cabbage stir fry

Cabbage Stir Fry Recipe

By Swasthi on December 4, 2022, Comments, Jump to Recipe

Make quick and delicious Cabbage Stir Fry with my easy recipe. This Chinese style Stir Fried Cabbage is a perfect side dish & goes well with just anything. Do you like cabbage? No! I mean do you love cabbage like we do? This vegan cabbage stir fry is our absolute favorite! In this post I show you how to make tasty cabbage stir fry that’s perfectly cooked yet crunchy with mild sweet, hot & umami tones. No more soggy & mushy cabbage!

Cabbage Stir Fry

About Cabbage Stir Fry

This Asian Cabbage Stir Fry is cooked on high heat with a touch of oil and simple flavoring ingredients like garlic and soya sauce. A couple of other veggies like carrot and bell peppers are used as its trusty sidekicks. The dish is vegan but you can easily include eggs or meat for added nutrition.

For a simplest meal serve it over plain rice or with roti. Fill your sandwiches, wraps and rolls with this healthy and flavorsome goodness. Or Transform this vegan cabbage stir fry to a nutritious meal by adding some boiled noodles or al dente cooked rice.

In no time you have a bowl of healthy cabbage stir fry noodles or fried rice ready. Check out my pro tips section to know more about that.

My family loves any veggie that are stir fried like this Zucchini Stir Fry, Broccoli Stir Fry & this veggie Tofu Stir Fry.

This stir fried cabbage also goes into my vegetarian Club Sandwich, Chicken Spring rolls and even to make the roti rolls. Stir fry dishes are common in the Asian homes for an everyday meal. They are simpler to make, won’t need a lot of ingredients and always easy to please your hungry family.

Making this dish is easy but the preparation takes some time as you need to shred the cabbage and other veggies. To save the prep time you may use the pre-shredded veggies from the store. To double or triple the recipe use a large wok (pan) & a stove with a large burner.

Cabbage Stir Fry Recipe made in Chinese Style

More Cabbage recipes
Steamed cabbage
Cabbage curry
Easy cabbage fried rice
Cabbage kootu

How to Make Cabbage Stir Fry (Stepwise Photos)

1. To a small bowl, add the Soya sauce, Hoisin sauce (or your favorite sauce), Vinegar & roasted sesame oil (optional). Keep this aside. Wash and drain the veggies thoroughly. Pat dry with a kitchen towel. Julienne or Shred them and set aside. Make sure they are drained well because we don’t want mushy veggies.

2. Heat any cooking oil in a pan on a high flame. Fry garlic and green chilies for 30 seconds, until slightly aromatic. We don’t want to brown the garlic. You can skip chilies if you don’t prefer the heat. But this dish tastes bland with out enough heat, so add a good amount of crushed pepper later, before you finish the dish.

Heat olive oil in a pan

3. Add all the veggies now.

Add all the veggies

4. Begin to stir fry on the highest flame only for 2 to 3 mins. Keep tossing well or stir to prevent burning. Note that you have to constantly stir the veggies as they can burn easily.

stir fry on the highest flame

5. Add crushed black pepper.

Add crushed pepper

6. Pour Soya sauce, Hoisin sauce (or your favorite sauce), Vinegar (optional) and sesame oil across the edges of the pan. Make sure most of the sauce hits the pan and does not stay on the veggies. The sauce sizzles and imparts the flavor to the veggies. Keep stirring and fry. When the cabbage is partially cooked yet crunchy remove the from the stove. Cool it on a wired rack and do not cover.

stir fried cabbage recipe 05

Transfer to a serving bowl upon cooling.

Stir fried cabbage recipe

Pro Tips

  • To include eggs, add little salt to a bowl and break 2 to 3 eggs into it. Beat until fluffy. When the veggies are half cooked, slide them aside in the wok, add a teaspoon of oil and pour the eggs. Cook them on a medium heat until set. Stir fry the veggies and eggs for another minute and pour the sauces.
  • To include chicken, cook it separately in a pot. Shred it and add it to the wok after the veggies are partially stir fried. Pour the sauce over the chicken and stir fry for an extra minute. You may check this video to see how I do – Chicken spring rolls

Related Recipes

Recipe Card

cabbage stir fry recipe

Cabbage Stir Fry Recipe

Simple cabbage stir fry is so delicious, healthy & super quick to make. Enjoy it as a side in a meal. It goes great in sandwiches, spring rolls, wraps, roti, tortillas or even with just plain rice.
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For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card

Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time20 minutes
Servings3
AuthorSwasthi

Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )

