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| This is my kicked-up version of Dolores' Un-Stuffed Cabbage Casserole; thanks Dolores! |
Today's my birthday, and even though this is not a milestone birthday I still like to get as much birthday mileage out of the day as I can, so I'm in San Francisco where I'll be attending the BlogHer Holiday Meet-Up and visiting my stepsisters Karyn and Bobbi. Having a birthday that's close to the end of the year means a double-dose of reflecting on life every December. One thing I've been thinking for a while now is how ironically it seemed easier to eat healthy meals when I went off to work every day. In those days I had to take a lunch, and when I got home I had to work on the blog, so there wasn't much time to go out to eat. Being forced to plan ahead for meals meant I always made diet-friendly casseroles or soups on the weekend to make sure my freezer was well-stocked to get me through the week. That's a habit I'm going to work on cultivating again, so over the weekend I made this amazing Deconstructed Stuffed Cabbage Casserole and I have six servings of it in the freezer waiting for me at home!
I decided to show you a serving of the casserole for the opening shot (and I promptly gobbled that down right after I took the photos.) The picture above is how the finished casserole looked just out of the oven. This casserole started with a recipe that my friend Dolores sent me after she'd mentioned it on Facebook, and as soon as I saw her recipe I knew I'd love it. But I do like to add my own twist to recipes, and although I closely followed her idea for a layered dish with cabbage and a meat-rice-tomato mixture, I used less meat, spiced the meat mixture up a bit, used more cabbage in proportion to the other ingredients (which Dolores recommended), and also added some low-fat cheese on top. The red tomato sauce and cheese made this look like lasagna, but I love the healthy idea of a layered dish made with cabbage. If you like cabbage at all, I promise you'll love this recipe.
You'll need two cups of cooked rice, and I used brown rice that I cooked in my much-beloved Zojirushi Rice Cooker.
Brown the ground beef in a large frying pan. (If you use lean ground beef like I did, you'll need a tiny bit of olive oil, even with a non-stick pan.)
Remove the ground beef and then saute the onions in a little olive oil. When onions are starting to brown, add the minced garlic, thyme, and paprika and cook a few minutes more.
Then add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, and browned ground beef and let the mixture simmer for 15-20 minutes. Season to taste with salt and fresh ground black pepper.
While that simmers, chop up 1 1/2 heads of green cabbage. Heat olive oil in a large frying pan or dutch oven with high sides, and cook the cabbage until it's wilted and about half cooked.
You'll need to turn the cabbage over a few times so it all gets wilted and cook about 8-10 minutes. Here's how it looks when it's done and seasoned with a little salt and pepper.
When the meat and tomato sauce mixture has cooked 15-20 minutes and thickened a bit, stir in the 2 cups of cooked rice and gently combine.
Spray a large glass or crockery casserole dish with nonstick spray and start layering, starting with a layer of the cooked cabbage.
Top that with half the meat-tomato-rice mixture. Repeat with another layer of cabbage topped with the meat-tomato-rice mixture.
Cover the casserole tightly with foil and bake at 350F/180C for 40 minutes (or until it's just starting to bubble on the edges.)
Cheese is completely optional, but at that point I removed the foil, sprinkled over 2 cups of a low-fat cheese blend, and baked uncovered until the cheese was nicely melted. (I used a blend of 80% low-fat mozzarella, 10% low-fat cheddar, and 10% Provolone.)
And here's how the finished casserole looked when it came out of the oven! Thanks Dolores for a recipe idea that I know is going to be a long-term repeater at my house!
Deconstructed Stuffed Cabbage Casserole
(Makes 8-10 servings, depending on what else you're serving it with; recipe adapted from a layered cabbage casserole recipe sent to me by my good friend Dolores.)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 T olive oil, divided (more or less, depending on your pan)
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 large onion, chopped small
1 T finely minced garlic
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. sweet Hungarian Paprika (good quality paprika makes a big difference in flavor in a dish like this)
1/2 tsp. sharp Hungarian Paprika (optional; if making for kids I might leave this out)
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste (for seasoning meat mixture and cooked cabbage)
1 1/2 heads green cabbage, coarsely chopped
1 can (14.5 oz.) petite dice tomatoes with juice
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
1/4 cup water (just enough to rinse out each of the cans)
2 cups cooked rice (I used brown rice)
2 cups low-fat cheese (optional; I used a blend of 80% low-fat mozzarella, 10% low-fat cheddar, and 10% Provolone.)
