This super fast and easy stir fry dinner has ground beef with cabbage, carrots, and scallions.
This stir fry is the fastest dinner I’ve made in a long time. It only takes 20 minutes — 5 minutes of prep plus 15 minutes of cooking — and you’ve got yourself a protein-packed dinner. This dish is perfect for those weeknights when you’re in a pinch and need to get dinner on the table in very little time.
Also, you only need one pan to make this dish, from browning the beef to stirring in cabbage to adding the sauce. There are only eight ingredients total, and the sauce itself is a simple mixture of soy sauce, sriracha, and a bit of ginger.
This ground beef and cabbage stir fry reminds me of a lot of things. Sometimes I think of it as a “healthy meaty cole slaw” or “exposed egg rolls without wrappers,” or as Mr. Savory Tooth eloquently puts it, “tastes like Asian taco filling.”
But one thing’s for sure — it’s very meaty, hearty, and filling. It has a high beef to cabbage ratio, so if you prefer having more frequent bites of cabbage, you can increase the cabbage up to 16 ounces. Just make sure that your pan is appropriately sized for the increased amount of cabbage.
The key to making this recipe super fast is using a pre-shredded bag of mixed cabbage (green and purple) and carrots. Most supermarkets sell something like this, whether it’s sold as “cabbage mix” or “cole slaw mix.” Just check its contents to verify that it has cabbage and carrots. I love these bags because they save you precious time compared to shredding the veggies yourself, and also because it gives you a fixed quantity of various raw vegetables without having to buy them separately, especially if you only plan to use a little of each.
If you’re looking for more cabbage recipes, you should make my fried cabbage and potatoes with bacon and my corned beef and cabbage. For more beef stir fry dishes, check out this delicious beef and broccoli recipe (or the low carb version).
Ground Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry
This is a super fast and easy stir fry dinner with ground beef, cabbage, carrots, and scallions.
Ingredients
- 1 pound extra lean ground beef
- 9 ounce bag cole slaw mix or mix of green cabbage, purple cabbage, shredded carrots
- 2 scallions thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sriracha
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- black sesame seeds for garnish
Instructions
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Combine soy sauce and sriracha in a small mixing bowl and stir until smooth. Set aside.
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Heat a 3 quart or larger pan over medium-high heat. Add canola oil and tilt the pan to spread the oil. Add ground beef and cook until browned, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently and breaking the meat apart.
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Add cole slaw mix to the pan and stir with the beef. Cook until cabbage is wilted and tender, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
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Reduce heat to medium-low. Pour sauce over the pan, and add ginger. Stir until everything is well-mixed. Add salt to taste, if needed.
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Remove pan from heat. Stir in sliced scallions, and garnish with sesame seeds. Serve while hot.
Nutrition Info
This recipe yields 9 g net carbs per serving.
| Nutrition Facts Per Serving |
| Calories 410 | |
| Total Fat 15g | 23% |
| Saturated Fat 5g | 23% |
| Trans Fat 0.1g | |
| Cholesterol 120mg | 40% |
| Sodium 760mg | 32% |
| Potassium 330mg | 9% |
| Total Carb 14.5g | 5% |
| Dietary Fiber 5.5g | 21% |
| Sugars 8g | |
| Protein 42g |
Do you know how many weight watchers points this equals?
Here are the changes I made:
1. I substituted ground chicken for beef
2. I doubled the sriracha, and added 1 tbs of Mirin to the sauce
3. I added some minced garlic toward the end of browning the chicken
4. After cooking everything together for a couple minutes, I add 1-2 tbs of a corn starch slurry (corn starch mixed with equal parts cold water mixed up real well) to thicken up the sauce. This step isn’t necessary if you’re serving it over rice, but I think it’s better!
5. Drizzle sesame seed oil and sesame seeds over the dish when serving
Thanks for sharing your modifications, Susie.
Just made this and it’s really good! I did mince garlic with the ginger and cooked half of the mixture with the meat and added the other half at the end with the sauce. I used chili garlic sauce in place of the Sriracha. Perfection!
My whole family enjoyed this recipe. It was so quick to make and perfect for a weeknight.
What do you count as 1 serving of this recipes in cups?
I’m a very picky eater and I really liked this dish. Used broccoli slaw instead of regular coleslaw and didn’t use any sriracha because I’m not a fan of hot. Definitely make again. Might add some fresh garlic and maybe mushrooms next time.
I made something similar to this, I added garlic and mushrooms and all I have to say is yes it came out amazing, you should try it. I didn’t add siracha or ginger (don’t like too much) but maybe next I will add the siracha since I do like a little spice! 🙂
Thanks for the input! I just saw this recipe and was thinking, I wonder if it’s good with garlic? LOL
I have made this for a long time, but i add rotel tomatoes and a little parmesan cheese on top when served. It’s a family favorite! I also usually add Hot Owens sausage and hamburger together. It definitely has a lot of spicy flavor. I am from Louisiana! Judy
Made this tonight for a quick dinner. Hubby loved it and I switched out beef for ground turkey and it was amazing!
This recipe looks great! What can I use in place of Sriracha?
You can substitute with your favorite hot sauce.
Such a quick, tasty recipe. Loved it and easy clean up, too. Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome, Nancy 🙂 I hope you get a chance to make it again soon.
What can I use instead of sriracha sauce? I have buffalo sauce will that work?
I haven’t tested this recipe with buffalo sauce and I’m not sure how the flavors would turn out. If you give it a try, let me know!
I am pretty sure the servings and calorie content on this recipe are wrong.
I just re-calculated the nutrition for these ingredients and it’s correct. There are 2 servings and a total of ~800 Calories (most of it is from the extra lean ground beef, which has 520 Cal), so if you divide that by 2 servings, you get ~400 Cal per serving.
Delicious! I made this with ground Bison and will definitely be making this again!
Side Note: I’m glad I checked the soy sauce that I had in the fridge because Trader Joe’s Reduced Sodium soy sauce had 2 carbs and 1g of sugar per Tbsp and Kikkoman Less Sodium soy sauce only has 1 carb, no sugar, and 1 gram of protein per Tbsp. I know it’s not much but it adds up when you’re counting carbs!
Glad you enjoyed it, Christina! Thanks for pointing out the carb counts — I’ve been using Trader Joe’s because it’s more convenient, but I’ve always preferred Kikkoman. Good to know they have fewer carbs too 🙂
Delicious! Thank you!
Another hit! But since I love the sauce I double up on that for a really zesty and quick supper.
dont u drain the fat off the beef after u brown it?
I don’t. I use extra lean beef that’s only 4% fat so there isn’t much to drain.
Yum, thanks for the recipe.
Making this tonight
Enjoy these easy good dinners
Reminds each of PF changs
So yummy, thank you for the great idea!
You’re welcome Keri, glad you liked it!
I’ve never seen a stir fry quite like this. I’m amazed at how quickly this can be whipped up as well. Thanks for sharing this.