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Why You’ll Love My Recipe
Love cabbage rolls? Amp things up a notch and turn them into a casserole your whole family can enjoy! It’s the ultimate comfort food.
All of us have memories of home-cooked meals that took our parents (or grandparents) ages to make, and this one brings back those memories for me. I love cabbage rolls, so incorporating them into a casserole was a no-brainer, and I’m so glad I did.
If you’re looking to add a little more substance to your meal, why not try serving your casserole with a side of Crispy Air Fryer Brussels Sprouts or if you’re not a sprouts fan, you could also serve a side of Air Fryer Green Beans!
Reader Review
Made this tonight for supper. We really enjoyed it. Very flavourful. I wanted more rice so doubled it and also the tomato juice soup.
Karlynn’s Recipe Notes
- Skill Level: This recipe is so easy to make that I’m sure you’ll be adding it to your rotation of midweek meals!
- Total Time: This recipe takes 1 hour 45 minutes to make, but it’s a great make-ahead meal that freezes well so it’s time well spent!
- Variations: If you’re not too fussed about keeping things traditional, you can add a sprinkle of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese over the top of the casserole and broil it until it’s nice and browned for a little more of a lasagne vibe! For a more classic taste, serve your casserole with a dollop of sour cream on top! If you want to make the casserole a little healthier, consider using brown rice instead of white rice, or try subbing half of the white rice in this recipe for quinoa!
- Tools For This Recipe: You will need a 9×13 inch baking pan to make this recipe.
What You’ll Need for Ingredients
Cabbage: You can use any variety of cabbage for this recipe, so reach for whatever’s most available and affordable in your area! Karlynn’s Tip: For extra convenience, feel free to use a bag of coleslaw mix instead of chopping up a cabbage by hand!
Bacon: I love a little bacon in this recipe because of the smoky, salty richness it adds. If you want to reduce the fat in this recipe, feel free to cook the bacon first and drain the fat off before adding in your pork and beef, but hold onto the bacon fat in a container for later! It’s a fantastic alternative to oil or butter for frying up eggs and potatoes!
Tomato Soup and Juice: The mixture of condensed tomato soup and tomato juice provides both a delicious depth of flavor and the liquid needed to cook the rice! If you’re not a fan of condensed tomato soup and tomato juice (or don’t have any on hand) feel free to substitute them for 1 1/4 cups of diced tomatoes and 1 1/2 cups of vegetable or beef broth. A couple of tablespoons of tomato paste will add extra richness if needed!
Ground Pork and Beef: A 50/50 mix of ground pork and beef adds extra flavor and richness to this recipe! You can use all ground beef if you want to keep things a little leaner, but I think the blend makes it extra tasty.
How To Make Lazy Cabbage Roll Casserole
This is a quick overview of the recipe. The full list of ingredients & complete step-by-step instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Brown the bacon, ground beef, and ground pork together in a large pot or frying pan.
- When the beef and pork are no longer pink, drain the fat.
- Mix in the tomato juice and soup.
- Spread your cabbage out evenly on the bottom of a 9×13 pan and sprinkle the rice on top, then spread your beef mixture over everything. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 90 minutes, until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed.
Karlynn’s Tips and Tricks for the Perfect Lazy Cabbage Roll Casserole
- Whole Grain Goodness: This recipe calls for long-grain white rice, but white rice isn’t for everyone since it’s high on the glycemic index and low in fiber. For a slightly healthier alternative, consider using brown rice instead, as it has more fiber and protein!
Just make sure to give your brown rice a good soaking beforehand, or parboil it for 10 minutes in some lightly salted water to ensure it’s fully cooked before including it in your casserole, or it might end up dry and undercooked. You can also substitute 1/4 cup of the white rice in this recipe for quinoa for more protein. - Cut The Fat: Feel free to drain the fat after browning your pork, beef, and bacon, but don’t remove it all! While it will result in a fattier end product, leaving some behind will give the final dish a huge amount of bonus flavor. If you do decide to drain the fat, consider keeping it in the fridge to use to give extra oomph to other recipes!
Storage Instructions
Refrigerator: You can store leftovers of this casserole in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Freezer: This casserole freezes fantastically! Allow your baked casserole to cool, then transfer it into a freezer-safe storage container; it’ll keep in the freezer for up to three months! When you’re ready to eat, thaw it out overnight in the fridge and reheat it in a casserole dish in the oven at 350°F for 15 minutes, or until heated through. I love dividing this casserole into portions so it’s easy to serve!
More Delicious Casserole Recipes
- Have a head of cabbage on hand, but looking to make a side instead of the main dish? Try my Cabbage Casserole for a veggie-rich side!
- Try my Mushroom Soup Chicken & Rice Casserole for an easy to make and budget friendly classic!
- My Chicken and Stuffing Casserole is the perfect way to use up leftover chicken—or stretch a store bought rotisserie chicken—into a delicious and comforting meal!
