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Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls

Updated May 5, 2020Published Jan 17, 2019 By Julia 9 CommentsThis post may contain affiliate links.

Summary:
This recipe makes a deconstructed version of traditional stuffed cabbage rolls. Stuffed rolls are time-consuming โ€” ingredients need to be pre-cooked and rolled in leaves, with 1-2 hours of baking. This unstuffed version is faster and hassle-free, yielding the same great flavors. You only need one pot and everything is conveniently cooked on the stovetop. Regular rice is swapped out for cauliflower rice to make this a great keto, low carb, and paleo option.
closeup view of unstuffed cabbage rolls

Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls

5 from 9 votes
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Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 30 mins
Yield: 4 servings

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 pound ground beef (Note 1)
  • 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes (Note 2)
  • 6 cups chopped green cabbage (1-inch pieces) (Note 3)
  • 1.5 cups riced cauliflower (Note 4)
  • 5 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Seasonings:

  • 1.5 teaspoons table salt
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried ground thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Cook Meat & Aromatics: Add ground beef to large pot (Note 5) over medium-high heat. Crumbling beef with stiff utensil, cook until browned, a few minutes. Keeping everything in pot, stir in garlic, salt, oregano, thyme, paprika, and cayenne until well-mixed, about a minute.
  • Cook Veggies: Add crushed tomatoes, cabbage, riced cauliflower, and vinegar, briefly stirring them together. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until tomato mixture turns into thick sauce that easily clings to beef, about 15 minutes. Check if cabbage is wilted; if not, cover with lid and cook until very tender (Note 6). Serve (Note 7) and store any leftovers (Note 8).

NUTRITION

Makes 4 Servings
Amount Per Serving (1.5 cups):
Calories 390 (38% from fat) ย 
Total Fat 17g 26%
ย ย ย Saturated Fat 6g 32%
Cholesterol 100mg 33%
Sodium 1030mg 43%
Net Carb 10g (Note 9) ย 
Total Carb 18g 6%
ย ย ย Dietary Fiber 8g 31%
ย ย ย Sugars 10g ย 
Protein 34g ย 
Vitamin A 78% ยท Vitamin C 83% ยท Calcium 69% ยท Iron 39%

PHOTOS

closeup view of unstuffed cabbage rolls
ground beef cabbage and tomatoes in black pot
stirring ground beef with cabbage and tomatoes
overhead view of unstuffed cabbage rolls in bowl

NOTES & TIPS

(1) Ground Beef. I use 85% lean. If you use less than 85%, you may want to drain off some of the grease after browning to avoid an overly greasy dish. Donโ€™t have beef? Use ground turkey or pork.
(2) Crushed Tomatoes. A 28-ounce can results in a saucy dish with prominent tomato flavors, which is my preference. If you don’t want strong tomato flavors, use a 14-ounce can — an extra benefit is the net carbs reduce from 10 to 7.5 grams per serving. Avoid thinner products like diced tomatoes, which won’t impart much flavor to the dish.
(3) Cabbage. About 3/4 pound or 1/2 medium green cabbage. Purple cabbage also works well. Cut the cabbage into 1 inch or smaller pieces so that they cook quickly.
(4) Cauliflower Rice. About 6 ounces weight. You can use fresh or frozen. To prepare cauliflower rice, it’s easiest to buy bags of pre-riced cauliflower in the produce section or freezer aisle of U.S. grocery stores โ€” less work than grating cauliflower florets by hand.
(5) Large Pot. The pot should be large enough to simultaneously hold all of the beef, crushed tomatoes, cabbage, and riced cauliflower, equipped with a lid. I use a nonstick pot thatโ€™s 9.5 inches wide and 4 inches tall. An enameled cast iron pot like a dutch oven will work well too.
(6) Cooking Cabbage. If the cabbage isn’t tender by the time the sauce has thickened, I recommend covering the pot with a lid to expedite the cooking process. If you don’t use a lid and/or the pot gets too dry, add a few tablespoons of water or beef stock.
(7) Serving. Serve warm with side dishes like low carb mashed turnips, garlic mushrooms, or creamed spinach.
(8) Leftovers. Cover and store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Reheat using the microwave or a skillet on the stovetop until heated through.
(9) Net Carbs. To reduce the number of net carbs per serving, see Note 2 above on using a smaller can of crushed tomatoes.

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Filed Under: Low Carb, Mains: Beef, One Pan Meals, Per Serving: 5-10g Net Carbs Tagged With: 31-60min, balsamic vinegar, cabbage, cauliflower, cayenne, featured, garlic, gluten free, ground beef, more10ingredients, oregano, paleo, paprika, stovetop, thyme, tomatoes, whole30

About Julia

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Julia is a recipe developer and the founder of Savory Tooth. Since 2015, she has been sharing simple recipes for tasty dishes, mostly low carb and gluten free. Learn more.

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newest oldest most voted
Alison Solenski

This is really good stuff. Only change is I would add onions.

Vote Up3Vote Down  Reply
3 years ago
Mark

Made this twice. Being Polish, I grew up on stuffed cabbage. Golombki are delicious, but time consuming. This is a great way to enjoy them. Quickly and timely. Not to mention healthier.

Vote Up3Vote Down  Reply
3 years ago
Thomas Cabral

Just started eating more keto type foods. This recipe using rice was an old favorite, until I found this recipe! Made this recipe for a group of friends and no one knew it was cauliflower rice, lol. There was none leftover!
Three things I did was to use up my head of cabbage, didn’t know what I would do with the rest? Used my whole cauliflower riced in the processor. Also, used a pound of hamburger and a pound of pork. ๐Ÿ™‚
This recipe is not only simple, but very versatile and good for you! Bon appetit.

Vote Up2Vote Down  Reply
2 years ago
Jean-Pierre Nadeau

Cooked it tonight for the first time. I loved it. My wife loved it. For my part I coated it with chipotle sauce – was out of this world! ๐Ÿ˜‰ We’ll do it again and again.

Vote Up2Vote Down  Reply
2 years ago
Amber

I made this with purple cabbage instead of green and ground turkey instead of beef, THEN I added a healthy dollop of sour cream on my serving before eating. Delicious! I like the idea of adding onions and cooking them down with the meat. Thank you for sharing this creation!

Vote Up2Vote Down  Reply
3 years ago
Jess

I just made this tonight for my very picky eaters. They loved it! I did add some tomato sauce to give it a little more sauce because I used 2 lbs of meat. I also used couscous instead of the riced cauliflower, just because I didn’t have cauliflower. I added the couscous on top and mixed it in just before serving. It was a huge hit! We will definitely have this again.

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3 years ago
Maureen Furnish

My husband canโ€™t eat beef so I substituted ground turkey and liquid smoke. Delicious.

Vote Up1Vote Down  Reply
3 years ago
Anne

Just made this recipe, super easy and delicious.

Vote Up1Vote Down  Reply
3 years ago
Danielle

Delicious! Thank you for the recipe!

Vote Up1Vote Down  Reply
3 years ago

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