Why it works
Neither ingredient was the carb problem.
Most stir-fry recipes get their carbs from the rice underneath and a sauce thickened with cornstarch and sweetened with sugar or honey. Take both away and what's left is meat, a vegetable, salt, acid and heat. That was never the expensive or complicated part of this dish. Cabbage carries only about 5.8g of carbohydrate per 100g on USDA figures, and close to half of that is fiber. That's why a skillet holding half a head of it still lands under 8g net a serving.
Printable recipe
Ground Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry
Browned beef and wilted cabbage in one skillet, no sauce to build around.
Ingredients
- 28 g butter
- 450 g ground beef, 85% lean
- 110 g yellow onion, diced
- 9 g garlic, minced (about 3 cloves)
- 450 g green cabbage, shredded (about half a medium head)
- 36 g soy sauce or tamari
- 15 g apple cider vinegar
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes, optional
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
- 15 g scallion, thinly sliced, to finish
Instructions
- 1
Heat the butter in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat.
- 2
Add the ground beef and cook, breaking it up, until browned with dark edges, about 6–7 minutes. Drain off any excess fat.
- 3
Push the beef to one side of the pan, add the onion to the cleared space, and cook until it starts to soften, about 2 minutes.
- 4
Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- 5
Add the cabbage in two batches, tossing each one with the beef and onion until it wilts enough to make room for the next, about 3–4 minutes total.
- 6
Stir in the soy sauce, vinegar and red pepper flakes, if using, then season with salt and pepper.
- 7
Keep cooking, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage is tender with browned edges but still has some bite, about 5–6 minutes more.
- 8
Remove from the heat, scatter with scallion, and serve straight from the skillet.
Nutrition per serving
Net carbs here means total carbohydrate (10.7g) minus fiber (3.5g). There are no sugar alcohols in this recipe, so nothing else is subtracted. Calculated per ingredient from USDA FoodData Central, using raw 85% lean ground beef and raw cabbage before cooking loss. Draining the fat after browning runs the real fat and calorie figures a little lower.
Nutrition is calculated from ingredient data and will vary with brands, sizes and how much of the fat actually gets drained off. Treat it as close, not exact.
Notes and substitutions
Don't crowd the pan. Cabbage releases water as it cooks, and a full skillet steams instead of browning. Use the widest pan you have, and let the second batch wilt on its own for a minute before tossing everything together.
Ground beef swaps. Turkey, chicken or pork all work here, and none of them change the carb count. Leaner grinds may want an extra teaspoon of butter so nothing sticks.
Soy sauce swaps. Tamari keeps this gluten-free without changing the flavor much. Coconut aminos work too and taste slightly sweeter, so start with a little less and taste before adding more. Carb impact is negligible either way.
Cabbage swaps. Napa cabbage or bok choy both work and cook a few minutes faster than green cabbage. Check for tenderness earlier rather than going by the clock.
Batch note. This keeps four days in the fridge and reheats well in a hot pan; a microwave will make the cabbage watery. It doesn't freeze well. Cabbage turns limp once thawed.
Common questions
How many carbs are in ground beef and cabbage stir fry?
This version comes to 7.2g net carbs a serving, from 10.7g of total carbohydrate minus 3.5g of fiber. Most of both numbers come from the cabbage, which is also where the fiber is. There's no rice or sauce thickener adding to the count.
Do I need a wok for this?
No. A wide skillet works as well as a wok for this amount of food; what matters is surface area, not the shape of the pan. A crowded pot is the actual problem, whatever shape it is.
Can I use red cabbage instead of green?
Yes. It holds its shape a little better under heat and turns the pan juices slightly purple, which doesn’t affect the flavor. Cook time is about the same.
Why did my cabbage turn out watery instead of browned?
Either the pan was too crowded or the heat was too low. Cabbage is mostly water, and it needs enough direct contact with a hot surface to drive that water off before it can brown. Cook it in batches in a wide pan on medium-high heat rather than piling it all in at once.
Does this reheat well?
Yes, in a hot pan on the stove. A microwave works in a pinch, but the cabbage loses its texture and turns soft rather than staying tender-crisp.
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