All the flavors of your favorite Chinese egg roll made lighter, faster, and in one skillet! This egg roll in a bowl is a quick, healthy dinner that’s ready in just 20 minutes.
The best part? It all comes together in one skillet with minimal prep. Thanks to coleslaw mix and pre-shredded carrots, there’s no chopping involved, and you can even snip green onions straight into the pan. Customize it with your favorite ground meat, adjust the seasonings, or toss in extra veggies to suit your family’s tastes.
Eggroll in a Bowl is a Perfect Weeknight Dinner
It’s like an egg roll without the deep fried wrapper!
This egg roll in a bowl recipe is a quick, healthy dinner that’s perfect for busy weeknights. It has all the savory flavor of a classic egg roll filling; no deep frying required! With lean ground meat, crisp veggies, and a simple stir-fry sauce, it’s a wholesome meal you can keep low carb or bulk up with rice or noodles.
Ingredient Notes and Tips for Success
- Use any ground meat that you like. We prefer ground pork, but ground turkey, ground beef, ground chicken, and ground sausage are all tasty here.
- Sesame oil is an essential ingredient for that true Asian flavor. Do not substitute with a different oil. The sesame oil has a unique nutty flavor that’s hard to replicate with other ingredients, and it truly makes the dish! You can find sesame oil in the Asian or International foods aisle at just about every grocery store these days, or order it online. Use any extra sesame oil in recipes like chicken and broccoli lo mein, chicken and bell pepper stir fry, sweet and sour meatballs, and ramen noodle coleslaw.
- Rice vinegar adds an acidic component that brightens up the sauce.
- I prefer low sodium soy sauce (or light soy sauce), but coconut aminos or gluten-free tamari will also work as gluten-free substitutes.
- Hoisin sauce is a thick, rich, sweet-and-salty Chinese bbq sauce that adds great flavor to the stir-fry. Find it in the Asian or International foods aisle at your grocery store, or order it online.
- A bag of pre-shredded coleslaw mix is a perfect shortcut so that you don’t have to shred your own cabbage. Adding some broccoli slaw would yield a different texture and flavor, but would also work.
- You might not need any extra salt (since the sauce has a good amount of sodium), so taste it first and then season.
SO good … fast, easy and SO SO GOOD! I made it, loved it and then made it the following week again. I live on my own so I had it a few times each week!
– Cindy
How to Make Egg Roll in a Bowl with Coleslaw Mix
Have all of your ingredients prepped and ready to go, because this dish comes together very quickly!
- Brown the meat in a large skillet or wok on the stovetop. Don’t stir the meat too much while it’s browning. Let it sit for a few minutes before you break it up with a spoon. This helps the meat retain moisture and stay tender.
- Add the onion, oil, and vinegar; cook until the onion is tender.
- Stir in the slaw mix, carrots, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and hoisin sauce.
- Stir-fry until the veggies are tender. Add the scallions and serve in individual bowls!
Did you make this recipe?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a comment with a 5-star review at the bottom of the post. Thank you!
Watch How to Make It
Egg Roll in a Bowl
Equipment
- Large skillet (I own and love this Smithey Ironware Co. cast iron skillet)
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground meat (we love ground pork, but you can also use ground turkey, ground chicken, or ground beef)
- 1 small sweet onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- ¼ cup less sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce (or add extra 1 tablespoon or so for a sweeter, richer sauce)
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic (use pre-minced fresh garlic for an easy shortcut)
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger or 1 ½ tablespoons grated fresh ginger (use a bottle of pre-minced fresh ginger for an easy shortcut)
- 1 (16 ounce) bag coleslaw mix
- ½ cup grated or “matchstick” carrots
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- Optional garnish: sliced green onions, chives, fresh cilantro, toasted sesame seeds, chopped peanuts, crunchy chow mein noodles, and/or a squeeze of fresh lime juice
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground meat and cook, stirring, until no longer pink, about 5-7 minutes. Drain off excess grease; return meat to skillet.
- Add diced onion, sesame oil, and rice vinegar to the skillet. Cook, stirring, until the onion is tender, about 4-5 more minutes.
- Add soy sauce, hoisin sauce, garlic, ginger, coleslaw mix, and carrots to the skillet. Cook, stirring, for about 5-7 more minutes, or until the cabbage wilts.
- Remove the skillet from the heat. Stir in the green onions and season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Notes
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- Do not omit the toasted sesame oil. It’s what gives the dish that quintessential “Asian” egg roll taste!
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- Use this recipe as a base and play around with the ingredients to suit your preferences. You might like to add diced celery, diced sweet bell peppers, snap peas, snow peas, or baby corn. An extra tablespoon or two of hoisin sauce also adds great flavor and richness to the sauce.
Nutrition
Serving Suggestions
This easy egg roll in a bowl recipe is delicious on its own, or equally tasty when paired with sides like rice or cauliflower rice; ramen noodles, rice noodles, lo mein noodles, or spaghetti; frozen egg rolls; and steamed broccoli. The eggroll filling is also tasty wrapped in mandarin pancakes or flour tortillas and garnished with extra hoisin sauce or plum sauce (like mu shu pork).
