Vietnamese pork salad

Name: Vietnamese pork salad
Prep time: 16 min
Cook time: 29 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Ingredients: 1 tsp Golden Caster Sugar; Juice of 2 Lime; 1 chopped Red Chilli; Handful Coriander; 1 tablespoon Sesame Seed Oil; 1 tablespoon Fish Sauce; 1 tablespoon Soy Sauce; 500g Pork Tenderloin; For brushing Vegetable Oil; 1/4 White Cabbage; 1 chopped Cucumber; 5 chopped Celery; 3 sliced thinly Spring Onions; 1 chopped Red Chilli; 2 chopped Lemongrass Stalks; Zest of 1 Lime; Handful Coriander; Handful Mint

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 47 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 · 45 min total

1 tsp Golden Caster Sugar
Juice of 2 Lime
1 chopped Red Chilli
Handful Coriander
1 tablespoon Sesame Seed Oil
1 tablespoon Fish Sauce
1 tablespoon Soy Sauce
500g Pork Tenderloin
For brushing Vegetable Oil
1/4 White Cabbage
1 chopped Cucumber
5 chopped Celery
3 sliced thinly Spring Onions
1 chopped Red Chilli
2 chopped Lemongrass Stalks
Zest of 1 Lime
Handful Coriander
Handful Mint

Step-by-step instructions

The day before: make the dressing. Put the sugar and lime juice in a pan with 1 tbsp water and bring to the boil to dissolve the sugar. Add the chilli and coriander and stir well, then pulse in a blender until smooth. Tip into a bowl, then stir in the sesame oil, fish sauce, soy sauce and sesame seeds to make a dressing. Cover and chill until needed.
Two hours before serving: heat a griddle pan. Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6/fan 180C. Brush the pork with oil and griddle on all sides for a few minutes until seared. Transfer to a baking tray and put in the oven for about 10-12 minutes until cooked through. Cool, thinly slice against the grain of the meat. Tip into a bowl and pour over half the dressing.
To serve: toss the remaining salad ingredients in a bowl with the remaining dressing. Pile on to a platter, top with the pork slices and spoon over any juices.

Why this works on a weeknight

Vietnamese pork salad lands at about 45 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. Vietnamese pork salad 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