This veggie-loaded, uber flavorful Egg Roll in a Bowl recipe is super easy to make and will leave your entire family full and happy!
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This recipe is…
This is one of my (Brandi) VERY favorite recipes, y’all. It’s a go-to in my house for a few reasons. First, it’s really delicious. My family tends to gravitate toward Asian-inspired flavors, so this is a meal that I *know* everyone (including my almost 2 year old) will devour. It’s also veggie-loaded, which makes me really, really happy — I love knowing that my family has been fed so well. Lastly, but definitely still super important: it’s incredibly easy. I can whip up this meal really quickly, so it tends to be one I lean on during especially busy days/seasons.
I hope you try this recipe and find it popping up in your go-to dinner rotation as much as I do — it’s a good one!
Egg Roll in a Bowl Ingredients
The ingredients list may feel a little long, but it’s really quite simple. Below, you’ll find everything you’ll need for this delicious, veggie-loaded meal.
- Olive Oil – 1 tablespoon of olive oil heads into the skillet first!
- Ground Pork – 2 pounds of ground pork act as the protein here.
- Yellow Onion – to add some really delicious flavor, you’ll also need 1 small, diced yellow onion.
- Garlic – 4 cloves of minced garlic head into the skillet for some added flavor.
- Ginger – 1 teaspoon of fresh grated ginger adds the most delicious touch to this dish. If you’re out of fresh ginger (or just prefer ground), ¼ of a teaspoon of ground ginger will work great here.
- Coconut Aminos – a ½ cup of coconut aminos makes for the liquid base of the dish.
- Rice Vinegar – 2 tablespoons of rice vinegar heads into the skillet to add some acidity.
- Sesame Oil – 1 teaspoon of toasted sesame oil adds a lot of yummy flavor to the skillet.
- Red Pepper – a ½ teaspoon of red pepper flakes adds a kick of spice to the Egg Roll in a Bowl. If you’re sensitive to spice, feel free to reduce the amount or omit it altogether.
- Sea Salt – a ½ teaspoon of course sea salt heads into the dish to enhance all of the other flavors.
- Cabbage – 6 cups of VERY finely chopped green and purple cabbage (or a ½ head of green and a ½ head of purple cabbage) head into the skillet for a major veggie add. This also bulks up the dish to make it go much further. I prefer to buy my cabbage pre-chopped/shredded (I just buy a mix of green and purple), but you can absolutely buy a head of each and chop them yourself — just be sure to chop the cabbage as finely as possible to make it most similar to a traditional egg roll filling.
- Carrots – 1 cup of shredded carrots heads into the skillet for another veggie.
- Green Onions – a ½ cup of sliced green onions head into the pan for some really delicious flavor and a nice pop of bright green color.
- Sesame Seeds – 1 teaspoon of sesame seeds top off the finished dish as a fun garnish!
Ingredient Modifications
Though this recipe is dynamite as written (seriously, it’s one of my favorites!), it can absolutely be modified as needed. Here are a few swaps that we know will work really well:
- Use a different protein: swap the ground pork for any other ground meat (think: turkey, chicken, or even beef!) if you’d like.
- Add in more veggies: I’d keep the veggie base as a pretty solid amount of cabbage, but if you’d like to add in more veggies (or swap the carrots), julienned bell peppers or finely chopped broccoli would be delish.
- Use ground onion, garlic, and ginger: to keep things super simple, use ground ginger, garlic, and onion instead of fresh. If you decide to go this route, you’ll need a ½ teaspoon of garlic powder, 1 tablespoon of onion powder, and a ¼ teaspoon of ground ginger.
- Use soy sauce + honey: skip the naturally sweet/salty coconut aminos and use 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and 2 teaspoons of honey instead.
- Top it with a sauce: top your Egg Roll in a Bowl with a sauce to jazz it up even more! Sriracha makes for a nice spicy add, but my very favorite sauce in this case is a mixture of mayo, sriracha, and lime juice — just add each ingredient to a bowl and whisk until smooth!
- Serve with rice: if you’re not low-carb (or just know that your body runs better on a higher amount of carbohydrates), feel free to serve your Egg Roll in a Bowl over your favorite rice (both brown and white rice are delicious here).
What is egg roll filling made of?
Most egg rolls contain a filling made with pork and cabbage (among many spices and other add-ins). This dish is actually designed to be really similar to egg roll filling!
Do egg rolls have egg?
Egg rolls don’t typically include eggs! The dough that makes up the outside wrapper of a traditional egg roll sometimes contains eggs, but the filling doesn’t. This Egg Roll in a Bowl recipe is totally egg-free.
How to Make Egg Roll in a Bowl
- Brown the pork, onion, and garlic – add the olive oil to a skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, brown the ground pork along with the chopped onion and minced garlic. Cook and crumble the pork mixture until the pork is browned and fully cooked through and the onions are translucent.
- Add the ginger, coconut aminos, vinegar, sesame oil, red pepper flakes, and salt – to the skillet, add the ginger (fresh or ground), coconut aminos, rice vinegar, sesame oil, red pepper flakes, and salt, and toss to combine.
- Add the cabbage and carrots – add the chopped cabbage, shredded carrots, and green onions to the skillet and toss to coat in the sauce. Cover the pot and let the mixture steam for 5 minutes, until the cabbage is wilted.
