Slow Cooker 5-Ingredient Lazy Cabbage Roll Casserole

If you love stuffed cabbage rolls but never have the time to make them, then this slow cooker lazy cabbage roll casserole recipe is perfect for you! All of the delicious flavors of stuffed cabbage rolls, but none of the time spent assembling or making filling. Just mix it all up and set the slow cooker.

We love this recipe in our home, because there are only 5 ingredients and you can easily make it from start to finish in under an hour. The cabbage cooks nicely and becomes soft and tender, and the flavors blend perfectly as they cook. Beef and rice add substance to the casserole, so you’ll have a full, satisfying dinner. This recipe tastes like old-fashioned comfort food, and it’s simple enough to serve on a busy weeknight.

Use this lazy cabbage roll casserole when you need to feed a lot of people, or when you want to make extra for leftovers. It’s the ideal meal when you’re busy and tired, and you want a warm, satisfying dinner at the end of the day. Make the beef filling, chop the vegetables, and let the crockpot take care of the rest. Dinner couldn’t be easier!

Why You Will Love This Recipe

I really love how the cabbage in this lazy cabbage roll casserole gets so soft as it cooks. The slow cooker makes the cabbage melt-in-your-mouth tender, soaking up all of the flavorful beef drippings and tomato sauce. You’ll get all of the tastes of stuffed cabbage rolls in this recipe, except everything is already cut into pieces.

The parboiled rice in the lazy cabbage roll casserole gets nice and fluffy, and absorbs all of the tomato juice to create a soft, satisfying texture. It really adds substance to this slow cooker recipe. The whole thing has a great balance of vegetables, meat, and grain.

One of the main reasons I love this slow cooker dinner is because the hands-on prep is minimal. You only have to dirty one pan to cook the ground beef, and then you just dump all the other ingredients into the slow cooker pot. Clean-up is a breeze since there’s only one pan to wash once everyone finishes dinner!

The Ingredients

Here are the 5 easy pantry staples you’ll need to start making this hands-off dinner your new favorite:

Green Cabbage

This fresh, firm head of green cabbage will provide the bulky, nutrient-dense foundation for this casserole, soaking up all of the rich tomato sauce as it simmers. Don’t let the enormous mound of shredded cabbage fool you; it will reduce in size dramatically over the course of the slow cooking time in the crock pot. For an even faster prep, you can just grab a few bags of coleslaw mix, which also works perfectly fine as a replacement for a whole head of cabbage.

Lean Ground Beef

Starting with lean ground beef will give you that quintessential, filling, stuffed cabbage taste without ending up with a layer of fat floating on the top of the finished casserole. Taking the time to brown the meat in a skillet first will help give your dinner a rich, deliciously savory flavor that really takes it to the next level. If you would like to swap out the beef for something lighter, ground turkey or even a spicy, Italian-flavored ground sausage work great too.

Converted White Rice

Converting, or parboiling, your long-grain white rice is a must when making this casserole in a slow cooker because it will keep its integrity when it’s cooked for a long time. Regular white rice tends to get pretty mushy when it’s submerged in liquid, whereas converted rice stays nice and fluffy. If you don’t have converted rice, but do have regular brown rice, it can still be used in this recipe — you might just need to add a little more water and cook for a little bit longer for it to become tender.

Condensed Tomato Soup

The condensed tomato soup adds a creamy element to the casserole that ties all the ingredients together, coating the cabbage in flavor. It also has a sweet, tomatoey flavor that evokes a sense of comfort food nostalgia, especially when it’s a cold winter night. If you would like to skip the condensed soup, just use a large jar of your favorite smooth tomato-based pasta sauce instead. The flavors will be slightly different, leaning more toward Italian than Eastern European, but they’re still amazing!

How to Make It

Now that you know what ingredients you’ll need, let’s walk through how to make this delicious and cozy casserole step-by-step.

Brown the Beef

Begin by heating a large skillet over medium heat. Add the ground beef to the skillet, breaking it up into small pieces as it browns. Once the beef is fully cooked, drain any remaining grease from the pan.

Prep the Cabbage

Chop the head of green cabbage into small chunks, then toss it into the bottom of a 6-quart slow cooker. You’ll think you’ve put in far too much cabbage, but it will compress and wilt quite a bit as it cooks.

Add the Layers

Dump the uncooked converted white rice directly onto the top of the cabbage in the slow cooker. Pour on the browned ground beef, the cans of condensed tomato soup, and the diced tomatoes along with their juice.

Mix and Cook

Stir well with a large wooden spoon to make sure the tomatoes and liquid are spread out evenly, and that the uncooked rice is covered. Put the lid on and cook on LOW.

Simmer and Serve

The casserole should cook for 6-7 hours, until the cabbage is super tender and the rice is plump and soft. Give it a gentle stir, then serve hot!

My Top Tips for Success

Be SURE to use converted or parboiled rice for this recipe, NOT instant/minute rice or regular long-grain white rice. The steam inside a slow cooker is very moist, and regular rice will nearly always turn into a starchy mush after 6 hours of cooking time, but parboiled rice will be just right.

If you know your slow cooker runs on the hot side, try to gently press the rice down into the tomato sauce mixture rather than letting it sit against the dry sides of the slow cooker. If the rice isn’t completely submerged in liquid, it won’t cook through and will stay crunchy.

For a quick start in the morning, you can brown the ground beef and chop the cabbage the night before. Store them separately in the refrigerator, then dump them both into the slow cooker in the morning before leaving for work.

Storage and Reheating

• Cabbage casserole will keep for up to 4 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container. The flavor will get even better overnight.
• To freeze, let the casserole cool completely, then transfer to freezer containers and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let it thaw in the refrigerator before reheating.
• Individual bowls can be microwaved for 1-2 minutes. If the rice seems too dry after being in the fridge, add a splash of water before heating.

What to Serve it With

• Serve topped with cool sour cream and chopped parsley.
• Serve with a hot buttered piece of dark rye or pumpernickel bread.
• Serve with a side of cucumber dill salad.
• Serve as a meal followed by a hot slice of cinnamon apple pie.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make this on the HIGH setting?

Absolutely, if you don’t have 6-7 hours, you can make this on HIGH for 3-4 hours but keep an eye on the rice so it isn’t soaking up all the liquid too quickly and doesn’t end up mushy.

Do I need to add extra water or broth?

Nope! Don’t be afraid that there is not enough liquid in the dish! The cabbage will release a ton of liquid as it cooks which will combine with the soup and diced tomatoes to cook the rice. It will NOT turn into a soup!