Unstuffed Cabbage Roll Skillet

Unstuffed Cabbage Roll Skillet

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Ever accidentally buy more than what you need of something and then have to scramble to figure out what to do with the stuff you didn’t use? This recipe is borne from me smoking some ribs on Labor Day, buying a couple of bags of coleslaw mix, and then only using one bag for coleslaw. Oops. Cue the panic that comes from potentially wasting perfectly good food. Thankfully, this week ground beef was on sale, so I decided to try to make all this into a one-pot meal-prep dish that tastes like cabbage rolls without the extra carbs you get from the rice filler.

This is still a fairly carb-heavy meal, thanks to the tomato sauce and paste. I prefer a really low-carb breakfast, so it ends up averaging out in the end. Today’s breakfast, for example, was only 4 net carbs, so adding the 9 net carbs you get from this recipe still gives you 7-12 for dinner and snacks, depending on where you like to aim. I’m a 25 net carbs a day kind of girl, so I feel like I have plenty of wiggle room left in my day after eating this for lunch. If you want to cut the carbs a bit, getting rid of the chopped onion will get rid of 1 net carb per serving. Just replace it with a teaspoon or so of onion powder. If you also replace the garlic with garlic powder and leave out the tomato paste entirely, it’ll take off two.

To make this, start with a pound and a half of ground beef. I usually like to use 85% lean, because I think that 80% ends up being too watery once it’s cooked, and anything higher than 85% doesn’t give me the fat macros I need. Chop a medium onion, which will yield about 3/4 cup. Heat a large Dutch oven or saucepot over medium-high heat, then add the beef and onion, along with a teaspoon and a half of salt, a tablespoon of minced garlic, and a teaspoon each of paprika, dried dill, and dried parsley. Use black pepper to taste. Brown the beef, breaking it up as it cooks. Once it’s brown, the onion should also be turning translucent. This should take about 6-8 minutes total.

When the beef is browned, add a 1-pound bag of coleslaw mix and stir it to mix in the beef. At this point, add a 14.5 ounce can of tomato sauce, and a tablespoon of tomato paste. Mix it around until there are no more clumps of tomato paste. Bring the mixture to a boil, turn it down to a simmer, and allow to simmer for at least 10 minutes, or until the cabbage is softened. Add additional salt and pepper to taste at this point. I used another teaspoon of salt, but your taste buds may differ.

Unstuffed Cabbage Roll Skillet

A deconstructed version of stuffed cabbage rolls, minus the rice.
Prep Time 5 mins
Cook Time 20 mins
Course Main Course
Servings 6
Calories 298 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 1.5 lbs ground beef
  • 1 lb bagged coleslaw mix
  • 3/4 cup chopped onions
  • 1 tbsp minced garlic
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp dried dill
  • 1 tsp dried parsley
  • 2.5 tsp salt divided
  • black pepper to taste
  • 1 can tomato sauce 14.5 ounces
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste

Instructions
 

  • Heat up a large Dutch oven or saucepot over medium high heat. Add the beef, onion, garlic, paprika, parsley, dill, 1.5 teaspoons salt, and black pepper to taste. Brown the meat, breaking it up as it cooks, until it is cooked through, about 6-8 minutes.
  • Add the coleslaw mix and stir into the meat mixture. Pour in the tomato sauce and tomato paste and stir until the tomato paste breaks up. Turn the heat down and allow to simmer until the cabbage is soft, about 10 minutes. Taste, add an additional teaspoon or so of salt to taste, and more black pepper if necessary.
  • Macros per serving: 298 calories, 9 grams net carbs, 21 grams protein, 17 grams fat.
Keyword beef, easy, high protein, keto, low carb, low-calorie, meal prep, one dish

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