Egg Roll Bowl
With seasoned pork, caramelized cabbage and carrots– this yummy Egg Roll Bowl is everything you love in your favorite Asian appetizer, without all the work and none of the grease.
Pork is one of those things that I love in all forms & flavors, but everybody else in my house has pretty strong opinions about and preferences on.
Being me, I try to accommodate everyone.
I mean food is something I want to bring us all together as a family around the kitchen table.
It’s also something I want us all to really enjoy.
Instead of just eating to live, we lie more on the living to eat side of things.
One thing we can all always agree on?
Egg rolls.
What better way to combine the two into a delicious dish that everyone’s guaranteed to enjoy.
No longer just an appetizer, or a veggie laden snack without much meat- we’ve deconstructed the classic egg roll, added seasoned ground pork, a delicious blend of caramelized cabbage and carrots, and turned it into a complete meal in a bowl.
Hold on to your plates, folks!
This egg roll bowl is now one of our favorite ways to get our Chinese fix, and one of the best recipes for using ground pork.
What Makes An Egg Roll An Egg Roll?
If we’re breaking it down, an egg roll is a fried Asian finger food. And it’s delicious!
But what’s on the inside is what really sells it.
The filling is really what makes or breaks the infamous appetizer.
Traditionally, the filling consists of shredded cabbage, other shredded veggies, ground pork (or other meat, sometimes shrimp), and wrapped inside a thick wheat based flour dough wrapper.
Wrapped neatly, it’s then fried in hot oil until golden brown- with the filling cooking while the outside crisps.
It’s cheap AND it’s easy. Really, really easy.
Egg rolls make the perfect hand held appetizer or snack, but they aren’t all that great for you.
Let’s be honest. While things deep fried to golden brown perfection in oil taste great, they’re never remotely healthy.
That’s where this genius dish comes in to save the day!
Look instead to this Egg Roll Bowl when that craving strikes- it gives you all the same flavors, but isn’t as horrible for your health.
Ingredients Needed
- ground pork – mild or spicy, depending on your preference but I do love the little kick the spicy variety gives this dish
- garlic – minced, you can buy minced garlic or squeeze fresh cloves through a garlic press
- green onions
- soy sauce – I use a traditional sauce, but if salt’s a concern absolutely sub in a lower sodium variety
- salt & pepper
- brown sugar – light or dark brown will both work
- colesaw mix – one that’s a mixture of shredded cabbage & carrots, can have just green cabbage or a blend of red & green
- cooked white rice – any steamed white rice will work, the egg roll mixture is being served overtop or along side it
How To Make
In a large skillet, over medium heat, add the ground pork sausage, garlic, and chopped green onions.
Cook until the sausage is done, chopping it up as it cooks.
Drain the sausage, if desired, to remove excess grease, and then return the mixture to the skillet.
You don’t absolutely have to drain the grease, but I’m of the firm thought that you should!
Stir the coleslaw mix into the sausage, until evenly combined.
Add the brown sugar & soy sauce, stirring to mix. Then season the mixture with salt & pepper, to taste.
Cook the mixture, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage has begun to caramelize.
Turn the heat off, and let the egg roll ‘filling’ mixture rest.
We may have skipped the egg roll wrapping, but this delicious filling is amazing served over steamed, fluffed white rice.
How To Serve
This delicious ‘filling’ goes great with rice.
Our favorite varieties are jasmine or basmati.
Even serving it over rice is optional. It’s still that good.
Seriously!
This makes it perfect option for people looking to shave off some calories and those on a lower carb diet.
Or if you just want something really satisfying that won’t leave you feeling guilt-ridden & greasy.
If you want the full experience though, serve it over steamed white rice and top it with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and/or sliced green onions.
We love Chinese take out, but how often after indulging can you say you still feel good?
The egg roll bowl is here to help you have your guilty pleasure, without the guilt.
All the classic egg roll flavors you love are still there, in fact they’ve even been improved upon.
Topping Ideas
This deconstructed egg roll’s amped up a notch by caramelized cabbage and carrots, a step skipped in the traditional version.
Another way we improved upon the classic? Toppings!
Add and experiment with different toppings for the full experience.
We like to add some extra thinly sliced green onions and a couple fresh cilantro leaves.
Crispy wonton strips or chow mein noodles both offer great crunch & texture.
Need some sauce?
Sweet & sour sauce, duck sauce, and even spicy mustard are all tasty options.
A little drizzle over top and your chop sticks are ready to help you chow down.
With seasoned pork, caramelized cabbage and carrots– this yummy Egg Roll Bowl is everything you love in your favorite Asian appetizer, without all the work and none of the grease.
Other Take Out Favorites You Can Make At Home:
Pair this with appetizers and a soup to round it out into a full meal for the family.
Check out these other menu favs:
And just in case you’re craving the real thing…don’t miss our recipe for crispy homemade egg rolls with a sesame ginger sauce for dipping!
If you’ve tried this EGG ROLL BOWL, or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and whatever else we’ve got going on!
Egg Roll Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground pork sausage
- 3-4 cloves garlic minced
- 5 green onions thinly sliced
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 tbsp brown Sugar
- 1 bag coleslaw mix just raw cabbage and carrots
- cooked rice for serving over
Instructions
- Brown the sausage with the garlic and green onions.
- Add in the coleslaw mix, soy sauce and brown sugar. Season with salt and pepper.
- Cook until the cabbage is cooked down and almost caramelized.
- Serve the egg roll stuffing mixture over the rice.
- Top with crispy wontons, chow mein noodles, or duck sauce if desired.
Nutrition
pictures & post updated 12/30/2020
Love this idea for its flavour and simplicity! I need to try it soon!!
Sounds like a great way to get am egg roll fix without all the calories!
This sounds really wonderful and I am sure beef would be a good replacement for me as well. 😉 Happy FF! 🙂
Brilliant, why work so hard wrapping the filling and then deep frying when you can have a bowl? Our partiers will love this and thank you so much for bringing two dishes this week !
This sounds delicious. You took that delicious filing and didn’t bother with the fried roll. Yum
I always prefer the inside of the eggroll not the fried dough so win win recipe!
This looks like a dish my family would love! Thanks for sharing at Freedom Fridays – pinned and sharing on Facebook! 🙂
Thanks, Jamie for the shares and I’m so glad you liked it 🙂 Also, as always, thanks for hosting!
May I ask why the original pictures look so different from the updated pictures? This looks like a recipe I would love, but my family would probably prefer the original picture more than the updated pictures… The updated pictures look more chunky. If I wanted to duplicate the original pictures, what would I do differently?
P.S. I found you through Pinterest. 🙂