The other night I had a pound of grass-fed ground beef thawing and I was in need of some healthy inspiration. We have tired of our weekly burgers, taco salad and ground beef bowls. So, I polled the Healthy Living How To Facebook fans for some ideas. When my friend Susan suggested “crack slaw” — an old low-carb favorite — my wheels started spinning. Instead of slaw, how about cabbage noodles, made using my spiral veggie slicer. To give the dish an Asian flair, I decided to spice it up with almond butter chili sauce — the same sauce I used for my Thai Turkey Burger. Voila a new recipe was born! And — it was declared an all-time favorite by both my husband and son.
Noodles are not part of my low-carb lifestyle and haven't been for well over a decade. Besides being high in carbs, most also contain wheat and gluten, two things I avoid. Yes, I know there are gluten-free noodles, however, they still spike blood sugar like the wheat and gluten containing noodles do. Which is why I prefer to ditch the grains all together and instead get creative in the kitchen and come up with nutrient-dense ways to enjoy healthy noodles.
One thing I have found helpful on this journey of healthy eating, is to re-train my brain about food. Once I understood why glutenous grains and processed carbohydrates were not figure friendly and actually detrimental to my health, they just become a non-option. No need to feel deprived though, as there is a plethora of low-carb REAL FOOD to be had.
Zoodles, or zucchini noodles, are a favorite and can be easily made with a julienne peeler or a spiral veggie slicer. They pair really well with a tomato based sauce. Today's recipe features cabbage noodles — made with my spiral veggie slicer — watch this short video and see how in less than a minute you have low-carb noodles ready to steam and enjoy!
Now, I won't begrudge you if you are thinking — why not just pick up a bag of coleslaw — instead of going to the hassle of making these fancy schmancy cabbage noodles. Yep, you can certainly do that. Heck, you can even buy a whole head of cabbage and slice it with a chef's knife if you like. As I've said all along, kitchen gadgets aren't a necessity to cook healthy meals for yourself or your family, they are just fun to have.
I will say though, we were all highly entertained attempting to eat this meal with chopsticks — as well as slurping up our noodles.
When you make and devour a delicious bowl of healthy noodles with whatever healthy sauce you dream up, you have my permission to feel more than a little bit smug. Smug, because you made it with fresh grown, not factory made, ingredients, that don’t detract from your health, but actually lends to it.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. Ground Beef
- 1 Small Head Cabbage, Noodled
- 6 Tbsp. Almond Butter
- 2 Tbsp. Coconut Vinegar
- 2 Tbsp. Coconut Aminos
- 2 Tbsp. Filtered Water
- 2 Tbsp. Toasted Sesame Oil
- 2 Tbsp. Sriracha Sauce
- 10-14 drops Liquid Stevia
- Toasted Sesame Seeds (for garnish)
- Green Onions (for garnish)
Directions
- In large skillet add ground beef. Spread in bottom of pan.
- Top ground beef with noodled cabbage and cover.
- Cook covered over medium-high heat for 10 minutes.
- Uncover and mix and cook until cabbage noodles are tender, about 5 more minutes.
- In small mixing bowl whisk together almond butter, vinegar, aminos, water, sesame oil, siraracha sauce and stevia.
- Pour over cooked beef and cabbage noodles and mix to heat through.
- Plate and garnish with sliced green onions and toasted seasame seeds.
Oh that sounds wonderful. I have a head of cabbage that I’m slicing up to use in place of noodles for a sausage marinara sauce tonight but this is going on my grocery list for next week.
Quick question: Any substitute for coconut vinegar?
Hi Andrea — I haven’t tried the recipe with anything other than coconut vinegar. You might try apple cider vinegar.
Hi Vanessa, I made this tonight, with only 1 T Sriracha sauce and we loved it! I substituted rice vinegar for the coconut vinegar and it worked out great!
Awesome — glad you loved it! 🙂
Which slicer did you use for the noodles?
Tammy, did you watch the video? This is the slicer I use. On my blog any of the text in blue is a hyperlink to the product I recommend, prefer or use. I hope that helps.
Yes, I have that slicer. I guessing meant which blade did you use?
My mistake for the misunderstanding…it was the straight blade.
Thanks. Just tried the cabbage in the slicer and so glad I found another use for my slicer beside zucchini noodles. Great way to slice it for coleslaw. Thanks for all your awesome recipes. Family loved the kang pao chicken tonight
Try carrot noodles — those are really yummy too!
Hey Vanessa ,
Great recipe and video ! I also wondered if you can substitute for the coconut vinegar and the aminos ? I don’t know what the aminos are .
Thanks, Laura
Hi Laura — coconut aminos are a healthy wheat-free substitute for soy sauce.
Just ordered the slicer and few other goodies 🙂 Can’t wait to try it! 🙂
You are going to love it!
Finally tried the slicer tonight and I love it!
Hubby and my son loved the beef and cabbage noodle dish!
