Cabbage Stir Fry
Updated Jan 31, 2026
This Cabbage Stir Fry recipe tastes as good or better than your favorite takeout! One of the best recipes to dress up ramen noodles.
Homemade cabbage stir fry
It’s no secret that I have a love for homemade stir fry recipes and this cabbage stir fry is one that I find myself making again and again. I have been making this recipe for years now and to this day I would say it’s in my top 10 of my favorite recipes to make from my blog!
Stir fry is one of our favorite types of dinners to make. This recipe that I am sharing today is just 10 ingredients and so easy to make. Everyone who tries it raves about how good it is!
⭐️Review⭐️
“I made this three times in the last 10 days. My wife and I both love it. You are so right with the sweet chili sauce, absolutely delicious. This will be our favorite go to meal anytime.”
Ingredients and Notes
You can find the full recipe and ingredients in the recipe card at the bottom of this post, but here is what you’ll need to make this recipe.
- Ramen noodles: toss the flavor packets that come with them, you only need the noodles themselves.
- Green cabbage: or substitute purple cabbage. Or use coleslaw mix for a faster alternative.
- Ginger and garlic: fresh is a must for the flavor here!
- Carrots: grate them yourself or save time and buy pre shredded carrots in the produce section.
- Yellow onion: diced.
- Sesame oil
- Stir fry sauce: this homemade 3 ingredient recipe is the best!
- Sweet chili sauce, for topping. Don’t skip this!
How to make cabbage stir fry
Step 1: Remove the core from a green cabbage and thinly slice the cabbage until you measure 5 cups worth.
Recipe Tip
The core is tough, so we don’t want to use that part of the cabbage in this recipe. Try to slice it as thinly as possible for best texture.
Step 2: Grate the carrots and finely mince the ginger and garlic. These are what give stir fry that next level flavor!
If you have never bought fresh ginger in the store, just look for it in your produce section. It comes in long knobs which look like roots.
To prepare your ginger, just cut off the peeling with a knife, then slice and dice until the ginger is in very small minced pieces.
Step 3: Peel and dice up a yellow onion. Once all of your vegetables are prepped, it is time to start cooking the stir fry.
Step 4: In a large skillet or jumbo cooker combine the cabbage, ginger, garlic, carrots, onion, and 2 tablespoons of sesame oil.
You do not need a wok to make this recipe, any large skillet type pan will work!
Step 5: Turn the heat to medium high and stir often, until the cabbage is wilted and the onion is soft as pictured below. This will take around 15-20 minutes.
Stir every few minutes to make sure the vegetables cook evenly. This will cook the cabbage down until it is nice and soft.
Step 6: When the veggies are close to being done cooking, prepare the ramen noodles. These only take a few minutes to make. Discard the ramen noodle packets, you don’t need those. Cook the ramen noodles according to the package instructions, then drain.
Step 7: Make the 3 ingredient stir fry sauce and shake all the ingredients together. This is the sauce that I use in every stir fry recipe that I make, it is so easy and always tastes amazing! A good sauce is important to any homemade stir fry recipe.
Step 8: Once the ramen noodles are cooked, add them to the cabbage stir fry.
Pour the homemade stir fry sauce over the top. It won’t look like much sauce at first, but the flavor is very strong and will work just right for the amount of ingredients in this recipe. It is a highly concentrated sauce, so the little bit goes a long way!
Cook the cabbage stir fry for an additional 3-5 minutes, stirring well, until the sauce coats the entire stir fry. The cornstarch part of the sauce is what will cause it to thicken and start to coat the ingredients of the stir fry.
Just keep mixing until all of the veggies and noodles are coated.
I find tongs to work best for mixing the noodles evenly into the vegetables. Everything is going to stick together in clumps at first.
Grab a bowl and serve up this cabbage stir fry! This makes a very large amount and the leftovers are just as good heated up the next day.
Can I make this gluten free?
If you are gluten free, you can make this recipe gluten free by using brown rice ramen noodles! The texture is slightly different, but I have used them before they taste great.
Serving & Storing
Serving: This cabbage stir fry is best served with sweet chili sauce on top. You can also add protein of choice, such as tofu, chicken, beef, or plant-based meat.
Storing: Leftover cabbage stir fry can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
⭐️Review⭐️
“Omg!!! This is really awesome! It tasted like you got it from an Asian restaurant! First time I made stir fry that tasted like that! From the stir fry sauce to the sesame oil and sweet chili sauce. I will be making this a few times a month. Absolutely delicious!!!”
Cabbage Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 9 oz ramen noodles, flavor packets discarded
- 5 cups thinly sliced green cabbage
- 1/4 cup minced fresh ginger
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup grated carrots
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
For the stir fry sauce
- 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce or tamari
- 1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
For topping
- sweet chili sauce to taste, for serving
Instructions
- Remove the core from a green cabbage and thinly slice 5 cups worth of cabbage.
- Dice the yellow onion and mince the fresh garlic and ginger. Grate the carrots.
- Add the sliced cabbage, ginger, garlic, carrots, onion, and sesame oil to a large skillet or jumbo cooker.
- Cook the veggies over medium high heat, stirring often, for 15-20 minutes, or until the cabbage is wilted and the onion is softened.
- In the last 5 minutes of cook time, prepare the ramen noodles according to package instructions, discarding the flavor packets.
- Add the ingredients for the stir fry sauce to a mason jar and screw the lid on. Shake it all up to combine.
- Once the cabbage stir fry is done, add in the cooked ramen noodles and homemade stir fry sauce.
- Continue to cook the stir fry for 3-5 minutes, stirring well to combine the sauce evenly.
- Add soy sauce to taste, if desired (I did not add any more).
- Serve stir fry topped with sweet chili sauce.
this is delicious. what is considered a “serving size?”
The nutritional break down is for 1/10th of the recipe
Please provide the amount of fresh ginger and garlic for this quantity? I noticed many people asking .
The ingredients are all listed in the recipe card, and this recipe uses one batch of this Stir Fry Sauce.
Hello! Are we supposed to use the whole batch of stir fry sauce? Thanks
yes!
SOOOOO YUMMY. Thank u so much for great recipe. I made it yesterday. Im sorry but I had problem to find sweet chilli sauce recipes. Thank u for great recipes.
I just buy sweet chili sauce at the store. I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
The recipe says it makes about 8-10 servings at 97 calories per serving. Approximately how much is a serving?
This was a great meal. I added more cabbage and carrots. Add a little chicken too. Loved the stir fry sauce. This is going to be a regular meal twice a month.
This was outstanding and filling. My husband ate some in the middle of the night and the next morning he said it was even better than the day before. I did everything exactly as the recipe stated but used a bag of cole slaw and only 2 packages of ramen. This is a keeper.
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe Rhonda!
I have made this numerous times and it is absolutely delicious. I sautéed ground chicken and added that prior to the stir fry sauce. Husband says this is a keeper. Thank you for the yummy recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe Chrystie!
Wow! This was so simple but taste was great! Quick meal and you can add a meat but it’s good just the way it is, thanks for the recipe.
I added about 1 Tbsp of brown sugar to your stir fry sauce and skipped the sweet chili sauce.
My entire family loved it.
Nice to have an alternative recipe to use up cabbage from the garden..