Beef and Cabbage Casserole

Delicious and easy… if you like Stuffed Cabbage .. you will like this recipe!

This recipe for Beef and Cabbage Casserole is really the same recipe as my Stuffed Cabbage recipe… the only difference is the instead of using cabbage leaves and stuffing them with the beef mixture and rolling them… the ingredients are layered into a casserole dish.

TIPS

Use only the green parts of the cabbage.. avoid the white core pieces… you may have to trim the white part off some of the leaves.... you can cook the white part for a year and it will never get soft.. and it’s tasteless anyway.

The cabbage needs to be thinly sliced then chopped…. Don’t do as I did and not chop it small enough.. it was delicious but difficult to get out of the casserole.

Some people use bagged coleslaw mix… the only problem I have with using it .. is the carrots… the recipe doesn’t have carrots in it… but I may try it next time just to see what it’s like.  If you try it.. let me know how you liked it.

Just as I do with my cabbage leaves for stuffed cabbage… I par boiled the cabbage…. I have a fairly large microwave.. so I decided to do it in the microwave… I put the cabbage into a large glass bowl (mine is quite deep.. covered it with water and microwaved on high for 8 minutes… I’d recommend longer … about 15 minutes should be about right… since I hadn’t taken into account that the water needs to get up to “boiling” …  on top of the stove you need to boil it for 7 minutes. 

I like to cut the onion into chunks and put it in my mini chopper along with the garlic cloves… a few quick pulses and it’s perfectly chopped.

You can use egg substitute (Egg Beaters) in place of the egg… use the amount listed on the container for 1 egg.

Just an FYI… if you are using Minute Rice… ½ cup uncooked rice yields 1 cup cooked rice.   The directions use to cook it with equal parts water.  Don’t cook it for half the time indicated… I usually cut the cook time down by only a minute or two.. just cook it until the water is absorbed and the rice is cooked.

I used an 8 x 8 casserole dish… mine is quite deep… if your dish isn’t.. use a slightly larger size and place it on a baking sheet in case it runs over… mine never has but I’d hate for you to have a mess in your oven… so better safe than sorry later.

This recipe serves 4.

Recipe:  Beef and Cabbage Casserole

All you need:

1 pound extra lean ground beef

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 cup cooked white rice *See TIPS

½ medium onion, finely diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

½ teaspoon Hungarian sweet paprika

½ teaspoon Hungarian hot paprika

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

1 medium head of cabbage

2 cans condensed tomato soup

All you need to do:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 

Remove the green leaves from the head of cabbage.. I usually discard the top two.  Thinly slice the leaves than chop them… I do it not quite as thin as coleslaw… but fairly thin.  *See TIPS for a shortcut you may want to try.

Par boil the cabbage for 7 minutes *See TIPS if you want to do it in the microwave.  Drain, run cold water on the cabbage and then dry on paper towels.

In a large bowl, mix the ground beef, egg, cooked rice, onions, grlic, Hungarian sweet paprika, Hungarian hot paprika, parsley and 3 tablespoons of the condensed soup.

Spread half the remaining soup (both the opened can and the unopened can) on the bottom of an 8 x 8 baking dish *See TIPS

Layer half the chopped cabbage in the bottom of the baking dish.  Layer the meat mixture over the cabbage.  Then layer the remaining half of cabbage over the meat.  Spoon the remaining condensed soup over the top.

Cover with foil and bake for 2 ½ hours.

Uncover and serve.