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Vietnamese-inspired Caramelized Pork Bowls are my vegan take on Caramelized ground Pork using lentils instead of meat substitutes. The dish comes together so quickly and is packed with flavor. My new favorite way of serving lentils! Nutfree vegan recipe. Gluten-free option.
Get ready for some sticky spicy goodness. These Vietnamese-inspired lentil pork bowls are a vegan version of Vietnamese-style caramelized ground pork, a popular take-out dish.
There are variations in the dish depending on the restaurant. You can use pork or chicken subs here but we skip the meat substitutes and use lentils instead. Budget-friendly and whole food!
The pork versions usually use fish sauce. Since vegan fish sauce isn’t available as easily, I make my own fish sauce dressing with the ingredients listed adapted from this.
For this recipe, we sautee the lentils with chili, garlic and ginger for that flavor and caramelize them using some coconut sugar or brown sugar.
But the deliciousness only starts here. Now we toss the lentils with a sweet and spicy dressing. This step turns them into something utterly addictive.
We save the rest of the dressing for tossing any veggies we want to add to the bowls. DIVINE! It’s zesty and spicy and great over cucumber and radish and saves time if you don’t have pickled veggies to serve with the bowl. I served my lentils over rice along with some refreshing cucumber slices and green onions but you can get creative here. Use noodles or lettuce, Some pickled radishes and carrots go wonderfully.
More vegan lentil recipe:
- Lentil Orzo Salad
- Vegan Lentil Sambusa Pie
- Vegan Handi Lentils (Creamy Indian Dal)
- Vegan Lentil Sausage Rolls
More Asian meals
- Vietnamese Curried Tofu Noodle Bowl Recipe
- Curried Tofu Banh Mi Vegan Recipe
- Baked Vietnamese fries
- Miso Chili Garlic Tofu Sandwich
Vegan Vietnamese Inspired Caramelized Lentil Pork Bowls
Ingredients
Dressing:
- 1 teaspoon miso, yellow or white
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce or use tamari for gluten-free
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar, or brown sugar
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons warm water, or vegan chicken flavored broth
- optional add ins : 1-2 teaspoons vegan fish sauce, 1/2 teaspoon boullion paste or powder
Lentils:
- 2 teaspoons oil
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 2 teaspoons minced ginger
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 or 1 green chili such as serrano , finely chopped, use milder chilies for less heat
- 15 oz can lentils, , drained or 1 1/2 cups of cooked lentils. Brown or green lentils. Use black lentils if you like hardy lentils
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar or coconut sugar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce or use tamari for gluten-free
- 4-5 tablespoons of the mixed dressing from above
For the Bowl:
- Cooked rice or cooked vermicelli noodles
- 1 cucumber, thinly sliced
- green onions and sesame seeds for garnish
Instructions
- Make the dressing; Add all of the ingredients to a bowl and mix really well. Press the miso to the side of the bowl and mix until miso and sugar are mixed in. Set it aside.
- Make the lentil pork; Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil. Once the oil is hot add in the onion and a good pinch of salt and a good pinch of sugar. Mix and cook until the onions start to turn golden on some edges, then add the ginger, garlic, and green chili and continue to cook.
- Deglaze the pan as needed with a few teaspoons of water if the mixture is drying out too much. Continue to cook until the onion is golden and starting to turn brown, 7 to 10 minutes.
- Then add the lentils, brown sugar, soy sauce and mix in. Add in the 3-4 tablespoons of the mixed dressing and mix in. Cook until the sauce comes to a boil and starts to thicken. Taste and adjust flavor by adding salt if you need or add another tablespoon of the prepared dressing and mix in.
- You can also add in the zest of half a lime here for additional tang. Once the sauce has thickened and lentils are starting to stick, Take off the heat .
- Serve in a bowl or lettuce wraps To the bowl add cooked rice or cooked noodles, a good helping of the caramelized lentils then cucumber or other sliced fresh veggies or pickled radishes and carrots. Drizzle remaining dressing over the cucumbers and rice/noodles.
- Store: store the lentils in a covered container in the fridge for upto 3 days. Reheat and serve in the bowl.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
INGREDIENTS:
- lentils: canned or cooked . I used brown lentils here. I would not recommend red lentils as they are too soft.
