Instant Pot Lazy Stuffed Cabbage—all the flavors of stuffed cabbage in a super fast and easy stew. This is a delicious and healthy dinner that will fill you up!
Note: the SLOW COOKER instructions are listed in the recipe card below
Instant Pot Lazy Stuffed Cabbage
After eating lots of treats all season long it was time for a healthy dinner. With lean meat, tomatoes, cabbage and brown rice this low-cal but filling stew fit the bill. It has plenty of protein and fiber. It is warm and comforting and comes together quickly with the help of a pressure cooker.
Stuffed cabbage rolls are delicious but they are a little labor intensive. This lazy stuffed cabbage solves that issue! If you think your family doesn’t like cabbage try this out anyway! The Instant Pot cooks the cabbage down so much and it’s so tender. You won’t even realize you’re eating it. I’m definitely going to be making this again soon! We all loved it and Skyler ate the last of this morning for breakfast.
What ingredients do I need?
- Ground meat–You’ll need a pound of ground meat. I used half ground pork and half lean ground beef but you can use one or the other. Try ground turkey or ground chicken as well. Another choice to amp up the flavor is ground Italian sausage.
- Diced onion–for convenience I love using frozen chopped onions. Find them next to the other frozen vegetables at your grocery store.
- Celery–other choices could be green bell peppers or diced carrots
- Minced garlic–or you can use a teaspoon of garlic powder
- Kosher salt and black pepper and Italian seasoning–for flavor
- Chicken or beef broth–or you can use Better Than Bouillon and water
- Brown rice–or you can use another type of rice, see below for how different rices change the cooking time
- Diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes and tomato paste–for lots of tomato flavor. You can also use tomato sauce in the place of crushed tomatoes.
- Bay leave–for flavor
- Worcestershire sauce–you can also use vinegar
- Cabbage–I used green cabbage. Purple cabbage would work, although the flavor will be slightly different and of course the color of the stew will be different.
How do you make unstuffed cabbage in the Instant Pot?
- Brown the meat: Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the pork and beef and break up. Add in the onions and celery. Brown for about 5 minutes. Add in the garlic, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning.
- Deglaze: Pour in the broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. This helps to prevent the burn error message.
- Layer in the ingredients: Sprinkle in the rice, don’t stir. Dump in the tomatoes, tomato paste, bay leave and Worcestershire. Finally add in the cabbage. Don’t stir. (Layering the ingredients and not stirring helps to prevent the burn error message).
- Pressure cook: Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 22 minutes. When time is up let the pot sit for 10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Serve: Stir well. Season to taste with salt, pepper and more Worcestershire, if needed. Ladle into bowls and serve. (I topped mine with a bit of cheese and fresh parsley)
Can I use another type of rice?
Yes you can! You will need to adjust the cooking time. Just look at the green chart below for how long to pressure cook and what pressure release to use. You can keep the same amount of broth as listed in the recipe. For example if you want to use long grain white rice only pressure cook the recipe for 3 minutes with a 10 minute natural pressure release.
Is this recipe gluten free?
This recipe can be gluten free. Make sure to use gluten free broth and Worcestershire sauce.
How to lower the carbohydrates?
If you’d like a lower carbohydrate version of this recipe try using 2 cups of cauliflower rice (instead of brown rice) and only pressure cook for 1 minute with a 5 minute natural pressure release.
How to lower the sodium?
Try using no salt versions of the tomato products and cutting the amount of kosher salt that you add in.
What to serve alongside lazy stuffed cabbage?
This stew tastes amazing with a side of French bread or any fresh bread!
Can I freeze the leftovers?
You can store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or place in the freezer for up to 3 months. To reheat, thaw overnight in the refrigerator and then warm on the stove in a pot over low heat, stirring every few minutes.
Can I double or halve this recipe?
Yes you can. Just double or halve all the ingredients and keep the same cooking time. If you’d like to double the recipe use an 8 quart pot to fit it all.
What the best way to cut up of cabbage?
- Cut the cabbage down the middle, splitting it into two equal halves.
- Place each half flat side down and cut down the middle. You should now have 4 quarters.
- Locate the stem for each quarter. This is called the core. Cut off the core and discard.
- Place each quarter flat side down. Cut it into slices.
- Finally, cut the slices into squares.
Equipment I used
More Instant Pot Recipes with CABBAGE…
Instant Pot Unstuffed Cabbage Soup
Instant Pot St. Patty’s Day Corned Beef And Cabbage
Instant Pot Smoked Sausage And Cabbage
Instant Pot Pork Quinoa Cabbage Bowls
You can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, soup recipes etc. Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for.
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Instant Pot Lazy Stuffed Cabbage
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 22 minutes (plus 10 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 42 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
All the flavors of stuffed cabbage in a super fast and easy stew. This is a delicious and healthy dinner that will fill you up!
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound ground pork
- 1/2 pound ground beef
- 1 cup diced onion
- 2 ribs of celery, sliced
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 3/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 2 cups chicken or beef broth
- 1/2 cup brown rice
- 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
- 1 (14.5 oz) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1 bay leave
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 small head of cabbage, chopped
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the pork and beef and break up. Add in the onions and celery. Brown for about 5 minutes. Add in the garlic, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning.
- Pour in the broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking.
- Sprinkle in the rice, don’t stir. Dump in the tomatoes, tomato paste, bay leave and Worcestershire. Finally add in the cabbage. Don’t stir.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 22 minutes. When time is up let the pot sit for 10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir well. Season to taste with salt, pepper and more Worcestershire, if needed. Ladle into bowls and serve.
