Spicy Lemongrass Pork

This spicy lemongrass pork is definitely a new family favorite meal!

I partnered with Kroger on this post. All opinions and photos are 100% mine.

I love to cook, but I have a real knack for either forgetting to purchase an ingredient from the grocery store, and forgetting to thaw something out for dinner. As a busy mom, I think it's something we all struggle with. I also tend to get stuck in a cooking rut. I am constantly on the hunt for a delicious new recipe, but usually end up sticking with the basics. Dinner has gotten completely boring in our home.

A few weeks ago, I stopped at Kroger to pick up some chicken to cook for dinner, and I noticed that they had a new section with Prep + Pared meals. There were several options, including Crispy Fish Tacos, Vietnamese-Inspired Spicy Lemongrass Pork, Peruvian Salmon, Thai Turkey Wraps, Athena's Lemon Chicken and more. There were so many options! I decided to grab one for us to try, and I couldn't be more excited about going back for more!

I chose the Vietnamese-Inspired Spicy Lemongrass Pork with coconut rice and cabbage salad. We love pork, so I thought this would be a safe one to try first. Also, the colors of all of the fresh vegetables drew me in, along with the promise that this was a 20 minute meal.

At home, I opened the box, and placed all of the contents on my kitchen island. Everything was perfectly chopped and packaged so well. I especially love the pouches with the wet ingredients! Even the pork was chopped and ready to cook!

The directions for cooking were also included, and I love how easy they were to follow. I read over them before starting and got out a few bowls and my pan to get started.

This dish started with prepping the coconut rice. I followed the instructions and placed the rice and coconut milk in a microwave safe bowl and set it aside to warm right before plating the meal.

The next step was preparing the cabbage salad. This literally took me less than 2 minutes to put together with the pre-portioned ingredients at the ready. I also love that the instructions start with prepping things so that the entire meal comes together at the same time. Sometimes when I am cooking a meal, I'll get to the end and realize that I have forgotten to cook a part of the meal. It happens way more often than I care for.

Next, I cooked the pork for 5 minutes over medium-high heat. While the pork was cooking, I prepared the sauce that would be added next.

I added the lemongrass sauce and finished cooking the pork for 5 more minutes. During this time, I warmed the rice per the instructions. The sauce thickened perfectly!

Once the pork and rice were ready, it was time to plate the meal. I added rice to the plate and poured the lemongrass pork over it. Next, I added some cabbage salad and garnished the pork with chopped peanuts and scallions. Time to eat!

I can honestly say that this is one of the most delicious meals I have cooked in a long time! My family was amazed by the flavor as well as the presentation, and said they felt like they were eating something from a fancy restaurant. I think what I loved the most about this meal was that I used flavors and ingredients that I had never used before and wouldn't think to use. I consider myself a pretty good cook, but these flavors were new and delicious, and I'm excited to use them again.

The Kroger Prep + Pared meals are definitely going to be on my grocery list going forward. I just love that everything is prepped and ready to go, and I don't have to buy a bunch of ingredients that I won't fully use. The fresh ingredients are 100% measured and prepped, and are kit to fork in 20 minutes. They are meant to feed 2 adults, but there was more than enough to feed Matt, Kate and myself. You can find the Prep + Pared meals at Kroger and Ralphs stores, exclusively. I'll be making a trip this weekend to grab at least 3 more Prep and Paired meals for dinners next week. I'm definitely going with the Crispy Fish Tacos next! What meals would you choose?