This quick and easy chicken cabbage stir-fry is a great midweek dinner meal. It’s healthy, nutritious, gluten-free, paleo, low-carb and Whole30-friendly. You can make it with chicken breast or thigh meat and any type of cabbage or any other cruciferous vegetables of choice.

I know how much you guys love quick and easy meals, so today I am sharing my snappy chicken cabbage stir-fry recipe. I often make this with my pre-made stir-fry sauce, which saves me even more time, but this recipe will list all the ingredients you need to whip this up in less than 20 minutes.
Nutrition Notes
This is an energising protein-rich meal full of B-vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that have many health benefits. Being low in carbohydrates (16 grams per serving) and high in dietary fibre (5-6 grams), this is a great dish for those trying to lose weight or control their blood sugar levels. You will be getting lots of protein from the chicken, so this is a fantastic post-workout meal as well.
If you’d like to up the mineral content, you could add some sesame seeds (for calcium), pumpkin seeds (for zinc) or Brazil nuts (for selenium) and extra leafy greens can boost the iron levels. See full macros and micronutrients below the recipe.
Chicken Cabbage Stir-Fry Ingredients
In this recipe, I am using coconut aminos in the stir-fry sauce, which is a paleo and Whole30-friendly version of soy sauce made from coconut sap. Learn more about coconut aminos here. You can usually find this sauce online or at your local health food store, or you can use Tamari wheat-free, gluten-free soy sauce.
Napa cabbage is also known as Chinese cabbage or wombok. Its leaves are lighter and more tender than regular cabbage, so it cooks quickly and is lovely raw in salads. It has a milder, sweeter and less peppery flavour compared to regular white cabbage.
You can often find it in the supermarkets and definitely at an Asian grocer, but regular white cabbage is absolutely fine to use as well. I like to buy a whole Napa cabbage and use up the green, outer leaves in an Asian salad and the thicker, whiter parts in a stir-fry.
You can throw in other vegetables like zucchini, cauliflower or other Asian greens and of course, chicken can be subbed with other meat or plant-based protein of choice. Enjoy and let me know in the comments if you liked it!
Can I Make This Stir-Fry With Other Protein?
Absolutely! This recipe is a great template that can be used with any protein of choice. I think pork and turkey would be the closest alternatives flavour wise, but you could easily use sliced beef, lamb, or prawns. For a vegetarian version, you can pan-fry some fermented tempeh, tofu or paneer (Indian firm cheese).
More Healthy Meal Recipes
- The Easiest Pumpkin Chicken Curry You’ll Ever Make
- Sheet Pan-Roasted Asparagus, Chicken & Chorizo
- Chicken Caesar Sheet Pan Dinner
- Greek-Style Turkey Bolognese
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Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil plus a little extra added later
- 400 g chicken breast or thigh meat sliced into thin strips (bite-size, ~08. lb.)
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper black is fine too, but white is more Asian in flavour
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- 3 cups Napa cabbage 1/2 medium cabbage, sliced
- 250 g broccoli or broccoli florets, about 10-12 broccolini stems / 0.5 broccolini
- 1 large carrot sliced
- 2 cloves garlic finely diced
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 3 1/2 tablespoons coconut aminos or 3 tablespoons Tamari sauce
- Juice of 1/2 lime or 2 tablespoons, lemon juice can also be used
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
Instructions
- Heat a tablespoon of coconut oil in a large frying pan or a wok over high heat. Once hot, add the chicken meat and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook for 3 minutes each side, then remove to a bowl with all the juices.
- Place the pan back over high heat and add another teaspoon of coconut oil. Add the ginger, cabbage, broccolini and carrot and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add a splash of water (about 2 tablespoons), garlic, fish sauce, coconut aminos sauce, lime juice and return the chicken meat to the pan. Mix through. Cook all together for 2 more minutes, stirring frequently. Finally, drizzle with a little sesame oil and stir through. Serve while hot!
This was good! I used a little extra chopped ginger and served with basmati rice.
Using this rainy morning to prep all the veggies and chicken.
Stir fried the dish later in the day. Very flavorful. I’m single so plenty of delicious leftovers in the coming days.
I prefer a lime – cilantro rice to complete the meal.
Will definitely be making again soon!
Thanks for taking the time to create and share this dish!
Easy to make and very yummy:)
This is SO delicious! Made it for dinner tonight and even my picky kids devoured it. This will be in my weekly rotation! Thanks!
Thanks, Mary 🙂
Thanks for your nice post I really like it and appreciate it.
Thanks, glad you liked it. Irena 🙂
Salty, no?
This is amazing! Instead of the coconut oil I used butter. Couldn’t find any of the coconut oil in my market. But butter was a good substitute. This was such a quick and easy dinner! And great leftover the next day! Will make again! Kept me full too!
Butter would give it a nice Japanese touch as they often do stir-fries with butter and soy sauce.
This is great!! So full of flavor!!
Thanks 🙂
Delicious stirfry !
I added extra chilli.
