Banh Mi Bowls

These Banh Mi Bowls are packed with seasoned ground pork, quick veggie slaw, and the best sauce. These bowls are easy to make, packed with nutrition, and delicious!

Banh Mi Bowls

First things first, I claim no authenticity to Vietnamese food with these Banh Mi bowls. But in creating this dish, I was inspired by a Banh mi sandwich. And these bowls have some of the components and flavors of a banh mi sandwich so banh mi bowls it is!

And these bowls are so good. So good in fact, that my husband (who rarely enjoys eating the same meals over and over again) asked if I could make this often for our weekly meal prepping 🙂

These bowls are quick & easy to make. Although there are a few different steps to making these Banh Mi bowls: the base, meat, toppings, and sauce — each element is simple and comes together quickly.

How to make Banh Mi Bowls

• First up: the base which I’m using regular white rice here. You can use really whatever you’d like: brown rice or white rice, quinoa, farro, barley, etc.
• Next: the “meat.” Banh Mi’s are typically made with sliced pork or pork belly, so I’m using ground pork for these bowls. Browning the pork takes mere minutes and there aren’t too many added ingredients: salt + pepper, garlic, green onions, basil, Sriracha, a little white sugar, and fish sauce.
  • If you don’t eat pork (or the smell of the pork cooking bothers you) feel free to use ground beef or ground chicken. While I haven’t tried either, I imagine they’d be delicious in the place of pork. The pork base in this recipe is adapted from these pork meatballs from Epicurious. We are obsessed with them!

How to make Banh Mi Bowls cont.

• Third: the bowl additions: cilantro, lime, jalapeños, cucumber sticks, and pickled carrots + radishes. The first four additions require very little prep: coarsely chop or pull off cilantro leaves, slice the limes to wedges, thinly slice the jalapeños, and matchstick the cucumber. Add any or all of these to the bowls. The pickled carrots + radishes take a couple extra minutes to throw together, but the flavor they add to these Banh Mi Bowls is well worth the effort!
  • I’m using regular red radishes in these photos, but if you’re hoping for something more authentic I’d recommend daikon radishes.
• Last: the sauce. Truly what ties everything together; this sauce is unbeatable! Again, super simple to prepare and just a few ingredients: lime zest + juice, Sriracha, and mayo!

Assemble the Banh Mi bowls: base – meat – toppings – sauce and enjoy!

More Easy Bowl Dinners:

• Navajo Taco Bowls
• Sweet Potato Taco Bowls
• Mojo Salmon Bowls
• Grilled Avocado Bowls
• Burrito Bowls

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5 from 14 votes

Banh Mi Bowls

By Chelsea Lords

A unique take on a Vietnamese classic, Banh Mi Bowls are simple and absolutely delicious!

Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 servings

Equipment

• Large pan

Ingredients 

USMetric

 

1x2x3x

Meat

• ▢ 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• ▢ 1 pound ground pork
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon pepper
• ▢ 3 green onions finely chopped
• ▢ 4 garlic cloves minced
• ▢ 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce
• ▢ 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• ▢ 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil

Base

• ▢ 1 cup uncooked white rice or brown rice
• ▢ 2 cups matchstick carrots
• ▢ 2 cups matchstick radishes or daikon, Japanese white radish
• ▢ 1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
• ▢ 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 English cucumber cut into matchsticks

Sauce

• ▢ 1/2 cup mayo
• ▢ 2 limes
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce

Toppings

• ▢ Fresh cilantro optional
• ▢ Jalapeños optional
• ▢ Green onions optional

Instructions 

• To prepare the base, combine the matchstick carrots, matchstick radishes, rice vinegar, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Let stand at room temperature for one hour, gently stirring the mixture every 15–20 minutes. Follow package directions to cook the rice. Set aside when finished.
• Zest limes with a zester to get 1/4 teaspoon zest. Juice the limes using a citrus juicer to get 3 tablespoons lime juice. To make the sauce, whisk mayo, lime juice, lime zest, and sriracha in a bowl until smooth. Cover and chill in the fridge.
• Add the sesame oil to a large pan. Heat to medium-high and then add in the pork, salt, and pepper. Break the pork into small pieces with a spoon until cooked through, about 7–9 minutes. Stir in the green onions and cook for another 2–3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the garlic and stir for 1 minute. Stir in the fish sauce, sriracha, and sugar. Remove from heat and stir in the chopped basil. 
• Divide the cooked rice evenly among 4 bowls. Top rice in each bowl with pork. Using a slotted spoon, add pickled veggies to each bowl, then add even amounts of matchstick cucumber to the bowls. Finish off the bowls with desired amounts of sauce and optional toppings.

Video

Recipe Notes

Storage: Store leftovers in airtight containers in the fridge for up to 3 days. Keep sauce separate.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 476kcal | Carbohydrates: 37.7g | Protein: 40.7g | Fat: 18.3g | Cholesterol: 106.6mg | Sodium: 721.9mg | Fiber: 5.1g | Sugar: 21.6g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Like this? Leave a comment below!

Recipe adapted from Epicurious