Egg Roll In A Bowl
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Enjoy the flavors of a traditional Chinese egg roll without the fuss in this delicious egg roll in a bowl recipe—a simple one-skillet meal that’s a surefire winner for the whole family.
Think of the crispy, savory goodness of a classic Chinese egg roll—then imagine it deconstructed into a lighter, healthier version. This egg roll in a bowl recipe has all the familiar flavors: savory pork, cabbage, garlic, onion, and ginger—minus the wrapper and deep frying. Ready in just 30 minutes, it’s a quick, one-skillet dinner perfect for busy weeknights. Serve with jasmine rice or brown rice.
“Perfect weeknight meal! Drizzled a little takeout duck sauce on top and served with rice…So good my daughter immediately added this to her ‘Mom cook list!’”
What You’ll Need To Make Egg Roll In A Bowl
- Scallions, Fresh Ginger, Garlic: These aromatics are foundational in Asian cooking and provide the base of flavor for the dish.
- Ground Pork: An 80% lean mix is ideal for the best flavor. You can sub other proteins like ground chicken or ground turkey, but for best results, avoid anything too lean.
- Shredded Cabbage: Cabbage is a key ingredient in traditional egg rolls and adds crunch and sweetness to the dish. Using bagged coleslaw mix from the produce department is a convenient shortcut that also includes additional veggies like carrots.
- Soy Sauce: Adds umami and a salty depth to the dish.
- Sweet and Sour Sauce: Adds a tangy and slightly sweet contrast to the dish, mimicking the flavor of an egg roll dipped in sauce. If you have some duck sauce and Chinese hot mustard packets stashed away in your kitchen, you can serve those with it, too.
- Sesame Oil: Imparts a nutty and rich flavor—a little goes a long way.
- Salted Cashews: While nuts aren’t a traditional ingredient in egg rolls, they add a delightful, healthy crunch to this dish, compensating for the lack of a crispy fried wrapper (although go ahead and add crispy fried wontons if you like).
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Slice the scallions, chop the ginger and the cashews, and mince the garlic.
In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the light scallions and ginger and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes.
Mix in the garlic and cook 20 seconds more; do not brown.
Add the pork and continue cooking, breaking the meat apart with a wooden spoon.
Cook the pork until browned, 3 to 5 minutes.
Add the coleslaw and soy sauce to the skillet.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until the coleslaw is wilted and cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes.
Stir in the sweet and sour sauce, sesame oil, cashews, and dark green scallions.
Serve with sweet and sour sauce on the side. This dish reheats nicely and can be made up to 3 days ahead of time or frozen for up to 3 months.
Video Tutorial
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Egg Roll In A Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced, light and dark green parts separated
- 1½ tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger from a 1½ in (4-cm) knob (see note)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lb ground pork (preferably 80% lean)
- 1 (1-lb) bag shredded cabbage or coleslaw mix (about 7 cups)
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons sweet and sour sauce, plus more for serving (I use Kikkoman No Preservatives Added)
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- ⅓ cup salted cashews, chopped
- Rice, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the light scallions and ginger and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 20 seconds more; do not brown. Add the pork and continue cooking, breaking the meat apart with a wooden spoon, until browned, 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add the coleslaw and soy sauce to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until wilted and cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes.
- Stir in the sweet and sour sauce, sesame oil, cashews, and dark green scallions. Taste and adjust seasoning, if desired. Serve with sweet and sour sauce on the side.
Notes
- Check out some easy guidance on how to peel, grate, and chop fresh ginger.
- Make-Ahead Instructions: This dish can be made up to three days ahead of time and refrigerated in an airtight container (wait to add the nuts until ready to serve). Reheat in a skillet over medium heat or in the microwave.
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Approached this recipe with caution since most of my egg roll experiences have been mediocre. Since there are only two of us I halved the recipe. It was excellent, restaurant quality. I did make two changes. We are a spicy family so instead of the sweet sour sauce I used a combo of sweet thai chili sauce and chili paste wit garlic for heat! Delicious!!!
I love, love a good egg roll. This dish is a wonderful meal without the bother of rolling the filling in a wonton wrapper and deep frying. Thank you Jenn for another great recipe!
Hi Jenn,
Before I make this, I have a question: You’ve suggested serving this with rice. I’m wondering if you’d think this would go well with your pork fried rice recipe?
Hi Patrice, I wouldn’t recommend it — I think there would be too much going on. Sorry!
Any suggestions for replacing sweet and sour sauce. Love your recipes but I try to convert to low carb.
Hi Leslie, I’d look for a recipe for low-carb sweet and sour sauce; I see that there are several online. 🙂
Part of the joy of egg rolls is the crispy wrapper. To get that crunch factor take the won ton wrappers and cut them in strips. Place in a pan with olive oil and fry until crispy. Break them into smaller bite size pieces and serve on the side or put them on tip of the stuffing in a bowl. Forget the rice!!
Followed directions and all ingredients as listed. Served over rice. I used a different sweet sour sauce as I don’t like prepared sauces/dressings that use xanthun gum. Leftovers were even better the next day. AMAZING!
This is so easy and can be halved if you just want enough for 2. I have made it 3 times and it does not disappoint. My husband asked if I could add a little hot sauce to it next time and I will do that just to appease him!
What a great recipe! Delicious, healthy and easy! The trifecta! You are very talented!
I made this and took it to work to share with some coworkers. It was absolutely delicious!!!!
Everyone raved about how flavorful it was. I will be making this over and over.
Thank you for sharing
Made this for my family when on vacation with grandma, grandpa, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Was a big hit and recipe was requested so it could be made again. Everyone agrees this was a much better version of an egg roll, so if you like egg rolls, you’ll definitely like this!
FANTASTIC!!! I love nearly all of your recipes but this one is a standout! For those concerned with sodium, just use lower sodium sauces. It is missing nothing! Serve with an Asian salad and it’s an easy, complete meal.