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This easy cabbage roll casserole recipe has all the cozy flavor of stuffed cabbage rolls without rice, all in one dish. If you love the flavor of cabbage soup with hamburger or fried cabbage, this recipe takes their comforting flavors up a notch for a healthy dinner you can make any night of the week. No rolling needed!
Why You Need My Cabbage Roll Casserole Recipe
- Classic flavor without the work of wrapping each cabbage leaf
- Beefy, cheesy, and loaded with veggies
- Simple grocery store ingredients
- No pre-cooking cauliflower or cabbage, and no layering
- Naturally healthy, gluten-free, & low carb
Ingredients & Substitutions
Here I explain the best ingredients for my unstuffed cabbage roll casserole recipe, what each one does, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card.
- Avocado Oil – For sauteing. Olive oil or any neutral oil of choice works as well.
- Garlic – I use fresh garlic, but you can use jarred minced garlic for convenience. You can also saute 1/2 an onion along with the garlic if you like. If you don’t have any garlic, you can substitute 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder and just add it to the beef instead of sauteing.
- Ground Beef – I use grass-fed 85/15 beef, but any kind works. Ground pork, ground chicken, or ground turkey are also excellent alternatives. If you use a fatty meat, such as pork or 80/20 beef, If using fatty ground beef, be sure to drain the access grease from the meat before mixing into the other ingredients.
- Seasonings – You will need sea salt, black pepper, and Italian seasoning for this cabbage roll casserole recipe.
- Rice Of Your Choice – Traditional cabbage roll casserole recipes usually use rice. I used cauliflower rice as a healthy option, but you could use brown or white rice instead. You won’t need to cook raw cauliflower rice separately — it will cook right inside the casserole, and does so much faster than regular rice. However, if using white or brown rice, it’s best to pre-cook it. Otherwise, the casserole will take too long to cook and the recipe would need to be adjusted to include more wet ingredients (chicken or beef broth is commonly added when using uncooked rice), since dry rice would absorb a lot of the moisture.
- Cabbage – You can chop or shred it yourself, or use a pre-shredded variety. It will cook together with everything else, so no pre-cooking necessary. Any color cabbage works!
- Marinara Sauce – I used homemade marinara sauce, but you can use store-bought to keep this recipe super fast. If you don’t have any on hand, you can use canned diced tomatoes (drain first) or tomato sauce instead, and add more Italian seasoning.
- Mozzarella Cheese – You can substitute other melting cheese like Monterey jack cheese. To make this cabbage roll casserole dairy-free, simply omit the cheese. It’s used on top only, so you can easily skip it if you want to.
VARIATION: Make it spicy!
For extra kick, try some of these ways to add spicy flair to this casserole!
- Add a tablespoon of Cajun seasoning at the same time as the other spices.
- Mix 1-2 pinches crushed red pepper flakes with the beef and marinara sauce.
- Use pepper jack cheese in place of mozzarella cheese.
- Stir in minced jalapeno at the same time as minced garlic.
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How To Make Cabbage Roll Casserole
I have step-by-step photos here to help you visualize the recipe. For full instructions with amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card.
- Saute garlic. Heat oil in a large saute pan or large skillet over medium heat. Add minced garlic and cook until fragrant.
- Brown beef. Increase to medium-high heat. Add ground beef. Season with sea salt and black pepper. Cook, breaking apart with a spatula, until browned.
- Mix cabbage, rice, an seasoning. In a large casserole dish, stir together riced cauliflower (or cooked rice), chopped cabbage, and Italian seasoning.
- Stir in beef and marinara. Add cooked ground beef and marinara sauce to the cabbage mixture. Stir to combine.
- Bake cabbage roll casserole. Cook in a preheated oven until the cabbage is crisp-tender.
- Melt cheese on top. Sprinkle shredded mozzarella on top of the casserole. Continue baking until cheese is golden brown and the cabbage is completely cooked through. (If the cheese browns before the cabbage is done, remove from the oven, cover with foil, and then continue baking.)
More Cheesy Casserole Recipes
Enjoy more classic and comforting flavors with these easy casseroles!
Tools I Use For This Recipe
- Saute Pan – The larger surface area makes this pan ideal for cooking chicken, searing meats, or breaking up ground beef for this low carb cabbage roll casserole.
- Baking Dish – This standard 9×13 baking dish is perfect for sheet cakes, roast chickens, and casseroles.
Cabbage Roll Casserole (Healthy Comfort Food)
By
This cabbage roll casserole recipe with ground beef has all the flavor of cabbage rolls, without the effort. An easy, healthy dinner!
Instructions
[ See step photos ]Tap on the times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer.
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Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and cook for up to a minute, until fragrant.
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Increase heat to medium-high. Add the ground beef. Season with sea salt and black pepper. Cook, breaking apart with a spatula, until browned, about 10 minutes. Drain if needed.
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Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C).
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In a 9×13 in (23×33 cm) baking dish, stir together the rice cauliflower, chopped cabbage, and Italian seasoning.
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When the ground beef is cooked through, stir that in. Stir in marinara sauce.
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Bake for about 30 minutes, until the cabbage is crisp-tender.
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Top with shredded mozzarella, if using. (If not, just continue baking without it.) Continue baking for about 15 minutes, until the cheese is golden brown and the cabbage is completely cooked through.
Did you make it? Leave a review or tag me @wholesomeyum on Instagram!
Maya’s Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1 cup
- Store: Pop leftovers in an airtight container and keep in the fridge for 3–5 days.
- Reheat: Microwave a serving or warm the whole thing in the oven at 350 degrees F. If it’s frozen, thaw first or bake covered straight from frozen so the top doesn’t burn.