I love casseroles, especially during the colder months! There’s really nothing better than a cozy meal that I can just put into a baking dish and bang in the oven—no need to keep an eye on pots and pans on the stove top. And when I know that a week’s going to be especially busy, I can rest easy knowing that a little prep ahead of time can make sure I have a hearty meal for my family ready when we need it!
Try this casserole out and let me know how you enjoyed it in the comments below!
Happy Cooking!
Karlynn
Lazy Cabbage Roll Casserole
Video
Ingredients
- 8 slices bacon , diced
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1 ½ cups tomato juice
- 1 can condensed tomato soup
- 10 cups cabbage, washed and coarsely chopped
- ½ cup long grain white rice
Instructions
- Place bacon, ground beef and ground pork together in a large frying pan.
- Sautee until the beef and pork are no longer pink. Drain the fat.
- Whisk in the tomato juice, and soup.
- Spread the cabbage out evenly on the bottom of a 9×13 pan. Sprinkle rice on top, then spread beef mixture on top. Cover and bake in the oven for 90 minutes at 350 until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed.
- Remove, let sit for a couple of minutes, then serve!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Carol says
I hate the way you changed your website and have only a list of Recipe 1, 2,3, etc….. At least give the title of the recipe in the numbering to help us not waste time on recipes that are not of interest.
Marianne says
Also…because of that extra rice I added an extra half-pound of meat. And baked it all in five 8×8 disposable pans, to share.
Marianne says
So easy and delicious ! I doubled the rice and liquid. Used V8 for the liquid. Threw in some grated carrots for color. Yum.
Jean says
Can I use Orzo instead of rice?
Jackie says
can I freeze this and thaw and reheat again and if yes, how do I do that ?
Mr. Kitchen Magpie says
Yes just like you would a normal lasagna or other pasta dish, freeze in an airtight container and then depending on how you want to heat it, use the microwave or oven. You can also freeze in portions which i would personally suggest
Eleanor says
Made this tonight for supper. We really enjoyed it. Very flavourful. I wanted more rice so doubled it and also the tomato juice and soup.
Eleanor Campbell says
Made this tonight for supper. We really enjoyed it. Very flavourful. I wanted more rice so doubled it and also the tomato juice and soup.
Sue says
Having a mom who was born in Poland stuffed cabbage rolls were a staple in our house. I have been making them for years, but they are time consuming. If I am going to make them I’m not going to make just a few (not even worth the effort), I make a huge amount so we have a lot of leftovers and they always taste better a few days later as the flavors meld together. In my opinion separating the cabbage leaves is the worst part, that’s why so many people don’t even bother making them. Making the filling and even rolling them up doesn’t take that much time. I’ve seen this lazy casserole but never made it. I decided to make it the other day because I had a big head of cabbage and wasn’t sure what to do with it. I had all the other ingredients on hand. It came out better than I thought it would but you still can’t beat the real deal. I think that the filling actually simmering inside the cabbage leaf for a long time makes all the difference. I followed your recipe but did change a few things. I didn’t use the tomato soup or the tomato juice. Instead I concocted my own sauce. I used V-8 Juice combined with some crushed tomatoes and tomato paste to to get it to the consistency that I liked. I also added a pinch of brown sugar for a subtle sweetness. Also added some onion and garlic powder to the sauce. I substituted smoked polish kielbasa (thinly sliced) for the bacon. Would make this again–maybe next time I’ll try using the bacon.
S. V. says
Yes, separating the leaves is indeed a chore, so I started using savoy cabbage instead. The leaves come off much more easily than off a regular cabbage. In fact, if you cut a cone-shaped wedge into the core, the leaves come off without steaming or boiling the cabbage first. The taste is the same, or maybe a touch milder. But it really makes a difference in terms of effort and time.
Shortstuff42 says
Thanks for sharing your method, S.V. I bought a head of Savoy cabbage to try it out the other week. Could not believe how easily the leaves came off. Yes – without steaming!!!!!!!!! I did, however; find that the leaves in the very middle were a bit hard to peel off so nuked just that part for a bit. The “holopchi” made with Savoy were so easy to make and tasted just the same. Thanks again!!
Joan M says
Can I make this recipe with all beef?
audrey a. says
Yes!
Jolene Hoover says
I Don’t use any tomato products in my cabbage rolls or casserole because my hubby has an aversion to tomatoes. I sprinkle a light layer of sauerkraut between each
layer of cabbage rolls, ending with more kraut for the top layer. I also lay the unused small center leaves of the cabbage on top, add a couple splashes of apple cider vinegar, and simmer for 3-5 hours. We really like them fixed like this
Donna Pritchard says
can I use minute rice. Thank you 😊
Angie says
I haven’t made rolled cabbage rolls in forever and have tried my own version and a bunch of different versions of lazy man cabbage rolls but could never get the taste/consistency right. I used this recipe as the guide (i added slightly more rice so slightly more juice) and it was the perfect taste and consistency I had been searching for! And so quick and easy to make! So glad I came across the recipe.
Carla R says
First time trying this, and gotta say it was pretty f’n good!! Easy…quick and satisfying! Yum. No need to roll as my Baba did as it’s destroyed on plate anyway and tastes just as good!
