This beef mince and cabbage stir fry combines lean minced beef, green and purple cabbage and a sweet-savoury hoisin sauce. This is exactly the type of recipe I gravitate towards for a 30-minute meal prep: one pan, minimal chopping and flavours that still hold up after a couple of days in the fridge.
I learnt during my experiments that cabbage doesn't wilt the same way as spinach. The first test I did I had the ¼ head in there but only 500g of the mince and the cabbage just completely overtook it which is why I went to the 1kg of mince (which, in retrospect I do for a lot of my mince dishes like my curried beef mince because the 1kg packets are better value for money).
So now with the 1kg mince, this makes 6 very generous serves (me and Zak are big eaters, okay) and because it's a freezer-friendly prep we popped half in the freezer for an easy Plan B meal another night.
TL:DR
- Servings: 6
- Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 15 minutes
- Meal prep: The saucy beef mince reheats well and the cabbage keeps some texture when it's not overcooked. Pair with rice for a complete lunch or dinner.
- Fridge storage: Up to 3-4 days in an airtight container.
- Freezer storage: Up to 3 months. Freeze the beef and cabbage separately from rice where possible, or layer the rice on top.
- Reheating: Microwave for approximately 2-3 minutes, stirring every minute. If dried out a bit, add a small splash of soy sauce or water.
- Customise: Swap the beef for chicken, pork or turkey mince, adjust the chilli, use whichever cabbage you have available or serve with rice or noodles.
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Why you'll love this recipe
Meal prep friendly. The sauce helps the minced beef stay flavourful after reheating instead of leaving you with sad, dry Wednesday lunch.
Affordable ingredients. Beef mince and rice recipes are affordable baselines for meal preps and adding cabbage as a cheap produce item during in-season.
Asian-inspired flavours. Hoisin, soy, chilli, garlic and ginger give this the same flavour direction as many of my asian inspired meal preps.
Easy to customise. Use beef, chicken or pork mince, change the cabbage mix and make the chilli as mild or aggressive as your household allows.
Ingredients
Lean beef mince. I prefer lean beef mince because you don't end up with excess fat pooling through the sauce when it is stored and reheated, although a higher-fat mince will still work.
Cabbage. I tested this with different amounts and quickly discovered cabbage doesn't lose volume fast enough in such a short cook, so I settled on roughly a quarter of a head; I use both green and purple cabbage for extra colour and variety.
Spring onions. These add a fresh onion flavour that cuts through the richer hoisin sauce, and I recommend adding them after reheating rather than before so they retain that fresh punch.
Hoisin sauce. Hoisin is a thick, sweet-savoury sauce commonly used in Chinese-style cooking and gives this stir fry most of its richness and body without needing a long ingredient list.
Soy sauce. Hoisin is quite thick, so soy sauce loosens the sauce while adding saltiness and savoury depth that can soak into the mince and cabbage.
Brown sugar. A small amount rounds out the soy and vinegar and reinforces the sweet-savoury profile of the hoisin without needing the finished stir fry to taste sugary.
White vinegar. The acidity cuts through the sweeter hoisin and brown sugar and stops the sauce tasting flat.
Chilli. Fresh chilli brings heat and freshness, but you can adjust the quantity depending on who you're feeding.
Please check the recipe card for full list of ingredients and quantity. See below for substitutions and variations.
Substitutions and Variations
Chicken mince. I've made this with chicken mince and it works well, but chicken mince is usually leaner than beef and can dry out more once refrigerated. I add an extra dash of soy sauce when reheating to bring some moisture and flavour back.
Pork mince. Pork mince is a good swap if you want a richer stir fry and works well with the hoisin, ginger and garlic without needing major changes to the sauce.
Pre-shredded coleslaw mix. This is a completely acceptable shortcut when chopping a cabbage is one task too many. Add it towards the end because finely shredded vegetables soften quickly.
Extra vegetables. Finely sliced carrot and bok choy (like I do in my sticky beef mince and rice), capsicum, mushrooms or even eggplant (may need a longer cook like in my teriyaki beef and eggplant), but avoid overloading the pan because excess vegetables release water and can turn a stir fry into a simmer.
Extra heat. Add more fresh chilli, chilli flakes or chilli sauce if you want more spice, or leave the chilli out entirely for a milder family dinner.
How to make beef mince and cabbage stir fry
Step 1. Mix the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, white vinegar, garlic, ginger and chilli together before you start cooking. Stir fries move quickly once the pan is hot, so having the sauce ready means you aren't trying to measure soy sauce while your mince is burning.
Step 2. Heat a large frying pan or wok over medium-high heat. Add the beef mince, season with white pepper and leave it mostly untouched for the first 2-3 minutes so the underside has a chance to brown rather than immediately steaming.
Break the mince apart and continue cooking for around 5 minutes total, until it is mostly browned but there may still be a small amount of pink remaining. It will finish cooking once the sauce is added.
Step 3. Reduce the heat to low and add the cabbage. Stir it through the beef for around 1-2 minutes so the cabbage starts making contact with the pan and becomes coated in the beef juices.
Step 4. Pour over the prepared sauce, stir well and increase the heat slightly so the mixture comes to a gentle simmer.
Cook uncovered for another 4-6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the beef is completely cooked, the sauce has coated the mince and the cabbage has reduced by roughly half while still retaining some texture.
Note - If the pan looks watery, keep it uncovered and give it another minute or two rather than adding anything to thicken it immediately. Cabbage releases moisture as it cooks and that extra liquid will reduce.
