Asian-Inspired Ground Pork AIP Breakfast: Delicious and Bursting with Flavor
Lets freshen up breakfast with a new dish, something with some bright and fresh, asian-inspired flavors! This ground pork recipe is the perfect AIP breakfast!
But, it is also perfect as an AIP lunch or even an AIP dinner. The bright and fresh flavors of this dish are a hit in our household and we never get bored of this dish!
Perfect for meal prep to take the load off!
Why this makes a good AIP Breakfast
(or any meal really!)
This dish is egg-free, nightshade-free, grain free, dairy-free and 100% compliant with the elimination phase of the diet as part of the Autoimmune Protocol.
This recipe is well balanced and rich in protein. As a breakfast this is good because it keeps you full and balances blood sugar levels.
Meals on AIP can be a bit bland, missing all of our favorite species. But this dish is full of flavor! Asian-inspired flavors, thanks to lemongrass, garlic, coconut aminos, and herbs.
And with the cabbage, onion and carrots, this veggie-packed recipe provides important fiber and antioxidants.
How to make your new favorite AIP breakfast with ground pork
This one pan dish is very easy and quick to make! I love it because it does not require much clean-up afterwards.
I generally don’t measure things, but just eyeball how much I need. So if your measurements aren’t 100% accurate, that is OK!
Once you feel the dish is ready, remove from the heat and then add the fresh herbs. You are now ready to serve and enjoy!
- Start off by preparing your onion, garlic, lemongrass and ginger. All these aromatics will be fried separately. Starting with the onion, and then followed by the ginger, lemongrass and garlic together. Then remove this mixture from the pan to add back later.
- Browning the pork and making sure it is broken up and cooked is the next big step. While this happens, I prepare the cabbage and carrot and gather the rest of the ingredients.
- Once the pork is ready, add the onion mixture from earlier, the carrot, cabbage, herbs, stock and apple cider vinegar. We like to use our homemade chicken stock, but when we don’t have any on hand we use an AIP compliant store bought one.
- From here it goes pretty quick. Steam the mixture for a few minutes, but don’t over steam it. You will want the cabbage to keep some of its crunch, as that adds a nice texture to the dish.
Serving suggestions
We love to eat this pork with our sweet potato patties or simple microwaved sweet potatoes.
You can also have it with rice (brown or white), if you are on modified AIP or have successfully reintroduced rice. Alternatively, cauliflower rice would work really well too!
Serve over lightly wilted greens such as kale, spinach, or Swiss chard. This makes for a nutrient-dense breakfast bowl and adds some more nutritious greens to your AIP breakfast.
And then of course there are wraps! You can make some cassava wraps, or wrap it in some lettuce and eat it like that!
And if I have run out of lunch or dinner ideas, then this recipe will do the trick! It is so delicious and you will love having it any time of the day!
Substitutions
No lemongrass? You can skip it or substitute with a tiny splash of lime juice and a little extra ginger.
Customize it: Swap cabbage for bok choy if desired.
Or add a few more veggies and turn this into a stir-fry!
Recipe for Asian-Inspired Ground Pork
Equipment
- cutting board
- sharp kitchen knife
- peeler
- bowl or plate
- frying pan with lid
- Spatula
Ingredients
- 1 lbs ground pork
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves garlic cloves
- 2 inches lemon grass
- ginger (about the size of your thumb)
- ½ tsp table salt (adjust to taste)
- 1 carrot (or about 2 cups of shredded carrot)
- shredded cabbage (about 3-4 cups)
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar (or replace with a squeeze of fresh lemon)
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 2 tbsp coconut aminos
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- 2 tbsp chopped basil
- 1 tbsp tapioca or arrowroot flour
- ¼ cup cold water
Instructions
- Peel the onion. Cut it in half and then slice it into even slices.
- Chop the garlic as finely as possible.
- Remove the outer layer of the lemongrass and chop it as finely as the garlic.
- Chop the ginger, it does not need to be as fine as the garlic and lemon grass. You can peel the ginger, but we often just leave the skin on.
- Warm up your pan and add the bacon fat or oil to the pan.
- Add the onions and some of the salt to the pan and stir frequently, until the onions are soft and cooked. No need to brown or caramelize.
- Move the onion to the side of the pan, add some oil and add the garlic, lemongrass and ginger to the oil. Fry it briefly, separately from the onion, stirring it non stop to make sure it does not burn. After a few seconds, mix it with the onion and then transfer out of the pan into a bowl or onto a plate.
- Add the ground pork to the pan and start browning it and breaking it apart.
- While it browns (stirring occasionally), shred the cabbage. Add the remainder of the salt.
- Peel the carrot and with a peeler or grater shred the carrot. Both the cabbage and carrot pieces should be similar sizes to your onion pieces.
- Once the pork is browned throughout, add the onion, garlic, ginger and lemongrass mixture.
- Add the cabbage and carrots as well as the coconut aminos and apple cider vinegar/lemon. Also add your stock and mix everything together. Taste and adjust the flavor as desired.
- Allow the cabbage and carrots to steam slightly by covering the pan. But don’t let it cook for too long, you want to keep some of the crunch of the cabbage.
- Mix the tapioca with some cold water to make a slurry. Add the tapioca mixture to the pan and make sure to mix it through the entire pan. Stir continuously. Once it has boiled throughout, turn off the stove and remove the pan from the heat.
- Finely chop the basil and cilantro and at the end, mix it into the ground pork for an added burst of flavor and freshness.
This AIP breakfast with ground pork is so full of flavors. Anything but boring! It proves breakfast can be exciting—even without eggs, grains, or dairy. Whether you are just starting the Autoimmune Protocol or you are a long-time AIP foodie, this one-pan dish is sure to become a staple.
Tried this recipe? I would love to hear what you think! Share your favorite breakfast pairings or tag me on Instagram (@thyme.and.balance). Let’s inspire each other to keep AIP exciting! Together we can do this!
I am always looking for new ideas for breakfast. This looks great and hearty. Exactly what I need to start my mornings!
Hope you enjoy it!