Stuffed Cabbage with Tomato Sauce Low Carb
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How good were these cabbage rolls. Over two days, I ate the whole pan.
Since it’s summer, you may want a hearty yet light comfort food made easy. Not only is this comfort food, it’s easy and this is my low-carb option. There is no rice, as we use cauliflower rice and there is absolutely no sugar.
I’ve looked at some legendary recipes out there, only to find as much as 1/2 cup of added sugar. There is absolutely no reason to add sugar or brown sugar to this delicious and nutritious dinner.
First of all, tomatoes are a fruit and have their own sweetness. You will get some of that sweetness from the sauce. Cabbage is naturally a super food and if you’ve been around here, you know how I feel about the benefits of eating ground beef. The beef and its accompanying fat provide satisfaction.
The ingredients for stuffed cabbage are very simple and you can play around with them. Good food does not need a long list of ingredients. Most recipes do include bread crumbs and white rice, but you do not have to include those ingredients if you want a low carb dish. Bread crumbs and rice are used as fillers to stretch the meat or to make the meat more tender. You can get the same effect by soaking the ground beef in some milk or using a higher fat content ground meat.
You can decide for what is right for you. You can even make some with rice (for the kids or family not watching carbs) and half of them without. Many recipes include brown sugar. Please skip this. We have to stop putting sugar in savory food.
Tomatoes are sweet and a nice tomato sauce is all that is needed. You can use a tomato sauce or tomato puree. Do not use canned tomato soup, which is high in sodium and not tasty.
Ingredients for Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Tomato Sauce
- Ground Beef (can use combination of beef/pork)
- Tomato Sauce or Puree
- Head of Cabbage
- Mustard
- Onion
- Rice or Cauliflower Rice (can be an option for low carb)
- Egg
- Thyme
- Salt, Pepper
I ate half of this pan one day and the other half the next day. As usual, it was much better the second day. If you can make this in advance, bake and heat up for second day. The flavor is twice as good.
How to Boil Cabbage for Cabbage Rolls
The best way to boil is cabbage is to cut out most of the core, remove the big outer leaves and put the entire head into boiling water. Within about five minutes the leaves will start coming off. I won’t boil longer than seven minutes, as cabbage is still going to be cooking in the oven.
More Cabbage Recipes from Spinach Tiger
- Ground Beef Cabbage Stir Fry
- Stove Top Red Cabbage
- Beef and Cabbage Soup
- Sautèed Cabbage with Bacon, Onion, Dill
- Tuscan Ribollita
Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 head cabbage small to medium
- 2 cups tomato sauce or puree
- ground beef mixture
Ground Beef Mixture
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 onion chopped
- 2 sprigs thyme remove from stem (or parsley)
- 1 tablespoon mustard
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup cauliflower rice or rice (cooked)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C)
- Mix all ingredients for ground beef together.
- Cut out core of cabbage, but leave head intact. Put in large pot of boiling water. Leaves will start separate. This takes about five to ten minutes. You don't want the leaves to be mushy, but still have a bite to them, as they will bake for an hour in the oven,
- Drain and Cool Cabbage Leaves.
- Fill each cabbage roll with raw ground beef mixture. Fold ends and then sides.
- Place a layer of tomato sauce in baking dish. Place stuffed cabbage rolls over sauce, seam side down, then cover again with more sauce.
- Bake at 350 F (180 C) for one hour covered.
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