  • 3 cups cabbage julienne or shredded
  • 1 cup carrots julienne or shredded
  • 1 cup bell peppers julienne
  • 1 to 2 green chilies slit (skip if making for kids)
  • 2 garlic cloves chopped finely
  • 2 tablespoons cooking oil
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper crushed (or white pepper for less heat)
  • Salt if required (optional)

Stir Fry Sauce

  • ½ tablespoon soya sauce (organic or naturally brewed, more if preferred)
  • ½ tablespoon Hoisin sauce (or oyster sauce or your favorite sauce, optional)
  • ½ teaspoon vinegar (like rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar)
  • 1 teaspoon roasted sesame oil


Instructions

Preparation

  • Cut the cabbage to 4 quarters and keep them in warm water (not hot) for 2 mins. Remove them and rinse a few times in a pot filled with cold water. Drain them completely. Even little moisture in the cabbage is going to make it mushy.
  • Wash carrots & bell peppers. Drain well. Pat dry and Julienne or shred all of the veggies.

How to Make Cabbage Stir Fry

  • To a small bowl, add soya sauce, Hoisin sauce, vinegar and sesame oil. Mix and set aside.
  • Heat a large wok with oil on a high heat. Add garlic and slit green chili. Fry for 30 seconds.
  • Add all the veggies and stir fry for 2 to 3 mins until they are half cooked yet crunchy. Do not over cook to retain the crunch. Make sure the heat is set to highest possible setting and keep stirring to avoid burning.
  • Add the black pepper and mix. Pour the sauces all around the edges of the pan, making sure that most of the sauce hits the pan.
  • Toss the veggies or stir fry for a minute to coat the sauce. Remove the pan from the stove when the cabbage is partially cooked yet crunchy.
  • Cool it over a rack so the veggies don't sweat. Transfer to serving bowl when it cools down. You may add more salt and pepper while serving the cabbage stir fry.


Notes

  1. You may skip all of the sauces and just add crushed black pepper and green chili. 
  2. If you are a vegetarian look for vegetarian Hoisin or Oyster sauce. You also get the gluten-free versions of these. 
  3. Avoid adding plenty of sauces to retain the bright color of the veggies.
  4. Salt is already included in sauce so don’t need to add. You may sprinkle while serving.

Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.

For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips above the recipe card.

NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)

Nutrition Facts
Cabbage Stir Fry Recipe
Amount Per Serving
Calories 11 Calories from Fat 9
% Daily Value*
Fat 1g2%
Saturated Fat 1g6%
Trans Fat 1g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g
Monounsaturated Fat 1g
Sodium 391mg17%
Potassium 26mg1%
Carbohydrates 2g1%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 1g1%
Protein 1g2%
Vitamin A 8882IU178%
Vitamin C 3mg4%
Calcium 5mg1%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Tried this recipe?Mention @SwasthisRecipes or tag #swasthisrecipes!

© Swasthi’s Recipes

Cabbage Stir Fry Recipe

About Swasthi

I’m Swasthi Shreekanth, the recipe developer, food photographer & food writer behind Swasthi’s Recipes. My aim is to help you cook great Indian food with my time-tested recipes. After 2 decades of experience in practical Indian cooking I started this blog to help people cook better & more often at home. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook I am sure Swasthi’s Recipes will assist you to enhance your cooking skills. More about me

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Comments

Recipe Rating




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5 stars
This was so delicious! Thanks for tips on using high heat and keeping out water. I’ve made other stir fry recipes in my wok, and they always got soggy. Now I know better, thanks to your kind instruction!

5 stars
I had this with orange chicken rice for supper it was delicious and little ginger

Can this be made ahead of time and reheated?

I loved the cabbage stur fry I added broccoli to it, so good, I will definitely will make it again

how about the portion for this recipe, is it just for 2 people? May I know?

4 stars
Comfort food at its best. Used Soy and Apple Cider Vinigar delicious. Had with chunkie veg curry chinese style

4 stars
Lovely recipe though I think it definitely needs the cider vinegar and soy sauce! I also added some finely chopped ginger in with the garlic and chilli – it was delicious says my wife!

Very nice Madam.

Nice recepies

Can we use beetroot ???

5 stars
Dear swasti,
I love your recipes very much. And thank you so much..?

5 stars
Thank you very much for this wonderful recipe.It is so simple to make and good one for my running
lifestyle.

Dear SwastI,

I love your receips very much.
They are so practical and yummy.
Me and my kids enjoy them.Waiting to surprise my husband too..
Thankyou so much for sharing them.
Like your formal way of writing.
Good luck and God bless your efforts.

Reshmi Easo