Egg Roll in a Bowl
This easy Egg Roll in a Bowl recipe is loaded with ground pork, cabbage, and carrots. Served with crispy wonton strips and a tasty Asian sauce, our family loves this meal!
Our Favorite Egg Roll in a Bowl Recipe
Our family has a serious affection for egg rolls. But we don’t clamor for just any ol’ egg rolls. We definitely have our favorites.
Locally, this means grabbing them fresh and hot from our favorite Vietnamese restaurant Thanh Truc, the Que Viet stand at the Minnesota State Fair, or Thai Basil. All of these places serve wonderfully fresh egg rolls with a super crispy, flaky wrapper, plus a simple rice vinegar sauce for dipping.
These local favorites have served as inspiration for creating an easy recipe in our very own kitchen. A dish with all the familiar flavors of the beloved egg roll, including some wonton strips for salty crunch and rice vinegar sauce to drizzle over the top.
I hope you enjoy this Egg Roll in a Bowl recipe as much as our family does! If you are looking for more Asian-inspired recipes, try our favorite poke bowl recipe!
What Makes this Recipe Work
I’ve tried other egg roll bowl recipes, but all of them lacked key pieces for me. They didn’t incorporate the salty, crispy crunch of the fried egg roll wrapper, nor did they include the rice vinegar sauce that is so darn yummy!
Also…I always boost the fresh ginger in recipes. You might think I include too much when you look at the recipe, but just trust me. All that ginger works beautifully here.
How to Make an Egg Roll in a Bowl
This recipe is made in one skillet and is super easy to prepare. Here’s how to do it:
Make the sauce:
This egg roll in a bowl recipe has a homemade sauce that packs a ton of flavor! To make it, just add all the sauce ingredients to a pot over medium heat and stir until everything has melded together. Set aside to cool.
Make the egg roll filling
In a large skillet with tall sides, heat the sesame oil over medium heat. Then brown the pork, breaking the meat apart as it cooks. This will take about 5-7 minutes. Add fresh garlic, a good amount of fresh ginger and black pepper, a couple tablespoons of soy sauce, and a touch of sugar.
Add the shredded cabbage and carrots. The quantity stated will feel excessive, but its volume shrinks down in a massive way as you cook everything in the skillet. Continue cooking, folding every now and then, until veggies are softened and shrunken, yet still have some crunch.
Sprinkle a little rice vinegar over the top, and the filling is done!
Serve
When your egg roll filling is done, spoon it over white rice and top with your egg roll sauce, green onions and wonton strips.
Tips for Success
- Be sure to use a large skillet with tall sides, as you will need room for folding in all the shredded cabbage and carrots. If you don’t have such a skillet, just use a large pot.
- If pork isn’t your thing, try ground chicken, turkey, or beef. We prefer egg rolls made with ground pork, for the most flavor and authenticity when it comes to mimicking our favorite egg rolls, but definitely feel free to mix things up!
Serving Suggestions
Serve the egg roll filling over hot white rice, with sliced green onions and fresh cilantro.
And don’t forget the rice vinegar sauce. I serve it alongside, basically like a salad dressing to drizzle over the top. I tend to like quite a bit of the sauce with my pork egg roll in a bowl.
Also, please tell me you’ll include the fabulous little crispy wonton strips. This deconstructed egg roll recipe deserves these crunchy fellas!
If you want to make your own wonton strips – try this recipe from Spicy Southern Kitchen.
This recipe has quickly turned into a family favorite because it’s so awesome delicious. And as the person who most often makes it, I’m a super fan of its overall simplicity in delivering the flavors of egg rolls we love so much as a family.
You might also like:
Easy Korean Beef – Another quick and easy family favorite.
Vietnamese Noodle Salad with Pork – So very yummy.
Banh Mi Meatballs – Super fun flavors here!
Like this easy meal? Save this recipe to Pinterest!
