If you’re one that struggles to work vegetables into your diet (isn’t that pretty much all of us?) you’re going to love this Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry. It’s full of vegetables and absolutely addictive. And the best part? It uses vegetables that are super inexpensive so you can know that you’re doing your body and your wallet good. Winning!
Can I Substitute the Beef?
Yes, you can definitely make this cabbage stir fry recipe with other types of ground meat! I think pork or even ground turkey would work just as well or better, and will most likely be less expensive than beef. You can use a whole pound of meat if you like extra protein, but I found that the half-pound I had provided me with just the right ratio of meat to cabbage.
What Other Vegetables Can I Add?
In addition to the cabbage, I also added some shredded carrots and sliced green onion to this beef stir fry for color. There are so many other fun things you can put in your beef and cabbage stir fry. Try adding some of these vegetables:
- sliced mushrooms
- thinly sliced red bell pepper
- water chestnuts
- snow peas
- broccoli
- baby corn
Make it even FASTER!
You can totally take a shortcut here and buy a bag of pre-shredded coleslaw mix to replace the 1/2 head of green cabbage and carrots listed below. Sometimes that’s a more economical purchase and saves you from having a half head of left over cabbage. :)
What to Serve with Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry
This Ground Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry goes great with Easy Egg Drop Soup, Thai Cucumber Salad, Savory Coconut Rice, Pork Gyoza. Although most of the time I just eat it as is! You can also serve it over a bed of rice to bulk up the servings.
Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry
Servings 4 (1.5 cups each)Ingredients
STIR FRY SAUCE
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce ($0.18)
- 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil ($0.33)
- 1 Tbsp sriracha* ( $0.05)
- 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar ( $0.02)
STIR FRY
- 1/2 head green cabbage ($1.78)
- 2 carrots ($0.22)
- 3 green onions ($0.17)
- 1/2 Tbsp neutral cooking oil ($0.02)
- 1/2 lb. lean ground beef ($3.90)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger ( $0.13)
- Pinch of salt and pepper ($0.05)
GARNISHES (optional)
- 1 Tbsp sesame seeds ($0.08)
- 1 Tbsp sriracha ($0.05)
Instructions
- Prepare the stir fry sauce first. In a small bowl stir together the soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, sriracha, and brown sugar. Set the sauce aside.
- Shred the vegetables so they are ready to go when you need them. Cut one small cabbage in half, remove the core, and then finely shred the leaves of one half the cabbage (4-6 cups once shredded, save the other half for another recipe). Peel two carrots, then use a cheese grater to shred them (1 cup shredded). Slice three green onions. Mince two cloves of garlic. Peel a knob of ginger using either a vegetable peeler or by scraping with the side of a spoon, then grate it using a small-holed cheese grater.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot add the cooking oil, ground beef, garlic, ginger, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook the beef until browned (about five minutes).
- Add the cabbage and carrots to the skillet and continue to stir and cook until the cabbage is slightly wilted (or fully wilted, if you prefer). Stir in the prepared sauce and the green onions. Top with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and a drizzle of sriracha, then serve.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
Video
P.S. If you love cabbage as much as I do, check out our Cabbage Soup Recipe!
How to Make Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry – Step by Step Photos
Prepare the easy stir fry sauce first, so it’s ready to go when you need it. In a small bowl stir together 2 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil (it has a dark amber color and VERY nutty flavor, not always labeled as “toasted”), 1 Tbsp sriracha, and 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar. This makes a medium-spicy stir fry, so if you’re sensitive to heat, start with 1 tsp sriracha.
Next, shred the vegetables. Cut one small cabbage in half, remove the core, then slice half of it into fine shreds (save the other half of the cabbage for another recipe). You’ll need about 4-6 cups of shredded cabbage. Peel and shred two carrots (about one cup). I used a large-holed cheese grater to shred the carrots. Slice three green onions. You’ll also want to mince two cloves of garlic and grate about 1 Tbsp of fresh ginger (I use a small-holed cheese grater for this). More info on working with ginger can be found here.
