Barbecue pork buns

Name: Barbecue pork buns
Prep time: 13 min
Cook time: 24 min
Total time: 37 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Ingredients: 85g Sugar; 500g White Bread Mix; 1 tablespoon Sunflower Oil; 12 Bacon; Knob Ginger; 2 cloves chopped Garlic; 2 tablespoons Soy Sauce; 3 tablespoons Clear Honey; 3 tablespoons Tomato Puree; 1 beaten Egg

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Pork recipe with Vietnamese flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 39 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 37 min total

85g Sugar
500g White Bread Mix
1 tablespoon Sunflower Oil
12 Bacon
Knob Ginger
2 cloves chopped Garlic
2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
3 tablespoons Clear Honey
3 tablespoons Tomato Puree
1 beaten Egg

Step-by-step instructions

Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas. Mix the sugar into the bread mix in a large bowl, then add water as instructed on the pack. Bring the dough together with a wooden spoon, then knead on a lightly floured surface for 5 mins until smooth. Put into a large bowl, cover with oiled cling film then leave in a warm place until doubled in size.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a pan, then fry the bacon until crisp, about 5 mins. Add the ginger and garlic and fry for 1 min until soft, then tip in the soy, honey and tomato purée and stir well. Can be made up to 3 days ahead.
Turn out the dough and knead briefly, then pull into 12 even-sized balls. Flatten with your hands, then put a teaspoon-size blob of the filling in the middle. Draw the dough up and pinch it closed like a purse, then turn the bun over and sit it on a large baking sheet. Cover with oiled cling film and leave to rise for about 30 mins until the dough feels pillowy. Brush with egg and bake for 20 mins until golden. Serve warm with dipping sauce. Can be frozen after second rise for up to 1 month or baked up to a day ahead and re-warmed.

Why this works on a weeknight

Barbecue pork buns lands at about 37 minutes total — a little longer than our 30-minute target, but most of that time is hands-off simmering, which is why it earned a spot in our Sheet-Pan Dinners collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Barbecue pork buns actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🍳 Sheet-Pan Dinners Pork Vietnamese