Chicken Cabbage Stir-Fry (Paleo, Whole30, Gluten-free)

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.


Chicken Cabbage Stir-Fry ( Paleo, Whole30, Gluten-free)

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!

Easy Chicken Cabbage Stir-Fry ( Paleo, Whole30, Gluten-free)

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).

 

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Chicken Cabbage Stir-Fry ( Paleo, Whole30, Gluten-free)

Quick & Easy Chicken Cabbage Stir Fry

  • Author: Irena Macri
  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 10 mins
  • Total Time: 20 mins
  • Yield: 2 1x
  • Category: Main
  • Method: Stir-Fry
  • Cuisine: Asian
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Description

This quick and easy chicken cabbage stir-fry is a great weeknight meal. It’s healthy, nutritious, gluten-free, paleo, low-carb and Whole30 friendly.


Ingredients

Scale

1 tablespoon coconut oil (plus a little extra added later)

400 g / 0.8 lb chicken breast or thigh meat, sliced into thin strips (bite-size)

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 sliced Napa cabbage (1/2 medium cabbage)

250 g / 0.5 broccolini or broccoli florets (about 1012 broccolini stems)

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!


Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 bowl
  • Calories: 444
  • Sugar: 5.6 g
  • Sodium: 2744.1 mg
  • Fat: 15.6 g
  • Carbohydrates: 16.8 g
  • Fiber: 5.2 g
  • Protein: 59 g
  • Cholesterol: 165.5 mg

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Healthy Chicken Cabbage Stir-Fry (Paleo, Low-Carb, Whole30)
Irena Macri
By Irena Macri

About the author: Hi, I’m Irena Macri. I share easy, delicious recipes with a healthy twist. I’ve been food blogging for over 10 years and have a Diploma in Nutrition & Weight Management. I believe in a balanced diet with an occasional cookie and cheesy pasta. More about me here. Sign-up for my newsletter and subscriber freebies.

PS. Some posts contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission for purchases made through these links.

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Comments

61 Comments
  1. 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!

  2. 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!

  3. 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.

  4. 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! 🙂

  5. I learned to cook making dishes like this, so simple & delicious! Mine never looked this good mind you. Great recipe Irena!

  6. 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!

  7. 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……

  8. 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.

  9. 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.

    1. 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 🙂

  10. 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!

  11. 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!

  12. 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.

  13. The only problem with this recipe is that I wanted to eat all of it. So good and fairly quick which I appreciate.

  14. 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!

  15. 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.

  16. 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!

  17. This is SO delicious! Made it for dinner tonight and even my picky kids devoured it. This will be in my weekly rotation! Thanks!

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