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Cozy Unstuffed Cabbage Casserole Bake- Easy With All The Flavor of Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

Recipe by Eileen

  • Total Time2 hours
  • Yield8-10 1x

My favorite recipe for Stuffed Cabbage Rolls comes straight from my grandmother’s kitchen. It’s the kind of dish that warms a whole table and feeds a crowd, but it definitely requires time and patience. Wanting to keep all those nostalgic flavors while making the process weeknight‑friendly, I created my Unstuffed Cabbage Casserole Bake — a simpler, cozier twist that delivers the same comforting taste with far less prep.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 small head green cabbage, cored and cut into quarters
  • 1 small onion, grated on large holes of a box grater
  • 1 ½ pounds meat loaf mix (combination of ground beef, veal and pork; if you cannot find use 1 pound lean ground beef and ½ pound ground pork)
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 28 oz. can tomato puree
  • 1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
  • 2 ½ cups water
  • ¾ cup brown sugar
  • 6 tbsp. lemon juice
  • 1 small onion peeled
  • 8 whole cloves
  • 1 8.8 oz. package precooked long-grain white rice or ¼ cup long-grain rice,  cooked

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

  1.  Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cut the core out of the cabbage head and cut cabbage into quarters. Place the cabbage quarters  into the boiling water. Boil the cabbage quarters for 15-20 minutes until the cabbage is fork tender. Remove cabbage to a plate. Once cool, drain liquid and slice into long shreds.
  2. To make the sauce, in a large bowl combine the tomato puree, diced tomatoes, water, brown sugar and lemon juice.
  3. To make the meatballs, in another bowl combine the meat loaf mix, 2/3 of the rice packet, the grated onion, beaten egg and about ½ cup of the tomato mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix gently with wet hands until well combined. Form into golf size meatballs. You will have about 16 meatballs.
  4. Coat bottom of a large roasting pan with some of the tomato sauce, then scatter half of shredded cabbage leaves in the pan. Lay meatballs on top of the cabbage and coat with a layer of sauce. Stud the whole onion with cloves and nestle between the meatballs. Top with  remaining cabbage shreds, and cover with additional sauce to cover the casserole.
  5.  This will seem like a lot of sauce but I think that is the best part! You may have some sauce leftover.
  6.  Cover and bring to a simmer on the stove, then place in the preheated oven.
  7. Bake for 1 ¼ hours or until bubbly and hot.  Let rest a few minutes, then serve.

Notes

  • The cabbage quarters can take 15-20 minutes of cooking to soften so they shred easily
  • Do not overwork the meat mixture or the meatballs will become tough
  • If making a full recipe, use a large stove top proof roasting pan as there will be a large amount of ingredients in the pan, and it is best to bring the ingredients to a simmer before placing in the oven. A scaled down recipe can be made in a 9×13 inch baking dish and the stove-top step can be skipped
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1.5 hours
  • Category: Dinner
  • Method: Baking

Find it online: https://drfoodiemama.com/cozy-unstuffed-cabbage-casserole-bake-easy-with-all-the-flavor-of-stuffed-cabbage-rolls/