Cabbage Stir Fry
Updated May 17, 2024
This Cabbage Stir Fry recipe with ramen noodles is absolutely delicious! Top with sweet chili sauce for a dinner that will rival your favorite takeout.
This cabbage stir fry is so delicious!
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!
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.
Ingredients and Notes
- ramen noodles: flavor packets discarded
- thinly sliced green cabbage: or substitute purple cabbage. Try coleslaw mix for a faster alternative.
- fresh ginger: minced
- fresh garlic: minced
- grated 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
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 and they are still good.
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.
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.
Recipe Tip
To save time, some readers have noted that they buy bags of coleslaw mix at the store to use for this recipe with great results!
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.
You can also use the back of a spoon to scrape off the peel, it takes a little bit longer, but often yields more ginger.
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.
From here you can taste and add more soy sauce (if you like a saltier stir fry), or you’re ready to eat!
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.
How to serve & store leftovers
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.
More Stir Fry Favorites
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 of garlic, minced
- 1 cup grated carrots
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
For the sauce
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 over medium high heat, stirring often, for 15 – 20 minutes, or until cabbage is wilted and onion is softened
- In the last 5 minutes of cook time, prepare the ramen noodles according to package instructions
- Once the cabbage stir fry is done, add in the cooked ramen noodles and homemade stir fry sauce (recipe linked in the recipe ingredients)
- Cook for 3 – 5 minutes until well coated and combined
- Add soy sauce to taste, if desired (I did not add any more)
- Serve stir fry topped with sweet chili sauce
can you cook thin in the IPot
Is it really 1/4 cup of fresh ginger? That seems like a lot. Could I sub ground ginger and how much would that be?
Yes to the amount of ginger, I do not recommend using ground ginger as it is nowhere near the same taste. You can use less if you prefer, but I don’t recommend leaving it out.
@Joy, I used 1/4 cup and it was perfect. I keep mine frozen for when I need. I then put my onions , garlic, which I also freeze. And ginger in ninja and pulse a couple times. Easy easy then I do the same for my carrots. No complaints.
This was delicious! I added chili oil when I sautéd vegetables to give a little kick. Also added celery to the cabbage, onions and carrots. Then sprinkled sesame seeds on on top when served. Love the tasty stir fry sauce.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe Lori! Thanks for leaving a comment!
This is absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for posting.
I’m not a fan of cabbage and I am not even sure why I tried this in the first place. But I’m so glad I did! I’ve made this several times now and each time hubs and I comment on how much we like it. This time I added some bacon. Sweet chili sauce is not available where I live and so I look forward to eating this with the sweet chili sauce in a few months when I move back to the states.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe Linda!
I made this cabbage stir fry recipe, omitting the noodles with honey garlic chicken breasts. I enjoyed the combination.
Absolutely delicious!!! This is the one. Adding it to my rotation.
Yay! So happy you loved it.
Perfect change up for using leftover cooked spaghetti. We usually throw in garlic and evoo to make quickie Aglio e Olio, but the cabbage combo is a tasty ‘sneak in more veggies’ alternative. Thanks!
I’ve become a cabbage addict of late and look forward to this recipe. As I do limit my carbs I’ve been using Miracle Noodles in lieu of pasta…they’re plant based with almost no carbs or calories but have the consistency of pasta without the guilt. Like pasta, they have little taste but soak up the flavors of the other spices/ingredients!-)
@Morris65, Hi where can I get these noodles they are much better than Ramen, Thank you Dana Shultz
How many packages of Ramen noodles are we talking here?
three blocks