Pork and Tofu Lettuce Cups - $8.05 a serving

Name: Pork and Tofu Lettuce Cups
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce; 1 tablespoon sesame oil; 1 tablespoon cornstarch; 2 teaspoons white or rice vinegar; 2 teaspoons grated ginger; 2 teaspoons sugar; 2 cloves garlic (minced); 2 teaspoons olive oil; 16 ounces lean ground pork; 1 block firm tofu (drained well and cut into 1/2-inch cubes); 2 heads romaine lettuce (cleaned and separated into leaves); Toppings: 1 bag broccoli slaw (undressed), plus bean sprouts, fresh cilantro, fresh mint, and lime slices

Makes 6 servings · asian · easy · USDA MyPlate Kitchen (public domain)

$48.28

basket total, in-store

$8.05

per serving (6 servings)

+$3.42

dearer than the $4.62 median dinner

What it costs at Kroger - Kroger On the Rhine

Every non-staple ingredient matched to a real product on the shelf, priced on 2026-07-19 at Kroger - Kroger On the Rhine (ZIP 45202). 2 matches are flagged for you to check rather than silently swapped. Prices change without notice - this is what we paid attention to on that date, not a quote.

The recipe says	We found	Package	Uses	Costs	Left over
3 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce	Kroger® Less Sodium Soy Sauce · 10 fl oz	$1.49	45 ml	$0.23	$1.26
1 tablespoon sesame oil	Kroger® Pure Sesame Oil · 7.5 fl oz	$4.99	15 ml	$0.34	$4.65
1 tablespoon cornstarchCHECK THIS	Kroger® Pure Corn Starch · 16 oz	$2.29	8 g	$0.04	$2.25
2 teaspoons white or rice vinegar	Nakano® Natural Rice Vinegar · 12 fl oz	$2.99	10 ml	$0.08	$2.91
2 teaspoons grated ginger	Spice World™ Fresh Peeled Ginger Bag · 7 oz	$3.99	10 g	$0.20	$3.79
2 teaspoons sugar	Kroger® Pure Cane Granulated Sugar · 4 lb	$3.99	8 g	$0.02	$3.97
2 cloves garlic (minced)	Kroger® Whole Garlic Bulbs · 5 ct	$2.49	2	$1.00	$1.49
2 teaspoons olive oil	Simple Truth Organic® Extra Virgin Olive Oil · 16.9 fl oz	$8.49	10 ml	$0.17	$8.32
16 ounces lean ground porkCHECK THIS	Ground Pork · 1 lb	$3.99	454 g	$3.99	-
1 block firm tofu (drained well and cut into 1/2-inch cubes)	Simple Truth Organic® Super Firm Tofu · 16 oz	$3.99	400 g	$3.52	$0.47
2 heads romaine lettuce (cleaned and separated into leaves)	Kroger® Romaine Lettuce Hearts · 18 ozx2 est.	$4.79	2	$5.63	$3.95

Where the money goes

romaine lettuce drives this basket at $9.58, 20% of the total. The next biggest lines are olive oil ($8.49) and sesame oil ($4.99). $33.07 of the basket - 68% - is package remainder: food you buy because stores sell packages and recipes call for amounts. It does not vanish, it sits in your kitchen for the next meal.

What carries into next week

Simple Truth Organic® Extra Virgin Olive Oil · about 490 ml left, $8.32 of value
Kroger® Pure Sesame Oil · about 207 ml left, $4.65 of value
Kroger® Pure Cane Granulated Sugar · about 1806 g left, $3.97 of value
Kroger® Romaine Lettuce Hearts · about 421 g left, $3.95 of value
Spice World™ Fresh Peeled Ginger Bag · about 188 g left, $3.79 of value
Nakano® Natural Rice Vinegar · about 345 ml left, $2.91 of value

“When my little brother Galen was a baby, he was allergic to a lot of foods. He couldn't eat wheat, dairy, or eggs. That meant no pizza or macaroni and cheese. My mom spent a lot of time trying to find nutritious foods that he could eat,” says Rose. “She used to serve a pork and tofu dish over rice. I was inspired by that dish when I made this recipe. It can be served with brown rice, but I like to eat it with lots of veggies and sliced oranges on the side. You can also make this with ground beef or turkey.”

Ingredients

3 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons white or rice vinegar
2 teaspoons grated ginger
2 teaspoons sugar
2 cloves garlic (minced)
2 teaspoons olive oil
16 ounces lean ground pork
1 block firm tofu (drained well and cut into 1/2-inch cubes)
2 heads romaine lettuce (cleaned and separated into leaves)
Toppings: 1 bag broccoli slaw (undressed), plus bean sprouts, fresh cilantro, fresh mint, and lime slices

Directions

This recipe is credited to a partner program (The Epicurious 2013 Healthy Lunchtime Challenge Cookbook), so we don't reprint its directions - read them on the archived original.

The Epicurious 2013 Healthy Lunchtime Challenge Cookbook. MyPlate took its recipe pages offline in 2026 - the original lives on at the Internet Archive. More on this: What each protein actually costs per serving.

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