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Spray a large glass or crockery casserole dish with non-stick spray. (I used a dish that was 12" x 10".)
Heat 1-2 tsp. olive oil in a large frying pan; add ground beef and cook until it's done and nicely browned, breaking apart as it cooks. (I like to use a potato masher to break the meat apart once it's partly done.) Remove ground beef to a bowl.
In the same pan, add a little more olive oil if needed, then add chopped onion and cook over medium heat until the onion is translucent and starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic, dried thyme, and paprika and cook about 2 minutes more. Then add the diced tomatoes with juice, tomato sauce, and ground beef. Rinse each of the cans out with a little water (about 1/4 cup total) and add to the pan. Let mixture simmer until it's hot and slightly thickened, about 15-20 minutes.
While the meat mixture simmers, cut cabbage in half, cut out the core, and remove any wilted outer leaves, and then chop the cabbage coarsely into pieces. (They don't have to be all the same size. I chopped it into pieces that varied from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches.) Heat about 2 tsp. olive oil in a large frying pan or dutch oven with high sides, add the cabbage and cook over medium-high heat until the cabbage is wilted and about half cooked, turning it over several times so it all wilts and cooks. Season cabbage with salt and fresh-ground black pepper.
When the meat and tomato sauce mixture has cooked 15-20 minutes and thickened a bit, stir in the 2 cups of cooked rice and gently combine.
When the meat and tomato sauce mixture has cooked 15-20 minutes and thickened a bit, stir in the 2 cups of cooked rice and gently combine.
Spray a large glass or crockery casserole dish with non-stick spray and the layer half the cabbage, half the meat mixture, other half of cabbage, and other half of meat mixture. Cover tightly with foil and bake 40 minutes, or until the mixture is just starting to bubble on the edges.
Remove foil and sprinkle on cheese (if using.) Bake uncovered an additional 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and starting to slightly brown. Serve hot.
This freezes well, and I'm looking forward to enjoying it several more times when I eat the portions I have in the freezer. To reheat, I would recommend thawing overnight in the refrigerator and then either microwaving it until hot or heating in the oven in a glass dish covered with foil.
South Beach Suggestions:
Cabbage is an extremely low-glycemic vegetable, and since this recipe is half cabbage that goes a long way towards making it a good option for phase 2 or 3 of the South Beach Diet. (It would not be allowed for phase one due to the brown rice.) If you're making this for South Beach it's important to use low-fat ground beef, low-fat cheese, and brown rice (or a low-glycemic type of white rice like Uncle Bean's Converted Rice would also work.)
More Tasty Recipe Ideas with Cabbage:
(Recipes from other blogs not always South Beach Diet friendly; check ingredients.) Roasted Cabbage with Lemon from Kalyn's Kitchen
Crunchy Napa Cabbage Asian Slaw from Kalyn's Kitchen
Goulash Soup with Red Pepper and Cabbage from Kalyn's Kitchen
Crockpot or Stovetop Recipe for Anasazi Bean and Cabbage Soup from Kalyn's Kitchen
Warm Red Cabbage Slaw with Apple and Caraway Seed from Pinch My Salt
Italian Sausage and Cabbage Stew from Simply Recipes
Stuffed Cabbage with Quinoa and Roasted Sweet Potatoes from Gluten Free Goddess
Roasted Onion, Potato, and Cabbage Soup from Farmgirl Fare
Sriracha Cabbage Slaw from Viet World Kitchen
Layered Cabbage Casserole from Just Hungry
(Want even more recipes? I find these recipes from other blogs using Food Blog Search.)
















77 comments:
I definitely find that the busier I get, the better I eat because there's no time for mindless snacking! This casserole looks so cheesy delicious. Happy birthday, Kalyn!
I love the idea of turning labor-intensive stuffed cabbage rolls into a casserole! I'm not a huge lover of cabbage, so I think that cooking it this way might make it work for me.
I'm curious as to the origin of this recipe. I'm from Romania and deconstructed stuffed cabbage is part of out cuisine but I've never, ever seen this with cheese on top. Other than that it looks pretty close to how we make it. I actually made this myself over the week-end and finished it last night. This is the kind of dish that tastes even better the day after it is made. :)
I made stuffed cabbage a few weeks ago and posted about them. My family called them "pigs-in-a-blanket." Then my SIL told me she makes a version called "between the sheets" -- similar to your deconstructed stuffed cabbage. Either way, a whole lot easier than steaming and filling and rolling. Bravo!
