Cabbage Roll Casserole

A white plate with five pieces of meat-stuffed cabbage rolls topped with tomato sauce, a dollop of sour cream, and sprigs of fresh dill, held by a hand in a kitchen setting.

Cabbage Roll Casserole

Roll once, bake together, obsess forever! This easy cabbage roll casserole brings all the flavor with zero fuss. Comfort food perfection!

Course Main

Cuisine Mediterranean/Middle Eastern Inspired

Keyword cabbage

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 1 10

Total Time 1 30

Servings -10 pieces

Calories 259kcal

Author Maria Koutsogiannis

Equipment

15 inch round cake pan, cast iron pan or other skillet of the same size

Ingredients

1 large head green cabbage

For the filling

900 grams (or 2 lbs) lean ground beef
¾ cup short grain rice
1 yellow onion diced
2 ½ tsp kosher salt
½ tsp pepper
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup fresh minced dill
2 tbsp tomato paste

For the sauce

2 398ml can of tomato sauce
½ tsp kosher salt
1 cup chicken broth (or 1 tsp Better than Bouillon Chicken Base mixed into 1 cup water)

For the garnishes

fresh dill for garnish
sour cream for serving (optional)

Instructions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (fill the pot about halfway). Remove the stem/core from the bottom of the cabbage, you want to remove a few inches of it so there will be a bit of a hole. Once the water is boiling, add the cabbage with the cored part facing down. Boil for about 10-15 minutes and then flip the cabbage around. Boil the cabbage until tender and the leaves start to become somewhat transparent (up to 45 minutes).
Start to remove the leaves from the cabbage as they will start to detach naturally as they cook. As you remove the leaves set aside in a colander until you have 20 leaves.
Preheat the oven to 350F and lightly grease a large round pan 15-inch cake pan (cast iron or other skillet of the same size) with olive oil.
Make the filling: Combine the ground beef, rice, diced onion, salt, pepper, olive oil, fresh minced dill and tomato paste and mix to fully combine. Set aside.
Fill the cabbage leaves: Lay a cooked cabbage leaf flat on your work surface. Trim the thick part of the cabbage stem off, dividing the large cabbage leaf into two pieces. Place 2-4 tablespoons of filling (depending on the size of the leaf)) in a log along the soft edge of the leaf (the edge of the leaf that did not have a spine, and this edge should be closest to you) and then roll up away from you into a complete roll. Add the roll to the baking pan, starting around the outside of the baking pan first. Repeat, until all of the filling is used. Press cabbage rolls touching each other in the pan, continuing to make a spiral in the pan until it is filled - it will be a sort of snail-like shape.
In a medium bowl mix together the tomato sauce, kosher salt and chicken broth and then pour all over the cabbage roll spiral.
Cook the cabbage roll ‘spiral’ until all of the liquid evaporates and the cabbage rolls are slightly browned on top, about 50-60 minutes.
Cut into pieces just like a pie (or pull out individual rolls from the pan), garnish with dill and sour cream before serving.

Notes

Don’t panic if the rolls don’t look perfect, just roll them as best you can as they're going into a pan close together anyways.
If you love this recipe, try our Greek Cabbage Rolls
If you don't have a 15 inch circular pan, you could also use two smaller diameter pans (i.e. 2x 8 inch pans)

Nutrition