The best low-calorie egg roll in a bowl recipe (2024)

I think we finally nailed the best low-calorie egg roll in a bowl recipe. And better yet, we actually wrote it down! Egg roll in a bowl is a high protein, low-carb dish that is very satisfying and can be on the table in 15-20 minutes. With just 140-180 calories per serving (depending on your protein) it also fits well into our Noom weight loss calorie budget.

In this post, we’ll show you how to make the best low-calorie egg roll in a bowl and give you a few tips and tricks along the way. Typically when we make this at our house, we make it two ways – with shrimp for Ann and with ground beef, pork, or chicken for Steve. The calories per serving will depend of what you use for your protein.

What you’ll need for the best low-calorie egg roll in a bowl

Protein – Pick the protein you like best. You can use ground beef, pork, chicken, turkey, or even cooked and chopped shrimp (my personal fav). This week, we tried this dish with chicken. I was thrilled to learn that I could grind raw chicken breasts in our Ninja blender. I just cut the breasts in quarters and gave them a few pulses in the blender.

To save even more time, you can also cook and then freeze your meat ahead of time. We like to cook big batches of ground meat and then store them in smaller portion in the freezer. This makes mealtime prep a breeze.

Also, if you’re not a meat eater like us, you could omit the meat all together, or use a plant-based meat substitute or edamame instead.

PIN FOR LATER

Coleslaw mix – The first time we made this we used a head of fresh cabbage and then tried to thinly slice carrots. Forget that. Just use a premade coleslaw mix instead. We like the ones that include green and red cabbage and a little bit of carrot.

Shredded carrots – Many of the coleslaw mixes include a few shredded carrots, but we like to add a few more. You can shred them yourself, or do like we did and purchase a bag of shredded carrots to save time. For about $1.98, you save time (and cleaning out the shredder). Plus, you can use the rest of the shredded carrots as a nice, bright salad topper the rest of the week.

Oil – The best oil for this recipe is sesame oil. It has a very distinct sesame flavor and adds so much Asian flare to this dish. However, if you don’t have any on hand, you can also use other oils such as vegetable, olive, or avocado.

Onion – I prefer diced yellow onions in this recipe, but any onion will do.

Garlic – Fresh garlic is the best choice for this dish. To save time, we buy fresh peeled garlic in a bag (in the refrigerated part of the produce section). Just take out a few cloves, cut off the very end, and crush between your cutting board and the flat part of your knife. Use the knife to dice the garlic a bit more and you’re good. If you want to save even more time (but give up a bit of the fresh flavor) you can also by chopped garlic in a jar. Again, it is usually found in the produce section.

A few more ingredients for the best low calorie egg roll in a bowl

Ginger – In my opinion, fresh ginger is what makes this the best low-calorie egg roll bowl recipe. Fresh ginger adds a ton of flavor without many calories and sets this recipe apart from others. Just break off a small piece of the ginger root and carefully cut off the rough skin on the outside. I find it easiest to cut it into a rectangular shape. Then cut it into small slices one way and then the other.

Soy sauce – Soy sauce is what makes this recipe taste like the inside of an egg roll. I use low-sodium soy sauce which to me, tastes the same, but has less sodium (read water retention). If you need a healthy, gluten-free option, coconut aminos would also work in place of soy sauce.

Rice wine vinegar and Mirin – Rice vinegar has a little bit sweeter flavor than some other vinegars. That said, if you don’t have rice wine vinegar in your pantry, you could also use apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar. For this recipe, I use a combination of rice wine vinegar and Mirin (which I get at Walmart).

Chili paste – We love spicy foods and highly recommend adding chili paste, Sriracha, crushed red pepper (or all three!) to this recipe for added flavor.

Green onions – Chop a few green onions to garnish your egg roll in bowl. If you want to get fancy, chop them with a diagonal slant.

Sesame seeds – You can add sesame seeds as a garnish if you’d like. I think they are best toasted just a little bit to bring out the sesame flavor.

How to make the best low-calorie egg roll in a bowl

Other low-calorie recipes you might enjoy!