Happy Birthday!!! This is perfect for me because I love stuffed cabbage rolls, but hate fiddling with them.
I remember my mother's stuffed cabbage oh so well. That was some good eatin'. I haven't ventured to make it myself due to the work involved! This recipe is a definite must! And, it's gluten-free! Yay!
Happy Birthday! Even if it's not a milestone, it's still a cause for celebration. :)
Kalyn, How do you think this would turn out without rice for a phase one dish? I LOVE one dish dinners, and this looks yummy.
Thanks for the birthday wishes! This recipe is my version of the recipe Dolores sent me, so I'm certainly not claiming it's authentic for any cuisine, and adding the cheese was just a whim I had. I was curious about making it without rice for phase one, which I think might be good. I would probably simmer the meat mixture until it's quite thick if I wasn't adding rice.
I'm going to be spending my birthday out and about with my stepsister Karyn so I don't know how much I'll be checking in here during the day. But I'll be posting comments with my phone between shopping splurges!
Happy birthday! I read your blog faithfully and you pretty much guide our weekly menu!!! Thanks!
happy birthday! I find that I eat much healthier at work too. I think it's the regimented hours and the monontany. Thanks for this recipe. I love making stuffed cabbage rolls, but never have the time. This recipe is similar but easier!
Happy Birthday Kalyn - glad to have you as a friend and fellow blogger!
This recipe would be a great way to use the cabbage that I blanched and froze over the summer when I got more from our CSA than we could eat. And I could skip cooking the cabbage! I'll have to try it out and let you know how it goes.
Oh and Happy Birthday - mine is in 10 days.
Happy Birthday!! Perfect opportunity for me to thank you. I came to your blog in early October, following a recipe link. I read some of your recipes and then your story about the South Beach diet. I thought to myself, "I could do this!" I bought the South Beach Super-Charged book and made a healthy shopping list. I started October 15 and in the last seven weeks, have lost 23 pounds! My husband, who's been consistent about 3/4 of the time, has lost 15. We are both very pleased! I make your taco soup every week and need to try a few of your other great sounding recipes. Thank you for the inspiration and information!
Sue in Seattle (my b-day is Sunday so I understand the birthday/holiday thing!!)
Happy Birthday Kalyn!!! I hope you have a fabulous day :)
Happy Birthday Kalyn! I enjoy your blog so much. Your recipes are delicious. I pray you have a wonderful day! Enjoy!
This casserole looks so yummy! I've never had stuffed cabbage before, but I definitely want to give this a try. I hope you have a wonderful and very Happy Birthday!
Kalyn, this sounds great. One question: I don't eat beef. Do you think it would be good with ground turkey or chicken? I'm not sure how turkey would be with cabbage, it sounds wrong somehow.
Love cabbage, I am definitely gonna have to try this dish. Thanks for sharing :)
mickey
Thanks everyone for the nice thoughts and birthday wishes. I do appreciate it.
I'm not sure how this would work with ground turkey, but if you don't eat beef and you like turkey with these flavors I'm guessing you would like it.
This looks wonderful, I will definitely try it! I have recently started cooking low carb and your website has been a great help.
Thank you so much for being so generous, and Happy Birthday, I hope you have a very special day!
Happy Birthday Kalyn!
I have no patience for stuffed cabbage but my husband does love it, so we'll have to try this :)
Kalyn:
Happy Birthday. I have a suggested recipe for a phase one stuffed Cabbage.
1head cabbage chopped
1/2 can tomato puree
1/2 cup crystal light lemonade
1/4 cup walden farms -low carb french dressing
1 red pepper, green and orange pepper cut up
1 onion chopped
1.5 lbs of browned grounded turkey or beef
saute onion and peppers in olive oil, add chopped cabbage until soft. add browned ground turkey. Stir in Lemonade, tomato puree, french dressing and salt and pepper for taste. simmer over low heat until cabbage is cooked through.
I usually eat as a stew type of dish.
This is definitley a low carb dish. Can be used for phase one.
Hope you enjoy it!
Dana
It's funny, I've never seen stuffed cabbage with cheese either, but the version I'm familiar with is Jewish, where combining cheese and meat wouldn't be allowed. I've also had it with more of a sweet-and-sour tomato sauce that uses vinegar (for sour) and sugar or raisins (for sweet).
