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Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry

Published: / Updated: / 41 Comments

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This beef and cabbage stir fry is quick and simple to make, has an addictive sweet and savory peanut-hoisin sauce, and it's absolutely delicious served with rice.

close-up of beef and cabbage stir fry with rice in a white bowl

Love cabbage? You may also like my Chicken and Cabbage Stir Fry or this Easy Bacon and Cabbage Recipe.

This Asian-inspired stir fry recipe is perfect for busy weeknights. It comes together quickly, and it's really comforting. I occasionally find it very hard to resist eating more than I need to test recipes that I make for the blog (like even if I've just had lunch... story of my life), and this was one of them. Something about that sauce just speaks to me. Cabbage is perpetually underrated here in North America, in my opinion, but it's especially delicious when sautéed. And beef is my favorite... so there you go. 

You could serve this ground beef and cabbage stir fry with rice like I did, but it would also work with noodles (try ramen noodles, udon, or even rice noodles) or by itself as a lower carb option.

beef and cabbage stir fry in a skillet

Recipe notes & tips:

  • I wouldn't say this recipe is spicy (even with the sriracha), but you can leave it out if it's not something you buy or enjoy. On the flipside, feel free to add more if you want to kick up the spice.
  • I use my Microplane to grate the ginger (I always keep a piece of fresh ginger in my freezer so I never run out and it grates much more easily). 
  • You can generally find hoisin sauce and sriracha sauce in the same place as soy sauce in the grocery store. 
  • If you buy a small cabbage (like one of the smallest ones you'll see at the store), that'll be more than enough for the 4 cups chopped cabbage this recipe calls for.
  • As with any recipe, you can definitely add more of an ingredient to customize it to your tastes. Don't by shy if you want to add more hoisin sauce, for example! I don't think you can go wrong with recipes like this. 🙂
chopped cabbage for stir fry in a glass prep bowl
Don't worry - you don't need to chop it perfectly!

Other ground beef recipes to try:

ground beef and cabbage stir fry with rice in two white bowls

Questions about this beef and cabbage stir fry? Ask me in the comments below. Made one of my recipes? Tag me #saltandlavender on Instagram.

close-up of beef and cabbage stir fry with rice in a white bowl

Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry

This beef and cabbage stir fry is quick and simple to make, has an addictive peanut-hoisin sauce, and it's absolutely delicious served with rice.
4.92 from 12 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 20 mins
Total Time 30 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Asian American
Servings 4
Calories 302 kcal

Ingredients
 

  • 4 cups green cabbage chopped
  • 1 medium onion chopped
  • 1 pound extra lean ground beef
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 teaspoon ginger grated
  • 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
  • 3 heaping tablespoons creamy peanut butter
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1/2 tablespoon sriracha sauce or more to taste

Instructions
 

  • Chop the cabbage and onion.
  • Add the ground beef to a skillet over medium-high heat, and cook it, breaking it up with your spoon as you go along, until it's just browned (about 5-6 minutes). I don't drain the little bit of fat released, but if you use fattier ground beef, you may want to spoon some of it out.
  • Stir in the garlic & ginger and cook for about 30 seconds.
  • Add in the cabbage and onion and continue sautéing, stirring occasionally, for another 8-10 minutes or until the cabbage is softened to your liking and the onions are cooked.
  • Take the skillet off the heat and stir in the hoisin sauce, peanut butter, soy sauce, and sriracha sauce (feel free to taste it then add more of any ingredient you choose if needed). Serve immediately (I like to serve it over rice). I garnished with scallions mostly to add some color to the photos... that's totally optional!

Notes

  • Use low-sodium soy sauce if sensitive to salt.
  • This dish isn't spicy, but feel free to leave out the sriracha if it's not your thing. 
  • Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only and should be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. Ingredients can vary and Salt & Lavender makes no guarantees to the accuracy of this information.

Nutrition

Calories: 302kcalCarbohydrates: 16gProtein: 30gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 71mgSodium: 893mgPotassium: 685mgFiber: 3gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 69IUVitamin C: 30mgCalcium: 58mgIron: 4mg
Keyword beef and cabbage, ground beef and cabbage stir fry
Author Natasha Bull
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  1. Julia says

    5 stars
    LOVE! We doubled the ginger and only did 2 Tbsp of peanut butter (we know what we like!) and it was delicious.