Heat a LARGE skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add 1/2 Tbsp neutral cooking oil (something like canola, corn, vegetable, safflower, peanut, etc.), 1/2 lb. ground beef, the minced garlic, grated ginger, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook the beef until fully browned.
Add the shredded cabbage and carrots to the skillet and continue to cook and stir until the cabbage has wilted slightly. I like my cabbage to still have a little crunch, so I only cooked it until it was partially wilted. If you like the cabbage fully cooked and soft, just cook it a bit longer.
Pour on the prepared stir fry sauce…
… and toss in the sliced green onions. Stir until everything is evenly combined.
Garnish the Beef and Cabbage stir fry with a little drizzle of sriracha and a sprinkle of sesame seeds. I particularly liked the sesame seeds for the texture they added to the dish!
And that’s it! This Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry is probably one of the easiest dishes I’ve ever made. :)
This recipe is soooo delicious! We made it for dinner and it was a total hit in our house! With that, however, I wouldn’t necessarily call it low carb. In the 1.5 cup serving size there is about 10 net carbs, and with it being so tasty it is darn near impossible to only eat that little! Maybe for a small lunch, or someone with more self control than us, who would typically eat noodles this is lower carb, but for us we will have to tweak a bit to get the carb count down. Thanks for sharing, a delicious and easy recipe overall!
My husband and I love this dish. I try to make enough so he can take it to work the next day, if he is working. I use the packaged tricolored slaw mix, and don’t have to bother with the cabbage and carrots.
Mike G. I agree with you totally! These uneducated people do need to be more sensitive to the words they are using. Children are reading and listening, not to mention there are so many appropriate words to use to describe delicious foods. Kelly , Yes it is offensive!!!
Made this for dinner – will definitely be adding this to our rotation. I added mushrooms and made a little extra sauce. Delicious! We can’t wait to try it with pork and maybe add some wonton noodles for a little crunch.
What is the carbs..it was very good!!
Found on google: 36 gr in cabbage, 12 gr carrots, 3.3 gr green onions, 0 gr in ground beef, less than 1 gr in sriracha sauce, 2 gr soy sauce, 4.5 gr brown sugar, 0 gr sesame oil, 8 gr garlic, about 2 gr ginger. This is for the whole recipe.
Hi Beth,
Thanks for sharing wonderful recipes. I like it. I serve it to my family and friends.
I also share this at my Pinterest social network and email subscription list.
I just made this and it is yummy! I had to change a little for what I had on hand–but basically this recipe–and it was wonderful! Thank you! Delicious!
Just made this the other day and added cilantro on top. not cooked in, just on top. so good! something about fresh cilantro!
I am making this *again* tonight after just finding the recipe last month. It’s official, this one is a favorite and in regular rotation now. Thanks!
I cooked dinner for my roommate and I and we loved this!!! I am not a huge fan of cooking but it was easy. I would say to add more cabbage if you like the crunchy! Will be making this again!!!
I wish people would stop referring to things that are supposed to be irresistibly tasty as “crack.” It’s neither appropriate nor funny!
I don’t think people should be so sensitive. Not everything is an offense.
Crack is Irish slang for good. Get over it.
I love this recipe so much and have made it at least 10 times. I’ve made it as is, added mushrooms, doubled it, switched to pork instead of beef, added/changed spices, and even used it as egg roll filling (my husband’s favorite)! It’s always delicious and always a hit. So simple :)
This is a great recipe. quick, easy and delicious. I’ think I’ll add mushrooms and bean sprouts next time.
I doubled up the beef when I made this for my boyfriend, and it was a huge hit! Very simple and easy on time. I might add more ginger and garlic to go with the extra beef next time. This will definitely be part of our regular rotation!
This recipe is awesome! It is very easy and creates little mess. From start to finish was about 25 minutes. I also love that it’s low carb. No after dinner bloating! Will definitely use this again!