean ground pork while cooking.
- Sesame oil- Toasted sesame oil is added to the pan after all of the other ingredients are cooked as a finishing oil.
- Garlic and ginger- Cook them briefly so they become fragrant without burning.
- Soy sauce- You can substitute tamari if you need this dish to be gluten-free.
- Sambal oelek- Adds chile flavor without the sweetness of many bottled stir-fry sauces.
- Green chiles- I used jalapeños for extra spice, but you can use serranos for a milder flavor.
- Scallions and cilantro- Add after cooking the other ingredients to preserve freshness.
- Lemon juice- Brightens the fatty pork and balances the salty sauce.
- Butter lettuce- Choose flexible, cup-shaped leaves and dry them thoroughly before assembling.
You'll be sitting down to a fantastic low carb pork stir fry before you know it.
How To Make Pork Stir Fry
Prepare the lettuce and aromatics. Separate, wash, and dry the lettuce leaves. Mince the garlic and ginger, slice the tested chiles, and chop the scallions and cilantro.
Heat the pan. Heat the tested skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the cooking oil.
Bloom the aromatics. Add the ginger and garlic and cook only until fragrant.
Brown the pork. Add the ground pork, spread it across the hot surface, and allow it to brown before breaking it into small pieces.
Add the chiles. Make a well in the pork and briefly cook the sliced chiles.
Season the pork. Add the measured soy sauce, sambal oelek, and sesame oil. Cook until the pork reaches 160°F and the liquid lightly coats the meat.
Finish off the heat. Rest the pork briefly, then fold in the scallions, cilantro, and lemon juice.
Serve. Spoon the pork into dry butter lettuce leaves and serve immediately.
What To Serve With Keto Stir Fry
There are many creative ways to serve this stir fry.
- You can serve it with lettuce cups, as I call for, but you can also top a salad with it.
- Make a fried egg and serve it on top of it.
- For the non-keto members, make sticky rice and serve it on that.
How to Store Keto Pork Stir Fry
Allow the pork stir fry to cool, then transfer it to an airtight container and refrigerate it for up to 4 days. Store the butter lettuce, fresh herbs, and pork filling separately so the lettuce remains crisp and the cilantro and scallions retain their fresh flavor.
Reheat only the pork in a skillet over medium heat or microwave it in short intervals until it reaches 165°F, then spoon it into fresh lettuce cups before serving.
Can I Freeze This Ground Pork Recipe?
I suggest you freeze it in one-cup portions so that it defrosts quickly, and you can use as much or as little as needed.
Variations To Try
- Adjust chilis to suit everyone's taste buds
- Add some chopped bok choy into the pork as it is cooking
- Use shredded napa cabbage and forgo the butter lettuce cups
This is really a great keto stir fry recipe to make with some fresh herbs and frozen pork or beef, or chicken, that you can quickly defrost.
This
Your pork stir fry is watery because the pan isn't hot enough or it's overcrowded, so the pork and vegetables steam instead of sear, and high-water veggies dump moisture as they cook.
To fix a watery stir fry, cook in batches over high heat, pat ingredients dry, and wait to add the pork stir fry sauce until the end so it can coat and reduce into a glossy finish.
If needed, simmer briefly to thicken stir fry sauce (especially for a keto pork stir fry where you're not using cornstarch).
The difference between sambal oelek and sriracha is texture and flavor. Sambal oelek is a chunky, chili-forward paste (often just chilies, vinegar, and salt) that adds clean heat to things like a spicy pork stir fry.
Sriracha is a smoother, slightly sweeter chili sauce (usually with garlic and sugar) that tastes more rounded and "saucy."
In a pork stir fry sauce without sugar or a keto pork stir fry, sambal oelek is often the better fit because it brings heat with less sweetness, whereas sriracha adds heat plus sweetness and garlic.
For a soy sauce substitute that's keto and gluten-free, your best options are tamari (very similar flavor, usually gluten-freel) or coconut aminos (gluten-free and soy-free, a bit sweeter and less salty, great for keto pork stir fry, but you may want to reduce added sweeteners and add a pinch more salt).
