Love stuffed homemade cabbage rolls but short on time?
We’ve got you covered with this Cabbage Roll Casserole! Layers of tender cabbage, rice, and meat in a zesty tomato sauce.
Made with simple ingredients, this cabbage casserole is so easy to toss together and can be made ahead of time (on the weekend!). The family and the cook will love this simple and comforting dish!
A Cozy Cabbage Roll Casserole
- This casserole is also known as lazy cabbage rolls and it’s so simple to make!
- All of the flavor of our favorite easy cabbage rolls without the fuss rolling or cooking whole leaves.
- This makes a hearty family sized meal and reheats and freezes well.
- This casserole can be made low carb by swapping the rice for riced cauliflower.
- Top it with the optional cheese (or don’t if you’d prefer).
Ingredients in Cabbage Roll Casserole
Green cabbage is used in this recipe. It is chopped and cooked which means no peeling leaves or rolling. You can use other types of cabbage in this recipe but cooking time might need to be adjusted slightly.
The traditional ingredients in the cabbage roll filling from my grandmother’s recipe make an appearance in this recipe! Ground beef, ground pork (or use all beef), rice, and spices are combined with a zesty tomato sauce.
The optional topping in this recipe is loved by all. A unique cheese mixture forms a flavorful brown crust and while cheese is not traditional in cabbage rolls, we do love it on this casserole. If you’d prefer, it can be left off.
How to Make Cabbage Roll Casserole
Enjoy all the flavors of traditional cabbage rolls without all the work and fuss.
- PREP MEAT SAUCE – Cook meat and onion garlic per the recipe below. Add remaining sauce ingredients and simmer.
- COOK CABBAGE – While meat is cooking, chop and fry cabbage.
- ASSEMBLE – Mixe the rice into the meat sauce and layer with cabbage in a casserole dish.
- BAKE – Top if desired and bake until browned and bubbly.
If you’d like to cook this in the crock pot, we use this Slow Cooker Cabbage Roll Casserole recipe.
Make Ahead and Leftovers
Leftover casserole will keep in the refrigerator for 4 days or can be frozen.
This is also a great casserole for doubling and freezing. The dish can be frozen either before or after baking. They will keep in the freezer for 3 months.
To bake from frozen, thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bake as per the directions in the original recipe (you may need to add about 15-20 minutes if the casserole is cold from the fridge).
Got Cabbage? (Lucky you)!
- Quick Cabbage Soup – quick and healthy
- Cabbage Roll Soup Recipe – reader favorite
- Cabbage and Noodles – family recipe
- The Best Coleslaw Recipe – potluck perfect
- Corned Beef and Cabbage – a complete meal
- Crock Pot Cabbage Roll Soup – set it and forget it
Did your family love this Cabbage Roll Casserole? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Cabbage Roll Casserole
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef or pork , or ½ pound of each
- 1 large onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic crushed
- 28 ounces diced tomatoes 1 can, including juice
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- ½ teaspoon salt & pepper each
- 2 cups cooked rice (white or brown)
- 1 large head cabbage 12-14 cups
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon dill optional
Topping
- 2 cups Gruyere cheese or monterey jack cheese, shredded
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Brown beef or pork, onion, and garlic over medium heat until no pink remains. Drain any fat. Stir in diced tomatoes (including juice), tomato sauce, tomato paste, & seasonings. Simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes until thickened.
- Remove from heat and add cooked rice.
- Meanwhile, chop cabbage into 1" squares, rinse and shake dry. Heat oil in a skillet and add ½ of the cabbage and 2 tablespoons of water. Cook just until softened (about 10 minutes). Repeat with remaining cabbage.
- Place ½ of the cabbage in a 9x13 casserole dish. Top with ½ of the meat sauce. Repeat layers. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.
Topping
- In a small bowl combine cheese, egg, and milk. Remove foil, top casserole with cheese mixture, and bake uncovered for an additional 20 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Beef, Casserole, Dinner, Entree, Main Course
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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I have made cabbage rolls casserole twice,it’s delicious .This appealed to me as my rolling skills are not great.
The cheese in the top is a nice touch.Even my Polish sister in law enjoyed it!
This was so good and satisfying . A great way to use up the cabbage I planted this year. Thanks for sharing. I’m gonna need more cabbage!!
I love to cook. Probably because i love to eat. im making your cabbage roll casserole tonight.
Looking forward to trying this recipe! I’ve never had much success with regular cabbage rolls.
Good luck Kate!
Great with sour cream and sauerkraut. Loved the end texture, and though it took a while to prepare, made enough for many meals.
Love ❤️ your recipes
Thanks Robert!
spent over an hour fixing this and it taste like crap. what a waste
Sorry it didn’t work out for you, as you can see from the reviews most readers have had great success. I can’t say for sure what went wrong as we love this recipe.
I have yet to try the receipes, I’m Looking forward to trying them. I am interested in Healthy receipes
Hope you love it Pam!
Awesome
Thanks Kimberly!
I have finally found a way to get my picky 7 year old to eat cabbage rolls!!!!! The only changes I made were I didn’t have the tomatoes, but I did have a jar of spaghetti sauce so I used that and the only rice I could find in my pantry was a box of rice a roni Mexican style rice. I also chose to mix everything except the cheese together before putting in the oven. Those substitutes aside this was delicious nd will most definitely be going into my meal rotation! Thank you so much for sharing.
Those substitutes sounds good Joann! So happy to hear your 7 year old loved it too.
Sounds delicious. Any suggestions on freezing this casserole
It freezes beautifully. Simply place it in a container and seal it well. I defrost in the fridge overnight and bake until heated through.
This recipe was delicious! I used 1/2 lb. of bulk Italian sausage in addition to the ground beef. It added so much additional flavor!
Yum! Glad you loved it Dee!
Hi Holly,
Can I just use cheese on top instead of mixing it with milk & egg? I am curious as to why the milk & egg are mixed into the cheese. Thanks …. ☺ Is it to stretch the amount of cheese used?
Sure you can use just cheese. The egg/milk mixture forms kind of a crust but either will work just fine.
Thanks Holly.
You’re welcome!
Can you give nutrition info on this? Particularly calories and carbs (with the low-carb cauliflower version?) It looks great.
This recipe is so delicious! I love everything about it. Making it for the second time.
So happy to hear that Delores!!
Great base recipe. Loved the idea of cabbage. Made a couple taste amendments though. I added white wine a little vegetable broth and salt and pepper to the Cabbage while cooking to give it flavor. I also added adobo, sazon (a common Latino seasoning kind of like seasoned salt), and Worcestershire to the beef rice mixture. I also made a vegan batch, subbing black beans for the beef and a homemade vegan cheese sauce for the topping. Both were delicious. :)
Your additions sound delicious. Thank you for sharing!
Oh yummmm….. I added bell peppers, and mushrooms… It was so good!!
I am so glad you liked this recipe!
this was awesome! i used 14 oz tomatoes with basil garlic and onion and 14 oz tomatoes with green chiles. i also used smoked paprika. hubs loved ir!
Love this recipe. Son in law is lactose intolerant so we leave off the cheese and it’s good that way as well. We make it with the cauliflower instead of the rice.
I need recipes for a diabetic person