Slow Cooker Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls

Slow Cooker Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls are the perfect solution for when you’re craving classic comfort food without the fuss of rolling individual leaves. Just add ground meat, cabbage, tomatoes, broth, onion, garlic, and simple seasonings to your slow cooker and let it do the work. The result is a hearty, flavorful meal that tastes just like traditional cabbage rolls but with a fraction of the effort—perfect for busy weeknights or cozy family dinners.

Love More Dinner Ides? Try My Potato and Sausage Chowder or this Chicken Sausage and Broccoli Orzo next.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

All the cozy flavors of traditional stuffed cabbage rolls come together in this easy slow cooker version, without the hassle of rolling and wrapping. Tender cabbage, savory meat, and rich tomato-herb sauce meld beautifully as they simmer, creating a hearty and comforting meal. Budget-friendly, filling, and made with simple pantry staples, it’s a family favorite that feels just like grandma’s Sunday dinner with a fraction of the work.

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Ingredient List

For the Base:

• 1 lb ground meat (beef, turkey, chicken, pork, or sausage)
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 head cabbage, chopped (about 4 cups)
• ½ cup diced onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced

For the Sauce & Seasoning:

• 28 oz diced or crushed tomatoes
• ½ cup low-sodium beef broth
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley

The Secret Ingredient:

• 1½ cups cauliflower rice

Why These Ingredients Work

The ground meat makes this filling enough that nobody’s asking for snacks an hour later. Cabbage might seem weird if you’ve never cooked with it much, but it gets really tender and mild when you cook it for hours. My kids actually like it this way, which shocked me.

Those canned tomatoes create the sauce base that everything cooks in. I’ve tried using fresh tomatoes but they don’t break down the same way. The canned ones just work better for this recipe. Don’t drain them – you need all that liquid.

Beef broth adds flavor depth without making it taste like soup. Water works if that’s all you have, but broth is better. I keep those little cartons of broth in my pantry just for recipes like this.

The cauliflower rice thing was my daughter’s idea. She’s on some health kick and suggested it instead of regular rice. I thought it would taste weird, but you honestly can’t tell once it’s mixed with everything else. My husband doesn’t even know I use it.

Smoked paprika is worth buying special. Regular paprika is fine but doesn’t give you that slightly smoky taste that makes people ask what’s different about your recipe. I found mine at the regular grocery store, not some fancy spice shop.

Essential Tools and Equipment

• Slow cooker that holds at least 4 quarts
• Regular frying pan for browning meat
• Sharp knife for chopping
• Cutting board
• Wooden spoon
• Can opener

My slow cooker is nothing special – got it at Target maybe ten years ago. Still works fine. You don’t need one of those fancy programmable ones, just something that has high and low settings.

The frying pan can be whatever you normally use for cooking ground meat. I use my cast iron one because it gets really hot and browns the meat better, but any decent-sized pan works.

How To Make Slow Cooker Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls

Step 1: Brown the Meat

Put your frying pan on medium-high heat and add the oil. When it’s hot, add the ground meat. Break it up with your spoon while it cooks. Takes maybe five minutes until it’s not pink anymore.

I used to skip this step and just put raw meat in the slow cooker. Big mistake. The texture was weird and it didn’t taste nearly as good. Browning it first takes five extra minutes but makes a huge difference in the final dish.

Drain off the grease when you’re done. I just tip the pan and spoon out most of the fat. You don’t have to get every drop, but too much grease makes the whole thing oily.

Step 2: Get Everything in the Slow Cooker

Put that cooked meat in the bottom of your slow cooker. Then add the chopped cabbage – it’s going to look like a lot, but it shrinks down as it cooks. Add the onion, garlic, the whole can of tomatoes with the juice, broth, salt, pepper, paprika, and parsley.

Stir it around so everything’s mixed up. Don’t stress about getting it perfect – the slow cooking will blend everything together anyway. The cabbage will be piled up high at first, but that’s normal.

