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!
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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.
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Notes
Nutrition
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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. :)
Can you use regular sesame oil in place of the toasted? Would there be a big difference in the taste?
If you already have regular that’s fine. Don’t go out and buy toasted just for this. :)
Thank you for including the “cup” measurements for the veggies – very helpful. I don’t like spicy so I was thinking of subbing with hoisin sauce. Would you still use the soy sauce with the hoisin, or would it be too salty?
A deliciously versatile recipe! This is similar to a homestyle curried cabbage stir fry I encountered decades ago on an Indian restaurant buffet in the Middle East. I usually make it vegetarian–no meat–but have sometimes used ground chicken or pork. I most often use about 1 shredded or sliced onion instead of green onions. I add plenty of minced garlic and ginger, more than as written in this recipe. Sometimes I use gochujang instead of sriracha and up the sesame oil for a more Korean flavor. More often I add a shredded jalapeno and 2 T of garam masala for a more Indian flavor. The recipe as written is sort of Chinese, and jarred Chinese chili sauce with either garlic or beans will fit that profile, while the sriracha is Thai. This recipe is infinitely variable–use Frank’s or Texas Pete hot sauce for a more North American flavor. The recipe is inexpensive and delicious! Try the original and then make it your own!
One of my favorites for a busy weeknight meal! I found this recipe when I was trying to use up cabbage I had in the fridge and we now we have it at least twice a month!
I am so excited to try this recipe. It is something different. I feel like I do nothing with ground beef but make tacos and meatloaf! I will let you know how it turns out. I really appreciate you sharing these menus because my ADHD mind freaks out at the thought of planning, but I freak out even more when I think of the cost of groceries!
Added a bit of beef broth and a boullion for extra flavour. Water chestnuts are a great addition for crunch. Filling and a perfect way to get more veg in!
We love this recipe and make it at least once a month- it’s so quick, cheap and healthy with all the veggies. We serve it on rice, and I’ve tried it in a tortilla wrap and that was delicious too, haha
I make this recipe at least once a month. Sometimes I substitute ground pork because it was cheaper here. Never fails…. love it.
The recipe was easy to make, but the stir fry sauce was limited and rather bland. I liked the cabbage but I would experiment using other ingredients for the sauce.
Super easy with the bagged slaw mix! And the sauce was perfect.
Great fun- lots of taste. I used too much sriracha for my simple heat level self but I still ate it and will enjoy leftovers in a few days. Easy recipe as well but I did have to buy a few things I dont normally have in my kitchen (ginger, sesame oil and seeds) which is good!
Love, love, love! I have been making this for years with many iterations of different meats and different vegetables. The sauce is perfect. Sometimes I will sprinkle with chopped almonds or sunflower seeds on top. Delicious, healthy, and frugal. What more could you ask for?
What a great recipe – so full of nutrients and easy to make! I really enjoyed making and serving this to my family. The only thing I did not do was shred the carrots; I sliced them instead. I also covered the pan after adding in the cabbage to help it wilt faster.
This was so good! Thank you!
Really easy and tasty. The kids love it too. It was also great for the adults to add more Sriracha as a garnish to add more heat. This would also be great with finely chopped nuts.
I ended up using too much meat and not enough cabbage I think. This was an easy, quick recipe that was decently tasty. I just thought it was missing something. I added a tad bit of rice wine vinegar and that brought it up to 5 stars.