    Would be curious if anyone has made this with "scrambled" tofu as a substitute for the ground beef? Could be an interesting vegan recipe.

    Reply

  2. Arj says

    Hello Salt and Lavender!

    Question, would I be able to switch out the cabbage for like a baby bok choy or Chinese broccoli chopped up?
    I am the only one that likes cabbage but I want my 3 kids to have their veggies too. Or if you could recommend another vegetable that I can replace with cabbage?

    Love your easy delish recipes. I am not a good cook but since I have been off work I have been cooking lunch and dinner for my fam lately.

    Thanks for you time...arj

    Reply

  6. Michelle says

    5 stars
    This delicious. I made the recipe just as is and mixed it with rice noodles. It was so easy to make too. Thanks so much for sharing!

    Reply

    • Natasha says

      Hi! I live in Canada and use Kraft creamy peanut butter, but if you're in the States you likely won't be able to find it. Maybe something like Jif would work.

      Reply

  8. Kim says

    5 stars
    This came out amazing!
    I was told to keep this recipe on rotation as well as your spinach, tortellini and sausage recipe! Thank you and please keep these delicious recipes coming! ♥️

    Reply

    • Natasha says

      Hi! Soy sauce is completely different and a lot more salty. Hoisin is sweet and sticky and pretty thick, so you’d be changing the recipe a lot. I can’t really guess whether it would work or not unfortunately. If you have some bottled teriyaki sauce, that could work.

      Reply

    • Natasha says

      Not really sure how to answer your question. Why use any ingredient in a recipe? Because it tastes good and is one of the main components of the sauce. It's like a peanut-hoisin sauce.

      Reply

  13. Dawn Schmitz says

    I made this recipe tonight, but was very disappointed. I followed the instructions exactly and the end result was not at all nice, as it was so dry and thick. I realise that it’s supposed to be a stir fry, but it definitely needed liquid of some kind as the sauces did nothing to moisten it. Sorry to say, but most of it went in the rubbish bin.

    Reply

    • Natasha says

      Hmm that's very strange and disappointing. Sorry that happened! Did you cook it on too high of a heat maybe? The suggested heat on my recipes are for electric stoves (as that's what most people have here in North America), and they of course can vary (and with gas you'd want to turn it down for sure). Or is it possible that you got the measurements confused? I only suggest that because you used the word "rubbish bin", so I am guessing you're not from Canada or USA and I know that cups etc. mean different things in different places. Or perhaps since the sauce is added at the end, it somehow wasn't hot enough for it to all melt in? Or peanut butter is different than here maybe so that's why it was more thick/gloopy? I'm definitely puzzled so throwing these theories out there. The recipe doesn't have *tons* of sauce, but you can see from the photos it is fairly moist. In any case, I hate it when recipes don't work out! I wish I could've been in the kitchen with you to figure this out. 🙁

      Reply

      • Dawn Schmitz says

        Hi again, thanks for your reply. I live in Queensland Australia, but I think the cup and tablespoon measurements should be the same as yours, I also have electric hot plates . As I have said, I followed the recipe exactly, so don’t know what could have gone wrong. Sorry to complain, but the picture looked so delicious, and then the end result was so disappointing.

        Reply

        • Michelle says

          Sometimes the combo of peanut butter and hoisin can be a bit thick. It happens with other asian-type recipes on occasion. I just add some water to loosen it and it always does the trick. Start with a couple tablespoons and go from there. Happy Cooking!!

          Reply

  15. Kayla says

    5 stars
    So good!!! We didn't have any sriracha in the house, so I substituted with chili flakes (a lot) and some extra garlic. My husband likes things to be *spicy*. Easy and delicious. We will definitely be making this again!

    Reply

  16. Brittney says

    5 stars
    Made this last night and it was SO yummy. I served with egg noodles and used a bag of shredded cabbage to save some prep time. Quick and easy, absolutely will make again!!

    Reply

  18. Liz says

    This was so good and took no time at all. My husband ate 2 plates, and we almost didn’t have leftovers because we ate so much. We put ours over egg noodles, definitely going in the regular rotation.

    Reply

  19. Keilah says

    5 stars
    This was delicious! I would definitely recommend. I made with udon noodles and it was perfect. Definitely saving this one. Thank you 🙂

    Reply