How do you make unrolled cabbage rolls? It’s easy! Try my low carb and keto unstuffed cabbage rolls recipe for an easy weeknight meal. This is the perfect recipe for when you want all of the flavors of a cabbage roll without all of the work! Make this one pot cabbage roll casserole with cauliflower rice for a keto diet meal. Alternatively, follow my recipe for unstuffed cabbage rolls with rice if you don’t care about the carbs! Either way, you’ll love this hearty and satisfying comfort food.
This was so good!! The meat stuffing flavor was awesome. I had leftovers for a few days and even the leftovers were good.
– Rebecca S
Today, I’m cooking shreds of cabbage and a blend of pork and beef to delicious perfection in a rich tomato sauce. You may find that these deconstructed cabbage rolls start making a regular appearance on your dinner menu!
I am a big proponent of having fun with food, but sometimes I need to take the easy route. Once in a while, I’ll spend a few hours on a weekend making a massive batch of stuffed cabbage rolls. (Or perhaps I’ll make sarmale, another version of this dish. YUM.)
Cabbage rolls are delicious, but few of us have several hours to make dinner every single night. That is where this recipe for keto unrolled cabbage rolls comes in.
Sticking to uncomplicated recipes, such as this cabbage roll in a bowl, is one way to save time. Reducing your level of stress is at least as important as nutrition when it comes to leading an overall healthy lifestyle.
Try these low carb unrolled cabbage rolls when you want all of the flavors in a cabbage roll without all of the work! You’ll want to make them again and again.
🛒 Keto Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make this super easy and keto friendly dinner:
- 3 cups cauliflower rice (or cooked brown rice for a non-keto version)
- 1 lb lean ground beef (454g)
- ½ lb ground pork (227g)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 10 cups thinly sliced or shredded cabbage
- 8 ounces tomato sauce (without added sugar or added oil)
- 14½ diced tomatoes (from a can, do not drain)
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
- 1 finely chopped garlic clove
- 1 teaspoon dried dill
- Salt and pepper
- Sour cream or plain Greek yogurt (optional, for serving)
- Fresh dill or fresh parsley, for garnish
Get a printable recipe card below.
You can rice your own cauliflower in a food processor, or save yourself some work and get a bag of frozen cauliflower rice. Frozen cauliflower rice steams quickly in the microwave, and will save you time.
BTW, I know it looks like we’re using A LOT of cabbage in this recipe, but it is going to cook down. We’re still going to end up with a high-volume meal, but you’ll get a lot of flavor from the other ingredients. As you can see from the photos, there’s a lot going on in the finished dish beyond the cabbage.
You could use a bag of shredded cabbage (like you’d use for coleslaw) here to save time.
Using Greek yogurt gives you a little more protein and a bit less saturated fat than using sour cream, but both are low carb friendly options.
For kitchen equipment, I recommend having a large cast iron Dutch oven, a good knife, and a spatula. Once you’ve rounded up your ingredients, we’re ready to start putting everything together.
➕ How to Make Keto Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls
Prepare all the veggies before you begin. Thinly slice the cabbage, chop the onion, mince the garlic, steam the riced cauliflower, and chop the parsley. Once we get cooking, things are going to move fast!
I thawed the frozen cauliflower by heating it in the microwave for 4 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking time. Drain the cauliflower well if it is watery. I skipped this step since mine was not.
Put a Dutch oven on the stovetop over medium heat. Add the ground beef and pork (no oil is needed here; the pork has plenty). Use a spatula to break the meat into crumbles as it browns.
Once the meat has cooked, use a spatula to remove it from the pot and set it aside. It will take about 10-12 minutes for the meat to brown.
Next, put the olive oil to the Dutch oven. Add the cabbage shreds and onion. Cook until the cabbage softens and browns slightly, stirring occasionally. This step will take about 10 minutes.
Now add the cooked meat back to the pot, and also stir in the tomatoes, tomato sauce, parsley, garlic, dill, salt and pepper. Heat everything to a simmer. It should only take 1-2 minutes.
Stir the steamed cauliflower rice (or cooked brown rice) in with the other ingredients. Divide your deconstructed low carb cabbage rolls between four bowls. Top with fresh herbs and a dollop of plain yogurt (or sour cream) and serve.
Low Carb Keto Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls Recipe
How do you make unrolled cabbage rolls? It’s easy! Try my low carb and keto unstuffed cabbage rolls recipe for an easy weeknight meal.
Cook Time 21 minutes
Total Time 21 minutes
Course Dinner
Cuisine Eastern European
Servings 4
Calories 483 kcal
- ▢ 3 cups riced cauliflower, frozen (this is about 300 grams; or cook 1 cup dry brown rice and add it in for a carb-rich version of the dish)
- ▢ 1 lb. ground beef, lean (454 grams)
- ▢ ½ lb. ground pork (227 grams)
- ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ▢ 1 cup chopped onion
- ▢ 10 cups cabbage, thinly sliced (about 24 ounces of shredded cabbage)
- ▢ 8 ounces tomato sauce (227 grams; pick one with no added sugar, no added oil; canned tomato sauce or marinara sauce works here)
- ▢ 14.5 ounces diced tomatoes (canned) (411 grams)
- ▢ ¼ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
- ▢ 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- ▢ 1 teaspoon dill weed, dried
- ▢ ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ▢ salt, to taste
- ▢ sour cream or plain Greek yogurt (recommended but optional, for serving)
- ▢ additional dill or parsley, to garnish (optional)
Please leave a comment below 😊
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Thinly slice the cabbage, chop the onion, mince the garlic, steam the riced cauliflower, and chop the parsley. I steamed the frozen cauliflower rice by heating it in the microwave for 4 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking time. Drain the cauliflower rice well if it is watery (mine was not).
