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Cabbage Roll Casserole is a super easy meal that you can prepare any day of the week.
Cabbage Rolls are delicious! I grew up on cabbage rolls made by my mom and grandma!
Recently, I’ve been making a cabbage roll casserole… so much quicker than rolling up the rolls themselves and equally delicious!
Here is one of my favorite things about recipes! You start with one thing and along the way the recipe gets tried and modified and shared and passed on. Finally, you may end up with something else that was just as wonderful or sometimes even better!
Last week, a reader had asked me if my Cabbage Roll Casserole recipe would work in the slow cooker… I hadn’t tried it! Well, Sue tested it out and I knew I had to try it out right away! I had a couple of different items in my pantry so I modified it a tiny bit further but let me tell you, the results were AMAZING!! This is my favorite cabbage roll dish yet! So a special thank you to Sue for inspiring this yummy recipe, you won’t be disappointed!
If you’re looking for another hearty dinner idea, be sure to check out my Cabbage Roll Soup recipe!
Cabbage Roll Casserole (Crock Pot Version)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds lean ground beef or ground pork, or a mixture of the two
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 onion diced
- 15 ounces tomato sauce divided
- 1 cup water
- 10.75 ounces condensed tomato soup 1 can
- 28 ounces canned diced tomatoes with juices
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- ¾ cup long grain white rice uncooked
- 1 medium head cabbage
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese optional
Instructions
- Brown beef or pork, onion, garlic and seasonings over medium heat until no pink remains. Drain.
- Add 1 cup tomato sauce, 1 cup water and ½ can of tomato soup and diced tomatoes to the beef.
- Stir in rice, and mix well until heated through. Remove from heat.
- Chop cabbage into 4 wedges and remove core. Chop into chunks (mine were about ¾"x1 ½").
- Layer ½ of the meat mixture and ½ of the cabbage in the slow cooker. Repeat layers. Place half the meat and then half the cabbage in cooker.
- Combine the remaining tomato soup, remaining tomato sauce and ⅓ cup water. Pour over top of cabbage.
- Cook on low 4-6 hours or just until rice is cooked. Once done, turn slow cooker off, sprinkle cheese on top and let sit 10 minutes to set and melt cheese.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Casserole
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Looks excellent. I’m preparing it now. I used smoked Paprika and some freeze dried dill as sub and addition. My ex’s Mother was Ukrainian and this smells just like her cabbage rolls, same ingredients as well. My Son and his Girlfriend are flying back home today and this just sounded delicious, way easier than Cabbage Rolls, and like some yummy comfort food. I don’t know how it’s possible that this won’t turn out as expected, as a few of the negative comments have suggested. Maybe it’s inexperience, or not following directions??? Who knows? Thank you for posting this recipe Holly. A go to recipe is always very much appreciated.
Holly, found this recipe and a big fan of stuffed cabbage but just not enough hrs in day. I made this yesterday made it to a T except 1 LB of ground beef & 1 LB of mild Italian sausage,this recipe is delicious and so easy to put together. Thank you for this recipe as well as many others that I have tried.
Sandy
So glad you enjoyed it, Sandy!
July 11,2024
I made this Unstuffed Cabbage Casserole today. This recipe is the absolute best!
I have made this recipe at least 10 times & it is always delicious. ( I added a little bit of bacon to the cabbage when crisping it up! Tasty!!)
Thank you!
I followed this recipe exactly. Cooked on low for 5 hours. The rice was still crunchy. I have no idea what went wrong here. I have a 6 qt. Ninja crock pot so I am relatively sure the fault isn’t with my crock pot. Thank goodness I didn’t invite company for this one. We ended up eating cold cereal for dinner. YUK
How disappointing, I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you. I haven’t had that problem and it seems to be working well for most readers so I can’t say what went wrong. Thank you for trying it.
Can this recipe be halved? Thank you.
Hi Iceni, it can be halved but I would use a smaller crockpot to ensure it doesn’t over cook. I would love to hear how it turns out for you!
