Sriracha Beef Cabbage Bowl
Everyone who likes ground beef, Sriracha, and creamy slaw will love this spicy Sriracha Beef Cabbage Bowl for an easy flavor-filled dinner! You can use more or less Sriracha to control the heat, and if you’re not a cilantro fan, just use sliced green onion instead of the cilantro.
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I love it when I get a good cooking idea from one of my favorite people, and my friend Jeanne was the brains behind this Sriracha Beef Cabbage Bowl recipe, which is something I’ve loved ever since Jeanne had the idea.
It happened when I made two of my favorite recipes for her one day when she came to visit. Then Jeanne had the brilliant idea to pile the meat from Sriracha Beef Lettuce Wraps on top of Spicy Mexican Slaw, and this amazing new low-carb recipe was born. The creamy coolness of the cabbage slaw is the perfect partner to the spicy Sriracha beef in this recipe; hope you enjoy!
What ingredients do you need for this recipe?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- pkg. of fresh coleslaw mix
- sugar snap peas
- red bell pepper, cut into short thin strips
- mayo
- fresh-squeezed lime juice (I used my fresh-frozen lime juice for some of it)
- Green Tabasco Sauce (affiliate link)
- Vege-Sal (affiliate link) or use regular salt if you don’t have Vege-Sal.
- ground beef
- Grapeseed Oil (affiliate link) or use any neutral-flavored, high-heat oil
- Red Boat Fish Sauce (affiliate link), or other fish sauce
- Sriracha Sauce (affiliate link)
- water
- grated lime zest zest (grated lime skin) from 1 lime
- fresh-squeezed lime juice (zest the lime and then squeeze the juice)
- thinly sliced green onion
- chopped cilantro (or use more green onion if you’re not a cilantro fan)
How to make Sriracha Beef Cabbage Bowls easier to get on the table:
If you’re a regular reader, you know how I am about improving the recipes! I did change both components of this recipe just a little from the original recipes that I made for Jeanne. One of the biggest changes was to use a package of coleslaw mix for the cabbage, which makes the recipe so quick and easy that I hope you’ll make it often!
How Spicy is the Sriracha Beef Cabbage Bowl?
In this recipe you can adjust the amount of Sriracha in the Sriracha Beef to make it as mild or spicy as you prefer. (Remember, you can always add more Sriracha but you can’t take it out.) I did cut down on the spiciness in the cabbage slaw just a bit, so it’s a cooling element for the spicy meat. (If you’re making this for kids, you might want to cut down the spiciness even more.)
Want more tasty bowl meals?
For more tasty one-bowl meals check out 20 Amazing Low-Carb Bowl Meals.
How to Make Sriracha Beef Cabbage Bowls:
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- I rarely use pre-cut coleslaw mix, but it was perfect to make this recipe super quick; of course, you can cut up your own cabbage if you prefer.
- You want the cabbage bowl part all ready when the meat is cooked. I prepped 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced sugar snap peas and sliced up half of a red bell pepper.
- Whisk together the mayo, fresh-squeezed lime juice (or fresh-frozen lime juice), Green Tabasco Sauce (affiliate link), and Vege-Sal (affiliate link) or salt to make the dressing.
- Combine the coleslaw mix, sliced sugar snap peas, and bell pepper strips in a bowl so it’s ready to toss with the dressing. (Save a little bit of the sliced sugar snap peas and pepper strips to garnish.)
- Heat a tiny amount of any neutral-flavored high-heat oil and cook the beef until it’s well-browned.
- While the beef cooks, zest the lime, squeeze the lime juice, and mix the Sriracha, Fish Sauce, and water so they’re ready to season the meat as soon as it’s done.
- Also chop a bunch of cilantro and slice some green onions. (Use more green onions if you don’t want cilantro.)
- When the beef is done, add the Sriracha mixture and stir to combine with the meat, cooking until the liquid has mostly evaporated from the pan
- Then turn off the stove and stir in the lime zest, lime juice, sliced green onions, and chopped cilantro.
- Add the dressing to the cabbage mixture and toss to combine.