Preparation and Storage Tips
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. It gets soggy as the vegetables sit and absorb the sauce, but the flavor is still great! Some folks love to double or triple the batch to have extras in the fridge for quick meal prep.
- Reheat individual servings in the microwave for about 1 minute, or reheat a larger quantity in a skillet over low heat just until warmed through.
- I do not recommend freezing the leftovers. The cabbage and other vegetables will have a mushy texture when thawed, and will release extra water that thins the sauce.
Recipe Variations
- Use any ground meat that you prefer. We love ground pork in this dish, but ground beef, ground chicken, ground sausage, and ground turkey are also good options.
- Add egg to the filling. Just before serving, make a well in the center of the pan. Crack an egg into the pan, scramble, and cook until done. Mix the egg into the rest of the ingredients.
- For a vegetarian egg roll in a bowl, omit the ground meat and bulk up the stir-fry with mushrooms, diced tofu, or other veggies of choice (like bean sprouts).
- If you choose to shred your own green cabbage instead of using a bag of coleslaw mix, you will need a total of about 6 ¾ cups of finely-shredded cabbage.
- Make it spicy by garnishing individual servings with sriracha sauce or crushed red pepper flakes.
- Cooking just for two? Cut the ingredients in half. The instructions remain the same.
- If you’re looking for even more quick stir-fry recipes, be sure to try this ground beef stir fry with cabbage, a pan of chicken and broccoli stir fry, this 15-minute honey garlic shrimp, this pepper steak with onion, and this teriyaki ground beef, too!
Awesome! My husband was skeptical at first but finished all and wants it again.
– Connie
More Asian-Inspired Recipes to Try
Dump-and-Bake Healthy General Tso Chicken
40 minutes mins
Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken
40 minutes mins
Dump-and-Bake Egg Roll Casserole
1 hour hr 5 minutes mins
Originally published in May, 2018, this post was updated in August, 2025.
Made this last weekend and my husband loved it so much, he requested that I make it again this weekend. We are vegan so I used Plant Based Beyond Crumbles for the meat and I added a jalapeño for some spice. It was outstanding! This will definitely be a go to meal in our household! Thank you!
That’s amazing, Wendy! I’m glad that your husband approved, too! 🙂
This was sensational & ez! I added fried wonton skin strips & sliced water chestnuts for some extra crunch. I’ll be having it again & again, switching up the protein for variety.
Thank you, Sammi!
Excellent recipe! Love, Love, Love! I’ve been doing low-carb for about six months now and this was an excellent alternative to my nightly salad. I even caught my husband reaching in for a second bite! Will definitely be making this again. Thank you so much!
Awesome! Thanks, Michelle!
In your story you said that you could use stir fry sauce in place of other ingredients how do you go about doing that? It’s not listed in your recipe too You stir fry sauce as a replacement for everything else.
Hi, Katie! I think that you saw where I said you’ll make “a simple stir fry sauce with soy sauce, garlic, ginger, rice vinegar, and toasted sesame oil (plus optional hoisin sauce, if you like).” You’re making this sauce with those ingredients — I didn’t mean that you could purchase one instead (although, I suppose that might work, too). 🙂
I accidentally grabbed a bag of broccoli slaw instead of Cole slaw, can I use that in place?
Hi, Patty. Yes, I think that should work fine. It will obviously have a different flavor, but it should still be good. The broccoli might need a few more minutes to cook than thinly sliced cabbage. Hope you enjoy!
I’m going to try this with Asian salad! I love egg roll in bowl so hopefully it works!
Awesome, Karin! I bet it will be great. I think other readers have done the same in the past. 🙂
Excellent! The Hoisin sauce makes it! (LOL I used 2 T instead of 1!) I bought the Sesame oil and somehow lost it between the store and my kitchen (so I used almond oil instead). It was still good! But I bet it’s even better with Sesame oil.
Thanks, Lynne! Yes, definitely try the sesame oil next time. Game changer! 🙂
This is delicious ~ I made the recipe as is. It’s a keeper for sure. Thank you!
Thank you, Amy!
As soon as I came upon this recipe I had to make it! My mom and I actually used to make this dish when I was a child. The only thing I did was alternate Jimmy Dean sausage instead of ground beef! Amazing
Thank you, Marnie! I bet the sausage is delicious!
Thank you for a recipe without sugar that will work for diabetics.
Hope you enjoy, Karen!
This recipe has become a favorite. So versatile. I use ground chicken, pork or burger – whatever I have on hand. Thanks for a great recipe.
Thank you, Sherry. That makes me so happy to hear!
I thought it turned out great. My Dutch Oven is only a 5 qt so I made it smaller. The roll and it wasn’t dry like it is sometimes.
Made this tonight. We liked it very much. My husband commented “this recipe is a keeper”. Could you tell me if the hoisin sauce is included in the total calorie count?
Hi, Irene! I’m so glad that the meal was a hit! The nutrition facts do not include the hoisin sauce. 🙂
This is so tasty and easy to customize with other veggies, etc. The first time I made this was for company – a single man who loves Asian food but doesn’t cook much. He loved this! I used the Asian salad mix from Walmart which is perfect! So now our single friend makes this for himself! Thanks you for the sauce – it’s so much better than other similar recipes. You nailed it!