- Add the green onions and sesame seeds – once the mixture is wilted, add the green onions. Toss to combine, turn off the heat, and garnish with sesame seeds.
- Serve and enjoy – serve as-is or stretch the meal (and up the carb content) by serving over white rice.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is! Even though the coconut aminos do carry a carbohydrate load, if you’re enjoying your Egg Roll in a Bowl as is (not alongside any sort of starch), it’s definitely low carb as a whole.
Sure! You’d essentially just use the saute function and add ingredients in at the same time as the stovetop recipe calls for. The only downside to doing it this way is that “saute” on the Instant Pot is one set temperature (and it tends to be pretty hot), so it isn’t something you can adjust and control like you can on the stovetop.
If you’re planning on enjoying this dish as written (with 2 pounds of ground pork + not served with rice), it’ll make 4-5 large adult portions. If you just have 1 pound of ground pork, know that you can totally serve it over rice and get away with it feeding the same amount of people!
This recipe makes for a really wonderful low-carb meal all on its own, but if you’re anything like me, you may actually want to serve it alongside something starchy. My first choice is always white rice, but brown rice would be delicious too. Because the meal itself is so veggie-loaded, I don’t typically add any other sides to the meal.
Stored in an airtight container, your leftovers will last for up to 5 days in the fridge. Keep in mind that the longer it sits, the more wilted and sad the cabbage will look, but it’ll still taste really yummy!
If I’m heating one serving, I typically use the microwave. If I’m reheating more than one serving, though, I tend to pop it all back in the skillet to reheat. Either way works great!
More Favorite Pork Recipes
Egg Roll in a Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 pounds ground pork
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger grated
- ½ cup coconut aminos
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon course sea salt
- 6 cups finely chopped green and purple cabbage (½ head of green and a ½ head of purple cabbage, chopped)
- 1 cup carrots shredded
- ½ cup green onions sliced
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
Instructions
- Add the olive oil to a skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, brown the ground pork along with the chopped onion and minced garlic. Cook and crumble the pork mixture until the pork is browned and fully cooked through and the onions are translucent.
- To the skillet, add the ginger (fresh or ground), coconut aminos, rice vinegar, sesame oil, red pepper flakes, and salt, and toss to combine.
- Add the finely chopped cabbage, shredded carrots, and green onions to the skillet and toss to coat in the sauce. Cover the pot and let the mixture steam for 5 minutes, until the cabbage is wilted.
- Once the mixture is wilted, add the green onions. Toss to combine, turn off the heat, and garnish with sesame seeds.
- Serve as-is or stretch the meal (and up the carb content) by serving over white rice.
Recipe Notes
- ½ tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 pound ground pork
- ½ small yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
- ¼ cup coconut aminos
- 1 tablespoons rice vinegar
- ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon course sea salt
- 3 cups chopped green and purple cabbage (¼ head of green and a ¼ head of purple cabbage, chopped)
- ½ cup shredded carrots
- ¼ cup green onions, sliced
- ½ teaspoon sesame seeds
Good flavor. Will maybe add a little more spice next time
We are so glad you enjoyed it, Dawn! Thank you so much for sharing your feedback!
Delicious! And even rave reviews from my husband who has very particular taste!
Yay! That is awesome, Candace! We are so happy y’all loved it!
Sounds great and can’t wait to try this recipe. Side note, egg roles can contain eggs. Not in the pastry part, but in the filling as a binder. At least this is how my Vietnamese in-laws make their egg rolls. ๐
Thank you so much for sharing, Jen!
My whole family loved this recipe. We have added it to our meal rotation. Yum!
We’re so glad to hear that, Deanna! Thank you so much for taking the time to share this with us!
We love this recipe! Wondering if I do put this in an egg roll, could I then freeze it? Thoughts/ suggestions?
We’ve never tried it, so I don’t have suggestions for you, but I definitely think it would work (and be delicious!), Emilee! Please let us know how it goes!!
Do you typically drain the fat when cooking the pork (prior to the addition of the aminos and spice?) Thanks!
I don’t, Beth! I actually just cook the pork until the fat all cooks off & reabsorbs into the pork to impart some really delicious flavor. It takes a little bit of extra time, but I think it’s worth it. I hope that helps!
This sounds amazing! Can I make it vegan somehow?
Hi Sandy! This dish can absolutely be made vegan! You can sub in tofu or omit the pork altogether. If using tofu, I would sautรฉ in the pan prior to the veggies if you want to try to get it crisp. Enjoy! -Team F&F
Yummy and easy! Are the nutrition facts based on 1 lb of ground pork or 2? It says it makes 4 servings and I’m assuming that’s for 1 pound of pork.
Hi Adina! The nutrition facts are based on the full recipe, with 2 pounds of pork. Glad you enjoyed! -Team F&F
Made this tonight and it was excellent and SO EASY! We opted for turkey and I didn’t have carrots so subbed in chopped brussels sprouts. Also. used tamari and honey as in the suggested subs and it was perfect! Will make again and again, and it was a nice healthy mean after the holidays.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share this feedback with us! Such a great veggie sub! I’m so glad you enjoyed! ~Melissa
I’ve tried a few different recipes for egg roll in a bowl and this one is my favorite! So much flavor and I love the extra kick from the red pepper flakes. Another win!!
Thank you so much for taking the time to share with us, Lindsey! ~Melissa