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Brown the beef and pork together in a Dutch oven on the stovetop (medium heat). Use a spatula to break the meat into crumbles as it cooks. After it browns (about 10-12 minutes), remove it from the pan and set it aside.
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Heat the olive oil in the Dutch oven (you don’t have to wipe it out after cooking the meat). Add the onion and cabbage shreds. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage softens, shrinks down, and browns a little. This will take about 10 minutes.
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Add the cooked meat, tomato sauce, canned tomatoes (undrained), parsley, garlic, dill weed, black pepper, and salt. to your cabbage mixture. Heat everything through to a simmer. It should only take a minute or two.
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Remove the Dutch oven from the heat. Stir the cooked cauliflower rice (or the brown rice) in with the rest of the ingredients. Serve with sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt) and garnish with additional parsley or dill, if desired.
💭 Expert Tips from Dietitian Summer Yule
This is a level 1 recipe (may help support fat loss). This low-carb recipe has a lot going for it nutritionally. It’s packed with fiber, iron, potassium, provitamin A, vitamin C, and more, plus nearly 40 grams of protein per serving.
Swapping in riced cauliflower for regular rice makes this dish keto-friendly and cuts about 150 calories per serving. The result is a satisfying cabbage meal under 500 calories that still delivers big flavor.
That’s no coincidence. Many strategies that lower carbs also reduce calories. At the same time, the most filling components like meat and non-starchy vegetables stay front and center. That’s part of why low-carb diets work well for some for weight loss. They help create satisfying meals without constant number tracking.
Is the cauliflower version “better” than the rice version? If your goal is weight loss or you’re managing diabetes with a low-carb approach, it may be the better choice. That said, both versions can absolutely fit into a healthy diet and are built around nutrient-dense whole foods.
So why are these deconstructed keto cabbage rolls so good?
Aside from being delicious, they help prevent food waste. The small inner cabbage leaves that are tricky to roll work perfectly here since everything is shredded.
This keto version of cabbage rolls is a true one-pot meal. Skip the extra pan for rice and keep cleanup simple.
When you make rolled cabbage rolls, you typically drop your cabbage in hot water ahead of time to make the leaves pliable. Here, there’s no need to pre-cook the cabbage. Just toss it in raw and let everything come together in one pan. Simple!
Nutrition information is for one serving of the recipe. Carbohydrate content listed is for net carbs (total carbs minus fiber).
nutrition info disclaimer
All recipes on this website may or may not be appropriate for you, depending on your medical needs and personal preferences. Consult with a registered dietitian or your physician if you need help determining the dietary pattern that may be best for you.
The nutrition information is an estimate provided as a courtesy. It will differ depending on the specific brands and ingredients that you use. Calorie information on food labels may be inaccurate, so please don’t sweat the numbers too much.
“To taste” means to your preferences, which may have to be visual to follow food safety rules. Please don’t eat undercooked food x
Calories: 483kcalCarbohydrates: 18.9gProtein: 39.6gFat: 23.8gSaturated Fat: 8gPotassium: 1110.6mgFiber: 10.1gVitamin A: 10.8% DVVitamin C: 194.5% DVCalcium: 26.5% DVIron: 28.3% DV
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🥗 What are good side dishes for cabbage rolls?
I like to add egg noodles or additional veggie dishes to Polish cabbage rolls (golabki). Roasted carrots, roasted potatoes, and Air Fryer Kielbasa would be great side dish options as well.
Unlike traditional cabbage rolls, these keto unstuffed cabbage rolls are really a complete meal in a bowl. If you wanted to make something else to go with the meal, why not try making your own yogurt topping? Here are two different ways to make yogurt:
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you make keto unstuffed cabbage rolls in an Instant Pot?
You can make this low carb unstuffed cabbage rolls recipe using the “sauté” function on your Instant Pot. Follow the recipe as written, leaving the lid on the Instant Pot off for the entire cooking time.
How do you make keto unstuffed cabbage rolls in a slow cooker?
Brown the meat and then add all ingredients EXCEPT cauliflower rice (or cooked brown rice), yogurt, and fresh herbs to the crockpot. Cook on low for about 6 hours, adding the thawed cauliflower rice to the crock pot 30 minutes before serving. Top with fresh herbs and yogurt (or sour cream), as usual.
Can this cabbage roll skillet be frozen?
Yes, you can freeze the leftovers, but the riced cauliflower will get watery when you defrost it. I recommend freezing this keto unstuffed cabbage roll skillet without cauliflower. Add the cauliflower in after reheating the dish, when you are ready to eat.
How many calories in cabbage rolls?
There are 483 calories per serving in these homemade cabbage rolls in a bowl. Additionally, you’re getting lots more cabbage than you’d get in a regular cabbage roll. That means you get a much larger volume of food for the calories with this recipe.
How many net carbs in cabbage rolls?
This keto unstuffed cabbage recipe provides 19 grams of net carbs per serving. The deconstructed cabbage rolls with rice version provides 50 grams of net carbs per serving. The small swap makes a HUGE difference!
👩🍳 Other Keto Cabbage Recipes
Looking for more keto cabbage recipes? Inexpensive, low-calorie cabbage and satiating, high protein beef make a dynamite combo for weight loss! Here are some other low carb recipes using beef and cabbage:
You might also enjoy this Fried Red Cabbage that combines cabbage with bacon!
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Hello! I’m Summer, a registered dietitian and home chef who loves to cook, eat, and create recipes for you! Every recipe on this site has been tested by me to help ensure your success in the kitchen. All eaters are welcome here 🙂
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