Banh Mi Bowl (Paleo, Whole30)
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This Banh Mi Bowl is like your favorite banh mi sandwich, but healthier! The base is made with cauliflower rice, then it’s topped with veggies, a sticky-sweet pork and a simple sriracha mayo.
Remember when I named a banh mi restaurant one of my favorites in Pittsburgh? Yeah well the other day I found myself craving banh mi but I didn’t want to leave my house. Enter: this homemade (and healthy!) banh mi bowl.
The best part about banh mi is the variety of flavors. Since this isn’t a typical banh mi sandwich and it is on the healthier side, I wanted to make sure the meat was marinaded perfectly, aka that it had tons of flavor. Let me tell you–this recipe is pure perfection, such an easy lunch recipe and it comes together in less than 15 minutes! I always say that 30 minute meals are my favorite, but 15 minute meals are even better.
Why this banh mi bowl is the best
- It’s made with healthy ingredients, like cauliflower, cucumber and carrots
- The marinade for the pork is insanely flavorful
- Anything with sriracha mayo is a winner in my opinion, including this bowl!
- It’s ready in just 15 minutes
Step-by-step instructions
This bowl comes together from start to finish in less than 15 minutes, so when I’m really not joking when I say it’s EASY.
Step 1: Cook the pork. Add pork to a skillet and cook it over medium heat until it’s no longer pink.
Step 2: Slice the vegetables. While the pork is cooking, prep the veggies–cucumber, carrots, and jalapeño–by slicing them. For this recipe, I bought shredded carrots, but you can also buy carrot sticks and slice them yourself if you prefer.
Step 3: Cook the cauliflower rice. Pro tip: buy pre-made cauliflower rice! Seriously, it makes life a lot easier. I like the frozen bags that you can microwave, but you can also buy the refrigerated kind that cooks over the stove.
Step 4: Make the marinade. Whisk the coconut aminos, arrowroot and ginger together in a bowl.
Step 5: At this point, the pork should be fully cooked. Add the garlic and sauté for 2-3 minutes or until the garlic is fragrant, then reduce the heat to low, then pour the marinade over top and stir everything together for about 1 minute until the pork is fully coated the sauce gets kind of sticky.
Last, make the spicy mayo by stirring mayo and sriracha together, then drizzle it over top of the assembled bowl.
FAQs and Tips
Ingredient substitutions
Want to make a few changes? No problem. Here are a few that I think would work well:
Vegan: If you want to keep this vegan-friendly, simply use your favorite vegan “meat” substitution. Personally, I’d use either fried tofu or seitan.
Traditional: Use white rice! Traditional banh mi bowls are made with white rice instead of cauliflower rice, so if you want to go that route, I think it’ll taste delicious.
Isn’t traditional banh mi made with pickled vegetables?
Yes! Pickling vegetables is absolutely an option when making this bowl; however, it requires a little more prep work, and I wanted this bowl to be as quick as possible, so I opted to use raw veggies. Feel free to pickle the carrots ahead of time if you want it to taste truly authentic.
More Whole30 recipes
Banh Mi Bowl (Paleo, Whole30)
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground pork
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 cup coconut aminos
- 1 tbsp arrowroot
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
- 12 oz. cauliflower rice*
- 1/2 cup cucumber, sliced
- 1/2 cup shredded carrots
- 1 jalapeño, sliced and seeds removed
- cilantro for garnish
for the sriracha mayo:
- 1/4 cup mayo**
- 2 tsp sriracha***
Instructions
- Start by cooking the pork in a skillet over the stove.
- While the pork is cooking, slice the cucumber and jalapeño, and measure out the carrot sticks. Next, make the marinade by whisking the coconut aminos, arrowroot and ginger together in a bowl.
- Make the cauliflower rice according to the package instructions.
- At this point, the pork should be cooked. Add the garlic and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Reduce heat to low, then pour the marinade overtop and stir together for 1 minute or until the pork is completely coated and the sauce is slightly sticky.
- Divide the cauliflower rice into 2 bowls then top it with the pork and veggies. The final step is to make the sriracha mayo: simply whisk the mayo and sriracha together, then drizzle it over the bowls. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
This was SO good!! I made it with rice yesterday and use cauliflower rice today for leftovers. Definitely would make it again. The marinade tastes like it’s a sweet teriyaki sauce without all the sugar!
Thanks for the kind comment, Sarah — glad to hear you like the sauce as much as I do!
So simple but surprisingly flavorful! Very easy and good.
This looks os good! What a great lunch meal prep for the week!
OMG! Something my kids liked!! Miracle of all miracles! I will be making this again- it was so easy, and so tasty. Thank you!
Best comment ever — so happy this meal is kid-approved!
This recipe was sooooo good. I’m a week into W30 and this is by far the best meal I have made. I pickled the jalapeños, carrots, and cucumbers while I was cooking the meat. I also topped the dish with green onions. I didn’t have arrowroot powder so I used coconut flour and it worked fine—-I had to add another tablespoon of coconut aminos and a tablespoon of rice vinegar for a little more liquid. I also used franks red hot instead of the sriracha cause that’s what I had. Thank you for this amazing recipe!
Woohooo — this is one of my favorite whole30 recipes too (if I do say so myself). I’m so glad you liked it!
Quick, easy, fresh and delicious! I sprinkled the cucumbers with a little salt and rice wine vinegar for a quick pickle and that was just the perfect bite I wanted. Thank you for this great recipe!
Thanks for the comment, Elsa — so happy you liked it!
Could you do this in a slow cooker?
Hi! You might be able to, but I haven’t tried it so I’m not sure about the cook times.
We just had this tonight and it was so easy and yummy! My daughter asked if I can make it again this week. This will become part of our rotation on and off W30!
OMG!! This was so simple and so fast. And delicious! My fiance went back for seconds. This is definitely going to be a weeknight staple. Might try it with pickled carrots next time if I plan ahead. Haha!
Thanks Nina — I’m so happy you guys liked it!
This is so yummy!! My toddler even loves it. Easy meal to double and tastes just as delicious, if not better, the next day!
Thanks for this comment — so happy this meal is adult and kid-approved!