These Keto Cabbage Rolls are a low carb take on a classic Russian beef and cabbage meal. And each serving has just 200 calories and 6g net carbs.
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Greetings 👋
In my line of work, you see some things. Things you can't unsee.
Take this video about making cabbage rolls, for example.
IT SEEMS TO BE SOME SORT OF COMEDIC Russian COOKING SHOW.
It follows the exploits of a buxom Russian woman named Sveta Lana. She kind of looks like the Wendy's girl if she was dressed up as a sexy chef for Halloween. She begins the show by telling us that the first step is to get the cabbage leaves naked and steam them. Then there is a cut-away to her, naked in a hot tub, surrounded by cabbage leaves. There are other cut-aways to whimsical creatures made out of vegetables and at a certain point, a rogue chicken walks through the frame.
IT'S Bananas.
But to be fair, she knows her way around a stuffed cabbage roll.
I’ll grant her that much. Her step-by-step instructions are on point. So here is a link to the video, for you to watch in the privacy of your own home. I give you… Sveta Lana!
Now today’s recipe for Keto Cabbage Rolls is a little bit different.
The rice in classic stuffed cabbage rolls is not, obviously, Keto so we’ll have to come up with a work-around. But never fear, cauliflower rice is here. You could alternately use a shirataki rice product that Miracle Noodle makes. It’s got 5 calories and zero carbs, so it’s even lower in carbohydrate than cauliflower rice, which doesn’t even seem possible.
Caulirlfower Rice 🍚
If you do use cauliflower rice, for goodness sake, buy it already riced. Life is too short to spend chopping cauliflower and ricing it in a blender. Or heaven forbid, you have to use a cheese grater. No, best to skip the fuss and mess and buy it pre-riced at the supermarket. You can even buy an inexpensive bag of frozen cauliflower rice at Aldi.
So there is no excuse.
Tangy🍅 or Creamy🥛?
My recipe is based on my grandmother’s. She would mix up a can of Campbell’s Tomato Soup and a can of milk and call it a day. My recipe also uses a cream-based sauce, but you make it by mixing together canned tomato sauce, sour cream, water, and erythritol sweetener. You can skip the sour cream and water and just use one (15oz) can of tomato sauce, if you like. And you can use either plain sauce or Italian spiced sauce, depending on how much flavor you like in your cabbage rolls.
Either way, it will come out great.
Ingredients 🥣
- low carb rice
- a head of cabbage
- extra virgin olive oil
- ground beef
- fresh parsley
- garlic
- eggs
- dried oregano
- tomato sauce
- sour cream
- Swerve Granular
Instructions 💬
- First, you boil the head of cabbage and set the leaves aside to cool.
- Then cook the cauliflower rice on the stove. Mix it with the remaining filling ingredients.
- Mix up the tomato sauce and pour ½ into the bottom of a large casserole dish.
- Roll the filling into the cabbage leaves (See Sveta Lana's example below.).
- Add rolls to the dish and cover with the remaining sauce.
- Then bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour, turning halfway through.
And you are done! 👩🍳
It takes about an hour and a half to make these Keto Cabbage Rolls, but it is well worth the effort. Although there is definitely a learning curve when it comes to rolling the filling into the cabbage leaves, if you follow Sveta Lana's instructions you'll be golden. Soon you’ll have a hearty Russian meal with only 200 calories and 6g net carbs.
So let’s get rolling!
(Ok, now where’s my chicken at?)
📋 Recipe
Keto Cabbage Rolls
These Keto stuffed cabbage rolls are pure comfort food. And each serving has just 6g net carbs.
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 1:00
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Entree
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Russian
- Diet: Diabetic
Ingredients
stuffed cabbages:
- 1 head of cabbage
- 1 half of a cauliflower, riced, or 2 cups of pre-riced cauliflower
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ½ pound ground beef
- ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 large egg, beaten
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- cooking spray
sauce:
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- ¼ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tablespoon Swerve Granular
Instructions
Step 1. Core the cabbage and pull off the first layer of outer leaves.
Step 2. In a large soup pot, cook the whole head of cabbage in enough boiling water to cover for about 3 minutes or just until outer leaves are softened. Remove cabbage from water; remove as many leaves as can easily be removed. Return cabbage to water; repeat the process until 12 leaves are removed.
Step 3. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F and spray a large 9 x 13c inch casserole dish with cooking spray.
