Easy and Healthy Vegan Egg Roll in a Bowl Recipe

Name: Easy and Healthy Vegan Egg Roll in a Bowl Recipe
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 35 min
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: 1 Savoy Cabbage; Cut into Long Strips (See Note 1); 2-3 Carrots, Peeled and Grated; 1 Red Bell Pepper, Cut into Fine Strips; 12-16 Oz Baby Bella Mushrooms, Finely Chopped; 12 Oz Broccoli Coleslaw; Four Green Onions, Finely Chopped; 1 Tablespoon Raw Ginger, Minced (Note 2); 4 Cloves Garlic, Minced; 2 Cups Texted Vegetable Protein; 2 Cups Vegetable Broth or Vegan Beef Broth; 5 Tablespoons Low-Sodium Soy Sauce; 1 Tablespoon Sesame Oil (optional); 1.5-2 Teaspoons Cornstarch; 4 to 6 Cups White Rice (See Note 3); Additional Water to help with the cooking process

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Vegan Egg Roll in a Bowl is a great way to have a cheap yet healthy dinner! With savoy cabbage, carrots, TVP, and other low cost ingredients, you get 4 meals out of this recipe. So grab your wok and let stir fry some vegetables!

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Hey Internet, with everything that is going on in the world and the economy, we're going to start focusing more on meals that make a lot of food and are easier on our wallets.

Don't get us wrong, we love recipes like our Beyond Meat Meatloaf. But with the prices of store-bought meat substitutes now, we think that it would be for the best for everyone, including ourselves, that we focus on cheaper forms of vegan protein. Depending on sales, replacements like these can just be purchased from the store with little other preparation, can be cheaper than animal meat. But we really want to focus on even cheaper options.

Luckily there are vegan meat substitutes that already are cheaper than meat and have a ton of protein! Today we are using one of the easiest ones; Textured Vegetable Protein. TVP is made by removing the fats from soy flour (though the flours of other grains can be used as well). What remains is dried, high-protein flakes that can be rehydrated to taste like almost anything! When you rehydrate them, they have an almost ground beef consistency (or ground pork) that's great in a lot of recipes. Plus you can flavor them in so many different ways with different types of broth.

One of our favorite recipes that use TVP is our Easy Vegan Ragu. This pasta sauce recipe has over 17 grams of protein per serving. It's an easy meal that leaves us feeling satisfied everytime we make it. Plus it only takes about 25 minutes to make. Not bad for homemade pasta sauce.

We also have a general recipe for Meatless Crumbles that uses TVP, which we use in a bunch of other recipes. One of theses is our Vegan Hamburger Helper, which even takes less time. It's a really comforting dish that comes together in 20 minutes! We've also modified this recipe into a Vegan Chorizo and used it for salads, including this Vegan Taco Bowl recipe.

Today, we are using this cheap protein source to make another easy and filling recipe. Egg roll bowls have been making the rounds across the Internet and it's easy to see why. Just chop up some vegetables, like cabbage and carrots, and then stir fry them. With how popular they've gotten, it's time vegans also got their own deconstructed egg roll recipe.

This recipe has all the great flavor and heartiness of classic egg rolls (have you tried our Vegan Egg Rolls yet?) but we like to serve it over rice. You could use noodles like our Vegan Garlic Noodles, or go low carb and serve with cauliflower rice and greens.

The star vegetable of this savoy cabbage. This green cabbage can cost anywhere between 1 to 3 dollars... we bought it on sale which saved a bunch! You can use ANY cabbage you like. Paired with the other cheap vegetables, like carrots, broccoli slaw, and green onions, and easy to make rice, you get a lot of meals out this vegan version of a healthy dinner! There's also many delicious additions that you can add when you find the perfect sale at the store.

So let's get chopping!

Why You'll Love This Vegan Egg Roll Bowl

Cost-Effective: Everything should a cost roughly 11 dollars for 6 servings (ingredient prices may vary). That's less than 2 dollars each! Great for such a healthy dinner and it can be used for meal prep to make a bunch of meals in advance so you can reheat with minimal effort.
Lots of Nutrients: Each serving is loaded with plenty of micronutrients and vitamins!
Tons of Additions: It's easy to swap out vegetables depending on what sales are going on near you or what you like (think of what veggies you like in traditional egg rolls!). We'll talk about it more in our Substitutions and Additions section.

