Pork Stir Fry for $2 a Serving

Once every week or so Laurie and I troll our pantry and refrigerator for leftovers that we can turn into a meal for two. This week we discovered we had (almost) all the fixings for a homemade pork stir fry, so we made a quick trip to the grocery store to buy our missing item and created a delicious dinner – for $2 a serving! Here’s how we did it!

Laurie and I used to throw away a lot of food that had gone bad because we didn’t get around to eating it. Spoiled fruits and vegetables, expired pantry items like sauces and condiments, and leftover proteins like steak and pork from previous meals often went out in the trash on garbage day. Not only was this incredibly wasteful, but it was expensive as well. When the pandemic hit and all of a sudden there were shortages of basic food items, we became adept at using the food we bought much more efficiently. Not only did we greatly reduce our food waste, but we ended up saving a lot of money as well! We changed our habits and have continued to make the most out of our weekly food purchases.

One of the best ways we do this is to always plan a leftover meal at least once a week where we go through all the food in our pantry and refrigerator and select the items that need to be eaten soon before they go bad. Then, we come up with our own recipes for making the most of what we have to work with instead of just eating the same thing we had earlier in the week. This is the fun part!

So, this week we did our scan and found that we had leftover grilled and smoked pork tenderloin from this past weekend, half a yellow onion, a red pepper, and half a bag of snow peas in the refrigerator. We also had some bottled teriyaki sauce in the pantry, along with a large bag of brown basmati rice. Are you thinking what we thought? Pork stir fry, right??!! The only thing missing were mushrooms, so we made a quick trip to the grocery store and bought some mixed mushrooms for $3.99. And there you have it – a meal for two for $2 per serving (and stop questioning my math – all those leftovers we used in the dish are freebies as far as I’m concerned!!).

Here’s the recipe we created for you to try yourself or have fun making up your own! And, let me know if you were able to create a meal for less than $2 per serving!

Quick Weeknight Teriyaki Pork Stir Fry (Serves 2)

This quick and easy stir fry recipe includes lots of veggies and leftover pork tenderloin as the protein. But feel free to make this your own by changing out the vegetables (broccoli or asparagus instead of snow peas), the protein (chicken or shrimp instead of pork), and even the sauce (sweet and sour instead of teriyaki). Serve with a spicy Spanish red such as a Tempranillo.

Ingredients

1 cup brown basmati rice, rinsed and drained

12 oz. cooked pork tenderloin, cut into ¼ inch thick slices

½ medium yellow onion, cut into ¼ inch thick slices

½ large red bell pepper, cut into ¼ inch thick slices

4 oz. shitake or baby belle mushrooms, cut into ¼ inch thick slices

2 cups snow peas, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 tsp. toasted sesame oil

1 tbsp. vegetable oil

8 oz. jarred teriyaki sauce (our favorite is Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki Marinade & Sauce)

Directions

Cook rice according to package directions and then set aside.

In a 12-inch non-stick skillet, heat the sesame and vegetable oils over medium high heat until shimmering. Add the onions and mushrooms and sauté for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the red pepper and continue sauteing for 2 minutes longer, stirring occasionally. Add the pork, snow peas, and teriyaki sauce and stir to combine – sauté for another 2 minutes until heated through and sauce is bubbling. Remove stir fry from heat and serve immediately in bowls with the rice.