- To make the cabbage bowls, put 1/4 of the slaw mixture into a bowl. Top with 1/4 of the beef mixture and garnish with some of the veggies you saved. Devour immediately.
More Beef in a Bowl Meal:
- Green Chile Beef Cabbage Bowl
- Middle Eastern Ground Beef Bowls
- Ground Beef Cauliflower Rice Taco Bowls
Sriracha Beef Cabbage Bowl
This Sriracha Beef Cabbage Bowl combines ground beef seasoned with Sriracha with creamy cabbage slaw for a low-carb bowl meal that's delicious and easy to make! This recipe is just the right amount of spicy for me, but use less Sriracha if you prefer.
Ingredients
- 1 14 oz. pkg. fresh coleslaw mix (see notes)
- 1 cup thinly sliced sugar snap peas
- 1/2 red bell pepper, cut into short thin strips
- 5 T mayo
- 3 T + 1 1/2 T fresh-squeezed lime juice (I used my fresh-frozen lime juice)
- 1 tsp. Green Tabasco Sauce
- small amount of Vege-Sal (to taste, or use regular salt if you don’t have Vege-Sal.)
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 2 tsp. grapeseed oil (or use any neutral-flavored, high-heat oil)
- 1 T fish sauce (see notes)
- 2 T Sriracha Sauce (see notes)
- 1 T water
- grated zest (grated lime skin) from 1 lime
- 1 1/2 T fresh-squeezed lime juice (zest the lime and then squeeze the juice)
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onion
- 1 cup chopped cilantro (or skip the cilantro and use more green onion if you’re not a cilantro fan)
Instructions
- If you’re not using the coleslaw mix, use a mandoline (affiliate link) or sharp knife to make 14 ounces thinly sliced green and red cabbage. (I would skip the carrots if you don’t use coleslaw mix.)
- Thinly slice sugar snap peas on the diagonal. Cut the red bell pepper in half, remove seeds from the half you’re using, cut that half lengthwise into two pieces, and then thinly slice crosswise to make short, thin strips. (You can use all the red pepper if you prefer.)
- Whisk together the mayo, lime juice, Green Tabasco Sauce (affiliate link), and Vege-Sal (affiliate link) to make the dressing.
- Put the cabbage mixture into a bowl so it’s ready to toss with the dressing as soon as the beef is ready, saving a little bit of the sugar snap peas and peppers for garnish.
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the beef, and cook over medium-high heat until all the meat is nicely browned, breaking apart with a turner as it cooks.
- While the beef is cooking, zest the lime skin and then squeeze the lime juice. (You might need to squeeze another lime or use some fresh-frozen lime juice to get enough juice if your lime is small.)
- Mix together the fish sauce, Sriracha Sauce (affiliate link), and water, replacing some of the Sriracha with an equal amount of water if you’re making it less spicy.
- When the beef is nicely browned, add the Sriracha mixture and cook while stirring until the liquid has mostly evaporated.
- Turn off the stove and stir in the lime zest, lime juice, sliced green onion, and chopped cilantro (or more green onion). Toss the cabbage mixture with the dressing.
- To assemble the cabbage bowls, put 1/4 of the cabbage mixture into each bowl, top with 1/4 of the beef mixture, and garnish with some sliced sugar snap peas and red pepper strips. Enjoy!
Notes
Use cole slaw mix or thinly sliced fresh cabbage, whichever you prefer. I love Red Boat Fish Sauce (affiliate link) for this recipe. Replace some of the Sriracha with more water if you want to cut down the spiciness.
The beef mixture will keep in the fridge for a day or so, although it’s best freshly made. If you're going to be having leftovers, I would only add dressing to the amount of cabbage you’ll use at that meal and refrigerate the leftover meat, leftover cabbage, and dressing separately. Then re-heat the meat and combine the cabbage and dressing when you eat the leftovers.
This recipe idea came from Kalyn’s long-time friend Jeanne, with refinements by Kalyn.
