The 20-Minute One-Pan Dinner I Make on Nights When I Just Can’t

Kelli Foster
Kelli FosterCulinary Producer at The Kitchn
I'm a recipe developer, food writer, stylist, and video producer, with more than 10 years of professional experience. As an expert meal planner and avid home cook who loves grocery shopping and helping people figure out what to cook for dinner, I'm a natural fit as The Kitchn’s Dinner Therapist. Since graduating from The University of Scranton and The French Culinary Institute, I've authored three cookbooks: Buddha Bowls, Plant-Based Buddha Bowls, and The Probiotic Kitchen. My kitchen superpower is turning a random assortment of ingredients into easy, delicious dinners that even my young son will eat.
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published Aug 23, 2024
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Spicy ground pork and zucchini stir-fry in wok
Credit: Joe Lingeman

Summer produce always gets me excited, and what I look forward to more than anything else is zucchini. (Yes, even more than juicy tomatoes and sweet corn.) In fact, to ensure my kitchen was never without a mountain of zucchini, I planted three zucchini plants in my vegetable garden. I’ve been mixing shredded zucchini into my overnight oats, making regular batches of zucchini bread, baking zucchini chocolate chip cake for cookouts, tossing it on the grill for an easy side dish, and using it weekly in this spicy ground pork and zucchini stir-fry, which is, hands-down, my absolute favorite summer dinner.

Get the recipe: Spicy Ground Pork and Zucchini Stir-Fry

What Makes This Spicy Ground Pork & Zucchini Stir-Fry So Good

The beauty of this stir-fry is that it’s so simple, yet packed with so much flavor. It comes together in no more than 20 minutes from start to finish. There’s minimal prep involved; all you need to do is stir together a basic sauce and slice the zucchini (both of which can be done ahead of time). The sauce (which requires just four ingredients) has the perfect level of heat without feeling overwhelming. And it’s super easy to tone down the spiciness, which I now do to accommodate my 5-year-old, who also adores this stir-fry.

Yet what I really love most is how versatile this recipe is. There’s so much leeway for swaps and substitutions, which means I can pretty much make this any night of the week without a trip to the grocery store. Despite the recipe name, know that any summer squash is fair game here. When using a variety of squash, just be sure to cut them to roughly the same size so they cook evenly. Not only have I made this stir-fry with every kind of ground meat (like I said, I like to work with what I have), but I’ve also tried it with leftover shredded chicken and chicken sausage. Ground pork remains my first choice always because the fattiness gives the dish such a great rich flavor. 

Not only is this the dinner I look forward to more than any other in the summer (especially when zucchini season hits!), but I’ve also come to love and appreciate it more and more every year.

Get the recipe: Spicy Ground Pork and Zucchini Stir-Fry

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