With that said, your version looks great, and I really like the idea of deconstructing it -- I've never made stuffed cabbage myself because it seemed like so much work! So even if I skip the cheese and use the type of sauce I'm more familiar with, I will probably use your approach to make it that much quicker and easier to get dinner ready.
Happy Belated Birthday, Kalyn! Hope you ha a fun time in SF. Love this lower-carb dish...looks great!
This looks fantastic. A great way to get my boys to eat cabbage.
Hi Kalyn, I'm thinking of making this tonight, but I don't see the rice added to the meat mixture in the printable recipe version. I thought perhaps you might like to amend it for the sake of clarity. Thanks for the recipe and I hope you had a great birthday. Nan
Thanks for catching that! I'm on vacation and only have iPhone right now but I will fix it later today when I get back where my laptop is!
I have a similar recipe for a deconstructed cabbage roll on my blog, too. Though it has both hamburger and sausage as well as bacon and no cheese. It's a family favorite! YUM!
I love, love, love cabbage rolls but hate the work so I susallly do something similar, but in a skillet. Your idea of a casserole is perfect! Thanks for the idea. Now the "cabbage not-rolls" will get that slow cooked oven flavor.
Fantastic idea.
Thank you for the fantastic recipe! I followed the recipe and made it for dinner last night and it came out amazing. Everybody loved it!
Tonight we had the leftovers. It was even better after it sat overnight in the fridge. I will definitely make it again.
So glad people are liking this. I am looking forward to the leftovers when I get home.
I have gone off meat and fish and am eating mostly vegetables but I know Bryan would love this.
I did make it last night, we loved it. Thanks for the recipe. Nan
Barbara you could save some of the cabbage for yourself. I'd love plain sauteed cabbage for dinner, but then I'm a cabbage freak.
Nan, so glad you enjoyed it!
happy belated birthday!
This recipe looks wonderful. I am going to try it subbing riced cauliflower for the brown rice. I have a regular stuffed cabbage/peppers recipe that I use the riced cauliflower for so I think it will be perfect here.
I am following a plan very similar to South Beach. Thanks for helping me make my weight loss journey exciting with different foods to try - otherwise I would be living on grilled chicken and salad.
Tracy, I love the idea of using riced cauliflower in this; thanks for sharing and glad you're enjoying the blog.
Kalyn...in the actual recipe I couldn't find out what to do with the rice...what am I not seeing...
Patty, you are not crazy! I left that step out when I first posted the recipe but a commenter above caught it and I fixed it on December 10. You must have printed the recipe before I fixed it I'm guessing, but it is fixed in both places now. Sorry about the confusion.
I made this tonite with 1 1/2 pkgs of coleslaw mix. It came out so good! Be sure to allow some time to make it. Eat it really hot with Frank's Red Hot sauce. Yum!
Moongirl, didn't think of making it with coleslaw mix; good idea! Glad you liked it.
Do you think this could be made ahead and popped in the oven after work? What about using the slow cooker?
Most definitely you could make this in the morning, or even the night before, keep in the fridge, and then cook after work the next day. I would wrap tightly in foil when you refrigerate it.
I was very curious about making it in a slow cooker when I tried the recipe. I think it would work, but I doubt this would be okay to cook all day, even on low. I do think you could layer it in a slow cooker and cook 4-5 hours on low, or maybe even a little longer.
If you try one of these options, please let us know how it turns out!
Hi Kalyn, Happy Birthday from Florida.
I just popped the dish into the oven - I used already shredded cabbage for coleslaw (mixed w. carrots and red cabbage), because thats, what I had in my fridge. I only sauteed it for a few minutes but, oh my, forgot to season it. Hope, it still tastes great. I'll let you know.
I just added cumin seeds, because, that is always in my ingredients w. cabbage. Usually, you eat it with potatoes in Germany, never in combination with rice. And the cheese is very good on top - makes it appealing to my kids.
Swimchick, I am liking the sound of cumin in this! Hope you enjoy.
This looks great Kalyn, I love my moms stuffed cabbage but I'm too lazy to make them. I'm going to try yours!
Gina, that is exactly why I loved this idea so much too! And I was very happy with how it turned out.
Great way to enjoy stuffed cabbage rolls without all of the work!
Made this last night, with a few minor tweaks—used ground venison instead of beef; didn't have sweet paprika, so used smoked plus a little brown sugar. Husband declared the dish an "epic win" and asked that it be added to our regular rotation. Thanks, Kalyn!
So glad you enjoyed it!
Loved it Kalyn, I'm blogging about it today!
