Inside-Out Pork Egg Roll Bowls

Inside-Out Pork Egg Roll Bowls are a healthy way to deliver a heaping serving of veggies. 

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Hedonism and egg rolls

(updated post)

Every once in a while, Phil and I have what we like to call “100-yard days.” As in, we (1) don’t get out of our PJs and (2) walk ≤100 yards. These are the days that we will likely reach for a take-out menu and order our favorite naughty Chinese take-out—the crown jewel of which is always the egg roll.

At these moments, we are not thinking about the calories or fat.

But it’s January. As such, we’re recovering from a streak of hedonism the likes of which…shall never again be repeated. Suffice to say, “YIKES.”

So, when the egg-roll urge overcame us a couple of weekends ago, I went to the fridge to see what I could do that might be a smidge healthier. As luck would have it, there was a pound of ground pork in the freezer. The crisper yielded a ton of veggies that needed to be used up. I decided to improvise an “inside-out egg roll”—sans oily, deep-fried wrapper.

And here we are.

Prepping Inside-Out Pork Egg Roll Bowls

Inside-out pork egg roll bowls are the perfect way to use up the veggies languishing in your crisper and pantry. With the exception of the ginger and garlic, I like big, chunky vegetables in my inside-out pork egg roll bowls. The usual suspects are onion, garlic, ginger, scallions, and cabbage. I’ve also included mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower—depending on what I have available.

Save time by meal-prepping!

A meal-prep strategy works wonderfully for inside-out pork egg roll bowls: chop all of the veggies in advance and store them in the fridge. I put together the vegetables that go into the wok at the same time, for example

1. carrots + onions + scallion whites
2. garlic + ginger
3. mushrooms + cabbage + scallion greens

You can also mix up the sauce in advance so that all you have to do is brown off and drain the meat, then stir-fry the vegetables and mix everything together with the sauce.

Stir-frying

You will need a large skillet or wok for this operation. I use a heavy pan from Staub, which works quite nicely as a wok—note that it’s filled to capacity (I’ve included an affiliate link after the recipe). If you don’t have a big enough pan, simply cook the vegetables in batches and mix everything together later.

With the amount of cabbage I include in the inside-out pork egg roll bowls, the dish is really quite substantial on its own. There’s really no need for rice or noodles. Feel free to serve it over brown rice or whatever you fancy. In fact, I last served it over a brown rice and quinoa mix that came in a microwave pouch (yeah, I’m not perfect: shortcuts are awesome).

I love to pack leftover inside-out pork egg roll bowls for lunch the next day: I either eat it as-is or take along some washed Bibb lettuce leaves to make wraps.

That’s all there is to it! An “egg roll” you can feel good about eating. I hope you love Inside-Out Pork Egg Roll Bowls as much as we do!

–xoxo Michelle

P.S. Do you like easy dinner strategies like this? Check out my how-to article, Mastering Easy One-Pot Meal Recipes!

Linkies

I’m sharing my Inside-Out Pork Egg Roll Bowls recipe with these link parties:

• #CookBlogShare, a great food blogger recipe-share at Everyday Healthy Recipes.
  • I linked this up with a previous #CookBlogShare as well—just about a year ago at Recipes Made Easy.
• #CookOnceEatTwice, for recipes that are just as good left-over as they are when you made them, hosted by Searching for Spice.
• #RecipeOfTheWeek hosted by A Mummy Too.
• #BrillBlogPosts (coming soon!), a link party with a variety of lifestyle reads hosted by Honest Mum.

5 from 5 votes

Print

Inside-Out Pork Egg Roll Bowls

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

18 mins

Total Time

25 mins

 

All the deliciousness of egg rolls, but lighter and in bowl form. Inside-Out Pork Egg Roll Bowls are a great way to use up vegetables. Meal-prep in advance by chopping the vegetables and mixing up the sauce. This recipe works best with a large wok or skillet with a lid. Although I like to eat this stir-fry by itself, it's also wonderful over brown or basmati rice.

Course: Entree

Cuisine: Asian

Servings: 6 –8

Author: Michelle

Ingredients

For the sauce:

• 1/3 cup hoisin sauce (see Recipe Note #1)
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Asian fish sauce
• 2 tbsp brown sugar (See Recipe Note #2)
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 tsp sesame oil

For the meat and vegetables:

• 1 lb ground pork (you can also use turkey, chicken, or beef)
• 2 tbsp peanut or vegetable oil, divided
• 1 large onion, large dice or sliced into large quarter-rings (you can use red, yellow, or white onions)
• 1 1-inch cube ginger, peeled and finely minced
• 2 tbsp garlic, finely minced
• 8 oz shiitake or cremini mushrooms, chopped
• 4 cups green cabbage, coarsely chopped
• 1 bunch scallions, chopped in large sections (see Recipe Note #3)

Other vegetable options: up to 1.5 additional cups of the following (mix and match)

• carrots, peeled and sliced on the bias
• broccoli florets
• cauliflower florets

Optional condiments

• tamari
• sriracha

Instructions

1. Mix the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.

2. Heat 1 tbsp of the peanut or vegetable oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground pork and brown, stirring frequently and breaking into small chunks, as it cooks, 8–10 minutes or until uniformly browned. Drain and set aside.

3. Add the other tbsp of oil to the skillet along with the onion. Stir-fry for 3 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic; stir-fry for 1 minute. Stir in the mushrooms, cabbage, and scallions (white and light green parts). Lid the skillet and cook, stirring frequently, ~5 minutes, or until the cabbage has cooked down slightly.

4. Add the ground pork back to the pan along with the green scallion tops and sauce. Stir to combine. Dish into bowls and serve.

Recipe Notes

1. If you are on a strict low-carb diet, hoisin sauce is a no-no. You can make your own low-carb version, or omit the sauce and add 1/4 cup more soy sauce mixed with an additional 1 tsp Splenda (on top of what you add for the substitution in Recipe Note #2).
2. You can substitute 1.5 tbsp of honey, or use Splenda.
3. Chop the scallions into ~1-inch sections, keeping the white and light green bottoms separated from the dark green tops, which get added later. 
4. Meal-prep/work-ahead: chop the vegetables and make the sauce the day before you plan to serve the Inside-Out Pork Egg Roll Bowls.

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