Step 4. Use pre-riced cauliflower, or process cauliflower in a food processor until it is finely chopped to about the size of grains of rice. Heat olive oil in a large frying pan over Medium-High heat. Cook cauliflower rice until softened, 5-6 minutes. If it is frozen, then cook it for 7-8 minutes.
Step 5. Mix the parsley, ground beef, garlic, salt, and cooked cauliflower in a medium-sized bowl. Beat the egg and mix in well.
Step 6. Mix up the tomato sauce, water, sour cream, and sweetener in a small bowl. Pour half of the tomato mixture into the casserole dish.
Step 7. Lay a cabbage leaf flat on the counter. Slash the bottom vein if it doesn't seem pliable. Add 2 tablespoons of the meat mixture to the cabbage and roll up like a burrito. Add the cabbage roll to the casserole dish.
Step 8. Repeat until you've run out of filling. Cover the rolls in the remaining sauce.
Step 9. Bake for 1 hour, turning the cabbage rolls halfway through.
Notes
To make a vegetarian version of this recipe: substitute 1 (8 oz) carton of sliced mushrooms for the ground beef. Saute the mushrooms for 8 minutes before you cook the cauliflower. Set the cooked mushrooms aside and proceed with the recipe.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 rolls
- Calories: 207
- Fat: 14
- Carbohydrates: 11
- Fiber: 5
- Protein: 12
Keywords: Low Carb Cabbage Rolls, Keto Cabbage Rolls, Paleo Cabbage Rolls
Kristen Mcgee says
Do you have the nutritional information at the bottom, but how many rolls is a serving?
EmilyKrill says
This recipe makes 12 rolls and there are 4 servings, so each serving is 3 rolls.
Brittani says
The rolls themselves were AMAZING, the only problem I had was with the sauce... I already knew I don’t care for the tase of SF sweeteners so I should have lessened the amount. Next time I’ll exnay the sugar all together and these will be perfect.
★★★★
EmilyKrill says
That’s great. Thanks so much for letting me know.
Linda says
My grandmother always layered her dozens of cabbage rolls in a HUGE pot and cooked it on the stove on a low simmer for hours. The key was, between each layer of cabbage rolls she put a THIN layer of RINSED saurkrauet. Total GAME CHANGER!! I’m going to try your recipe, but add a layer of sauerkraut on top, out of respect for grandma!.
★★★★★
EmilyKrill says
That sounds so good. My grandmother used to make big batches of these too. I have a new respect for her. These things take time!
Ed says
That video is nuts. The recipe was good though. Good old comfort food.
★★★★★
EmilyKrill says
This is one of my most popular recipes. It's all comfort food.
Nancy says
I have been making these for about 2 yrs since I started a low carb diet. I was experimenting and I now use riced cauliflower in any recipe that calls for rice. So far it has always turned out great.
Kim says
Please clarify: How much onion? 1/4 of what of water?
Emily says
There is a 1/4 cup water and no onion. I apologize for the error in the recipe. I just fixed it.
Karen says
Looks like a great recipe... will try..I think the cabbage rolls are more covered up than her chest area is...yikes!
Emily says
Yikes is right!
Kenzie says
This is delicious! I added a little more spice to mine. Used fresh garlic with the beef, salted water to core and steam the cabbage and added rosemary and basil to filling mix. Topped this with a slice of soft fresh mozz cheese.
It feels like a cheat meal!
Tara says
I grew up having stuffed cabbage rolls (grandmother). I tried a cabbage casserole made with miracle rice but the texture is just weird. It didn't occur to me to use riced cauliflower. Thanks for sharing!
Emily says
Yes, my grandmother made these for every occasion. She called them halupki.
Kelly says
Have you tried freezing these? If so how did it work out?
Emily says
You know, I haven't. My guess is that this is a recipe that gets better the next day (like lasagna) but I've never had any leftovers to test this theory out on. If you do freeze them, would you mind checking back in and telling me how it goes?
Judy says
Cabbage rolls freeze great I always make enough to freeze, add your sauce and freeze. No need to bake before freezing
EmilyKrill says
Thanks so much for letting me know. (When I make them at home, there are never any leftovers to freeze!) But it's smart to make a double recipe. It's a little bit of fuss to make them, so it makes sense to do a big bunch all at once. Thanks again, for your comment.