Nutrition Information
Yield
4Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 511Total Fat 35gSaturated Fat 9.7gUnsaturated Fat 22gCholesterol 108mgSodium 819mgCarbohydrates 14gFiber 4gSugar 7.6gProtein 34g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Sriracha Beef Cabbage Bowl is a perfect recipe for low-carb eating plans and for the original South Beach Diet. Most commercial coleslaw mix has carrots which are higher in carbs and aren’t permitted for South Beach Phase One, but the amount of carrots is very small, so I wouldn’t stress over it. Cut up your own cabbage if it’s important to you to have slightly fewer carbs.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Bowl Meals to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe for Sriracha beef served over a bowl of cabbage was first posted in 2013 when my friend Jeanne came to lunch. The recipe was last updated with more information in 2024.
57 Comments on “Sriracha Beef Cabbage Bowl”
So glad you are enjoying it! Thanks for taking time to tell me.
We love this recipe! It is definitely a go to for dinner in our house.
This is one of my absolute favorite meals! It’s a wonderful combination o spicy, crunchy, hot, and cold – I just LOVE it! I substitute snow peas for the sugar snap peas (I just like them better), but other than that I could eat the entire thing by myself in one sitting if I’m not careful!
Thanks Jo Ann! So glad you are enjoying it.
Your “print  friendly” button on this recipe is not working!
Thanks so much for telling me! That happened to a few random recipes when I moved my site from Blogger, and I have NO idea what caused it. Fixed now.
Kalyn, Thanks for this recipe–it's truly genius! And delicious! I made this with ground turkey because husband doesn't eat red meat. I sliced the both the cabbage and red pepper on my mandolin and loved the superfine texture, then spiralized a carrot for additional color and crunch. LOVE the snap peas in this, they add so much freshness! I went ahead and dressed everything and portioned the leftovers after dinner. Having some for lunch now and it's still great! Thank you!!
So glad you enjoyed it! This is definitely one of my personal favorites too.
This was really yummy! Just right balance of flavors. And not sweet, 5 stars for that. 3 portions left to freeze for lunches, since I'm a home-mom, and I like a nice homemade lunch.Which is always a plus.(Although it was hard to stop at 1/4 batch! I could have eaten half of it! I know that 1/4 was enough, though, so I packed up the extra right away!) Thanks for this. I've tried several ground beef *fusion* recipes, and this was the only keeper so far@
Elle, so glad you enjoyed it. This is one of my personal faves as well!
This was delicious!
Thanks, so glad you enjoyed it!
This was DEEEELICIOUS. Even my 15-year old son raved about it: "it's a really good mix the spicy and sour". I enjoyed it so much that I made up the slaw again the next day to eat with blackened tilapia. Super yummy!
Thanks Valerie; so glad everyone enjoyed it!
Billy that sounds delicious.
I make this with Napa Cabbage, thinly, very thinly, sliced radish, and paring knife carrots. Everything else the same. Big difference from the bagged slaw.
Jen, so glad you liked it. Love the sound of avocado with this.
I rarely comment on recipes, but had to on this one! The flavors were great on this – honestly way better than I expected! I left out the red pepper as it isn't my thing, and I added a couple slices of avocado on top. Absolutely love it though, and it's going in my regular rotation for sure!
Hi Katy, so glad you enjoyed it. I'm probably pushing the limit a little on the mayo, that's one of my weaknesses. South Beach allows up to 2 tablespoons of low-fat mayo but personally I'd rather have less and have real mayo.
This was delicious! It's a good thing you added the comment that it was Phase 1 – hard to believe with the mayonnaise. When I'm South Beachin, I tend to find something I like, like your Sauerkraut Soup, and just eat it all the time. This will be my summer sauerkraut soup, along with the fish version! Yum!
So glad you like it!
My kind of recipe – get in, get it made and enjoy. Perfect! Thanks
I also make this frequently and it's one of my (many) favorites from your postings. Thank you!
Raeanne, so glad you have been enjoying it!
We absolutely love this recipe! I've made it probably 4 times in the last two months. Sometimes I saute the snow peas and red pepper just a little and add to the ground beef. This is so quick and easy to make.
Carol, so glad you enjoyed it so much!
Made this 2 days ago. Really loved it!! Did save the leftovers the way you suggested (separated) and plan to have them today for lunch! Thanks! I'm going to pull this into my own personal recipe database (it's not a blog, just a database for my own use, but it does have a place for crediting the recipe)
So glad you enjoyed it!
