Eggroll in a Bowl
Garden-Fresh Egg Roll in a Bowl
Lean ground pork, fresh cabbage, shredded carrots, garlic, ginger, and sesame come together in one skillet for all the savory flavor of an egg roll filling—without the wrapper.
This is one of those dinners that makes having a backyard garden feel especially worthwhile. A fresh head of cabbage can go straight from the garden into the kitchen and become a warm, filling dinner in about half an hour.
Egg Roll in a Bowl takes the savory filling we love inside an egg roll and turns it into a simple skillet meal. There is no wrapper to roll and nothing to deep fry. Instead, lean ground pork is browned with garlic and fresh ginger, then tossed with plenty of cabbage, shredded carrots and a simple sesame-soy sauce.
I especially like this version because the vegetables aren't an afterthought. The cabbage is really the heart of the dish. And when the garden produces more cabbage than we can use fresh, it can be blanched and frozen so this same dinner can show up on the table months after the garden season is over.
Grow what you cook: If you want to grow cabbage and other useful kitchen crops, visit the Garden to Table beginner's guide for practical raised-bed ideas that fit an everyday backyard.
Why You'll Love This Egg Roll in a Bowl
- It puts garden cabbage to work. One skillet uses about 6 cups of shredded fresh cabbage.
- It's a true one-pan dinner. The pork, vegetables and sauce all cook in the same skillet.
- It skips the wrappers. You get the savory egg-roll-style filling in a simple one-skillet dinner.
- Lean pork keeps the traditional flavor. Ground pork gives the dish that familiar egg-roll-filling taste without needing a lot of added fat.
- The carrots stay. They add color, texture and just enough natural sweetness to balance the cabbage.
- It's freezer-garden friendly. Extra cabbage can be preserved specifically for cooked meals like this one.
A Bit More Homemade: This is exactly the kind of recipe I want to have on hand when the garden starts producing more than we can eat at once. Use the cabbage fresh while it's abundant, then preserve some of the harvest so a homemade dinner is still within reach later.
Ingredients You'll Need
Fresh cabbage is the star here, along with lean pork, carrots, green onion, garlic, ginger and a simple savory sauce.
For the Pork and Vegetables
- 1 pound lean ground pork, preferably about 90–93% lean
- 6 cups thinly shredded fresh green cabbage, about 14–16 ounces
- 1 cup shredded carrot, about 1 large carrot
- 4 green onions, thinly sliced, white and green portions separated
- 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon avocado oil or olive oil, only if needed for very lean pork
For the Sauce
- 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce or tamari
- 1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 1–2 teaspoons sriracha or chili garlic sauce, optional
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For Serving
- Sliced green onion tops
- 1–2 teaspoons sesame seeds
- Additional sriracha, optional
Why there isn't sugar in the sauce: Many versions of this dish use sweet chili sauce, hoisin, honey or brown sugar. They aren't necessary here. The carrots provide a little natural sweetness while garlic, ginger, sesame oil and browned pork give the bowl plenty of flavor.
How to Make Egg Roll in a Bowl
1. Prepare the vegetables and sauce.
Remove any damaged outer leaves from the cabbage. Cut the cabbage into quarters, remove the core and slice it into thin shreds. Shred the carrot and slice the green onions, keeping the white portions separate from the green tops.
In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil, sriracha if using, and black pepper. Set it aside while you start the pork.
2. Brown the pork.
Heat a large 12-inch skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the lean ground pork. If your pork is especially lean and begins to stick, add about 1 teaspoon of avocado or olive oil.
Cook the pork for about 5–7 minutes, breaking it into small crumbles. Give some of the meat a chance to sit against the hot skillet long enough to develop a little browning rather than stirring it constantly.
3. Add the aromatics.
Add the white portions of the green onions, minced garlic and freshly grated ginger to the browned pork. Cook for about 30–60 seconds, stirring constantly, just until everything smells fragrant.
4. Add the cabbage and carrots.
Add the shredded carrots and cabbage to the skillet. It may look like far too much cabbage when it first goes in, but it cooks down quickly.
Cook uncovered over medium-high heat for about 4–6 minutes, tossing frequently, until the cabbage has wilted but still has some texture.
Don't steam the cabbage. Use a large skillet and keep the pan uncovered. If the cabbage is especially fresh and moisture-rich, add it in two batches. The goal is tender cabbage with a little bite—not a watery skillet.
5. Add the sauce.
Pour the prepared sauce over the pork and vegetables. Toss everything together and cook uncovered for another 1–2 minutes, just until the sauce lightly coats the mixture.
Taste before adding any additional soy sauce. Different brands vary quite a bit in saltiness.
6. Finish and serve.
Remove the skillet from the heat and sprinkle with the reserved green onion tops and sesame seeds. Add extra sriracha at the table if you like a little more heat.
Fresh Garden Cabbage Makes a Difference
This recipe works with grocery-store cabbage too, of course, but freshly harvested cabbage is a wonderful reason to make it. The leaves are crisp, the flavor is mild and sweet, and one good-sized cabbage can stretch across several homemade meals.
If your backyard garden starts producing cabbage faster than you can use it, you don't have to choose between eating cabbage every night and letting it go to waste. Freezing some of the harvest gives you another option.