Gina, can't wait to see your post. So glad you liked it!
This was great! I did make a couple minor changes but overall it was delicious and healthy. Instead of water I used a really concentrated chicken broth and added in about a tablespoon of ketchup just to give a little more thickness and a touch of sweet. I also left the cheese off. Yum!
This was so, so delicious and satisfying! Great recipe.
Made this tonight. I was soooo good! A new favorite way to do cabbage.
This was awesome! I used only 1 head of cabbage but added chopped mini sweet peppers (plus a couple of chopped jalapenos since we love heat) when cooking the onions, so it was kinda like a deconstructed stuffed pepper recipe too. Fun to make and delicious to eat!
Carla, what a great adaptation! So glad you liked it.
Hi Kalyn! This is my first post, but I've made so so so many of your recipes... thank you!! I just wanted to share that I subbed lentils for the rice & it was super delish! And easy as you can get pre-cooked lentils from Trader Joes.
Carey this sounds good with lentils. Unfortunately no Trader Joe's in Utah, sigh.
I just wrote out a long post and then lost it. ugh. Anyway, the post was about how I was pleasantly surprised tonight when I opened the lid from the container which I took from the freezer. Thinking I had thawed (in the fridge, overnight) beef enchiladas, I was prepared to make guacamole to go with them. Thankfully, I opened the container before I cut into the beautiful avocado! And, fortunately, I had left over Caesar salad which went beautifully with this recipe!!! We love, love, LOVE this Deconstucted Cabbage Rolls recipe! Thank you Kalyn!
Mimi, so glad you like it!
I made this without the rice tonight -- & in my slow cooker. I can use my slow cooker liner on the stove, so I browned ground round, and then added green onions and garlic and the spices. I took it off the stove and added the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Then I just stirred the cabbage in without pre-cooking. I added some sugar-free ketchup just because I had some extra and thought I might need more liquid since I hadn't cooked the cabbage. I had planned to add the cheese at the end, but forgot all about it. Loved it! I'm looking forward to leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
Kay, love the idea of making this in the slow cooker; thanks for sharing that!
This recipe sounds and looks soo good, I can't wait to try this one out.
Kalyn,
I'm working on my once-a-month cooking and wonder if this could be cooked in an alluminum pan instead of glass. I'll be splitting it into smaller portions for the freezer and would like to skip baking until the day we eat it. Thanks! - Thomas
Thomas I think it would work fine to freeze and bake this in a foil container. I would undercook the caggage if you're going to freeze it.
I was excited to try this recipe! Here is my adaptation of this yummy recipe. Thanks for posting!!
https://joliluja.wordpress.com/2012/05/18/no-pasta-cabbage-lasagna/
So glad you enjoyed it. (I tried to leave a comment on your blog, but it kept trying to make me log in to WP and I don't have an account.)
This was a hit for my family. This made a lot so i thought we would have leftovers but was surprised how quickly my husband and kids devoured it. I was skeptical about adding the cheese but i did and it was delicious.
So glad you liked it!
Kayln I am so new to your blog and this is only the first one I have come across but I have read through the recipe and all of the comments and I can hardly wait for friday to get here, that is when my boyfriend will be back home and I plan on fixing this for my family then. I am looking forward to this. I will happily post about how everyone responds to it. I have one 7yr old PICKY eater so this will be something worth trying. I love cabbage but not everyone else shares my love of it.
Thank You for sharing this recipe with all of us.
Hope everyone enjoys it!
well I made the "Deconstructed Stuffed Cabbage Casserole" and it was a huge hit... my PICKY eater wanted MORE and my guys (boyfriend and son) were telling me how good it was and that it needs to be places on the rotation schedule. I just started eating cabbage again, I had forgotten how good it really is...and my family loves it... tonight I am fixing a sort of soup with cabbage. I will let you know how it turns out. Its in the slow cooker right now its been on all night. (on warm) but had it on high for 2 hours. now its on low. and smells so yummy.
So glad it was a hit!
Well, I printed the recipe months ago and finally got around to making it tonight. It was wonderful and my husband thought so too. Will definitely be making again. Thanks for the recipe.
Kathy, so glad you enjoyed it!
I followed this recipe farily closely, but changed a few things. I didn't have any paprika, so I left that out. I also added a bit of brown sugar to the sauce, as that is how my mother makes her cabbage rolls. Maybe a couple tablespoons worth. It gives it a nice savory taste! I will definitely be making this recipe again
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