Cabbage Roll Casserole – 👏🏻🥬🧀 Take the work out of traditional cabbage rolls and make this EASY comfort food cabbage roll casserole instead! Layers of seasoned ground beef and rice, tender cabbage, and oodles of melted cheese in every bite. A family FAVORITE recipe that’s ready in 1 hour. Can be made in advance and freezes well!
Easy Cabbage Roll Casserole Recipe
Making traditional cabbage rolls is something I remember my mom and grandma doing. It was a true labor of love. All that rolling, stuffing, and hoping they don’t break. Lots of work those little rolls!
I have a few deconstructed cabbage roll recipes on my site including 30-Minute One Pot Cabbage Rolls and Slow Cooker Cabbage Roll Soup. I don’t have the patience or time to mess with the real thing, sorry not sorry.
And that’s where these easy cabbage roll casserole recipe comes in as well. Easy, and no-fuss.
Just comfort food at its finest thanks to layers of a seasoned ground beef and rice filling, that’s nestled amidst layers of tender green cabbage.
There’s also plenty of melted cheese in every bite to make sure everyone leaves the table satisfied, oohing-and-ahhing.
Ingredients in Cabbage Casserole with Ground Beef
- Green cabbage: Napa cabbage or Savoy cabbage may be substituted.
- Ground beef: You can substitute beef with ground turkey, ground pork, lean ground beef, ground chicken, or plant-based ground meat.
- Onion: I usually use white or yellow onions, but red onions, shallots, green onions, leeks or a teaspoon of onion powder may be used.
- Garlic: Fresh garlic gives the dish an aromatic flavor but use garlic powder as a substitute.
- Italian seasoning: Don’t have it on hand? You can mix equal parts of dried basil, oregano, thyme, and rosemary.
- Smoked paprika: Adds a smoky flavor to the casserole, but you can use regular paprika. Want it spicy? Red chili powder or red pepper flakes can be used to spice things up.
- Tomato sauce
- Beef broth: Adds richness to the sauce although you can use vegetable or chicken broth instead.
- Cooked rice: I used long grain basmati rice. You can also use minute rice or brown rice. If you want to keep this low carb or are keto or watching calories, try cauliflower rice. No time to make rice first? Use a packet of Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice. Ready in 90 seconds in your microwave. I always have these on hand!
- Salt and pepper
- Cheddar cheese: You can substitute it with other melting cheeses like mozzarella cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, Pepper Jack, or Swiss.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
Instructions How To Make Unstuffed Cabbage Roll Casserole
Like any casserole, there are a few steps and things going on, here nothing here is tricky! Here’s an overview of what you do.
- Boil chopped cabbage in a large pot of water to soften it, about 5-7 minutes. Drain it and set aside.
- As it’s boiling, in a separate large skillet, saute the lb ground beef, onion, and garlic. Cook for about 5-7 minutes over medium-high heat, or until the beef is cooked through. Drain excess grease.
- Then add the tomato sauce, broth, cooked rice, Italian seasoning, smoked paprika, rice, salt, pepper, stir and simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes. Taste and if desired, add more seasonings, salt or pepper.
- Spray a large casserole dish or baking dish with cooking spray, sprinkle half the cabbage, half the meat mixture, half the cheese. And repeat – cabbage, meat mixture, cheese.
- Cover and bake the casserole in a preheated 375F oven for about 25 minutes, remove the foil, and bake uncovered for 5-10 minutes before serving! If you have fresh herbs like parsley on hand, you can garnish it.
Storage and Make-Ahead
In the Refrigerator: This recipe will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
In the Freezer: This recipe will keep airtight in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To Reheat: I use my microwave for quickness and ease and reheat my leftovers for about 30 seconds on high, or as needed. But you can use your oven, whatever is best suited for you.
Make-Ahead: You can assemble the casserole to the point of baking it, stop, cover tightly with foil, and refrigerate for up to 48 hours before baking it. When you do decide to bake it, let it sit at room temp on your counter for at least 45 minutes because baking with a very cold casserole straight from the oven will dramatically increase the overall baking time.
Recipe FAQs
This is a very filling meal in itself and it includes vegetables (cabbage, tomato, onions) which all add fiber + protein (beef and cheese) + carbohydrates/starch (rice) so I don’t find it necessary to make separate sides. If you’d like to, something like a lighter House Salad is about all you’ll need.
You should boil the cabbage in advance (called parboiling) because otherwise it will stay crunchy which isn’t the texture you’re looking for in the finished casserole.
Yes you can! Read the ingredients section above for substitutions.
Yes, you can. Simply layer the ingredients in the slow cooker or crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or until the dish is cooked through. For me, this seems like complicating things unnecessarily and I would just bake it, but to each their own.
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- 1 small green cabbage, roughly chopped into 2-inch chunks (about 9 cups)
- 1 pound extra lean ground beef, about 90 to 95% lean
- 1 small white or yellow onion (or red onion), diced small
- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, regular paprika may be substiuted
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- 15 ounces canned tomato sauce
- 1 cup beef broth, I used reduced sodium
- 2 cups cooked long grain basmati rice, or your favorite rice such as regular white rice, brown rice, cauliflower rice, etc.
- 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
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Preheat the oven to 375F and spray a large baking dish generously with cooking spray; set aside.
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Bring a large pot of water to a boil. I prefer to salt the water but it’s up to you. Add the cabbage pieces and boil for about 5 to 7 minutes, or until softened. Drain and set aside when done.
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While the cabbage is boiling, separately to a large skillet, add the ground beef, onions, and saute over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, or until the beef is done and the onions are soft and translucent. Crumble and stir and toss the beef frequently as it cooks to ensure even browning. Note – I don’t find the need to drain any excess grease because I use extra-lean ground beef and there’s nothing to drain, but if you want to drain yours, do it.
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Add the garlic, Italian seasoning, smoked paprika, salt, pepper, and cook for 1 minute; stir nearly constantly.
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Add the tomato sauce, beef broth, rice (see Notes below), and stir to combine. Bring it to a simmer and allow the mixture to simmer for about 5 minutes uncovered, allowing some liquid volume to evaporate as steam. The rice will soak up some of the liquid as well, and the flavors will marry.
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To the prepared baking dish, add half the cabbage pieces. You can just scatter them over the base of the baking dish.
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Then top with HALF the meat and rice mixture, half the cheese.
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Repeat by adding the remaining cabbage, the remaining half the meat and rice mixture, and the remaining cheese.
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Cover the baking dish tightly with foil – if you’re making straight through, carry on. Make Ahead – If you’re making this ahead or in advance, stop now, and refrigerate for up to 48 hours before baking it off. When baking it, allow the casserole dish to sit at room temp on your counter for at least 45 minutes as to not unnecessarily lengthen the baking time using a very cold baking dish.
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Bake the casserole covered for about 25-30 minutes, or until it’s hot and bubbly.
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Remove the foil, and return it to the oven uncovered for about 5-10 minutes, or until the cheese is as golden browned as desired. Serve immediately.
Rice – No time to make rice first? Use a packet of Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice. Ready in 90 seconds in your microwave.
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 279kcal, Carbohydrates: 18g, Protein: 21g, Fat: 14g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 4g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 62mg, Sodium: 792mg, Potassium: 502mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 5g, Vitamin A: 716IU, Vitamin C: 37mg, Calcium: 297mg, Iron: 2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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