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. :)
Made this tonight for the first time. It was so delish! I used ground chicken instead of beef. Defiantly adding this to the rotation. I bet the left overs will be great as flavors meld together.
Do you have any idea what the calorie count would be for this?
I loooooooooooove this recipe.
So simple, so easy, so inexpensive and yet so nutritional !
What more can I say…( give me time , I will think of something )
This recipe is great! And will be one of the ones I rotate throughout the week!
Do you have the nutritional information for this recipe or where I can find it online?
What’s the nutritional info, mainly calories? Thanks.
I’m not sure what I needed, but it was really bland for me. After the cooking was done, I added a bit more sesame to the serving, but it just lacked something.
Excellent on its own, however adding lettuce for lettuce wraps with some brown rice would have made it extra special
I made this for dinner tonight, and it came together really fast. (i did buy shredded, bagged cabbage) I cook for 3 generations, and everyone liked it. I made the sauce with the lesser amount of sriracha, and let those that like spicier food add more at the table. 5stars!
How many carbs in a serving
Do you think this would be as good with ground turkey??
Yes, I do think it would still be quite tasty. :)
Can I give this more than 5 stars? Beth you are the best.
Wow! This is great. I had never heard of crack slaw before, but I’m glad you’ve brought it to my attention. I’m scarfing it down as I type this.
I made the recipe almost exactly as written and I’ve learned a couple things:
First, lean beef is a must. I made it with medium ground beef and it’s a bit too heavy (although I personally don’t mind). And you can’t very well drain the fat because it has all the flavor.
Second, if you’ve made this and find it somehow lacking, add some lime juice (what I did), lemon juice, or even rice vinegar. This will really round out the flavors.
Also, here’s an idea: you could replace the ginger with jalapeno and/or green bell pepper, add a squirt of lime juice (maybe some fresh cilantro or cilantro paste?!), and this would have a great Mexican flavor! Of course you could add chili powder or taco seasoning as well, the sky’s the limit.
OMG, I love the southwest idea!! I’m totally going to try that.
If I use a pound of meat, do you recommend doubling the seasoning and spices?
Yes, that’s probably a safe bet.
I’m so glad I decided to give this recipe a chance. It was pretty easy to prep and cook, full of flavor, healthy, and to top it off, really to cheap! This recipe will definitely be thrown into the regular dinner rotation. I can’t wait to try more of your recipes. I’m always excited to find delicious meals that don’t break the budget. Thanks!