Easy Gochujang Pork Bowl

I love easy dinners, and this gochujang pork bowl is SO easy. It’s perfect for a quick weeknight meal, and pretty hard to mess up. I love using a lean ground pork for this recipe, but it would also work with a lean ground beef, ground chicken or turkey.

The recipe uses mostly easy-to-find ingredients I always have on hand, like soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and rice wine. The star of the recipe, gochujang, has always been easy for for me to find in my local grocery store, but if you don’t see it there, you can pop into your closest Asian market or grab some online here. Definitely pick up some of this, because you can use this condiment in so many ways!

I regularly feature this ingredient in my recipes.

Gochujang is a Korean chili paste that is absolutely delicious. It is a fermented condiment and has a sweet, spicy, AND savory flavor profile. I love to use it in marinades and also in dipping sauces. It’s a pretty thick paste, so it’s best to thin it out with a bit of liquid. I love to coat chicken in it and make spicy chicken sandwiches, too. YUM.

How to make Gochujang Ground Pork

When I say this recipe is simple, I mean it. I like to marinate the pork for a few minutes before cooking. To start, I add my ground pork to a large bowl, and add in the rice wine, soy sauce, hoisin and gochujang paste.

You’ll want to give the mixture a nice stir to combine. I personally hate touching raw meat, so I always use a wooden spoon, but if my husband is making dinner, he prefers to dig in with his hands. Either option works, but if you use your hands, make sure you get all the chili paste off your hands so you don’t accidentally rub your eyes.

While the gochujang pork is marinating, you’ll want to mince your garlic, mince your ginger, and thinly slice your onions.

Heat a large skillet over medium. high heat. Add in your sesame oil, garlic, ginger, and onions. Cook for about 2-3 minutes until onion is translucent and garlic and ginger are fragrant, stirring occassionally. True story, as I was sautéing this combo, my 10-year old came downstairs to ask me what smelled so good!

And, then you just add in the marinated gochujang pork! Keep the heat at medium-high, and break up the ground pork to help it cook evenly. Lean pork shouldn’t have much (any?) fat drippings, so you shouldn’t need to drain anything. Cook until pork is fully cooked and crumbled. It will smell SO GOOD!

Once the gochujang pork is cooked, I suggest you taste and add in salt if needed. I personally find with the soy sauce and salt from the gochujang paste that I rarely need to add much salt. You can also stir in a bit more gochujang paste if you want more heat.

The ground pork will be a delicious combo of sweet, spicy and savory, with crispy caramelized bits of pork. Top with scallions if desired.

What to Serve with Gochujang Pork?

I love to serve this with some steamed Asian-style vegetables and steamed white rice. You can also serve with cauliflower rice, over protein pasta, or just layer it over steamed veggies!

This gocuhujang recipe is also great for meal prep!

If you like this recipe, you’ll love my chicken lettuce wrap salad or gochujang tofu!