Frozen cabbage will not have the crisp texture of fresh cabbage once it thaws, which means it isn't ideal for coleslaw. But it works very well in cooked dishes like soups, casseroles, skillet meals and Egg Roll in a Bowl.
How to Freeze Garden Cabbage
If you grow several heads of cabbage at once, freezing part of the harvest is an easy way to save it for winter cooking.
For this recipe, I like the idea of freezing cabbage already shredded and portioned so there is very little prep to do later.
To freeze shredded cabbage:
- Harvest firm, healthy cabbage heads.
- Remove any coarse, damaged or dirty outer leaves.
- Rinse the cabbage well under cool running water.
- Cut the cabbage into quarters and remove the core.
- Shred the cabbage into approximately the same size pieces you would use for this recipe.
- Bring a large pot of water to a full boil.
- Add the shredded cabbage and water-blanch it for 1 1/2 minutes.
- Immediately transfer the cabbage to ice water to stop the cooking.
- Drain the cabbage very thoroughly.
- Portion it into freezer-safe containers or freezer bags.
- Remove as much air as practical, seal, label and freeze.
Make future dinner easier: Freeze the cabbage in approximately 6-cup recipe portions. Then one package is already measured for one skillet of Egg Roll in a Bowl.
Blanching before freezing is important because it slows the enzyme activity that can cause frozen vegetables to lose flavor, color and texture.
These blanching directions follow the research-based recommendations of the National Center for Home Food Preservation.
How to Use Frozen Cabbage in Egg Roll in a Bowl
Thaw the cabbage in the refrigerator and drain it very well. Gently press out excess moisture with a clean kitchen towel or paper towels before adding it to the skillet.
Because the cabbage was blanched before freezing, it does not need as much cooking time as fresh cabbage.
Fresh cabbage: Cook about 4–6 minutes.
Previously frozen cabbage: Drain well and cook about 2–3 minutes.
Whenever possible, add the shredded carrots fresh. Their texture gives the finished dish a little crunch even when you're using preserved cabbage.
A Few Tips for the Best Egg Roll Bowl
Use a large skillet.
Cabbage takes up a surprising amount of room before it wilts. A 12-inch skillet gives everything enough space to cook instead of steam.
Let the pork actually brown.
Browning creates much more flavor than simply cooking the pork until it turns gray. Break it into crumbles, but give it a little time against the hot skillet before stirring again.
Don't overcook the cabbage.
The best texture comes when the cabbage is tender but still has some body. Once it becomes completely soft, the dish loses some of the contrast that makes it so good.
Use fresh ginger if you can.
Ground ginger will work in a pinch, but fresh ginger brings a brighter flavor that really makes the garlic, sesame and pork come together.
Adjust the heat at the table.
Keeping the base recipe mildly seasoned makes it work for more people. Anyone who likes it spicy can add another spoonful of sriracha or chili garlic sauce to their own bowl.
Garden-to-Freezer Dinner Planning
One of my favorite parts of growing food isn't just eating something the day it comes out of the garden. It's finding ways to make that harvest useful later too.
One cabbage might become Egg Roll in a Bowl for dinner, another portion could be preserved for a winter skillet meal, and another could become Small-Batch Homemade Sauerkraut. That is how a backyard garden begins to stretch beyond the growing season without requiring a huge homestead or an all-or-nothing approach.
A little more homemade doesn't have to mean doing everything at once. Sometimes it is simply growing one cabbage, cooking one dinner from it, and putting one extra bag in the freezer for another day.
Garden-Fresh Egg Roll in a Bowl
A quick one-skillet dinner made with lean ground pork, fresh cabbage, shredded carrots, garlic, ginger, and a simple sesame-soy sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground pork, preferably about 90–93% lean
- 6 cups thinly shredded green cabbage, about 14–16 ounces
- 1 cup shredded carrot
- 4 green onions, thinly sliced, white and green portions separated
- 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon avocado or olive oil, only if needed
- 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce or tamari
- 1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 1–2 teaspoons sriracha or chili garlic sauce, optional
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Sesame seeds and sliced green onion tops, for serving
Instructions
- Prep the vegetables. Core and thinly shred the cabbage, shred the carrot, slice the green onions, mince the garlic and grate the ginger.
- Make the sauce. Whisk together the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, optional sriracha and black pepper.
- Brown the pork. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the pork for 5–7 minutes, breaking it into crumbles and allowing it to develop some browning.
- Add the aromatics. Stir in the white portions of the green onions, garlic and ginger. Cook for 30–60 seconds.
- Add the vegetables. Add the carrots and cabbage. Cook uncovered for 4–6 minutes, tossing frequently, until the cabbage is wilted but still has some texture.
- Add the sauce. Pour the sauce over the skillet and toss well. Cook for another 1–2 minutes.
- Finish. Remove from the heat. Top with green onion tops and sesame seeds and serve immediately.
A Bit More Homemade
Recipes like this are why I love the idea of growing what we can and learning how to use it well. Fresh cabbage becomes tonight's dinner, the extra can go into the freezer, and one small backyard harvest continues feeding the family long after it was picked.
It doesn't have to be perfect, and it doesn't have to be everything at once. Just a bit more homemade.
If you like this small-step approach, continue with 20 Simple Ways to Make Everyday Life a Bit More Homemade.
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