I’m saving this one.
Barbara says
Could you use a bag of coleslaw mix?
Mr. Kitchen Magpie says
Absolutely!
Kimmie Wargo says
This casserole tastes just like the heart and soul of my grandmother’s golumpki minus the labor and time! Stumbling across this recipe has been the greatest discovery! Thank you for creating it!
Has anyone ever tried to bake this recipe in smaller aluminum pans? Such as disposable aluminum bread pans? I’m wondering if I should alter the bake time? I want to prepare this dish for multiple friends and I think dividing it among multiple mini loaf pans would be cute! Any insight on cooking smaller batches at once would be much appreciated!
c.michaels says
Snowing like crazy out so not a good day to shop but a great day to cook. I have this giant cabbage in my refrigerator but no tomato soup. So I made a sauce using 3 cups v8 juice (regular not spicy), 1/4 cup brown sugar, about 1 T. grated ginger, 4 T. tomato paste. Turned out great. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe. I’d never heard of a cabbage casserole before.
Nadine says
I make (Polish) galumpkis that are sort of like these. I don’t like ingredients other recipes contain, peppers, onions, garlic, etc. My grandmothers recipe only calls for 3 basic ingredients. Rice (cooked), raw hamburger and pancetta (sautéed) and black pepper. This recipe is deconstructed galumpkis. If I make cabbage rolls I cook them in a large kettle in apple cider vinegar and water until cabbage is cooked. I also cook the cabbage rolls in the oven with tomatoes (canned) or tomato sauce (canned). These are my great-grandmothers recipes. This recipe is the closest to hers. I love it! I decided to try making the deconstructed version and this is basically how I did it, except I do add apple cider vinegar in it. Thank you for posting!
Nadine says
I had 5 stars originally. I must have touched the screen without noticing. I don’t see an edit button.
Sheri says
Delicious and easy!
Stefanie Stephens says
Made this tonight. I doubled the rice and the soup/juice and it was FANTASTIC! Thank you for developing this awesome recipe!!
Rosemarie says
About “real” cabbage rolls . . . . .
My mother-in-law was known for making the tastiest, tiniest, tightest cabbage rolls in the world. A personal challenge for me has been to try to make cabbage rolls that are sort of as good as hers. Although my family says they’re just like hers and I think I’ve been really close, mine still don’t always have the uniformity that hers did. (Good thing I don’t make them that often, or I’d drive myself crazy!!)
I wish I would have had her teach me how to make them before she passed away but what I have figured out since though, is that for tiny cbbage rolls, you either need to:
– buy the largest heads of cabbage you can find and cut the leaves in halves or quarters while trimming out the hard middle rib
OR
– buy the smallest heads of cabbage you can find and thinning out the hard middle rib of each leaf with a sharp little knife.
I also only cook the rice about 3/4 of the way. It cooks the rest of the way in the roll with the tomato juice and soup mixture I pour on top of everything for the liquid needed to cook the rice completely as my own mom used to do. That helps to keep the cabbage rolls firmly packed.
I generally save any “scraps” and large leaves that don’t go on the bottom of the pan or on top of the “holopchis”, along with any extra filling to make lazy cabbage rolls.
For our Canadian Thanksgiving in October I made some cabbage rolls with a HUGE – almost the size of a curling rock – frozen Savoy cabbage that was given to me in early September by a recently widowed person. (Although I’ve used frozen cabbage the odd time in the past, my preference is to use fresh, but there was no way this year-old frozen veggie was going to be used by this fellow, so rather than letting it go to waste, he gave it to me.) Anyway, after thawing the thing in a mesh strainer over the sink and trimming out the middle ribs, I had to cut the majority of the leaves into quarters vs. only in halves unless I wanted football-sized rolls like my mom used to make. So this was a first for me both in size and type of cabbage; however, I have to say that these holopchi were the easiest that ever came together for me . . . .
Am considering buying Savoy the next time the urge to make some cabbage rolls hits me!!
Roxana says
What if you want the non-tomato cabbage rolls? What could you sub instead?
Julia Mendieta says
Roxana, I have never done this because cabbage rolls are a Romanian meal made w/tomatoe recipe but I would imagine you could use beef stock. That does sound good. Good luck
JoAnn says
I make cabbage rolls all the same except for the tomato parts. I use brown gravy an a little soy sauce, and hoisin sauce. I make enough gravy mix to put some in the meat mixture and extra for the top of the cabbage.
Cynthia says
If you use sauerkraut instead of cabbage, this tastes just like cabbage rolls made from sour cabbage, which is the Roumanian method!
Marilyn says
I wish you put in some idea of how you did this–My grandmas’ cabbage rolls were always with sauerkraut and never with tomatoes. She was from Croatia!
Jamie says
Do you cook rice first?
Julia Mendieta says
No
Ruth Marshall says
Love it!!
Donna Pritchard says
can I use minute rice? thank you 😊
Kaylik says
SO good! Thanks!
Sylvie says
This was a hit, thank you!