Step 5. Remove the pan from the heat and taste before adjusting with extra soy sauce, vinegar or chilli. Serve over rice and finish with spring onions.
Lauren's Top Tips
Let the mince sit before stirring. Giving it a couple of uninterrupted minutes against the hot pan creates better browning and more flavour than constantly moving it around.
Use a large pan. Crowding everything into a small frying pan traps steam and makes it much harder to brown the beef or reduce the cabbage moisture. Or consider doing it in batches.
Keep the cabbage slightly firm. Remember it will soften a little more while sitting in the sauce and again when reheated
Recommended Equipment
A large, deep frying pan or wok is the main piece of equipment you'll need; the extra surface area helps the beef brown and gives the cabbage enough room to cook without trapping too much steam. A microplane is also useful for quickly grating fresh garlic and ginger, while a rice cooker can handle the rice in the background if you're preparing this for meal prep.
Meal Prepping beef mince and cabbage stir fry
This beef mince and cabbage is one of those meals that works equally well as tonight's dinner and tomorrow's lunch. Beef mince gives you an easy protein base, the cabbage provides the vegetable component, and I normally serve it with rice so everything can be portioned into one container.
Storing
Allow the beef mince and cabbage to cool before transferring it to airtight containers (no more than 2 hours at room temperature). If you're serving it with rice, I prefer putting the rice on the opposite side of the container rather than mixing everything together immediately, which stops the rice from sitting in the sauce for days and gives you more control when reheating.
It can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Freeze any remaining serves.
Lauren's Meal Prep Tip
Keep the spring onion separate and add it after reheating. It takes about ten seconds but makes a leftover meal taste much fresher.
Reheating
Add a small drizzle of soy sauce or water over the dish before reheating.
Loosely cover the container with a paper towel and microwave for approximately 2-3 minutes, stirring every minute so the centre heats evenly. The loose cover traps enough steam to help the rice and mince without sealing everything in and making the cabbage wetter.
Once steaming hot, add your spring onions and any other fresh toppings.
You can also reheat the beef and cabbage in a frying pan over medium heat for around 4-5 minutes. This will give similar vibes to my beef fried rice but you might want to add an extra drizzle of water/soy sauce as the pan will dry it out more.
Freezing
The beef mince and cabbage can be frozen on its own or alongside rice. Where I have enough containers, I prefer freezing them separately because it gives me more control over the texture when reheating and lets me use the beef mixture with fresh rice, noodles or another base later.
If I'm freezing the whole meal together, I put the beef and cabbage in first and the rice on top. I use my two-cup Souper Cubes for this because one block gives me an easy individual meal that can then be transferred to a freezer bag once solid.
When reheating from frozen, flip the block so the rice ends up on the bottom. Add a couple of ice cubes or a small splash of water around the rice, then loosely cover it with paper towel and microwave in intervals until the block starts loosening enough to stir.
Freeze individual portions for up to 3 months.
If you want more meal prep information, check out my Meal Prep for Beginners post and my Meal Prep Basics E-Book.
FAQs
Use a large pan, don't overcrowd it and avoid cooking the cabbage until completely soft. This beef mince and cabbage only needs the cabbage to reduce by roughly half because it will continue softening in the sauce and during reheating.
Cabbage releases water as it cooks, especially if the pan is crowded or the heat is too low. Use a large frying pan and let the stir fry cook uncovered for another minute or two so the excess liquid can reduce rather than adding a thickener straight away.
Start with extra soy sauce, fresh ginger, garlic or chilli rather than simply adding more salt. A small splash of vinegar can also help because the acidity cuts through the sweet hoisin and makes the other flavours taste stronger.
Other beef recipes you'll like
Or, you can have a browse through my beef meal prep recipes for more delicious eats.
Recipe
Beef Mince and Cabbage Stir Fry
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 kg (2 lb) lean beef mince, see note 1
- ¼ head cabbage, I use a combination of green and purple, subs note 2
- ⅓ cup hoisin
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 3 tablespoon soy sauce
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- ½ red chilli
- 2 tablespoon white vinegar, subs note 3
- 1 ½ cups rice, makes approx.6 cups cooked
Instructions
Preparing
- Begin 1 ½ cups rice per packet instructions or to your preferences, or you can follow my tips and tricks.
- Finely shred the ¼ head cabbage and set aside.
- Finely dice ½ red chilli. Mince or grate 4 cloves garlic, 1 tsp ginger
- In a small bowl combine, chilli, garlic, ginger with ⅓ cup hoisin, 2 tbsp brown sugar, 3 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp white vinegar. Having the sauce ready before cooking makes the stir fry easier to manage once the pan is hot.
Cooking
- Heat a large frying pan or wok over medium-high heat with a small amount of oil. Add the 1 kg (2 lb) lean beef mince and leave it mostly untouched for the first 2-3 minutes so the underside can brown rather than steam.
- Break the beef mince apart and continue cooking for around 5 minutes total, until mostly browned with only a small amount of pink remaining.
- Reduce the heat to low and add the cabbage. Stir through the beef mince for 1-2 minutes until it starts to soften and becomes coated in the pan juices.
- Pour over the prepared sauce and stir well. Increase the heat slightly and bring to a gentle simmer.
- Cook uncovered for 4-6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the beef mince is completely cooked, the sauce coats the mince and the cabbage has reduced by roughly half while still retaining some texture.
- If there is excess liquid in the pan, continue cooking uncovered for another 1-2 minutes to allow it to reduce.
- Remove from the heat and serve with rice. Top with sesame seeds and spring onion (optional)
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