- Freeze: Yep, you can freeze it! Best to do it after baking so the cabbage holds up better.
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I provide nutrition facts as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see my nutrition policy.
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Easy Lazy Cabbage Roll Casserole Recipe
167 Comments
Melissa Ann
0Hi, quick question, is this really all supposed to fit in a 13×9 pan??? Mixing everything together was a huge mess. I had 600g of cabbage which supposedly is 6 cups, and had the 4 cups of cauliflower. Also didn’t seem like enough sauce, but I had the required amount. Am I possibly doing something wrong?
prplcws
0I ended up using two pans for mine! One 13 x 9 and another casserole dish. I mixed it all in a huge bowl as I saw there was no way to mix all this in the pan!
I put the cabbage and cauliflower mix in the bottom, then poured the meat sauce over top… super easy!
Delish!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thanks for sharing with us!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Melissa, Yes, it’s a 13×9 pan. I decided to stir everything in the pan to use less dishes. If that’s challenging, feel free to mix everything in a large bowl first. It ended up being enough sauce for me after baking, but if you want to use more, feel free. It’s a pretty flexible recipe. I hope you liked it!
Edith
0What could you use instead of the avocado oil? Can’t have anything avocado. (Cheese either, but I know I can leave that out.)
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Edith, Olive oil would also work fine. Preferably not extra virgin, because that has too low of a smoke point for the oven temperature.
Michelle
0Hi there!
I love when your recipes include videos, would you mind uploading one for this?
Michelle
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you, Michelle! It’s on my list to add one for this recipe.
Grace Hall
0This looks so delish. I live alone and would make it for 4 and freeze, but when reduced down the amounts become mind boggling to measure. I mean what is 0.33 of a teaspoon? Is there any way you could put in metric measurements for us Brits?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Grace, I usually freeze extras, too. I agree that not every recipe divides well to any number of servings we want. I do plan to add metric measurements soon and hope that will help!
Sara
0If using frozen rice cauliflower should I cook it first?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Sara, No, you don’t need to cook it separately. But, you would need to defrost it and squeeze out any excess water from any ice crystals that may have been on it.
Sara
0This was fantastic and even my pickiest eaters ate this. I’m glad I was able to get them to eat some different vegetables other than corn or potatoes.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you so much, Sara!
Eva
0Delicious!!! My family loved it. I only added green olives and we did not use cheese because my daughters are allergic to dairy.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I am so happy the whole family liked it, Eva!
Sami
0This was so good, so simple and I’ll make it again for sure! I used chicken because I had it on hand and I didn’t have mozzarella, so I used sharp cheddar cheese and it turned out great! Next time I will use ground beef and mozzarella and there will be many next times! Yummy!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I love all your substitutions, Sami! I am glad you liked it!
Melba Bradley
0What is riced cauliflower?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Melba, Riced cauliflower is cauliflower florets that has been grated to the size of rice. You can use a food processor with a grating attachment, or a box grater, to make it from cauliflower florets.
John
0Was good. Needed more salt. But better to salt your own portion than add too much. Tasty. You would swear the cauliflower was rice. Will make again!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you, John! I always use Julia Child’s recommended salt ratio for meat (1 tsp per pound of meat). I didn’t add extra salt aside from the meat since my marinara sauce was salty enough, but I’m sure that varies depending on which marinara sauce you use. You can definitely add more salt to the cabbage and cauliflower if you want to. I’m so glad you liked it!
Jenniffer
0I wonder how it would be without the riced cauliflower? I’m not a huge fan of it. Usually the rice in cabbage rolls is meant to bind the meat together. At least that’s what I thought! My grandma was from Poland and this was definitely her best dish! looking forward to the memories!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Jenniffer, Sure, you can make it without the riced cauliflower!
Katherine
0You list the ingredients but not the amounts.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Katherine, the amounts and instructions are right on the recipe card above.
Kayley
0This was a good recipe. My 4 year old even ate it without complaint!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I love to hear that, Kayley! Thanks for stopping by!
Cheryl
0Any suggestions for replacing the marinara sauce? I have an allergy to tomatoes. Thanks.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Cheryl, The flavor would be different without tomatoes, of course, but personally I think it would also be delicious with Alfredo sauce like this.
Connie
0Thank you for sharing this recipe. I plan to make it today. I appreciate you sharing recipes for wonderful main dishes and side dishes instead of mainly desserts.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you, Connie! Let me know how you like it!
Marguerite Lindemann
0Do you think that shirataki rice would work in this, as I can’t stand the smell of cooked cauliflower.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Marguerite, I haven’t tried it but it might work. I don’t like the smell of steamed cauliflower either but in this case since we aren’t steaming it, I didn’t detect any. The marinara covers it up quite well.
Stace
0Ok, silly question. You are using fresh riced cauliflower? I have only cooked with the frozen riced cauliflower. I know with it I have to squeeze all of the excess water out of it before adding to my recipes.
Lori
0I use frozen riced cauliflower all the time. I just pop it in the microwave for 3-4 minutes and then just add it to my recipe. Never comes out watery. Gonna make this for my parents tomorrow!!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Stace, Not silly at all! Yes, I used fresh cauliflower rice and didn’t squeeze it. With the way the recipe is written, you can’t squeeze it, since it goes in raw. I haven’t tried it with frozen and am not sure if it would work or be too watery. I’m not positive if frozen cauliflower rice has more moisture or not, but know that putting it in frozen probably wouldn’t get it to cook through. So, if using frozen, you could try thawing it first and then squeeze any moisture out to be on the safe side. I liked the convenience of not having too many extra steps in this recipe.