My husband comes from a family full of amazing Polish cooks, and one of my favorite dishes that they prepare is Golabki (stuffed cabbage). Unfortunately I don’t have time to roll all those perfect little stuffed cabbage rolls, so I tried to deconstruct it and make it a bit easier. The result is this delicious Stuffed Cabbage Casserole!
You won’t find any beef in this recipe, since our milk intolerant little one can’t consume anything from a cow. I’ve used pork in this recipe so everyone in our family could enjoy it, and it was a big hit. The recipe can be made with beef if you prefer, or a 50/50 mix of beef and pork.
Note: If you’d like to bake this in the oven, you can layer everything in a baking dish, cover, and bake at 350°F for about an hour, until it’s bubbling and the cabbage is tender. My preferred method for making this is in the Instant Pot because it’s fast and the cabbage stays crunchy.
For the slow cooker
Slow Cooker Stuffed Cabbage Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 cup instant rice you can omit this to make it low carb
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- two 14.5 oz cans fire roasted tomatoes drained
- 3 slices thick cut bacon cut into lardons
- 8 oz mushrooms chopped
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
- 1/2 head of cabbage stem removed, chopped into small bite sized pieces
Instructions
- Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat, and cook your bacon until crisp. Once cooked, remove your cooked bacon and place on a paper towel lined plate.
- Drain some of the fat from the pan, then add your onions, mushrooms, and pork. Cook until the pork is browned and the vegetables are soft. Mix in your thyme, tomato paste, and bacon.
- To your slow cooker, add about 1/2 can of the tomatoes, 1/3 of the rice, 1/3 of the pork mixture, then 1/3 of the cabbage. Repeat this layering process two more times, saving the remaining can of tomatoes for the top.
- Cover, and cook for about 4 1/2 hours on low.
Notes
Nutrition
For the Instant Pot
Instant Pot Stuffed Cabbage Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 cup instant rice you can omit this to make it low carb
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- two 14.5 oz cans fire roasted tomatoes drained
- 3 slices thick cut bacon cut into lardons
- 8 oz mushrooms chopped
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
- 1/2 head of cabbage stem removed, chopped into small bite sized pieces
Instructions
- Select the sear option on your Instant Pot, and spray your pot with nonstick cooking spray.
- Sear the meat, bacon, onion, and mushrooms until brown. Make sure you stir it occasionally, and break up the meat into small pieces. Cook until brown.
- Stir in your tomatoes, tomato paste, and thyme. Season with salt pepper.
- Turn off your Instant Pot, put on the cover and lock it. Select high pressure, for 15 minutes. Cook the meat mixture on high pressure 15 minutes, then do a quick release.
- Add in the rice and cabbage, and cook it on high pressure for another 10 minutes. This will result in your cabbage still be crunchy. If you like it to be softer, you’ll want to increase this time to 15-20 minutes.
- Do a quick release and serve!
Notes
Nutrition
Did you make this Stuffed Cabbage Casserole recipe?
Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and tag @milkfreemom on Instagram and hashtag it #milkfreemom. Don’t forget to pin it for later!
Made this last week and it was delicious! Tasted just like the the inside of one of Babci’s golumpkis! Only thing I added was 2 beef bouillon cubes because Babci usually uses 1/2 beef and 1/2 pork…and i believe she also uses some stock. I also sub’d chopped chick peas for the rice to make it a little more carb friendly. Right on Lynds! Great idea!! Ricard approved as well!!
This may be a dumb question, but is the rice uncooked when you add it to the slow cooker? Thanks!
Good question! You can put the rice in uncooked, but be sure it’s instant rice. Hope you like it!