Definitely use coconut oil, it adds a yummy taste.
I love this and so does my 5 year old! Keeper recipe FOR SURE. Smelled a little weird whole cooking but I was so pleasently surprised.
Thank you and I am super happy the 5-year old has approved! Impressed 🙂
Delicious quick and easy – a great go to when in a hurry. I have made a few times now!
This was so good! Thank you, I am only 1 week into Whole30 and eating a lot of potatoes, and was ready for a yummy stir fry… This is it.. My husband loved it also!
Great stuff, Gail. Good luck with you Whole30 journey 🙂
The only problem with this recipe is that I wanted to eat all of it. So good and fairly quick which I appreciate.
Ha! Thank you. That’s a very nice compliment.
This was so good! I made it exactly as the recipe directed. The only I added was a sprinkle of Trader Joe’s umami seasoning (I add that on almost everything) and some red pepper flakes for a little heat.
Looks amazing, adding to the list!
Delicious recipe! Definitely will make again, I used soy sauce and added water chestnuts cause I love them. This came together pretty quick, I served with brown rice!
Thanks Crissy, glad you enjoyed it.
Do you know the net carb value of this recipe for chicken and cabbage stir fry?
Not off the top of my head but it’s quite low.
This recipe is great!!!!!! I followed the directions, except for adding more chicken and I used liquid aminos (it was cheaper ?). I served it with pad Thai, brown rice noodles. My husband also loved it. I will definitely be making this again!
Thank you, glad it was enjoyable 🙂
Quick and easy and really good!!!!! I’ll make this again!
Thanks, Kate. That’s what I love about the recipe.
How many calories per serving?
Is there a way you could give a calorie count on a serving. I am trying to lose weight and in addition to eating healthy, I am also counting calories. I enjoyed the recipe very much.
Hey Kelly, I am definitely trying to allocate some time to calculate the calories and some macros for my popular recipes You can copy/paste ingredients into something like MyFitnessCalculator in the meantime and get approximate numbers. I can tell you that this is in the low-calorie meal range 🙂
Looks delicious
absolutely fantastic! made a few mistakes however the end result was like there was a party in my mouth and everyone else could get stuffed it was all mine.
Basically it’s one of the best feeds I have made for ages.
U Bloody Beauy what a bloody rippa.
Used rice vermicelli and may add chilli next time.
In conclusion: I was having a feed of this meal, watching the sun set over the mountains and the sky/clouds were orange and I was drinking Asahi beer. What more could a man ask for.
I loved it but I think I made a mistake. I thought I could use liquid aminos instead (I couldn’t find coconut aminos), and it was a bit too salty……
Can you believe I haven’t tried Napa cabbage until this week?! I’m a convert.
Love this! I’m always trying to find more ways to eat cabbage!
Love this! I’m always trying to find more ways to eat cabbage, so I can’t wait to try out this recipe! 🙂
Gorgeous photography Irena I love it! Absolutely love broccolini in stir fry dishes!
Looks easy, delicious, and I am definitely pinning!!! Easy dinners for the win!
This looks Delish! Could I sub olive or coconut oil for the sesame? To make this AIP compliant? If not I’ll bookmark this for later!
This looks great! I am always on the lookout for yummy ways to use the cabbage I get in my CSA boxes. Trying this next time I get one!
yummy I love nappa cabbage and stir fry sauces, it’s a winning combination for me.
I absolutely adore nappa cabbage – packs with so much umami deliciousness. Thanks for this wonderful recipe !
I learned to cook making dishes like this, so simple & delicious! Mine never looked this good mind you. Great recipe Irena!
Thanks Mark 🙂
Delicious and easy stir fry… the perfect weeknight night meal!!! yum!
Thanks so much for this delicious recipe. Coconut aminos is such a versatile ingredient that can be used in many dishes. Congrats hun!
I love all the sources of veggies and protein. Thanks for sharing.
This looks so amazing and flavorful. Thanks for sharing!
This stir fry looks incredible! I think I could definitely eat stir fry every single day, and sometimes I do for both breakfast and lunch so I’m always looking for new recipes to try! 🙂
I love that you use Napa cabbage in this stir fry. That’s a favorite of my husband’s, he could eat cabbage every day. I’m going to have to make this for him soon.
I love how quick and easy this is, but still packed with flavor!
This looks amazingly delicious. I never thought to add napa to anything but kimchi but now I’m inspired to add it to stir fry too.
Chicken and cabbage is wonderful together. Great recipe!
This looks like such a healthy and airy dinner. Something that you’d feel so good about yourself after eating. Must try it for sure!
This looks straight from a restaurant!
Irena, I love your recipes, they are just so fresh and colourful. Fantastic encouragement for folks just dipping their toes in a healthier lifestyle – well done!
This looks so easy… and delish! Can’t wait to try it!
You had me at “quick and easy”! I need some of that in my life! Thanks for the great dinner idea – my kids love coconut aminos anything!
This looks so delicious and easy! Yum! Thank you for sharing!
What is fish sauce?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_sauce