Here are a few more recipes from my friends that use ground pork:
Meatball and Pecorino Soup from Fifteen Spatulas
Ground Pork Stir Fry from My Everyday Table
Gingery Pork Ramen from Noble Pig
Egg Roll in a Bowl
Ingredients
for the egg roll sauce:
- 1-1/2 c. water
- ¼ c. rice vinegar
- 1-1/2 T. fish sauce
- 3 T. sugar
- 1 large clove garlic minced
- ½ tsp. kosher salt
- 1 pinch crushed red pepper Use more if you like heat!
for the egg roll mixture:
- 1 T. sesame oil
- 1 lb. ground pork
- 3 large cloves garlic minced
- ¼ c. peeled minced fresh ginger
- 2 T. soy sauce
- ½ tsp. ground black pepper
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 5 c. shredded cabbage If you like, just use a 14-oz. bag of pre-shredded coleslaw mix
- 1 c. shredded carrots A bag of pre-shredded carrots works great!
- 1 T. rice vinegar
- 3 green onions sliced
- fresh cilantro leaves optional
- 1 c. wonton strips
Instructions
- for the egg roll sauce: In a small saucepan over medium to medium-high heat, stir together all sauce ingredients. Once sugar and salt have dissolved, remove from heat to cool to room temperature.
- for the egg roll mixture: Heat a large skillet with tall sides over medium heat. Once hot, add sesame oil and let it warm for almost 1 minute. Add pork, breaking it up with a wooden spoon or spatula. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring and breaking up occasionally, until pork is about half-way browned. Add garlic, ginger, soy sauce, black pepper, and sugar, stirring to combine. After pork is thoroughly browned, add cabbage and carrots, folding to combine. Cook, stirring occasionally, until cabbage and carrots are softened but still a bit crunchy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle rice vinegar over the top and fold one last time.
- to serve: Immediately serve hot egg roll mixture over white rice. Top with sliced green onions, fresh cilantro, and wonton strips. Serve with prepared egg roll sauce, to drizzle over the top.
Made this for my family tonight and it was a hit! Everyone couldn’t believe how much it tasted like an egg roll!! Even the picky one said they didn’t think they would like it but had to admit it was yummy after all! It’s a winner. Thanks.
I love egg rolls but don’t always want to get into deep frying because of the mess and extra calories. This is the perfect solution to get the egg roll taste without the splatter. There is a little mess created when cooking the pork and vegetables but an easy clean up. I was skeptical when I was making the egg roll sauce. I kept thinking I made a mistake along the way. But I didn’t. It is the perfect compliment to the egg roll mixture and rice. I did add a little garlic chili sauce to make it a little hotter. This is a delicious and addictive meal. So happy I have some leftovers.
So happy you liked this! Our girls crinkle their noses when making the sauce – but they LOVE it drizzled over the bowls. I like your garlic chili sauce addition – will give that a try!
Any thoughts on substitutions for the fish sauce? Would soy sauce work okay, do you think?Â
Hi Tricia – You could try some soy sauce, but soy sauce is definitely saltier than fish sauce, so start out with a lighter amount.
This is a great weeknight meal! The dish came together so quickly. I was worried about the 1/4 cup ginger, but it wasn’t an issue at all. I used ground turkey instead of pork. Thanks for the recipe!
Made this as meal prep for lunches and it turned out great! I didn’t bother with the sauce and definitely should’ve waited to add the wonton strips until just before eating – will do next time.
Yay, I’m so happy to hear you liked this! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
I really enjoyed this! It was affordable and easy to put together!!! And the leftovers are great too!
Wonderful, so happy to hear this!!
Made this today we loved it! Didn’t need the wontons even thou I looked in the market but couldn’t find themÂ
Thank you for posting Flavor was great I used ground chicken.Â
So glad to hear this, Joan. The wonton strips aren’t necessary, but certainly are fun! Thanks for letting me know. :)
This is a very special recipe. I fried my own wonton strips.Â
I have made versions of this dish before and they have been good. Yours is great! The vinegar sauce takes it over the top. This is a keeper. Thanks.
YAY!! I love to hear this, because I always felt other recipes I tried were missing something. Thanks for coming back to let me know!
love this, great flavors and textures
OH my, this looks yummy! Wish I had a bowlful right now.