I came home for lunch today and threw this together. It is so easy. I let it simmer on low for 6 hours and oh my gosh it is fabulous. My husband has already packed up a container of it to take to work for lunch tomorrow. He doesn’t share very well : )
I’ve been making this for yrs. now ever since you first posted the recipe. I don’t use rice or water to keep it keto-friendly and use 1 lb of hot sausage and 1 lb of grass-fed ground beef for meat. It comes out amazing and spicey and cuts off like a square of lasagna after staying in the fridge overnight. I work nights, so I come home, throw a square of this in the microwave, and top it with some parmesan/Romano cheese and it’s good to go. Absolutely delicious! I just wish I could make it ahead of time in the crockpot and just plug it in when I get home and have it when I wake up. I’m not sure how that would work out though.
Hi..this is very tasty..if my husband loves it it’s in for a long time….I did everything to a T ..no change needed..Thanks for sharing..
Replaced the water with beef broth for extra flavor and added dill (as suggested by Megan) and used smoked paprika. Unfortunately, I forgot to add the 1 cup of beef broth to the meat mixture, so I added it to the final step of adding remaining tomato sauce, soup, and 1/3 cup of liquid. Keeping my fingers crossed the rice cooks through! If not, then I’ll make sure not to forgot adding the liquid into the meat mixture next time I make this, but I’m sure it will still be delicious, just like all of Holly’s other recipes!!
I never leave recipe reviews but this is such a great cabbage roll casserole- I have tried a handful of different recipes over the years but this is the one I keep coming back to. I’ve made it many times for my own family as well as some extended family at times and it gets excellent reviews everytime. I usually make it exactly as the recipe states but I do usually use ground beef instead of pork and I sometimes omit the cheese. It is perfect and delicious as written!! The only addition I have made for the last couple batches has been adding about a tablespoon of dried dill weed since we are dill fanatics over here- and it makes this already wonderful recipe even better! Thanks for this recipe- it truly is a keeper.
I am so glad you have enjoyed this recipe Megan!
For the last layer of cabbage I added sauerkraut instead, sprinkled some fried bacon cracklings on top, then added the rest of the sauce. Sprinkled a slosh of brown sugar on top. No need to add water on last layer as juice from sauerkraut takes care of that
The size of slow cooker would be helpful. Three quart round? Five quart oval?
I use a 6qt slow cooker for this recipe. Enjoy Lois!
Tasted like spaghettios! That processed tomato soup ruined the entire flavor!
I made this recipe yesterday….I had gotten a huge head of cabbage from a local farm stand..it was so big I only used about a third of it for this recipe and my crockpot was filled to the top..the recipe was easy…I seasoned the meat with a small amount of Montreal Steak seasoning as I felt the seasonings listed would not be enough….I am glad I did…I felt that with all of the tomato products and cabbage, it would need a little extra…..I used minute rice instead..sprinkled it in when the cabbage was close to being done and it came out perfectly..you would have to use your judgement on the amount for this…this made alot but I will be freezing some for future meals…GREAT RECIPE!
Without a doubt i will not be fixing cabbage rolls again! This crock pot receipe is out of this world GREAT! Fixing it for the 15th time!
Sorry, but this isn’t a keeper. The only thing I changed on this was I used ground turkey in place of the beef/pork, but that shouldn’t and wouldn’t account for the mushy consistency and lack of flavor. Also, the instructions never said what to do with the seasonings so I just put them in the sauce that went on top. I cooked it on low for four hours and the rice was total mush as was the cabbage. Won’t be saving this one.
Ground turkey has a very different flavor profile and texture than beef and pork, so that would definitely change the consistency, texture, and flavor of the casserole. While ground turkey can be substituted, you’d expect a different texture, and perhaps need additional seasoning. Thanks for trying it Fay.
Left out the water and rice (too many carbs). Served over riced cauliflower. Very nice
Made this for dinner tonight and we liked it. I added about 1/4 cup brown sugar plus some hot sauce. Needed to add salt and pepper after it was on our plates. It made a ton.. and there were just two
Of us. Can I freeze the leftovers?
Yes Julie, this recipe freezes well.
I’ve made this a few times now and it’s excellent. The only thing I’ve changed is that I add in a 1lb of hot sausage taken out of the casing and fry it up along with the beef and I leave out the water and rice to make it keto-friendly.
I made this a few weeks ago & am making again tonight. My Picky Family all loved it!!!