- the lentils are fried with onion, ginger, garlic and green chili
- we caramelize the mix with brown sugar or coconut sugar
- soy sauce adds the saltiness to counterbalance the sweetness
- For the sweet & spicy dressing we mix miso with soy sauce, lime juice, rice vinegar, pepper flakes, coconut sugar
and garlic . Some of these make up a dish sauce substitute flavor - For the bowl, I add cooked rice, cucumber and green onions
TIPS:
- instead of white rice, you can use quinoa or rice noodles
- dont want to use lentils? Use soycurls or chickpeas! Rehydrate soycurls then chop into a mince and use
- To make this recipe gluten free, use tamari instead of soy sauce.
How to make Vegan Vietnamese Caramelized Pork Bowls with lentils
Make the dressing; Add all of the ingredients to a bowl and mix really well.
Press the miso to the side of the bowl until completely mixed in. Set it aside.
Make lentil pork ; Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add the oil. Once the oil is hot add in the onion and a good pinch of salt and a good pinch of sugar.
Mix and cook until the onions start to turn golden on some edges, then add the ginger, garlic, and green chili and continue to cook.
Deglaze the pan as needed with a few teaspoons of water if the mixture is drying out too much. Continue to cook until the onion is golden and starting to turn brown on some edges, 7 to 10 minutes.
Then add the lentils, brown sugar, soy sauce and mix in. Add in the 3-4 tablespoons of the mixed dressing and mix in.
Cook until the sauce comes to a boil and starts to thicken. Taste and adjust the flavor by adding salt if you need or add another 1-2 tablespoon of the prepared dressing and mix in.
You can also add in the zest of half a lime here for additional tang. Take off the heat and serve.
WAYS TO SERVE These Delicious Caramelized Pork lentils
You can serve the lentils in a bowl or you can make lettuce wraps.
If you want to serve this in a bowl, add some rice or cooked noodles, a good helping of the caramelized lentils then sliced cucumber or other sliced fresh veggies.
Add pickled radishes or carrots as well then dress the rice or noodles, the lentils and the cucumber generously with dressing and serve.
Made these tonight! Delicious!!! I combined with rice noodles shredded carrot, julienne cucumber, green onion and cilantro.
yay, thank you!
Hi Richa, first time lentil cooker here, so my apologies if this is a silly question, but: if I have bagged lentils, should I be preparing them by simmering them in a saucepan before adding them to the recipe or should I throw them into the pot with the ingredients straight from the bag? Thank you!
no problem! unlike beans, lentils are ready to use. just pop them in the pot!
Totally messed this up by adding all of the sauce too early. The flavors were still fantastic! But my sous chef asked me to make it again (without his help 🙂) the proper way.
Haha! Very glad you enjoy the recipe.
I made this, it was amazing!! it’s now my favorite lentil recipe and I will be making it on a regular basis. Thanks Vegan Richa for your recipes, I’ve enjoyed every one I’ve tried so far and will be buying some (if not all) of your cookbooks soon
Thank you for your support, Sarah!
Was so nice! Will be making this again. Thanks Richa your recipes are amazing.
So happy to hear!
I made this alongside some summer rolls for my friend and I. We loved it! Super easy to make and the presentation is wonderful.
Yum great pairing! So glad you enjoy the recipe.
I cooked (hard) lentils in my rice cooker with Bragg Liquid Aminos in place of the soy sauce in the lentils. Everything else was as you wrote it. We (one vegan and one not) loved the flavor and how filling this was.
Terrific!
This was such a nice light dinner. I can’t eat onions or garlic so I sort of caramelized some yellow bell peppers with the ginger. It was still great this way.
Yummy!
We make this dish weekly. I typically double it as we can’t get enough!!! It is SO delicious.
Awesome!
Made as written and served with vermicelli noodles and finely shredded cucumber, carrots, lettuce, red cabbage, green onion and cilantro. It was delicious, really enjoyed it. The sauce is very nice.
yay! thank you!
I’ve made this three times now and it’s always delicious. The first time I served it hot with rice, cucumber, and quick-pickled carrot ribbons. The next times I had it cold with rice, cucumber, and green apple. The combination worked really well. It’s good the next day for lunch as well. Another great recipe – thank you!
Thanks so much!