This ground pork vindaloo is spicy, tangy and absolutely delicious!
Think of this dish as spicy comfort food: the Indian version of meat and potatoes – with a bit of tang! This ground pork and potato vindaloo is the perfect weeknight recipe. It’s effortless to make in an instant pot.
I actually have another pork vindaloo recipe (which is excellent, by the way). There are a few differences between that recipe and this one. This ground meat vindaloo isn’t as saucy, and it calls for ground meat rather than pork shoulder. I wanted to create a casual everyday kind of recipe, and this is it. If you’re looking for more of a weekend or dinner party kind of dish, try this one.
Of Portuguese Origin
Vindaloo, a popular Goan curry, is of Portuguese origin.
The dish was brought to India by the Portuguese, and the recipe was adapted using local ingredients and spices.
This is our new favorite way to eat ground pork – I’ve been making it weekly because it’s just so easy and delicious. I have yet to try this with ground beef or ground chicken, but I’m sure it will be just as good – if you try it that way, let me know!
I add potatoes to this dish to make it more filling. You can leave them out if you’d like, just reduce the ginger and garlic a bit, and be prepared for a dish that’s a bit more flavorful. The spices listed in the recipe take the potatoes into account. It’ll still be delicious, though 🙂
Wondering what to serve this with? Try my basmati rice or brown basmati rice or pea pulao or jeera rice.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons oil
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon black mustard seeds
- 1 onion diced
- ½ – 1 serrano minced
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons minced ginger
Instructions
- Press the sauté button, add oil and allow it a minute to heat up. Add the cumin and mustard seeds. Once the cumin seeds brown, add the onions and Serrano pepper. Stir-fry for 5-6 minutes, or until the onions begin to brown.
- Add the ground meat, garlic and ginger and cook until the meat is mostly browned.
- Add the spices, give everything a good mix, then add the vinegar, water and potatoes.
- Secure the lid, close the pressure valve and cook for 10 minutes at high pressure.
- Quick release pressure.
- Garnish with cilantro if desired and serve.
Diane Brunjes says
This is absolutely fantastic! I didn’t have black mustard seeds so used yellow ones, and didn’t have cumin seed, so added about 1.5 teaspoons of ground cumin. (Hubby and I love it.) Also didn’t have the serrano, so added a regular red pepper and 5 thai chilies, which might have been a bit much for us. Substitutions we made were actually quite minor when you think about it, so feel like I am giving it a fair rating when I say, 5 stars! Make this today!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Diane, I’m so glad you liked it! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out for you 🙂
Liz says
I ran out of paprika so used half that and half smoked paprika. Sooooo delicious!! This was really out of this world yummy.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Liz, that’s awesome! I’m so glad you loved it!
Nikki S Collins says
I made this with buffalo meat and generally followed the recipe exactly. Was a bit generous with the ginger/garlic/cumin, no cilantro to add, and added a large serrano pepper, but that was the extent of my tweaking. I wanted more spice. It’s good, but seems like it has more potential. And my spices are fresh, so when I make it again, perhaps I will add more to the other spices. Thanks for the recipe!
Scott Huckleberry says
Can you use pork shoulder in lieu of ground pork?
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Scott, I actually have a pork vindaloo recipe that calls for pork shoulder – you can find it here: https://myheartbeets.com/instant-pot-pork-vindaloo/ I’m sure you can use it for this recipe too, I’d just adjust the cook time (25 minutes with a natural release). Hope that helps!
Monica says
Thank you for this recipe! I was skeptical from the first bite of pork, since the flavors seemed a bit “sweet” from the cinnamon and potentially other spices, BUT once I mixed some potato into my bites, the game changed! The potatoes, pork, and spices work so well together! My husband also really enjoyed it, particularly commenting on the potatoes working in the dish as well. Will make this one again for sure!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Monica, great to hear that you and your husband liked this! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out for you 🙂
Victoria Spasic says
I made this exactly as written and it was incredible. Perfect seasoning. We stirred through baby spinach to wilt after the pressure cook. We served it on cumin rice with dollops of sour cream and a scattering of cashews. It’s like an inside out samosa. Yum!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Victoria, that’s great to hear! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out for you 🙂
Emily Tan says
I tried this recipe coz I wanted something different from my usual Chinese minced pork & potatoes cooking style. My 2 kids, my husband & our guests loved this dish & they wiped it out instantly. It’s super easy to put together & I will definitely cook this again soon. Thanks for the recipe.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Emily, that’s so great to hear! I’m glad everyone liked this so much 🙂 Thanks for letting me know how it turned out for you.
Carli says
This was so good! A perfect weeknight dinner for my family that everyone loved. Thank you so much for sharing it. I used lemon juice after cooking in place of the vinegar as I just seem to prefer lemon in warm dishes over vinegar.
My Heart Beets says
Carli, that’s so great to hear! Thanks for letting me know how the vindaloo turned out for you and your family 🙂
Semi-good Cookin' says
This was my first time making this. I didn’t have mustard or cumin seeds, so used a small amount of ground for both. My wife would give this 4 stars, but my three sons and I give it a 5! Two of them said 10/10. The only variation I did was adding red and orange bell peppers for color, which added some nice flavor as well. I’d recommend increasing the meat to 1.5-2 lbs if you have hungry boys. This was just enough for one serving each and they all wanted more. This is definitely going into the meal rotation and I will use some of the additions from the other comments.
My Heart Beets says
I’m so glad your family liked this! Love the bell pepper idea 🙂
Helen says
This was my second instant pot use and the recipe was really easy to follow. I added more spice as I found it a bit bland. With that change in mind, I’d make it again.
My Heart Beets says
Helen, I’m so glad you liked it 🙂 I’m surprised you found it bland though – it should be very flavorful – are your spices a bit older by any chance? I’m glad you were able to make it work for you!
Helen says
They might be actually… I’ll update them since I’ll make this again. I have some version of curry once a week at least, so I may of killed my spice detector 🙂
My Heart Beets says
Let me know 🙂