Step 3: Let It Cook

Set your slow cooker to low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours. I usually do low because I can start it before work and it’s ready when I get home. High works if you’re starting it later in the day.

Your house will start smelling good after about two hours. My dog starts following me around the kitchen because he knows something good is happening. Don’t lift the lid to check on it – that lets heat out and messes with the cooking time.

Step 4: Add the Rice

About twenty minutes before you want to eat, stir in the cauliflower rice. It doesn’t need long to cook – you just want it tender but not mushy. Set a timer so you don’t forget.

You Must Know

Brown the meat first. I know it’s tempting to skip this step, especially when you’re trying to get dinner started quickly, but it makes such a difference in flavor. Raw meat just dumped in doesn’t taste the same.

What I do differently now: I taste it about halfway through cooking and add more salt if it needs it. Slow cookers can dilute flavors sometimes, so don’t be afraid to adjust. Start with what the recipe says, then taste and fix it.

Pro Tips & Cooking Hacks

If you’re out of fresh cabbage, those bags of coleslaw mix work okay. Just add them in the last couple hours of cooking because they’re already shredded smaller and cook faster. Not quite as good as fresh cabbage, but it works in a pinch.

Half ground beef and half Italian sausage is really good if you want to get fancy. The sausage already has herbs and spices in it that go great with the paprika. Just brown them together like you would regular ground meat.

Don’t add the cauliflower rice too early. I made this mistake the first three times I tried this recipe. Mushy rice is gross and there’s no fixing it once it’s overdone. Better to add it a little late than too early.

Fresh parsley is way better than dried if you have it. Use about three tablespoons chopped up instead of the dried stuff. Add half when you add everything else, then sprinkle the rest on top when you serve it.

Buy pre-chopped onion if you hate chopping onions. Costs a little more but saves time and tears. When you’re already dealing with a whole head of cabbage, might as well make one thing easier on yourself.

Flavor Variations & Suggestions

If you want more vegetables: Bell peppers work great in this. Add them with the cabbage so they have time to get soft. Mushrooms too if your family likes them. My kids pick them out, but they add good flavor to the sauce.

Spicy version: Add some red pepper flakes when you add the other seasonings. Start with just a pinch – you can always add more next time. Or use hot Italian sausage instead of regular ground meat.

Sweet version: A tablespoon of brown sugar cuts the acid from the tomatoes and makes it taste more like traditional cabbage rolls. My mom always added a little sugar to hers.

Mediterranean style: Add some Italian seasoning and black olives. Sounds weird but it’s really good. I tried this when I was trying to use up some olives that were about to go bad.

More protein: This works with ground turkey, chicken, or even that fake meat stuff if you’re vegetarian. I made it with impossible meat for my vegetarian sister and she said it was good.

Make-Ahead Options

You can brown the meat and chop everything the night before if you want to make mornings easier. Keep the cooked meat in the fridge in one container and all the chopped vegetables in another. In the morning, just dump everything in the slow cooker.

The whole finished dish keeps in the fridge for almost a week. Actually tastes better the second day when all the flavors have had time to blend together. I usually make this on Sunday and eat it for lunches all week.

It freezes really well too. I put it in those meal prep containers and stick them in the freezer. Perfect for those nights when nothing sounds good and you don’t want to cook. Just thaw and microwave.

If you’re doing meal prep for the week, this is perfect. Way better than most lunch options and cheaper than eating out every day. I take it to work and heat it up in the break room microwave.

Recipe Notes & Baker’s Tips

This recipe is really forgiving. Use whatever meat is on sale, throw in extra vegetables if you want, don’t stress about exact measurements. I’ve made this probably fifty times and it’s different every time depending on what I have on hand.

My slow cooker runs hot, so I always check things earlier than the recipe says. Yours might be different. After you make this once, you’ll know how your slow cooker behaves and can adjust accordingly.

