This post may contain affiliate links. See affiliate disclaimer here.
I am ALWAYS on the search for new recipes that I can make in bulk over the weekend and serve up for lunch and dinner throughout the week. I’m also looking for recipes that will actually stand up to 3 or 4 days in the fridge and not get soggy or lose its joie de vivre.
Enter my new fave go-to: stuffed cabbage! These little pigs in a blanket are a powerhouse for lunch. They are low carb, healthy & taste fantastic even on day 3 of your prepped meals!
Related:
—Follow Me on Instagram
—Rocky Road Fat Bombs
Traditionally, this recipe calls for a healthy amount of rice in each cabbage pocket. Instead, add slightly sautéed cauliflower rice for that nice bite. I personally omit this completely because I don’t care for cauli-rice, but definitely add in for some texture!
Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
INGREDIENTS
Stuffing:
– 8-10 large green cabbage leaves, softened
– 1 half small white onion, chopped
– 1 lb ground beef (I use 90/10, but feel free to use your fave combo)
– 1lb ground pork
– 1 tbsp parsley
– 1 tbsp granulated onion
– Fresh cracked pepper & Himalayan Pink Salt
Sauce:
– Your fave sugar-free tomato sauce my quick recipe here:
– 1 28 oz can Peeled Tomatoes with Basil Leaf
– 1 half small white onion, chopped
– Small amount of pork/ beef mixture
– Fresh cracked pepper & Himalayan Pink Salt
– Italian seasoning
RECIPE
Preheat oven to 400F degrees.
Cut the core out of the cabbage and carefully place cabbage into a large pot. Fill with water and bring to a boil – boil for about 8-10 minutes or until the outer leaves become soft. This step helps you to remove the leaves in one piece and makes them flexible to roll. Carefully remove 8-10 leaves, pat dry and place to the side.
Add the remaining stuffing ingredients into a bowl and mix until combined. I prefer raw onion in the mixture, but feel free to slightly softened or sautee on the stove for a few minutes before adding.
Line a large baking dish with 3 cabbage leaves.
Add about a quarter cup of the mixture to a cabbage leaf & roll, making sure to tuck the sides in. Repeat & add to the baking dish. Set aside.
In a pot, saute the onions until soft, add the ground meat and cook until browned. Add in tomatoes & seasoning. Simmer on the stove for about 45 minutes to let all the flavors meld.
Once sauce is ready, pour over cabbage pockets and then cover loosely with foil. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes. Enjoy!
5 grams net carbs per serving – not too shabby! If you want even fewer carbs, omit the fresh onion or cut the tomato sauce amount used in half – super easy!
Liked this recipe? You’ll love these keto recipe ebooks!
If you are interested in starting a low carb or Keto diet take a look at my Keto 101 post here, check out my 7 Day Low Carb Meal Plan here, take a spin through my Pinterest page or click on an e-book below! Each ebook has 30 recipes with 5 ingredients & are 5 grams of net carbs or fewer! Talk about a no-brainer.
So you can choose 1 breakfast, 1 lunch, 1 dinner & 1 dessert from their Keto in Five cookbooks and know you’re under your daily carb limit for the day!
This sounds great! I’m assuming you brown the beef and pork before adding to the stuffing mix?
Hi Beckey, you can stuff the leaves with raw meat! Everything will meld and cook together in the oven.
wow! nice recipe.Can i use chicken instead of beef in this?
Hi Bruce, chicken would work really well too!
Do you leave the peeled tomatoes whole or chop,them? Also couldn’t find tomatoes with basil so I added dried basil to the sauce.
Hi Brianne, I break the tomatoes up with the round side of my spoon. I personally prefer a chunkier sauce so that works for me, but cutting or blending the tomatoes works too!
We loved this recipe! We added garlic sausage in place of the pork sausage. It was awesome!
Hi Jean, Im so happy you liked the recipe! Garlic sausage sounds AMAZING!
I will be making these tomorrow for dinner. I keep rereading the instructions, it don’t read right. I feel as though your paragraphs are out of order.
It looks delish, can’t wait to try it!
Sorry about the confusion Michelle! If you have any questions about the steps, please let me know!
With the whole cabbage being cooked, what do you do with the remainder after you take off the 8 to 10 leaves?
Hi Amanda, I’ll usually chop it up and add to a stir-fry, or slice it up and add any extra meat sauce over it as well!
I can’t figure out what cauliflower rice is?
Hi Fran, cauliflower rice is basically just super finely chopped cauliflower. I go into more detail here: https://laurenrabadi.com/2018/06/03/keto-cauliflower-fried-rice/
This recipe looks great! I can’t wait to try it! If I cook the ground beef and pork before rolling it in the cabbage will it over cook and burn?
Hi Donna, it might over cook a little. It also will have a looser mixture since the meat will come together in the cabbage leaf when stuffed raw.
I make cabbage rolls all the time, but its on old ethnic recipe that has rice. Next time I plan to make your recipe for a more keto meal. However, after boiling cabbage heads all the time and getting splashed with hot water, I found that it works really well to microwave the head and as leaves soften you can pull them off easily. Keep microwaving and peeling till you have all your leaves. Also the core will eventually soften and is easily cut out. You an wrap the head i wet paper towels and this helps. So much easier!
That is an awesome tip, thank you Nadine!
I am not a huge tomato sauce fan. Do you have another type of sauce that would go well with this?
Maybe a cream sauce?
I have been making cabbage rolls for years and one tip that was given to me by a very nice elderly lady in my church was the freeze your head of cabbage and then thaw. No need to boil and will be very easy to work with once thawed.
I have not tried making them your way
Interesting!