Slow Cooker Crock Pot UNstuffed Cabbage

If you’ve ever made stuffed cabbage the traditional way – rolling the meat mixture in softened large pieces of cabbage – you know exactly how time-consuming the preparation process can be, let alone the back ache that comes with being on your feet for so long! But in the end, it’s all worth it – a meal to die for!

If you have a crock pot, you can tell your feet and back you’re gonna give them a break, because I’ve got a super quick and easy recipe that will satisfy any stuffed cabbage fanatic, and prep time is less than 30 minutes. You can even prepare the entire meal the night before, for those who need to leave the house early in the morning to get to work, and relish in stuffed cabbage heaven at dinnertime.

Here is my recipe that fills my 5-Quart Rival Slow Cooker Crock Pot (adjust for smaller or large size crock pots)!  This recipe is not in stone either, so play around with the ingredients and quantities to suit your taste.

Ingredients for Slow Cooker Crock Pot Unstuffed Cabbage:

• 1 Small Head Green/Savoy Cabbage (use whole leaves or cut up as in the image below)
• 3 lbs Ground Beef (preferably without the pink slime)
• 1 to 2 Cups of Cooked Brown Rice
• 2 Large 28 oz Cans of Anything Tomato (Tomato Sauce, Crushed Tomatoes or Diced Tomatoes)
• Spices (Sea Salt, Black Pepper, Black Pepper Blends, Italian Seasoning and whatever other spices you enjoy)
• Non-stick Spray (Pam or Olive Oil) to make cleaning the pot so much easier

Cut Up Green Cabbage

Beef Rice Mixture Separated in Half for the Two Layers – Add your favorite spices to this mixture!

Preparing to Fill Crock Pot (Greased)

Now this part is fun! Start with a thin layer of tomato sauce first. Then a layer of the chopped cabbage on top of the sauce. Then one of the halves of the meat mixture on top of the cabbage, spread out evenly. Then repeat this entire process one more time. After the second half of meat mixture has been spread on the second layer, just top off with a little leftover tomato sauce.

First is Small Layer of Tomato Sauce

Layer of Cabbage on top of the Tomato Sauce

Layer of Meat Mixture Spread Out on top of Cabbage

2 Layers of Unstuffed Cabbage Ready to Cook

Now pop the lid on, set Stoneware in Crock Pot and cook on Low for 8 hours!  Just a little note, but the cabbage will give off a little extra water, so if you don’t want a watery sauce on your plate, then drain some of the excess off either during cooking or just prior to serving. Your plate should look just like this:

Unstuffed Cabbage Ready to Serve to your Family or Special Guests!

We hope you enjoy your new way of cooking “stuffed cabbage”, and would love to hear how your family enjoyed it too! If you made any changes to the recipe, we’d love to hear about them too!  Please be so kind as to Pin this recipe and share with your social friends…they’ll be happy you did!  🙂