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This warm dinner recipe combines ground pork and flavorful fall ingredients like butternut squash and cranberries to make a wonderful, easy meal. Paleo, Whole30, and AIP
This post was updated in Oct 2021 – made the recipe fully AIP-compliant and much easier to make.
This dinner recipe is not for you if you don't like your food groups touching, but if you are like me and love a good mish-mash of food, then you'll love this.
It brings together a ton of fall ingredients and is also a great dish for those of you who know you need more greens but don't like them by themselves.
It comes together in about 40 minutes and is also quite filling and comforting on a cold fall or winter night.
What does it taste like?
The flavor is kind of like breadless stuffing meets weeknight dinner with a whole bunch of ingredients like cranberries, butternut squash, spinach/chard/kale, apples, celery, and ground pork. It's lightly herbed with thyme and sage to really get that fall flavor.
Meal prepping this pork dish
This is a great meal prep option as you can make the whole thing up to 5 days ahead of time and just store in the fridge. When you want to eat it reheat in the microwave or on the stove.
More Helpful AIP & Paleo Resources in the Freebie Library
If you find this recipe helpful, you may really enjoy the resources in my Paleo & AIP Freebie Library! There's a “dump” freezer meal plan, a list of AIP-compliant breakfast toppings, and so much more. Plus, you'll get even more ideas sent to your inbox! Get the password here.
Cranberry Pork Bowls Recipe
If you make this pork dish, I'd love to hear how it turned out! Either comment below or share a pic on Instagram and tag me @thrivingonpaleo!
Cranberry Pork Bowls (Paleo, Whole30, AIP)
Ingredients
- 1 medium Butternut Squash peeled, seeded, and cut into small chunks
- 1/2 tsp Sea Salt divided
- 1/2 tsp dried Sage
- 2 tbs Avocado Oil, Coconut Oil, or Olive Oil divided
- 1 medium Onion diced
- 2 stalks Celery diced
- 3 cloves Garlic minced
- 2 lbs Ground Pork or Ground Turkey or Chicken
- 1/4 tsp dried Thyme finely chopped
- 2 Apples cored and diced
- 1 cup Cranberries fresh, frozen, or dried*
- 1 bunch Baby Spinach, Kale, or Chard chopped and tough stems removed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 F. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place diced squash on the baking sheet and toss with 1/4 tsp sea salt, the dried sage, and 1 tbsp of the oil.
- Roast squash for 20-30 min or until soft.
- Meanwhile, heat a large skillet or dutch oven over medium heat. Melt the remaining 1 tbsp oil and then add the onions and celery. Cook until the onions are translucent, approximately 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook for another minute, until fragrant.
- Add the ground pork to the pan, breaking it up with your hands. Season with the remaining 1/4 tsp of sea salt and the dried thyme. Continue to cook, breaking up the pork with a spatula or wooden spoon, until the pork is browned and cooked all the way through.
- Add the apples and cranberries to the pot and stir well. Cover the pot and turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the spinach (or kale or chard) to the pot and stir. Cook for another 2-3 minutes, or until the greens have wilted. Serve!
Notes
Nutrition
So yummy! I love recipes with so many vegetables incorporated.
I’m glad you liked it!