Lazy Cabbage Roll Casserole Ridiculously Easy Dinner

This easy, lazy cabbage roll casserole is a real mom-saver and ideal for feeding a crowd. With minimal prep, you can have this ridiculously easy-to-prepare lazy cabbage roll casserole recipe in the oven for dinner. It makes a considerable amount and is super filling for a hearty meal that satisfies the whole family.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I need an easy recipe that is so basic that it practically makes itself. This is a make-it-and-forget-it meal; you wouldn’t want to forget it really because burnt cabbage is gross. But I do love that this recipe has just five simple ingredients and is fairly inexpensive. It’s a great fall/winter dish for your family while watching your pennies on the grocery budget.

My partner is Ukrainian, and this is one of his favorite dishes aside from classic cabbage rolls. Plus, if you are a cabbage fan, it uses a whole cabbage! This time of year, cabbage is ridiculously cheap as it is in season, reducing the overall cost of this tasty family meal.

Love meals that use ground beef? Be sure to try our BBQ or baked classic garlic parmesan meatballs. Either is another delicious family favorite.

Why You Will Love This Unstuffed Cabbage Roll Casserole

It’s super easy. This recipe requires minimal prep time and makes an easy weeknight dinner. Actual cabbage rolls take a lot of work, but this hearty dish is a lot less work and has all the same great flavor. 

Super Flavor. The classic cabbage roll flavor remains without the fuss of rolling the individual rolls. Rich tomato-sauced cabbage casserole makes a terrific leftover for work lunches the next day, too. 

Inexpensive. Green cabbage is a cheap winter vegetable, and rice is also fairly cheap to purchase. The only expensive thing in this recipe is ground beef, which you can customize with less expensive meat like ground turkey or chicken. 

Let’s get to cooking this easy, lazy cabbage roll casserole.

For this recipe, we are making a large casserole dishful; however, you could easily cut it in half for a smaller amount. I love making extra for dinner to reuse as work lunches the next day, so I tend to have large batches. Alternatively, you can freeze this cabbage roll meal, although the quality will differ when you reheat it, as rice can become mushier when frozen.

Grab your large skillet. If it’s non-stick, you can start to brown ground beef with fresh garlic cloves. (If you don’t have non-stick, you may want to add a little olive oil to keep the meat from sticking at first.) Nothing else is so simple! Be sure to break the ground beef up as it cooks to make it smaller. We are browning the meat on medium heat.

While browning the ground beef, remove the outer worn layers of cabbage leaves. Rinse the whole cabbage and then cut your cabbage into chunks about one inch in size. They are sticking tightly together, aren’t they? Don’t worry, they won’t stay that way.  Rinse the cabbage under the water again in a large colander; after rinsing, put them in a very large bowl and break them apart as much as possible, removing any core pieces and tossing them. The core is too tough for this batch of deconstructed cabbage rolls

The ground meat should be well broken up and browned now. Add the beef directly to the raw cabbage, and then add the uncooked rice. This is going so smoothly. That’s the great thing about this simple recipe: it’s easy as pie. Now open those big ol’ jars of basic pasta sauce. I know traditional cabbage rolls use tomato juice. We are using the jarred pasta sauce because it has more flavor for this casserole.

Pour the sauce into the bowl with the meat mixture and mix it together well. You will want to use your largest deep casserole dish—mine is a three-quart (120oz)—and fill it with the cabbage roll mixture. 

Cover your baking dish with tin foil and put it in a hot 350-degree Fahrenheit oven for 2 hours or until cooked. The cooking time takes this long because you have dry rice and raw cabbage. Don’t worry about moisture for the rice, as it draws it from the pasta sauce and the steam from the cooking cabbage.

When fully cooked, this recipe makes a delicious, simple meal that can feed a crowd—up to ten people!

Ingredients:

Lean Ground Beef:  I used lean ground beef because I prefer cooking it in casseroles to reduce the overall oil content. You can also purchase cheaper regular ground beef and drain the excess fat as it browns. Traditional cabbage rolls are a mixture of ground beef and pork, but we used straight beef for this casserole.

Green Cabbage: A cheap winter vegetable, you only need a smaller-sized cabbage for this recipe.

Plain Pasta Sauce: This lower-cost can of tomato sauce is often less thick than more expensive varieties, lending itself well to creating the rich tomato base of the dish while also cooking the rice.

Jasmine Rice: This long-grain fragrant rice is nice to cook in the casserole. 

Fresh Garlic: Adds flavor depth to the dish’s ground beef. Plus, as any good Ukrainian will tell you, garlic is a must in all recipes.

Substitutions And Add-Ins For This Easy Cabbage Roll Casserole

Lean Ground Beef: You may mix beef and pork instead of straight ground beef. This will be closer to an authentic cabbage roll. 

Green Cabbage: If green cabbage isn’t in your pantry, you can use red cabbage. Although the casserole may have a bit of a lurid coloration, the cabbage has much the same texture and flavor. 

Pasta Sauce: Plainer tomato sauce will keep your flavors closer to authentic cabbage rolls. In this instance, we used a Catelli brand sauce as it’s inexpensive, less thick than other expensive brands, and was the plainest we could see further than no name. No-name pasta sauce would also work. You can even get away with using a canned condensed tomato soup just be sure to add the water required to thin it.

Jasmine Rice: This recipe uses a full cup of jasmine rice. Any white rice will work, as cabbage rolls are traditionally made with white rice.

Fresh Garlic: You can use garlic powder instead of fresh garlic. You may need to adjust the amount to flavor the meat properly.

Expert Tips, Serving And Storing Suggestions For The Dish

Tip #1: Break Up The Meat: When browning the ground beef, break it into smaller pieces. This will allow the meat to be more evenly distributed throughout the casserole.

Tip #2: Cover The Dish. Thoroughly cover the casserole when baking so that the steam won’t escape. The steam helps to cook the raw cabbage and the uncooked rice.

Tip #3: Freezer Friendly Reminder. Freeze uneaten portions right after the casserole has thoroughly cooled. Freezing while still warm will create condensation in a storage container. Too much water will reduce overall quality when thawing and reheating.

Serve this large casserole with its hearty and filling flavors for your next family get-together or take it to the next church potluck. It’s a great casserole that tastes just like unstuffed cabbage rolls. You can’t go wrong with classic Ukrainian flavors. 

If you have leftover casserole, it will keep in the fridge for up to four days or in the freezer for up to three months.  

Have you tried this easy, lazy cabbage roll recipe for your family? I would love to hear what you liked the most about the recipe. Please rate and comment below so others can see your thoughts as well. Your feedback helps me improve my content, and as always, happy cooking!