Ingredients

Pick up the following simple ingredients for this vegan egg roll bowl recipe the next time you're at your local grocery store. See the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full ingredients, instructions, and accurate nutrition information (to the best of my ability; please consult your physician, registered dietitian, or healthcare professional if you have specific dietary needs or need to meet certain daily values of any nutrient). I give substitutions for the ingredients in the section below this one, so most people can still make this recipe!

1 Savoy Cabbage; Cut into Long Strips: Let us explain what we want you to do with the cabbage. First remove any brown or unhappy leaves form the outside of the cabbage. Place the cabbage down on the cutting board on it's bottom. Slice it in half, vertically. Then cut out the hard cores from the cabbage sides. Next, place the flat ends of the sides facing down on the cutting board. Chop thin slices and then break up the pieces. Chop up any large remaining bits.
2-3 Carrots, Peeled and Grated
1 Red Bell Pepper, Cut into Fine Strips
12-16 Oz Baby Bella Mushrooms, Finely Chopped: Actually any mushrooms should work here! White button or portobello will be good, but more interesting and flavorful options include shiitake mushrooms or oyster mushrooms! Those can be a bit more expensive and they're hard to find in our little town, so we stuck with baby Bellas.
12 Oz Broccoli Coleslaw
Four Green Onions, Finely Chopped
1 Tablespoon Raw Ginger, Minced: We prefer fresh ginger when we can get it. Our favorite way to always have fresh ginger on hand is to buy the root and stick it in a reusable food storage bag in the freezer. You can grate it using a microplane (it's actually easier to grate when frozen!) and don't worry about peeling because it's fine to eat the skin! If you don't have fresh ginger, go ahead and use a little pinch of ground ginger but it won't have as big impact on the flavor as fresh ginger does in our opinion.
4 Cloves Garlic, Minced
2 Cups Texted Vegetable Protein: We use this with some broth to make a vegan ground meat.
2 Cups Vegetable Broth or Vegan Beef Broth: We use Better than Bouillon No Beef Paste to make our vegan beef broth.
5 Tablespoons Low-Sodium Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Sesame Oil (optional)
1.5-2 Teaspoons Cornstarch (arrowroot powder also works fine)
6 Cups White Rice: Make a cup for each serving you want. You can make this ahead of time! Also, our favorite way to make this is in an Instant Pot. Just add 2 cups rinsed Jasmine rice and 2 cups water into the Instant Pot and cook for 3 minutes on pressure cook mode. Then let it natural release for 10 minutes and then release the valve. Rice made this way is so fluffy and delcious! We use this method for all sorts of meal prep.
Additional Water to help with the cooking process.

Substitutions and Additions

Cabbage: Other cabbages should work just as well. So if the sales are better on like a red cabbage, grab it!
Soy Sauce: If you are gluten-free, there is gluten-free tamari that taste just as good as soy sauce!
TVP: Soy curls work the same as TVP for rehydrating. In fact, if you've already have used some soy curls, this recipe is perfect for the crumbles at the bottom of the bag that you have saved.
Green Onions: In a pinch, you could finely dice some yellow onion or sweet onions to get a bit of bite to your dish. You'll want to add it a bit earlier in the process to get it to cook properly.
Broccoli Coleslaw: Another type of coleslaw mix will work with this recipe! We like broccoli coleslaw for the extra nutrients.
Addition - Avocado: This fresh and delicious addition helps add a healthy fat to the recipe, which helps it feel more filling.
Addition - Sesame Seeds: An easy way to add some nuttiness to your bowl as well as some healthy fats to help make your meal feel more filling!
Addition - Wonton Strips: A nice crunch from some crispy wontons goes a long way in adding some more texture to this recipe.
Addition - Shiitake Mushrooms: Shiitakes are a great way to add more flavor and texture to your bowl.
Other Veggies That Work Well: water chestnuts, bean sprouts, regular broccoli or tenderstem broccoli, cauliflower, etc.
Spices: We tried to keep this recipe as simple as possible, but if you have an well-stocked (or overflowing like ours) spice cabinet, you might want to play around with some spices! We'd suggest Chinese five spice powder, black pepper and/or white pepper, red pepper flakes if you like it spicy, or, if you do like it pretty spicy, trying grinding up some Sichuan peppercorns! And it's not a spice, but a splash of rice vinegar or would be lovely as well.

