Recipe: $14.86 | Per Serving: $2.97 | Yield: 5 | Jump to Recipe
All the tomatoey cabbage goodness, but without the arduous task of rolling stuffed cabbage rolls, and in a Whole30 form! This rich and flavorful Slow Cooker Unstuffed Cabbage is a great dish to feed a crowd, Whole30 or not!
I first had this with white rice at a holiday gathering in December, and I knew right away I wanted to make it Whole30 compliant for January. While I do love rice, this was pretty easily adapted to a non-grain version, and ends up as a mix between a stew and a casserole. We served it as-is most of the time, but it was also delicious over garlicky cauliflower rice.
This version is in the slow cooker, which makes it an easy hands-off option, and I first cooked it one Saturday morning when we were hanging at home, preparing for our Whole30. I made some adjustments the second time around, and tried it with ground pork (Niman Ranch – $5.99) instead of ground beef, so you could totally do that. Zac & I LOVE ground pork. Ever since our time in Japan. It’s a little sad though because I love pigs and I want a little piglet one day…but we love ground pork. That being said, you could use whichever ground meat you prefer here. I think even ground turkey or chicken would work out great as well.
We finished our Whole30 with flying colors, and I stuck with it for another 10-15 days to test some inflammatory theories, and I’ve actually decided that I could probably stick to mostly Whole30/Paleo dining one week a month to combat severe lady pains – so if you’re struggling with that on a monthly basis, I highly recommend giving Whole30 a try!
And while you’re at it, be sure to make this recipe! And see our other favorite Whole30 Recipes from this January.
Vegetarian: No, but you could probably replace the ground beef with black beans!
Paleo: Yep! Pair it with cauliflower rice!
Slow Cooker Unstuffed Cabbage Casserole (Whole30)
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 4 hours
- Total Time: 4 hours 15 mins
- Yield: 4-6 1x
Ingredients
- 1 pound organic grass-fed ground beef or pork
- optional: 1 Tablespoon chorizo, sausage, or grilling seasoning of choice
- 1 medium onion
- 1 green bell pepper
- 2.5 pounds cabbage, green or purple (about 1 medium head)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 Tablespoons coconut aminos
- 1 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- About 45 ounces of crushed tomatoes and tomato puree (3 15-oz cans)
- 1 cup water, beef, or chicken broth
Instructions
- Optional: Combine beef or pork with optional chorizo seasoning.
- Spread ground meat across bottom of slow cooker.
- Top with remaining ingredients, starting with vegetables and finishing with the tomatoes and water or broth.
- Cook on HIGH heat for 4 hours. You can turn it down to low and cook another 4 hours if necessary with your schedule.
- Stir/mash to break up the solid chunk of meat on the bottom, then serve as-is, with cauliflower rice, or, if not Whole30/Paleo, with brown rice, white rice, or your starch of choice!
Notes
I don’t really recommend using raw meat on the LOW setting, so although you could try it on LOW for 6+ hours, it does open up the possibility for more foodborne issues. (Raw meat should not be left out for more than 4 hours.) If the beef is cooked all the way by the 4-hour mark on LOW, then it would not be a problem! If you do want to make this in the morning for 6-8 hours, and you won’t be around to check the beef’s doneness I recommend cooking the beef ahead of time for guaranteed safety. But, ya know, you do you.
Recipe serves 4-6. Nutrition Label is for 1/5th of the recipe.
