Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry

This low carb beef and cabbage stir fry makes for an easy low carb dinner any night of the week.  If you like Asian noodle dishes, you’ll love these keto cabbage noodles with tender beef and a spicy Thai sauce. Each serving has only 4.1g net carbs but 38.2g protein!

You might also like this keto ground beef and broccoli dish.

My friend introduced me to a great Thai restaurant this summer and I’ve been there quite a few times. I always get a beef and basil noodle dish and I notice they use a lot of cabbage in it. So this is my low carb version of that Asian noodle dish.

Though I didn’t have any basil to make these low carb Asian beef and cabbage stir fry, it was still crazy good and with only a 25 minute cooking time/ You would be surprised how good cabbage noodles taste in a stir fry.

I loved this dish because it’s easy to make, full of flavor, low carb and high in protein. So if you are craving Asian food on a low carb diet, give this one a try.

Why I love cabbage noodles as a substitute for pasta.

About 10 years ago I was on a Paleo forum and someone there introduced me to cabbage noodles as a low carb substitute for pasta. I thought it was a genius idea and have many recipes using them.

Cabbage is low calorie but very nutritious. In 1 cup of raw has only 22 calories and 3g net carbs. It’s also very high in vitamin C and vitamin K. Check out this article to learn more about the health benefits of cabbage.

Below are a few of my favorite keto cabbage noodles recipes.

• keto baked feta and tomatoes
• red curry keto noodles
• creamy ham and cabbage casserole
• creamy sun dried tomatoes with broccoli and noodles
• keto lasagna

Recipe ingredients and substitutions.

All you need to make this stir fry recipe is cabbage, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, Swerve brown sugar, Mae Ploy curry paste and top round beef. You can use another cut of beef if you wish but this was what I used.

• Mae Ploy curry paste – I love these curry pastes and they are very inexpensive. I buy mine online but you can often get them at Asian grocery stores. I use the red curry an panang curry flavors the most. You can substitute this dish with Thai Kitchen red curry paste which is available in most grocery stores or Walmart.
• rice vinegar – You can usually find this in the international aisle of a bigger grocery store or at Walmart or Target even. If you want to substitute use a mild vinegar like apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar.
• Swerve brown sugar sweetener – You can use any brown sugar sweetener for the Swerve brown. You could also just use a regular sweetener in place of the Swerve brown.  If you don’t care about carbs use regular brown sugar.
• sesame oil and soy sauce – These two products are often found in most grocery stores and you can also use low sodium soy sauce or dark soy sauce if you want. If you can’t tolerate soy you can substitute with soy free coconut aminos but cut back on the sweetener a bit.
• top round beef – You can use any cut of beef you want in which you can cut into strips. Sirloin steak, flank steak, etc. will work or you can even use ground beef if you want.
• green cabbage – I used regular green cabbage and while you could use Napa cabbage or savoy. I like the regular to give it a more substation noodle texture. But any will kind will work.
• other vegetables – I made this dish to be like an Asian noodle recipe but you can add other vegetables if you want. You could try mushrooms, broccoli, celery, onions, carrots, bell peppers, etc. If you precook them in the microwave for 3-5 minutes you can just add them towards the end of the dish.

I use Mae Ploy curry paste with my Asian flavored dishes because it has so much flavor, is inexpensive and it comes in a big container.  If you buy some, here are a few more low carb recipes using this curry paste. 

• Thai marinated flank steak with peanut dipping sauce
• red curry cabbage noodles
• Asian smoked beef jerky
• roasted Thai curry pumpkin seeds
• Thai curry zucchini soup
• Roasted curry nuts

How to make beef and cabbage stir fry.

Step 1: First you want to make the low carb noodles by slicing the cabbage in long strips. Today I made them a little thicker but you can make them thinner noodles if you wish.

Note I would not make them as thin as you would for coleslaw though. It won’t have the text of a noodle when it cooks down.

Step 2: Get out a large skillet or pan and heat to medium high heat. Add the olive oil and when it is hot add the sliced beef pieces. Saute for a few minutes until they are browned and then turn the heat down to medium heat.

Step 3: In the meantime add the cabbage noodles to a microwave safe bowl with a tablespoon of water and microwave for 5 minutes to precook the noodles.

You can also make the stir fry sauce by combining the sauce ingredients in a bowl. When the beef has browned a bit, add in the cooked cabbage and pour the sauce over it. Mix well.

Step 4: Cover the pan with a lid and cook for 5 minutes until the cabbage gets tender. If you want the veggie noodles softer, cook for 5 minutes more. Garnish with fresh cilantro or fresh basil or both! And if you have sesame seeds on hand you can sprinkle a few on top as well.

We ate this beef and cabbage stir fry as is for a low carb dinner. You can add a green salad to make it more of a complete meal. If you don’t care about carbs you can serve it with white rice or brown rice or try it over cauliflower rice.

Store leftover beef stir fry in an airtight container. Please scroll down to view the printable recipe card.

My hubby and I really enjoy this low carb beef and cabbage stir fry dinner. It’s so easy and there was so much flavor. Plus it’s an easy and tasty low carb and high protein dinner too! I hope you give low carb noodles a try next time you need a substitute for noodles. Let me know what you think of them.

The nutrition information for 1 serving is: 390 cals / 22.3g fat / 7.1g carbs / 3g fiber / 38.2g protein = 4.1g net carbs