This Pork Rice Bowl with Peanut Sauce is ready in 30 minutes! Starts with quick-cooked pork tenderloin in a peanut butter and coconut milk sauce, served with sautéed spinach and cilantro lime rice.
Why you’ll love this Pork Rice Bowl!
- This is one of my favourite rice bowls, as it’s both quick and easy and delicious!
- This is also a 30 minute meal! The pork actually cooks up in about the same time as it takes to cook the rice (20 minutes), so everything is ready in a flash.
- The sauce is lick the spoon delicious. You’ll want to put it on everything :)
Ingredients and Substitutions
Pork Tenderloin – you’ll need one medium to large pork tenderloin for this recipe. Be sure to remove the silver skin along the side of the pork tenderloin, for even cooking.
Coconut Milk – I recommend full-fat coconut milk, for this nicest sauce, though lite coconut milk will work fine here (with a little thinner, less rich sauce). The recipe calls for 1 cup, which is not quite a full can in most cases. Be sure to stir your full-fat coconut milk well before measuring out the 1 cup. Freeze any remaining coconut milk. It great to use for a future Thai curry.
Peanut Butter – regular, smooth peanut butter produces the best results in my opinion. You could use crunchy peanut butter, if you like the extra texture of the peanuts in the sauce. I haven’t tested this recipe with natural peanut butter, but I suspect it will work fine here. You may need to add more water to thin the sauce if using natural peanut butter.
Rice – use your favourite rice for the rice bowl. Long grain white or brown rice, Basmati or Jasmine rice are all great options.
Spinach – I love quick sauteed spinach for rice bowls, as it’s a super quick addition and nutrient rich, but any vegetable you like or have around is fine.
Cook’s Notes
You can cook the pork in the oven under the broiler, on a BBQ grill or in a grill pan on the stovetop over medium high heat. As the pork is butterflied, it is very thin, so it cooks up quickly.
I served quick sautéed spinach with my rice bowl, but any vegetable you like or have around is fine. I quick sauté the spinach in a skillet with a bit of olive oil and salt for about 1 minute, or until wilted.
Steam, roast or microwave any green or vegetable you like for your bowl!
Get the Recipe: Thai Pork Rice Bowl with Peanut Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 large pork tenderloin, or 2 small
Pork Marinade and Sauce:
- 1 cup coconut milk, stirred
- 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
- 3 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- 3 Tablespoons light or dark brown sugar
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
Cilantro Lime Rice:
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 2 cups water
- Pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- 2-3 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or flat-leaf parsley
Sautéed Spinach:
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 3 handfuls baby spinach
- Salt and pepper, to season
Instructions
- Start Rice Cooking: On the stove-top or in a rice cooker, add 1 cup basmati rice to 2 cups of water and a pinch of salt.
- Prepare the marinade: Combine all the marinade ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until well combined. Set aside.
- Prepare the pork: Trim the pork tenderloin of any visible fat and remove the silver skin. Using a sharp knife, butterfly the pork tenderloin by cutting lengthwise, almost, but not all the way through, so the halves remain attached. Lay tenderloin flat and cover with a piece of plastic wrap. Pound with a meat tenderizer or a heavy skillet until uniformly thick (1/2-3/4 inches thick). Place the pork onto an aluminum-foil lined baking sheet (for easy cleanup) and pour 1/3-1/2 of the prepared marinade over top. Set aside the remaining marinade. Flip pork over a couple of times so it is well coated in the marinade. Let marinate for at least 10 minutes at room temperature or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a longer period (up to 8 hours ahead of cooking).
- Preheat broiler: Turn on the oven broiler and Position the with oven rack in the 2nd from the top position.
- Place pork under broiler for 10-12 minutes, or until temperature of meat reaches 145° (do not flip). *If grilling on an outdoor BBQ grill, place onto hot grill and cook, turning once, until lightly charred and cooked through (6-8 minutes). Remove cooked pork to a cutting board and tent loosely with foil to rest. After it has rested and just before serving, use a sharp knife to slice into strips.
- Take the remaining marinade and pour it into a small saucepan. Add 2 Tablespoons of water to the pan and stir. Bring sauce to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat and simmer for 3 minutes. Reduce heat to low to keep warm.
- When rice is cooked, remove to a bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and toss well to coat. Pour lime juice over-top and sprinkle with cilantro or parsley. Toss well to combine.
- For the sautéed spinach, heat oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add spinach, salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until spinach wilts, about 1-2 minutes.
- To serve: Place cilantro lime rice in the bottom of a bowl. Top with sliced pork. Spoon warm peanut sauce over-top. Serve with quick sautéed spinach or any other steamed green. Serve with a lime wedge for garnish/squeezing on top.
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
Do you think I could use regular milk instead of the coconut?
Hi Paula, regular milk would be too thin I think. You could probably replace it with heavy (whipping) cream, but of course, you would not get the coconut flavour.
This was absolutely delicious and really easy. My husband really enjoyed it so I will definitely make it again.
It was not heavy tasting either.
So glad to hear, Dawn! This is one of my favourite dishes. So easy, yet such a delicious meal :)
I just made this for dinner, it was a hit all around. I never thought f using the broiller to cook meat but the results were very nice.
I used the leftover of the can of coconut milk to cook the rice (along with water ofc), which i often do anyway and it was a great addition. I served it with some sugar snaps, sauteed with garlic. I think i will try to add some heat to the sauce next time, either add some dried pepper flakes or maybe some jalapeños. Thanks for the recipe!
So glad you enjoyed it, Marie and yes, this recipe is lovely with a little heat, too :)
Made it for lunch. Peanut sauce is very tasty. My adult son loved it!!
So glad you all enjoyed it :) And yes, I could eat that peanut sauce with a spoon!
Love your photos, and the coconut-peanut marinade sounds absolutely divine. So much flavour going on! I haven’t used pork tenderloin before as I didn’t really know what to do with it, so will be keeping this recipe in mind next time they are on special! x
Thanks so much, Claudia. Yes, do look for them on special. Pork tenderloin are very versatile and great to have in the freezer :)
Wow! This is such a lovely meal ♥
summerdaisy.net
Thanks so much, Summer :)
I love these flavors, what a great looking rice bowl!
Thanks Laura :)
This is my kind of dinner Jennifer. What a great idea! It’s a great and unique way to use pork tenderloin too.
Thanks Chris. I always seem to have a pork tenderloin in the freezer (I pick them up when they are on sale), so love to have lots of ways to cook them :)
Looks so good. Thank you.
Thanks so much, Liz :)
What a wonderful idea for left over pork Jennifer! Love that sauce!
Thanks Mary Ann :)
Pork tenderloin is one of my dear loves, as is peanut sauce. What a great excuse to haul the grill pan out in winter!
Thanks Rebeccah and definitely worth busting it out! I broiled mine this time, but have used the grill pan before and it’s perfect :)
I just don’t know where to start! The peanut sauce – my favorite, and the tender pork – yummy! Lime rice? You have knocked this recipe out of the park! Love it and can’t wait to try it once we dig our grill out of the snow. What a winter we are having!
Thanks Tricia and lucky you that you can even grill in the winter. We have to pack ours away. Just too much snow to keep it shovelled out :) You will love this. It’s quick, easy and super delicious!