Egg rolls and ramen noodles are a mainstay in Asian cuisine and are enjoyed throughout the world. Ramen noodles with savory egg roll filling cook in a skillet for an easy, delicious, and filling meal.
If ground meat isn’t your thing, this simple recipe can be tailored to your taste by incorporating your preferred protein. You may also consider adding extra vegetables or increasing the spiciness level if you’d like.
Cut down on meal prep time by using pre-chopped ingredients and a bag of coleslaw mix.
Why This Works
- Satisfying and balanced meal with carb, protein, and veggies.
- Make it in 20 minutes or less if you’re using pre-chopped ingredients
- Use of 5 spice seasoning blend for convenience
- Low-sodium soy sauce or coconut aminos if you’re going soy free, still gives flavor with much less sodium compared to regular soy sauce.
- Easy to customize with your choice of protein
- Goes well with other vegetables like stir fry blend and mushrooms
- Great dish for using up leftover vegetables and leftover meat or chicken
- Spicy flavor is optional
Ingredients
- Ground meat: For a lean protein source, choose ground poultry such as chicken or turkey, ground pork, or lean ground beef.
- Sesame oil: The best oil that goes well with this dish. Imparts a nutty and earthy flavor. But other cooking oils will work, too, if you don’t have sesame oil.
- Garlic: Contains compounds with anti-inflammatory effects. Fresh garlic is more flavorful. But if you prefer not to deal with chopping garlic, jarred minced garlic will do, too. You could also look out for peeled whole garlic cloves.
- Yellow onion: Nutrient and antioxidant-packed with anti-inflammatory effects. Onions also contain fiber and prebiotics, which may help boost gut health [1]. You can find pre-diced onions (typically white diced onions) at the grocery store if you don’t want to chop onions. Yellow onion has a more pungent flavor while white onion is milder.
- 5 spice seasoning blend: A blend of anise, ginger, cinnamon, fennel, and black pepper. You may see variations of this blend at the store.
- Low sodium soy sauce or coconut aminos
- Regular soy sauce contains a high amount of sodium at nearly 1,000 milligrams for 1 tablespoon.
- Health experts recommend no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day to reduce the risk of high blood pressure and heart disease [2].
- Low sodium soy sauce contains nearly half the sodium of regular soy sauce.
- Coconut aminos is also lower in sodium and a good substitute if you are trying to avoid soy. It’s made from the fermented sap of coconut palm and sea salt though it does not have a coconut taste. Coconut aminos is also a dark color and bottled like soy sauce. You may find it in the health food section or Asian food aisle of most grocery stores. Some stores may also carry it in the condiment section or the gluten-free or organic section.
- Ramen noodles: Just the noodles, no need for the seasoning packet that comes with it. Aside from providing carbs, ramen noodles also offer 4 grams of protein and 15% of the daily value for iron in one serving.
- Coleslaw mix: A coleslaw mix of nutrient-rich cabbage and carrots blends effortlessly with noodles, but feel free to use any coleslaw mix you’d like. One cup of coleslaw provides about 45% of the daily value of vitamin C. Bagged coleslaw mix is super convenient for other dishes like this avocado coleslaw salad recipe. However, if you’re chopping your cabbage and carrots, note that you’ll need about 8 cups.
Steps
Start with mincing the garlic and dicing the onion if you’re using the ones not pre-minced and pre-diced.
In a small bowl or cup, whisk together the low sodium soy sauce or coconut aminos with 5 spice seasoning blend.
If you want to make this spicy, add Sriracha sauce, red chili paste, or red pepper flakes to the blend. A little goes a long way with these spicy flavors so add a little bit at a time.
Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning as needed. Set sauce aside.
Next, heat the oil in a large skillet or sauté pan on medium to high heat. Add the diced onions and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally with a wooden, until softened.
Add minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Then push the garlic and onions to the side of the skillet.
Add the ground pork to the center of the skillet and cook for 30 seconds. Then with a wooden spoon, break the pork apart and continue to cook until no longer pink.
While the pork is cooking, start boiling a pot of water to cook the ramen noodles. Once the water is boiling, add the ramen noodles and cook for 2 minutes. After noodles are cooked, use a colander over the sink to drain.