Thanks for the recipe. Off to choose another dish to try 🙂
Made this for dinner Thursday night after seeing your post on Facebook. This is going to become a regular. It is absolutely delicious and the best part is my husband gave it a huge thumbs up. Thank you for a wonderful, flavoursome, easy recipe.
Awesome! Glad you enjoyed the recipe.
I have not used sriracha much and I’m wondering if 2T is very spicy. I like a low-level heat and my kids don’t like any (hubby, on the other hand…).
I like it spicy — husband and son not so much. This was perfect for there palette and I just added a little extra to mine once plated.
These are SOOOOO good. I love ground and cabbage anyway, and miss pad thai. It’s really delicious. I made it with sunbutter instead of almond butter, because it’s what I had. I used the smallest grater blade because that’s the only one I’ve ever used. Next time I’ll use the largest blade and make it easier on myself!!
These sound very good. I don’t have a spiral slicer (yet). Hopefully, I can just slice the cabbage really thin??? Also, haven’t used Stevia alot but seems like 10-14 drops would make it really, really sweet. The stevia I have is in a bottle like yours but labeled Stevia Extract. Wonder if it’s the same or if the extract is sweeter? Thx.
10-14 drops is the equivalent sweetness of 2 tsp of sugar.
I think this is at the top of my all time favorites!
Crazy Good!
Even my super picky 4 year old liked this!! So fast, easy & flavorful. Perfect for a busy weeknight dinner!
May be a silly question…do you drain the fat from the beef before adding the cabbage?? Thanks!
No, I don’t.
Could NOT get the little plastic teeth on the same slicer to grab and hold the cabbage!! It took 3 of us to try it and it still didn’t work.
Oh no. Really? I have made cabbage noodles multiple times and have not had a problem. I do not remove the core and push the teeth of the spiral slicer into the core without problem.
The trick is to have a really tight head of cabbage…the loose ones don’t grab at all 🙂
I had the same problem with the Cabbage, could not Spiralize it!! Bummer, but it doesn’t really matter…..Awesome Recipe, so delish! Hits all the flavors for me, Hot, Sweet, Crunchy……Amazing!!
This sounds delightful, Vanessa! Have some cabbage to use up and will try it tomorrow. Just got a fresh order of GF ground beef from my panhandle supplier. 🙂
I made this tonight and got thumbs up all around. Needed to make a couple of substitutes: rice vinegar, Sunbutter, and powdered stevia. I added lime juice to the mix and topped it with cilantro and FireFly Kitchens Yin Yang Carrots. YUM!
I also had issues with my spiralizer, but maybe it’s because I used only one-half head. I switched to a mandoline and it was still great.
Do you know if Sriracha gets spicier the older it gets? I’ve had mine for a while, and used only 1 Tbs. It was really spicy–and I like spice! (Might be time to invest in a new bottle.)
Thanks for a great, easy recipe that satisfies several cravings.
I so happy you enjoyed the recipe! I have no idea about Sriracha getting spicier or not. I like things hot though. 🙂
I made this for dinner tonight and everyone loved it! I just used 2 bags of shredded cabbage from Trader Joes. Thanks for the great recipe 🙂
Can you sub honey for the stevia? If so what amount of honey?
I don’t use honey.
Thanks so much for sharing! I’ve recently incorporated grass-fed meat into my diet (after 9 years of being meat-free!), and I’ve been at a loss on how to prepare it! I love the creative use of cabbage, and I can’t wait to try it out this recipe.
Made last night. Loved it! Will become a regular weekly staple!
Thank you very much for this recipe. It’s bloody awesome!
I can eat beef or almonds so I subbed pork and tahini/sunflower butter. I am thrilled to have this recipe in my collection! Thanks Vanessa!
Is there anything I can sub for stevia? I would love to try this!!
In an earlier comment, she mentioned that you can switch out the Stevia with 2 teaspoons of sugar.
I have made this recipe so much lately. I love how satisfying it is! It is comfort food!!
Vanessa – I was wondering if you had nutrition data for this – specifically the carb count? I eat this ALL the time now… it is my favorite dish. I never seem to tire of it!
I do not Lisa. It is going to vary based on the amount of cabbage you use. Sorry.
can you use squash to make noodles
Sure, especially spaghetti squash.
I want you to know that this dish is a weekly staple in our house, it is soooooooo amazing 🙂
Thank you for the yummy food and thoughts!!
So glad you and your family enjoys it.
Had this tonight for dinner, and it was yummy.
I added some crimini mushrooms and shredded carrots. Do you know if this would freeze okay? I’m wondering about freezing some lunch portions as part of hubby’s work lunch “collection”.
…ohh and I switched out honey for the stevia (hubby is not a fan) and it turned out fine.
Thank you.
I had to force myself to stop eating last night it was so good! My husband was in heaven, too!
Any suggestions on how to freeze this? Was thinking to cook ground beef and shred fresh cabbage and freeze without cooking cabbage. Then when ready to cook, heat up , add sauce and finally serve with toppings. Any advice ? I don’t know if freezing after all ingredients are cooked would re heat very well. thanks.
I don’t have any advice. Sorry. Have not tried freezing.