Cabbage Roll Casserole is much easier than making traditional cabbage rolls! This yummy casserole is slowly baked and full of ground beef, rice and cabbage in a light tomato sauce. Hearty, simple to make and delicious!
“Another casserole?” This is what my older kids say when I pull yet another casserole from the oven. 😉 But then they always devour it and compliment me on how delicious it was. So I’ve concluded that casseroles are pretty much the best invention EVER. (Me likey compliments on my cooking!)
Sometimes they’re not much to look at, though. Like this cabbage roll casserole. It may not look like a hearty, filling, flavorful casserole – but believe me when I say that it’s better than it looks, lol!
When my schedule is crazy, it’s nice to be able to throw a few simple ingredients together in a casserole dish and throw it in the oven. Even though this casserole takes a little bit of time to cook, it’s worth it in the end!
If you’ve ever eaten or made cabbage rolls, you know how time consuming they can be. If you haven’t ever had them before, it’s basically a piece of cabbage filled with a meat filling and rolled together like a burrito and placed in a dish. You repeat the process until the dish is filled and then top with tomato sauce and bake. It can take for-ev-er to fill and roll those little suckers.
This beef cabbage roll casserole takes all that yumminess of the traditional cabbage rolls but without all the work! This is on my meal rotation list and I will continue to annoy my kids with at least one casserole a week. Muahaha! Enjoy!
Beef Cabbage Roll Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. lean ground beef
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 28-oz can tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes
- 3 1/2 pound head cabbage chopped
- 1 cup uncooked long grain rice
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- 3/4 tsp. garlic powder
- 2 14-oz cans beef broth
- monterey jack cheese for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º F. Spray a 9x13" pan (or two smaller dishes) with cooking spray.
- Brown beef and soften onion in a saucepan on the stovetop. Drain if needed. Dump into a large bowl.
- Add tomato sauce, cabbage, rice, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Stir together and pour into prepared pan(s). Pour beef broth over the top of casserole. Do not stir. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour.
- Take off foil, stir, recover with foil and cook an additional 30 minutes, or until rice and cabbage is tender.
- Serve as is or with a sprinkling of monterey jack cheese on top! Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Looking for more yummy dinner ideas? Check out these casseroles:
Stuffed Bell Peppers Casserole
Healthier Sloppy Joe Casserole
Skinny Chicken & Broccoli Casserole
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I made the Cabbage Roll Casserole today. It was very tasty.
FYI…There is an error. The directions call for a 9×13 pan, or two smaller.
I cut the recipe exactly by half and still it completely filled a 9×13 pan.
That’s weird because I’ve made it several times and I use two 8×8 pans or a 2 quart casserole and an 8×8 for the entire recipe in full, which is equivalent to 9×13 and it always works out perfectly for me! Although I do tend to pack them pretty full, lol! Maybe your head of cabbage was larger than 3 1/4 pounds? Either way, I’m glad you enjoyed it!! Thanks for the comment!
Hi there. Up in the recipe it says 3 1/4 lb head of cabbage, but down here you said 1 1/4. Just curious which one is the measurement you use?
You are totally right, Stephanie! My bad! I just edited the other comment – it’s 3 1/4 lbs. Thank you for catching that!
I followed this recipe to the letter. It completely filled an 12×14 casserole dish wifh no extra room. Its in the oven now. Looks and smells delish, but we’ll be eating it for a while yet
Can this be frozen? There are only two of us so I like to make things like this in two pans and freeze one for later.
I’ve never tried it, but it would probably do very well if frozen! I should definitely try it!
Yes it freezes well but you may want to have extra sauce on hand when you are ready to heat it up..
It was great thank you besafe
Very good and shared with friends
The recipe made lots so plenty of leftovers for the two of us. I also added a couple of chilies . Love it!!
This cabbage roll casserole recipe tastes and smells amazing!!!!! I followed the ingredient proportions to the letter including massing out the cabbage using a scale. I found that I required 2 9 x 13 dishes & they were both full. I cooked the cabbage in the microwave for 10 min to make it easier to mix everything together. In addition, I added a little more spice-some mustard powder, onion powder, sage and thyme. This recipe tastes better than any cabbage rolls I have ever eaten. So good!!!
Put this together today for the freezer. Only change: used precooked rice and parboiled cabbage. Easy recipe. I plan on adding sauerkraut on the top when I serve it.
I’ve got mine in the oven as we speak. Can’t wait to try it. Smelling fabulous so far. Thank you for the recipe
It’s in the oven now! I had to use vegetable broth. Pigs in the Blanket are more work so I hope my hubbies likes this!
I was looking for a healthy cabbage casserole, to use with a package of ground sirloin we had.
Your casserole is delicious and my wife loved it!
The only thing I added was green peppers.
Thank you Jen for sharing!
John
We love this recipe!!! Thank you so much!!!
I was going to give my daughter some (there was plenty.) My roommates shot that one down…they were watching intently as I was preparing. Lol
It filled up a 9×13…had to heap it in and smooth it out..(they were still breathing down my neck). The last 30 mins when I uncovered it, and stirred and put it back in for 20 mins…took it out of the oven, topped it with provolone and parm…Yum to the 10th power. I thank you again!
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I Add the hamburger raw and it all cooks up perfectly. I remember of my mother making this and rolling them.. The hamburger was always raw in her recipe as well.
To the one questioning about freezing. You most definitely can freeze it! I make up a couple batches and then freeze. I find it really brings out the flavour better when you freeze and then warm up.
Awesomeness
This recipe was delicious. I divided this recipe in half and cooked it in my pressure cooker for 8 minutes natural release 10 minutes. I didn’t want to wait an hour while it cooked in the oven.. I will definitely be making it again!
Great easy recipe. I had some leftover rice so I used that.
Can you use sausage in place of hamburger?
You can absolutely use sausage instead of ground beef!
Made this today I love cabbage will make it definitely again very tasty. Easy to make. I did not put mine in the oven since it’s summer made it on the stove and it came out perfect then sprinkles the cheese!!
I made this dish this evening. Smells yummy… still waiting to devour. I was a little concerned because many people who had commented indicated that the quantity runs more than a 9×13 can hold. I was prepared for this but happy to report that I was able to fit it into a 9×13 baking dish:))
Outside of adding Italian seasoning to the meat as it browned and turning the temperature up to 400F as someone else suggested, I cooked it as the recipe said for the 1 hour 30 minutes and it turned out to be super delicious! It is a keeper and going on the supper rotation meal list.
Also, if you are following Weight Watchers, this is only 4 WW points per serving without the cheese added.
Delicious!!!