Cabbage Stir Fry
on Jan 01, 2023, 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
Delicious with the sauce. I added bell pepper, Chinese eggplant and ground chicken to the mixture. Also used spaghetti noodles instead of ramen. The sauce (and garlic and ginger) really made this dish!
What are the 3 ingredients of the ‘Stir Fry sauce’ ? Thanks
Here is the recipe: https://buildyourbite.com/3-ingredient-homemade-stir-fry-sauce-recipe/
5 stars! I made this tonight with tofu and it was delicious.
So glad you enjoyed the recipe Valerie, thanks for leaving a comment!
Loved the flavor of this recipe. Only thing we change was using Chinese cabbage and Swiss chard! Great recipe!
So glad you enjoyed it Sandi!
1/4 cup of minced ginger. Is that a typo?
No typo. You can use less if you want!
Not a typo, but you can use less if you want 🙂
We loved this!! I added snow peas since I needed to use them up. I loved the crunch they added. Would not change anything else. The sweet chili sauce was an added bonus! Thanks for sharing.
Absolutely delicious also very fast n easy to make and I will make again thank u for sharing
So glad you enjoyed the stir fry!
I made this a couple times and love it! I add grilled shrimp
This time I have some left and wondering if I can freeze it.
I have not tried freezing it. Let me know if you try it!
I made this recipe for dinner for my husband and me this evening. I followed the recipe but added some roasted shredded chicken. I made the stir fry sauce, and also had to make the sweet chili sauce because I didn’t have any.
I’m not generally a fan of cabbage, but this stir fry was delicious! It’s also such an inexpensive meal that we will be having frequently!
We loved this! Added shredded pork and used Japanese BBQ sauce in place of chili sauce. It was so delicious!