Unstuffed Cabbage - WNWN-FM

We take a look at a very easy recipe this week! Should make prepping for the rest of the week a lot easier!

This week’s healthy-ish meal is a simpler take on a Polish favorite – cabbage rolls! If you have never heard of them, a cabbage roll is a boiled cabbage leaf filled with rice and ground beef (traditionally), rolled up and baked in a pool of savory tomato sauce. My parents would always make this dish for us quite often growing up, but as we got older, they started making a deconstructed version, which we now call unstuffed cabbage. The traditional version, as delicious as it is, can be quite time consuming, with having to pre-cook most of the ingredients before assembling, and then allowing for 1-2 hours of baking. I love making this dish now as an adult for the simplicity of it, especially during the week. When my dad would make it for us, he typically made white or brown rice to go with it, but I find it can be just as delicious with cauliflower rice or all on its own. I started making mine with ground turkey instead of ground beef for an even healthier alternative, but either kind of meat would work just as well. I’ve experimented with both my crockpot and making this dish on the stove top, and it has come out just as good both times with no apparent differences. I’m sure this would be delicious in the instant pot, as well.

See the recipe below.

Ingredients

1 pound lean ground beef (or sub ground turkey)

½ head of green cabbage, chopped

1 white onion

1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes

2 cloves of minced garlic

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp of Italian seasoning

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions (Stove top)

1. Pour olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add your onions, and cook until tender and translucent.
2. Add in your meat and minced garlic. Cook until the meat is browned.
3. Give the cabbage a rough chop and throw that in to your pot. Then add your can of crushed tomatoes and the Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. I usually let mine cook down all together for about 20 to 30 minutes on medium-low heat with the lid on.

Directions (Crockpot)

1. Brown your meat in olive oil over medium-high heat. Do not cook all the way through. Drain the grease and add to your crockpot.
2. Chop up your onion and cabbage. Add both ingredients, as well as your minced garlic, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to your cockpot, and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for about 3-5 hours.

Optional toppings/add-ons

- White/brown/cauliflower rice

- Mozzarella or parmesan cheese

Tell us if you like this recipe! Let us know what other recipes you would like to see here. We’d love to hear from you!