Thank you so much, Diane! 🙂
I made this last night and followed the recipe exactly – delicious! I wouldn’t change a thing. Putting this one in my rotation.
Thank you, Patty!
Just made this for dinner. I had ground chicken, so I used that and added mushrooms as well as serving it over Jasmine rice. This recipe is amazing! My family loved it, we even shared it with the neighbors. I can’t wait to try many more recipes.
Thank you, Amy!
Made this to ight, followed the recipe to a T. My family enjoyed it. It will be added to the rotation! Thank you so much for sharing your culinary skills !!
Thank you!
Seasoning was a bit light for my liking. Doubled the amount of sauce and it was so good! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
The recipe list did not call for Toasted Seasame oil. I didn’t see it in the lower comments after the recipe until I already cooked it. It was very good though…and easy
I have made at least 3 other similar recipes, this is my favorite, and will be the one we use over and over! So easy!!! I serve it with either cauliflower rice or white rice and siracha, so yummy!!!
Thank you, KC!
So good and easy enough for a man to cook. I made dinner using this recipe and the family loved it. Thank you!
The best compliment! Thank you, David!
I wrapped it in corn tortillas.
I just made this tonight. It was really good, definitely going to save the recipe to make it again. Thank you.
Thanks, Brent!
I’ll be making this today, not doubt it’s going to be delicious
Oh, good! Enjoy, Ibis!
I made this tonight, used fairly lean ground pork, increased my garlic to 3tsp and used minced ginger from the fridge (stayed with 1tsp because ginger isn’t my fave). Used a 16oz bag of coleslaw mix, omitted the grated carrot but added 8oz of finely diced baby Bella mushrooms. It was super fantastic, and my daughter and I used the green onion as add-ons to our individual bowls.
Packed what was left for work lunch tomorrow, added a quick shake of red pepper flakes.
While it made a nice beef and vegetable skillet dinner, it did not taste at all like an egg roll. I wonder what flavors I could have added or increased to get an Asian taste??
Hi, Rita! You can increase any of the ingredients that you enjoy. Sesame oil gives the dish a classic Asian flavor, as does the soy sauce, rice vinegar, ginger, and hoisin sauce.
Could you use beef or pork?
Absolutely! Either of those work well!
Made this tonight and it was so easy and tasted great! Will definitely make it again.
Thank you, Elizabeth!
You’re a genius, Blair. Love your recipes! Thanks, Jayne
Thank you, Jayne!
This recipe was delicious! I followed the recipe exactly and will definitely be making this again soon!
Thanks, Becca!
So so so good! There are a million egg roll bowl recipes out there, but this one stands above the rest for us! I even used ground turkey, which we don’t love but didn’t want beef, pork or chicken this time. And the price was great for turkey as well. This is easy, quick and I didn’t feel I needed to change a thing. I am a perpetual recipe tweaker, lol. The only thing we had was a bottle of “kung pao” sauce, so that was our option rather than hoisin. For us, sometimes hoisin can overpower. Thanks so much. It’s been a crazy life season…elder parents and trying to balance it all. This meal was a gift!!!! Beautiful simplicity. Oh and yes, I will be using ground turkey for it next time too, complements it so well. More please. 🙂
Oh, I’m so happy to hear that, Cindy. Thank you for your kind note!
I’m going to try this, sounds amazing! But may I ask where all the carbs come from? Cabbage maybe ♀️ Curious so I can make a shopping list and maybe change it up a bit
Hi, Molly! The nutrition panel is automatically calculated by the computer program, and I’m definitely no expert when it comes to the nutrient breakdown in the various ingredients. That said, I would guess that the carbs must come from the veggies (onions, carrots, and cabbage), since the meat isn’t going to have many. You’ll also pick up a small amount of carbs from the sauces.
This was really good! I subbed mushrooms for the meat and coconut aminos for the soy sauce. Will definitely make again!
Thanks, Gina! The vegetarian version sounds delicious!
I can’t begin to tell you how many times I have made the egg roll in a bowl, it is always a big hit around here.
Oh, good! Thank you, Donna!
Great quick recipe. I subed brown lentils for the meat, otherwise followed as written. Quite tasty
Thanks, Meredith!
Made this and loved it!
Thanks, Nikki!
Can you please verify the calories for a 1.5 cup serving of this recipe as shown? Thank you.
Hi, Angie! The nutrition information is just an estimate, as it’s automatically calculated by the online calculator. It will vary slightly depending on the specific ingredients that you use. That said, the nutrition information states that 1.5 cups includes 234 calories.
We don’t eat meat, so I subbed pressed/ cubed tofu that I air fried. I also added shredded broccoli and we served it over rice.
We had sweet chili sauce and the Spicy Peanut Vingerette in the fridge so we used those for extra flavor as dressing. Super bonus points as my 12 year old was able to cook it all with me. Thank so much!
Sounds like the perfect vegetarian dish, Frenchie! Thank you for sharing those tweaks!