How to Make Vegan Egg Roll in a Bowl

Note: For this recipe, it is ideal that you have a wok. A good alternative for this recipe would be a large pot rather than a pan or large skillet. If you have to use a skillet, consider halving the amount of ingredients (or cooking in batches) because there will be a lot of food!
Make the Rice: If you have not made the rice yet, now's a good time to start. We suggest making it in an Instant Pot if you have one! Add 2 cups rinsed Jasmine rice and 2 cups water to the pot, seal it, and then pressure cook for 3 minutes (some people like to add a splash of oil and a pinch of salt but we've never bothered with that). Then let the pot natural release for 10 minute before turning the release valve. Once you've safely removed the lid, fluff the rice with a fork.
Soak the TVP: Add the TVP and the vegan broth to a container that can hold 4 cups. Let soak for about 10 minutes. It's ok if it soaks for a little longer while you prepare your other ingredients.
Chop up the Cabbage: First remove any brown or unhappy leaves form the outside of the cabbage. Place the cabbage down on the cutting board on it's bottom. Slice it in half, vertically. Then cut out the hard cores from the cabbage sides. Next, place the flat ends of the sides facing down on the cutting board. Chop thin slices and then break up the pieces . Chop up anything large remaining bits.
Grate the Carrots: Peel your carrots if you wish. We use a box grater poised over a wide bowl for this step.
Slice up the Bell Pepper and Mushrooms: Slice each side of the bell pepper into thin strips (we like to slice once widthwise as well to make the strips shorter and easier to eat. For the mushrooms, small dice them, stem included.
Start the Mushrooms: Heat the wok on medium high heat. Add the mushrooms and if you don't have a non-stick wok, add a splash of water. The mushrooms will being to release the water inside them. Once the water starts to decrease, add the garlic and ginger.
Add the Cabbage: Add the cabbage slices and about a ½ cup of water to the wok and then cover with a lid. Cook for about 3-4 minutes.
Add the Broccoli Slaw: Lift the lid and see if you need to add additional water. Then add the broccoli slaw and put the lid back on. Cook for 3 minutes more.
Add the Bell Peppers: Add the bell peppers and check the water again. Place the lid again and cook for about 3 minutes.
Add TVP and Remaining Veggies: Remove the lid and add the carrots and green onion and briefly cook. Then add the TVP and cook for 1 to 2 minutes.
Mix and Add the Sauce: In a 1 cup measuring cup or small bowl, add the soy sauce, sesame oil, and cornstarch. Whisk and then add to the wok, making sure to pour it around the sides while pushing aside the vegetables with your spatula. This will help the cornstarch activate from the heat. Mix everything together well.
Serve: Add rice to bowls or resealable containers and then add the egg roll mixture on top of it. If eating immediately, add any add-ons such as sesame seeds or avocado.

Storage Instructions

Add the egg roll mix to an airtight container and refrigerate. It should last for about 5 days. You can store the rice in the same container, but we recommend not adding the additions like avocado or wonton strips as they will either brown or get soggy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do I really need a wok for this recipe?

The are several reason why you should use a wok. First, and most importantly, this recipe makes a lot of food. It will shrink down a little while it cooks, but even then our wok was really full. Second, the shape of the wok will help with the cooking process to cook down the vegetables. It also provides a larger surface area and encourages browning. If you don't have a wok, either consider halving the recipe or try cooking it in a large pot.

Could I use this to make egg rolls?

Yes! Always check the ingredients list, but most egg roll wrappers are vegan - check out our Vegan Egg Rolls recipe! You could also chill the mixture and then use it for some fresh spring rolls or summer rolls.

Are there ways I could save time on the chopping?

Yes, you can buy pre-chopped vegetables, such as carrot shreds and sliced mushrooms.

Could I pair this with anything else other than rice?

Glass noodles or chow mein noodles are excellent choices! It would be also great with our Vegan Garlic Noodles, Vegan Yaki Udon, or Veggie Lo Mein. You can also shred some wonton wrappers and fry or air fry until golden brown for some crunch.

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