Cabbage Roll in a Bowl

Growing up in Winnipeg, we had access to all kinds of amazing Ukrainian food. My gramma made the best Homemade Perogies, and amazing traditional cabbage rolls were available pretty much everywhere.

Of course, all of it was pretty carbby... so I’ve come up with several keto recipes that give the same great flavor of those dishes, just in a lower-carb format: Keto Perogies, Loaded Pierogi Dip, Keto Cabbage Rolls ... all great ways to scratch that itch!

A few months ago, I was making a batch of Keto Egg Roll in a Bowl while craving cabbage rolls, and I realized - I could do deconstructed cabbage rolls in the same fashion, as a one-pot meal.

I’d made unstuffed cabbage rolls before, basically cutting up cabbage leaves, layering them with a meat and rice filling, then covering with a tangy tomato sauce and baking it.

Doing it up as a skillet meal seems like even less work - even developing the recipe was easy!

Instead of soy sauce (or coconut aminos), sesame oil, sesame seeds, and green onions, I’d use tomato sauce, dill, caraway, etc to create a similar flavor to the “lazy cabbage rolls” I used to make... Just with a shorter cooking time!

In the end, this cabbage roll in a bowl QUICKLY became one of our go-to weeknight recipes. It works well as leftovers, and even freezes/reheats beautifully!

Anyway, let’s look at the ingredients involved...

Ingredients

This recipe uses pretty simple ingredients - you shouldn’t have a problem finding what you need in pretty much any grocery store.

As always, I have some ingredient notes for you:

Ground Meat

I always made my cabbage rolls with ground pork or ground beef, until my husband had a fateful encounter with a tick in texas.

Since then, we’ve been using a lot of ground chicken and ground turkey, even though the problem seems to be lifting.

Anyway, you can use whichever ground meat you’d like - even a ground non-meat, if you prefer!

If you’re using a fattier meat, you’ll want to drain excess fat after browning it up. If you’re using a lean meat, you’ll probably want to add a little olive oil to the pan.

Green Cabbage

While some people like to use pre-made coleslaw mix for making things like egg roll in a bowl - or these cabbage roll bowls - I prefer to just use a small head of cabbage.

Call me a purist, but I don’t ever use red cabbage or carrots in my cabbage rolls, LOL!

If you ARE going to go with coleslaw mix, though, make sure you use a cabbage based one. Something like a kale or broccoli slaw isn’t going to be a great choice, both in terms of texture and flavour.

Anyway, I like the regular green cabbage, rather than something more light and frilly like Napa cabbage. I tried using it for cabbage rolls once, on someone’s recommendation... but wasn’t a fan of that crepey texture.

That said, if you’re a fan of crepey cabbage rolls - you can definitely use Napa cabbage. Personally, I’d try to avoid as much of the “rib” portions as possible.

Cauliflower Rice

While white rice is used in the real thing, cauliflower rice is the main way of cutting carbs and making this a keto friendly version.

I use frozen cauliflower for the convenience - generally thawed before using.

You can use cauliflower rice if you’d like - sometimes I do! - it’ll just take more time to cook down.

As for fresh cauliflower, that’s another option... I just don’t personally find that it’s worth all the extra work to do so. Your mileage, as usual, may vary!

Broth

If you’re using ground chicken or turkey, use chicken broth. If you’re using ground beef, use beef broth. Chicken or beef broth work for ground pork.

If you’re making a vegetarian version, you can either use vegetable broth, or whatever your favourite faux chicken/beef broth is.

Tomato Sauce

Aim for a plain tomato broth - roasted red peppers, oregano, mushrooms, basil, Asiago cheese, etc are all great as a pasta sauce, but don’t necessarily belong in a cabbage roll... IMHO.

To keep it all keto friendly, use a no-sugar-added tomato sauce.

Herbs and Spices

A few notes here.

I prefer using fresh parsley and fresh dill, but you can use dried if you prefer.

If you’re going that way, you’ll want to use 1 Tablespoon of Dried Parsley Flakes, and/or 2 teaspoons of Dill Weed.

Beyond that, I use Caraway Seeds and Smoked Paprika, as they’re pretty traditional cabbage roll seasonings - depending on what you’re used to.

You can skip one or both of these, if they’re not what you’re used to using with cabbage rolls.

Bacon

I like this best when made with real bacon, but feel free to use chicken bacon, turkey bacon, or your favourite vegetarian substitute.

If you’re using anything other than regular pork bacon, you’ll need to add some oil to the pan, that’s all!

Everything Else

Rounding out this recipe, you will need:

Yellow Onion
Garlic Cloves
Ground Black Pepper
Salt

Additionally, think of your garnish. Sour cream really makes this dish sing, but plain Greek yogurt works just as well.

If you want to get fancy, maybe some sliced green onions or fresh parsley.

Ingredients

The full recipe is in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post. Here is the pictorial walk through:

Whisk together the chicken broth, tomato sauce, parsley, dill, caraway seeds, and smoked paprika.

Season with a little salt and pepper, set aside.

In a LARGE pan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, cook the bacon until the fat has rendered down, and the bacon is almost crispy.

Pour off most of the fat, leaving about 1 tablespoon in the bottom of the pot. Set the reserved fat aside.

Add the cauliflower rice to the pan, cook - stirring frequently - until it looks a bit dry and is starting to brown up a little.

Add the onion and garlic to the pan, continue cooking until the onion is tender.

Add the ground meat, using a spatula to break it up.

Continue cooking until meat is browned - it doesn’t necessarily have to be cooked through, though.

Add the prepared cabbage and sauce to beef mixture, stir well to combine.

Allow to simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the cabbage is tender.

Taste, season with additional salt and pepper, if needed.

Serve hot, with a dollop of sour cream and some chopped fresh herbs, if desired.

Leftovers

Once cooled to almost room temperature, store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Best served reheated.

More Keto Main Dish Recipes

Looking for more low carb main dishes to feed your whole family with? I've got some delicious recipes for you!

Bacon Cheeseburger Soup
Cabbage Rolls
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Chicken Parmesan
Coconut Shrimp
Creamy Mustard Chicken
Everything Bagel Chicken
Fajita Chicken Skewers
Fried Chicken
Italian Wedding Soup
Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Chicken
Jamaican Curry Chicken
Keto Lasagna
Loaded Pierogi Soup
Pierogi Pizza
Portobello Mushroom Pizzas
Shepherd's Pie
Stromboli Meatloaf
Swedish Meatballs
Tuna Poke Bowl
Tuna Noodle Casserole