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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.
📖 Want more recipes like this? Find this one and many more in my Keto Freezer Meal System, Keto Ebook Bundle, and Winter Ebook Bundle!
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
JEFFREY
1Made this, the low carb version with riced cauliflower. Added crushed tomato and a can of Rotel diced tomatoes. No marinara on hand. Cooked in a large wok, so just added the cabbage and seasonings to the ground beef in the wok after draining, and cooked for about 10 minutes until the cabbage was wilted, and then added to the baking dish and baked as instructed. Had a very good flavor and will cook again. Perfect for a keto diet. Put a couple of servings away for later in the week.
Wholesome Yum D
0Thanks for sharing all the details, Jeffrey! Your version with riced cauliflower and crushed tomatoes sounds delicious, and I’m so glad it worked well for your keto lifestyle. Love that you saved some for later too, smart meal prep!
Cat
1When reading this recipe I thought it sounded very much like a lasagna. So I added cottage cheese and voila cabbage lasagna! It was so delicious even my non-keto family members loved it and wanted the recipe. I usually make a large batch of this and freeze it for later meals. I bake it as directed then freeze. Then when I want to eat it, thaw and bake in the oven as usual and it still tastes just as great as fresh.
Stacy
0How much cottage cheese and when did you add it?
Cat
0Hi Cat, When and how did you add the cottage cheese,. Love that addition.
Angie Jacklin
0This was great! My daughter doesn't like the texture of hamburger, so we used Italian sausage. This will be a great rotation.
Wholesome Yum D
0Love that, Angie! Using Italian sausage is such a smart workaround. So glad this one works for your family and earned a spot in the rotation!
Laurie
0Hi Maya, could you please give me an idea of what type of side to serve with this casserole. Since it has cabbage in it, I wouldn’t serve a green salad with it.
Thank you
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Laurie, I usually serve this all by itself, but you could add a side of air fryer potatoes or roasted vegetables.
Linda S Kargle
0I’m going to try The Cabbage Casserole because it sounds and looks yummy….
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hope you love it, Linda!
Robin
0I was hesitant about this one, only grabbed it to try since my German hubby loves cabbage. O. M. G!!!! It was SO good! We were both amazed at how good it was, and there were raves about the smells at work the next day when I heated the leftovers.
Kim Butterfield
0My husband and I loved the recipe. Didn’t change anything.
Wholesome Yum D
0So glad it was a hit for both of you, Kim! Always love hearing when a recipe works perfectly just as written!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I’m so glad you and your husband enjoyed it, Robin! Thank you. Yes, that smell is amazing.
Dorothy Beckner
0I made the cabbage roll casserole for dinner last night. It was a hit with my cabbage loving husband. He likes his cabbage nearly raw. So I adjusted the baking time to accommodate his live for raw cabbage. I used frozen cauliflower rice. This us a large recipe for two, but it will make leftovers for us.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I’m so glad you and your husband liked this casserole, Dorothy! Thank you.
Colleen
0This was so good! My husband and I both really enjoyed it. I liked the crunch provided by the cabbage and was happy it wasn’t mushy. Will definitely be making this again! Finding recipes like this make the transition to keto SO much easier! Thanks!
Denise
0Hi! I just joined today & look forward to trying your healthy recipes. It looks like one of your ingredients isn’t listed. As I looked at all the ingredients & the photos you posted showing them, I see in a small bowl there’s some kind of green, looks to be tiny a diced up veggie. You can see it in the beautiful photos of the finished dish! But I don’t see anything in the list of ingredients that show this green item. I hope I’m not just missing it somewhere! Thank you!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Welcome, Denise! The greens on top aren’t really an “ingredient in the recipe”, it’s just chopped parsley for garnish. Feel free to add some if you like! I hope you love the casserole.
Jean
0I made this for my husband and I for dinner (and leftovers). He is not a fan of cabbage but he loves this! It was very simple to prepare. I replaced the ground beef with ground turkey. It was delish! Keeping this on my dinner rotation for sure!
Candy Raymond
0Maya~This one of the easiest best tasting recipes ever!!! I have given this recipe out sooooo many times~ I have even skipped the oven & cooked it in a kettle~ added the cheese with a ‘nuke’ before serving. My son was a wrestler & with this recipe he could have a full meal. He had a friend over one night & asked him if he wanted to stay for dinner. When asked what was on the menu, he replied ‘Healthy Lasagna”.
Jeannie
0This was absolutely delicious! My husband couldn’t get enough
Whiteflower
0I LOVE most of Maya’s recipes, and this one tastes good… BUT while I cooked my casserole the full time, it was “cronchy” and hard, the cabbage was hard if it was slightly bigger than a shred. I know I had to test the softness of the cabbage, but most of it was tender, it was the bigger pieces of cabbage that stayed tough. I have a solution; I will reheat the leftovers until they are tender and just toss on a bit more cheese. Should solve the problem. I think it’s just the time was off.
Greg
0Agree with other comments noting the resemblance/taste like lasagna. Next time going to add cottage or ricotta cheese. This recipe is going into regular rotation – entire family cleaned their plates – even the fussy eaters lol. Winner winner cabbage dinner! 🙂
Katie S
0Are there any substitutions for the tomatoes? I can’t eat nightshade vegetables or spices (even chili pepper and ashwaghanda) and so many good sounding recipes have them. So, I can’t sub tomato sauce for diced tomatoes. I get discouraged trying. I recently found that you can sub oat fiber for almond flour (allergic to all but 2 nuts) and this made me feel more hopeful. Also allergic to eggs and cow’s milk. Luckily they make many cheeses with goat milk. Not sure I can do keto, but keep trying.
I’m not just moaning here, but want to say that if you had a section (or even a book) that gave substitutions for all these foods that are problems for many people, I think it would be very popular. My guess is that people who have allergies or sensitivities tend to have a bunch, or will have. And it’s often by categories. So something like this database or extensive publication of substitutions would be gold.
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Katie, Tomato sauce is integral to this recipe, maybe you would be more interested in another cabbage recipe on my site, here is Southern Fried Cabbage.
Louise
0Is the carb content with rice or riced cauliflower?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Louise, The carb count is based on cauliflower rice.
Diana
0This looks amazing
Rhonda
0Yummy? my husband really loved this & so did I????
Simma Friedman
0Hi Maya, your recipes are fabulous. Thank you for all your keto inspirations! Passover is coming, I was wondering if you have some keto Passover recipes, desserts especially?
Thank you so much!
Simma
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Simma, I don’t have Passover-specific desserts, but since all my recipes are gluten-free (therefore no wheat), all these keto desserts should work for passover.
Kate
0We love this recipe.
Kristen
0This casserole was great, even my kids loved it and they are some of the hardest kids to cook for.