Slow Cooker Instructions:
- Brown the pork and beef with the onions and celery. Stir in the garlic, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. Add to the slow cooker.
- Pour in the broth, rice, tomatoes, tomato paste, bay leave, Worcestershire and cabbage. Stir.
- Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
- Stir well. Season to taste with salt, pepper and more Worcestershire, if needed. Ladle into bowls and serve.
- Category: Beef
- Method: Instant Pot
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
What if I have cooked brown rice?
hmmm, well if you pressure cook already cooked rice that won’t be good. Maybe pressure cook everything else for only 3 minutes then stir in the cooked rice.
One of the simplest recipes I have done. I cooked it the day before and heated it in my oven for easter dinner. Tasted just like family recipe cabbage rolls, without the hours of filling!
★★★★★
oh I love this! Thank you!
Delicious 😋
I used ground lamb (I’m middle eastern, grew up eating a lot of lamb). When I make cabbage rolls I add raisins on top of the canned tomatoes. I know, sounds weird. But I like the sweetness of the raisins with the acidic tomatoes. Everyone really likes the added raisins. Just not sure if I should add them when I make this again. What do you think?
★★★★★
You could try it! I am personally not a huge fan of raisins so I don’t really know!
I made this with turkey meat….it was fabulous!
I’d like to try this. I so enjoy cooked cabbage.
1)Instead of a slow cooker can I use the same instructions for a pot on the stove? Or a Pyrex in the oven ?
2)is there a noticeable taste difference to sub cauliflower rice for brown rice. Is it easy to tell them apart?
I haven’t tried this in the oven or on the stove but I’m assuming it could be done. Yes there is a big difference. I like cauliflower rice but it doesn’t taste like rice really.
I simmered mine on the stove and it turned out perfectly! I intended to make it in the crockpot, but there was so much I didn’t think it would all fit. So my plan was to cook it down and then into the crockpot, but wound up cooking completely on stovetop. Fantastic flavor. Can’t wait to have it for dinner tonight!
Hi Karen!
Do I set the manual/pressure cooker button on high or low setting??? I did set the time for 22minutes.
Thanks!
Cannot wait to make. Looks delicious😋
High pressure
Karen! You surprised me with this one! We had a huge beautiful fresh cabbage from the farm stand and wasn’t sure how to use it all up – then this recipe popped up in my inbox. Let’s just call that divine intervention because the recipe was just really heavenly. I’m Russian so I’ve eaten my weight in cabbage rolls. I’ve had the best, so I wasn’t expecting anything special from this recipe. We’ve made similar recipes before that were just okay 🥱 but this one was great! We increased the spices to our liking, and wow! This simple peasant dish really made an impression and brought me back to my childhood! My husband adored it too. I really love when I’m not expecting much and end up being dead wrong. Thanks for the recipe Karen. Спасибо!
★★★★★
YAY YAY YAY!!!! I love to hear this. Thank you for sharing.
Never make cabbage rolls again. This recipe is the bomb.
Thank you thank you!!
This was delicious! I used a pound of Italian sausage and used up some cauliflower florets along with a small bag of coleslaw mix.
★★★★★
So glad to hear you enjoyed it Pat!
I might add parmigiana cheese and mozzarella at end of slow cooker time . Your thoughts?
★★★★★
I love that idea!
I love this recipe
★★★★★
Thank you for the 5 stars!
It had good flavor (added more salt and pepper and some garlic powder once done). Next time I will try jasmine rice. The shorter cook time will help to prevent the cabbage from overcooking. Served it with croissants.
★★★★
Mmmmm! Croissants!!
Why is the liquid (2 cups) to rice (1/2 cup) so high. Does this not make it very watery?
Because it’s a stew
How do you adjust the crock pot recipe for jasmine rice? Can’t wait to try this?
I would change the cooking time to 3-4 hours on low
Karen, if I was in a pinch and did not have thawed ground beef/pork would I cook the meat first or can I cook it frozen in the recipe?
Sorry you’ll need to brown it first 🙂
I’m assuming the amount of broth used is the same for any kind of rice. The amount of water used for each cup of rice is if you were making rice separately. Different rice only affects the. Times . correct
Yes that’s right 🙂
Hi Karen!
This recipe sounds dee-lish! Just one quick question: Do I add pre-cooked rice to the Instant Pot or raw (uncooked)? Thanks!
uncooked rice!
Can I use Jasmine rice instead of brown rice?
Yes you can! You will need to adjust the cooking time to 4 minutes with a 10 minute natural pressure release.
Are you adding 4 minutes to the existing time for brown rice or you only cook 4 minutes.
Thank you.
for brown rice it is 20 minutes for jasmine rice it is 4 minutes.
Thank you. It was delicious.
★★★★★
This sounds delicious! Is there a way to make this vegetarian? I am wondering if I can just leave out the meat without getting the burn error.
I have used Yves Veggie Cuisine for years when I want a meat free meal. They make an “Italian Veggie Ground Round” that I have used in Chili, for Nachos, in Shepherds Pie and so on and it would probably be ideal in this as well. It is entirely plant based , non gmo verified and you can check them out on web at http://www.yvesveggie.ca and BTW I don’t work for them or get anything back I just like the because it’s so easy to use.
Thanks for the tip Brian!