Don’t worry if it looks like too much liquid at the beginning. The cabbage gives off water as it cooks, then soaks up all the flavors. By the end, it’ll be the right consistency. Trust the process.

If your family is weird about cabbage, don’t tell them what it is until after they eat it. I told my kids it was “deconstructed stuffed peppers” the first time. They ate it without complaining, which is a miracle in my house.

Some slow cookers cook hotter on one side than the other. If you notice this happening, just give it a stir halfway through. Not necessary, but it helps everything cook evenly.

Serving Suggestions

I put this in bowls like soup and top it with sour cream and fresh parsley if I have it. The sour cream cools it down a little and adds a nice creamy contrast to all the tomato flavor.

Crusty bread is perfect with this for soaking up the sauce. I usually grab a loaf from the bakery section at the grocery store and slice it thick. My family fights over who gets the last piece of bread.

For the kids, I sometimes serve it over mashed potatoes. Makes it feel more like a regular dinner to them, and they love anything with mashed potatoes. Plus it’s more filling that way.

You can serve it over rice too if you want something more traditional. Or over pasta if you have some leftover in the fridge. I’ve done this when I was trying to stretch the recipe to feed more people.

It’s also good just by itself if you want to keep it low-carb. The cauliflower rice makes it filling enough that you don’t really need anything else. Add some shredded cheese on top if you want.

How to Store Your Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls

In the refrigerator: Keeps for about five days in containers with good lids. I use those glass meal prep containers because they don’t absorb smells. Gets even better after sitting overnight – all the flavors blend together more.

In the freezer: Good for about three months frozen. I portion it out in meal-sized containers before freezing so I can thaw exactly what I need. Those disposable aluminum containers work great for this.

Reheating: From the fridge, just microwave it for a minute or two, stirring halfway through. From frozen, thaw it overnight in the fridge first, then microwave. You can also reheat it on the stove if you want – just add a splash of water or broth if it seems dry.

The texture holds up really well to reheating, which isn’t always true with cabbage dishes. The slow cooking breaks everything down enough that it doesn’t get weird when you reheat it.

Allergy Information

This is naturally gluten-free and dairy-free, which works for a lot of people. If you can’t eat tomatoes, you can try using more broth and adding some coconut milk for creaminess, but it won’t taste the same.

No eggs in this recipe, so it’s safe for egg allergies. For soy allergies, just check your meat and seasoning labels – some ground meat has soy in it, and some spice mixes do too.

If you have trouble with garlic and onions, you can leave them out. Won’t taste as good, but it’ll still be edible. Sometimes I use garlic powder instead of fresh garlic when my stomach’s bothering me.

Always check your spice labels if you have serious allergies. Some spice blends have weird stuff in them that you wouldn’t expect.

Questions I Get Asked A Lot

Can I use regular rice instead of cauliflower rice?

Yes, absolutely. Use about a cup of cooked rice and add it in the last thirty minutes. Any kind of rice works – white, brown, wild rice, whatever you have. The cauliflower rice just keeps the carbs lower.

Do I really have to brown the meat? Can’t I just put it in raw?

You can, but it won’t taste nearly as good. The browning step adds so much flavor that you just can’t get any other way. Worth the extra five minutes, I promise.

Can I use frozen ground meat if I forgot to thaw it?

Better to thaw it first, but if you’re desperate, you can. Just add an extra hour to the cooking time and make sure it gets hot enough. Food safety and all that.

Can I add other vegetables?

Yeah, whatever you want. Bell peppers, mushrooms, carrots, celery – they all work. Just add them with the cabbage so they have time to get soft.

What if it’s too watery at the end?

Take the lid off and cook on high for another thirty minutes to let some liquid evaporate. Or just serve it with a slotted spoon if you don’t want to wait.

💬 Tried this recipe? Let me know how it went! Did you change anything or add your own twist? Always curious to hear how other people make it work for their families.