Add the coleslaw mix to the skillet and cook until the coleslaw reduces in size and slightly wilts. Put a lid on the skillet to speed up the process and it will cook in about 2 minutes.
Add the cooked ramen noodles and soy sauce blend to the skillet, tossing with the egg roll ingredients until well combined. Cook another 1to 2 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking.
Finally, top egg roll ramen with chopped fresh green onions or cilantro, serve immediately, and enjoy! Leftovers may be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
This egg roll ramen dish can be made with any type of freshly chopped meat or poultry. Additionally, leftover cooked chopped meat can be used by adding it to the skillet when you add the ramen noodles and sauce blend.
If you prefer a seafood or plant-based option, shrimp or tofu can be substituted instead.
One of the pet peeves I sometimes have with noodle dishes at the restaurant is the lack of veggies and mostly noodles.
What’s great about this recipe, as with all cooking at home, is you control the ingredients.
If you’d like to add other vegetables to the dish along with the amount of coleslaw in this recipe, consider increasing the amount of sauce to accommodate more ingredients.
You can also reduce the noodles and add more vegetables.
If you are reducing the amount of coleslaw and adding other vegetables, consider half a bag of the coleslaw and about 4 cups of the vegetables you’d like to add.
The vegetables listed below are typically used in stir-fry dishes and also work well in this recipe. Remember to have all of your veggies chopped before you start cooking. Or look out for the pre-cut versions for convenience.
Harder vegetables like broccoli and carrots take longer to cook so you’ll want to cut those into small pieces and julienne, respectively, to reduce cooking time.
– stir fry blend
– baby corn
– bell peppers thinly sliced
– broccoli chopped
– carrots julienned
– mushrooms sliced
– water chestnuts sliced
The 5 spice seasoning blend has ginger. But for more ginger flavor, add 1 teaspoon of ground ginger or grated fresh ginger to the soy sauce and 5 spice seasoning blend.
If you don’t care to garnish with green onions and cilantro, it’s okay to omit them. Or you may like to try these other toppings:
– chopped fresh Thai basil
– wonton strips
– sesame seeds
– crushed peanuts
– toasted and chopped cashews
– a scoop of probiotic-rich kimchi
Easy Egg Roll Ramen Noodles in Skillet
Equipment
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- 1 large skillet or sauté pan
- 1 wooden spoon or wooden spatula
- 1 medium pot
- 1 colander
- 1 chopping board (if not using pre-cut ingredients
- 1 chef knife (if not using pre-cut ingredients)
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup low sodium soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 2 teaspoons 5 spice seasoning blend
- 2 tablespoons oil for cooking (sesame oil for best flavor or use any cooking oil you have)
- ½ big yellow onion, diced (or 1 small yellow onion).
- 3 to 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 pound ground meat (poultry, pork, or lean beef)
- 3 3-ounce packages of ramen noodles
- 1 16 ounces bag of coleslaw mix
- chopped fresh green onions or cilantro
- Optional (to make spicy): 1 to 2 teaspoons Sriracha sauce or red chili paste, or ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes.
Instructions
- Whisk low sodium soy sauce or coconut aminos with 5 spice seasoning blend in a small bowl or cup. Add optional spice.
- Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet or sauté pan. Add the onion and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until softened.
- Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Then push garlic and onions to the side.
- Add the ground meat to the center of the skillet and cook for about 30 seconds, breaking apart with a wooden spoon. Continue to cook until no longer pink.
- While ground meat is cooking, start boiling water to cook the ramen noodles. Once the water begins to boil, add the ramen noodles and cook for 2 minutes. Once cooked, strain the noodles in a colander over the sink.
- When the ground meat is all cooked, add the coleslaw mix. Cook until the coleslaw has reduced in size and is slightly wilted. This will take about 2 minutes if you place the lid on the skillet. It will take a couple of minutes or so longer if you don't have a lid.
- Once the coleslaw has cooked, add the noodles and sauce blend. Toss everything until well combined.
- Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Top with chopped fresh green onions or cilantro and enjoy!
Notes
Tried this recipe? What variations or adaptations did you make? Share in the comments.