This is the first recipe of yours I have made and we loved it! Thanks for blogging!
Clare, so glad you liked it, and I am intrigued by the angel hair cabbage!
This recipe is DELICIOUS- and I love the idea of making a lot of different kinds of bowls like this one. We found a mix at two of our regular grocery chains called angel hair cole slaw- it's just finely shredded green cabbage. Worked perfectly for this recipe, because there's no carrots. For red cabbage lovers though, you'd have to add it in.
Thanks!
I know some people substitute Greek Yogurt for Mayo in coleslaw, but I haven't tried it with this recipe. I think it might work, but it might be a bit more watery.
This sounds great but I'm not a mayo fan. Any other suggestions?
Hollie, so glad you're enjoying the recipes. And I love hearing how people adapt them to their own taste, or what's on hand. No worries about that ever!
Have tried lots of your recipes – they're all delicious, but my hubby raved about this one. Hope you don't mind, but I used what was on hand – my tweaks were thinly sliced top sirloin instead of the ground beef, organic tamari for the fish sauce, sliced radishes and avocado for the snow peas and red pepper (well, they were the same color!). It turned out just wonderful – thank you for the inspiration.
Lia, so glad you liked it!
Delicious! I put a little bit of brown rice at the bottom of the bowls before adding the cabbage. Will definitely make this again. Thank you!!!
You're very smart on those substitutions! Glad you enjoyed it.
Made this last night! Yummy! I subbed Tapatio for the green tabasco, & worcestershire for the fish sauce (it's what I had on hand), and it was delicious! I'm excited for the leftovers tonight!
Shelby, so glad you enjoyed it! And I've already created a Mexican-flavored version that will be appearing on the blog soon!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was a great light late summer meal. It was a break from more traditional salads and I loved all the crunch. I think it will hold up well as leftovers or for a work lunch. I look forward to trying a few variations. Asian flavored slaw + ginger chicken? Slaw with italian vinaigrette and some sautéed shrimps with sun-dried tomatoes? This is going to lead to a lot of great dinners/lunches.
Lynne, so glad you enjoyed it. And I love hearing how people adapt the recipes; that's what cooking is all about!
We made it with ground chicken and didn't use the fish sauce. It was fantastic! Will definitely make it again. Thanks for helping us add great variety to our healthy meals. 🙂
Doren, thanks for that nice feedback. and I do think this would be great with turkey!
How could this not be a hit? I can't wait to try it… Just one more time that you have taken a bunch of ingredients that I love and combined them in a new way that I'd never have thought of. I definitely find the coleslaw mix a time saver. Wonder if ground turkey would work.
Thanks for this, and all the others!
They are sugar snap peas and they are listed in the ingredients and mentioned in the instructions too.
This looks real good, will have to try with bison meat. I have a question about the picture versus the ingredients list. The picture clearly shows snow peas cut up on top of the salad, but they are not listed in the ingredients. Please advise why. tysm
KatesMom99, I know a few other people like that. I'm a big cilantro fan, but this will definitely still be great without it.
Kalyn, this looks delicious. However, I had to laugh when you said to use less cilantro if you are not a fan. If you were one of the unfortunate people like me who taste soap when they eat cilantro, you'd know that even a little bit of cilantro is enough to make a whole dish taste nasty. 🙂 I'm afraid I'll have to just leave it out entirely.
Elizabeth, how fun that you made it right away. And thanks for letting me know that you're enjoying the recipes. That always makes my day!
Kalyn, I have been making recipes from your site for too long to have not commented before… Thank you for so many great meals!! When I saw this I felt compelled to make it immediately. It was fantastic. Anything that involves sriracha makes me happy 🙂
Alyssa, so glad you like it. I can tell this one will become a regular at my house!
Lydia, agreed. I think the coleslaw mix is perfect for this!
Sriracha and lime, one of nature's perfect combinations! I love using cole slaw mix from the grocery store; it's a great convenience food.
Awesome flavor combo Kalyn! I have to make this 🙂
Thanks Valentina! So glad you like it.
WOW! This is gorgeous! And I'm sure, incredibly delicious!