Egg roll in a bowl takes everything people order the appetizer for — savory pork, ginger, garlic, sesame and sweet-crisp cabbage — and skips the part nobody wants to do on a weeknight: wrapping and deep-frying. The filling becomes the whole meal, cooked in one wide skillet in about 25 minutes, and it lands on the table tasting like the inside of your favorite takeout egg roll, because that is exactly what it is.
A bag of coleslaw mix is the shortcut that makes this a true weeknight recipe: the cabbage and carrot are already shredded to the right thickness, so they wilt at the same speed and keep a little bite. If you keep a bag in the fridge for recipes like this and our Chicken Cauliflower Fried Rice, you are never more than half an hour from a low-carb dinner — this whole recipe lives in our Healthy & Low-Carb collection for exactly that reason.
The order of the pan matters more than the ingredient list. Brown the pork properly first, before anything wet goes in, so it picks up browned edges instead of steaming grey. Then the cabbage cooks in the pork's seasoned drippings, the sauce goes in near the end so it stays glossy, and the toasted sesame oil is a finishing drizzle, never a cooking oil — heat dulls the nutty flavor you bought it for.
Tender-crisp cabbage is the whole texture
Cabbage gives up a lot of water as it cooks, and how long you leave it in the pan decides whether this bowl eats like a fresh stir-fry or a tired steam-table tray. Four to five minutes over high heat is the sweet spot: the shreds slump and turn glossy at the edges but still bend instead of breaking, and the carrot keeps its color. If your skillet is crowded, the cabbage steams in its own liquid — use the widest pan you own, and if the mix still mounds high, cook it in two quick batches and combine them for the sauce step. A dry-ish pan is what lets the sauce cling instead of pooling.
The sauce is balanced, not just salty
Soy sauce alone makes this dish taste flat and harsh. Rice vinegar cuts the salt with a clean acidity, a little sriracha adds warmth that builds rather than burns, and the ginger does the quiet work of making the whole pan smell like a restaurant. Taste before you add any extra salt at the end — the pork, the soy sauce and the sriracha all bring sodium, and the dish should taste savory and bright, not thirsty. If it ever tastes one-note, a squeeze more vinegar almost always fixes it faster than more soy sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil (15 ml)
- 1 lb ground pork (450 g), lean
- 1 small yellow onion (about 110 g), thinly sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, finely minced (about 9 g)
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger (6 g)
- 1 (14 oz) bag coleslaw mix (400 g), shredded cabbage and carrot
- 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce (45 ml)
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar (15 ml)
- 1 teaspoon sriracha (5 ml), plus more to serve
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper (1.5 g)
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil (10 ml)
- 4 green onions (about 60 g), thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds (3 g), to serve
Amounts are for the yield below. US customary measures first, grams in brackets for scale users.
Step-by-step instructions
- Brown the pork. Heat the avocado oil in a large, wide skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add the ground pork and break it into small crumbles with a wooden spoon. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes, letting it sit undisturbed for a minute at a time so browned edges form, until no pink remains and the pork is cooked through to 160°F (71°C). Drain all but about 1 tablespoon of fat from the pan.
- Add the aromatics. Stir in the sliced onion and cook for 2 minutes, until it softens at the edges. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly, until the pan smells sharply fragrant. Garlic and ginger burn quickly over high heat, so keep them moving and have the cabbage ready.
- Wilt the cabbage. Add the whole bag of coleslaw mix. It will mound high above the rim — that is fine. Toss with tongs for 4 to 5 minutes, lifting from the bottom so the hot pork mixes through, until the cabbage is glossy, slumped by about half, and still tender-crisp when you bite a shred.
- Sauce the pan. Pour in the soy sauce, rice vinegar and sriracha and add the black pepper. Toss everything for 1 to 2 minutes, until the sauce coats the pork and cabbage in a light glaze and most of the liquid in the pan has cooked away. The bowl should look saucy, not soupy.
- Finish with sesame. Take the pan off the heat and drizzle over the toasted sesame oil. Toss once more, then taste and adjust — more sriracha for heat, a splash more vinegar for brightness.
- Serve. Divide between four warm bowls. Scatter the green onions and sesame seeds over the top and serve right away, with extra sriracha at the table. For anyone not eating low-carb, a scoop of rice underneath is the classic serving; cauliflower rice keeps it in the low-carb lane.
Nutrition estimate
| Nutrient | Per serving |
|---|---|
| Calories | 310 kcal |
| Protein | 23 g |
| Carbohydrates | 9 g |
| Fat | 20 g |
| Saturated fat | 6 g |
| Sodium | 720 mg |
| Fiber | 3 g |
| Sugar | 4 g |
Nutrition figures are estimates calculated from standard ingredient data for the yield stated. Your actual values will vary with brands, substitutions and portion sizes — treat them as a guide, not a guarantee.
Storage & reheating
Leftovers keep for up to 3 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator, and this is one of the better meal-prep recipes on the site — the flavors settle into each other overnight. Reheat in a skillet over medium heat with a splash of water for 3 to 4 minutes, until steaming; the microwave works too, in 1-minute bursts, though the cabbage softens more. We do not recommend freezing the finished bowl, because cabbage turns limp and watery after thawing. If you want a head start, mix the sauce and slice the onions and green onions a day ahead. Nutrition figures are estimates from standard ingredient data and vary with brands and substitutions.
Easy Egg Roll in a Bowl
Takeout egg roll flavor in a one-pan, low-carb bowl — ready in 25 minutes.
Ingredients
Tick ingredients off as you prep, and tap a step below to mark it done as you cook. Scaling adjusts the listed amounts - seasoning to taste stays your call.
Instructions
- Brown the pork. Heat the avocado oil in a large, wide skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add the ground pork and break it into small crumbles with a wooden spoon. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes, letting it sit undisturbed for a minute at a time so browned edges form, until no pink remains and the pork is cooked through to 160°F (71°C). Drain all but about 1 tablespoon of fat from the pan.
- Add the aromatics. Stir in the sliced onion and cook for 2 minutes, until it softens at the edges. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly, until the pan smells sharply fragrant. Garlic and ginger burn quickly over high heat, so keep them moving and have the cabbage ready.
- Wilt the cabbage. Add the whole bag of coleslaw mix. It will mound high above the rim — that is fine. Toss with tongs for 4 to 5 minutes, lifting from the bottom so the hot pork mixes through, until the cabbage is glossy, slumped by about half, and still tender-crisp when you bite a shred.
- Sauce the pan. Pour in the soy sauce, rice vinegar and sriracha and add the black pepper. Toss everything for 1 to 2 minutes, until the sauce coats the pork and cabbage in a light glaze and most of the liquid in the pan has cooked away. The bowl should look saucy, not soupy.
- Finish with sesame. Take the pan off the heat and drizzle over the toasted sesame oil. Toss once more, then taste and adjust — more sriracha for heat, a splash more vinegar for brightness.
- Serve. Divide between four warm bowls. Scatter the green onions and sesame seeds over the top and serve right away, with extra sriracha at the table. For anyone not eating low-carb, a scoop of rice underneath is the classic serving; cauliflower rice keeps it in the low-carb lane.
Recipe by Ahsan ul Haq · FryDaily. Printing? This card is designed to print cleanly on its own.