If you need a deeper, saltier punch like regular soy sauce in a pork stir fry sauce, tamari is the closest match. Coconut aminos is the gentler alternative with a naturally slightly sweet profile.
To thicken stir fry sauce without cornstarch, the easiest method is to reduce it. Add your pork stir fry sauce at the end, keep the pan on high heat, and let it bubble for 1-3 minutes until it turns glossy and coats the meat and veggies (this works especially well for a keto pork stir fry).
You can also thicken by using less liquid up front and letting the aromatics and sauce concentrate. If you're okay with it, add a tiny pinch of xanthan gum off heat (a little goes a long way) to get that takeout-style cling without adding carbs.
Want More Keto Pork Recipes?
- Pulled Pork- loaded with delicious Mexican flavor.
- Pork Carnitas- Make these in your Instant Pot.
- Instant Pot Pulled Pork- tacos seasoned with Indian spices.
- Smoked Mexican Pork Shoulder- lovely smoked flavors.
- Pressure Cooker Carne Adovada- a low carb delight.
- Schezuan Pork Soup- Sichuan cuisine made at home.
- Chile Verde- a quick and easy pork recipe.
- Instant Pot Pork Stew- a hearty low carb soup.
So the next time you get a craving for some stir fry, cook up some of this delicious Keto Pork Stir Fry! Let me know if you enjoyed it in the comments!
Ingredients
- 1 pound (453.59 g) ground pork
- 1 tablespoon (1 tablespoon) olive oil
- 2 tablespoons (2 tablespoons) Sesame Oil
- 1 tablespoon (1 tablespoon) Minced Ginger
- 1 tablespoon (1 tablespoon) Minced Garlic
- 1 tablespoon (1 tablespoon) Soy Sauce
- 2 teaspoons (2 teaspoons) Sambal Oelek, or other spicy red chili sauce
- 1 tablespoon (1 tablespoon) Lemon Juice
- 2-3 (2) Green Chiles sliced, jalapenos, serranos, or bird's eye chilis, depending on how hot you want your dish
- ½ cup (50 g) Chopped Green Scallions
- ½ cup (8 g) chopped cilantro
- 1 (1) head butter lettuce
Instructions
- In a 10-inch pan over medium high heat, add oil. To the hot oil, add minced ginger and garlic and let them sizzle for 2-3 seconds. Add the ground pork. Mix well and brown the meat, breaking up all the clumps. You want some crispy parts, but mainly you want to cook the pork well.
- While the meat cooks, chop up the green onions and cilantro. Mix them in a bowl and set aside.
- After about 8 minutes when the meat is almost done, push the meat to the sides to create a small space in the middle. Add the sliced green and red chiles.
- Pour in soy sauce, sesame oil, the sambal oelek if using and stir well.
- Turn off the stove once the pork reaches an internal temperature of 160F. Let the pork rest uncovered for 3-4 minutes to cool a little.
- Stir in the chopped green onions and cilantro. Sprinkle the lemon juice and stir well.
- Separate the butter lettuce leaves and allow your diners to serve themselves some of the spicy pork mixture into each butter lettuce, leaf. Or skip the lettuce and just eat the meat-good either way.
Watch The Video
- You can substitute any kind of ground meat for this recipe.
- If you use leaner meat like ground chicken or turkey, you may need to add a little bit of oil.
- If you plan to meal prep this, make the sauce and ground meat with seasonings ahead of time, but don't mix in the cilantro and onions until the last minute.
- For the carb eaters, serve with rice. For low carb, serve in lettuce cups or even over a mixed green salad.
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Nutrition
Don't forget to check out my other Keto cookbooks.
Keto Instant Pot, Keto Fat Bombs, Sweets, & Treats, and Easy keto in 30 minutes.
The recipe has been one of our favorites for a few years. But I still can't figure out when to add the lemon juice that is referenced in the ingredient list.
Nevermind. I don't know how I missed the "sprinkling in of lemon juice part". This whole time I've been adding it to the meat, or adding it in at the end. LOL.
So, so, so good! Even my hubby that isn't eating low carb loves it (over rice, of course).