Italian Spiced Cabbage Rolls

Stuffed cabbage rolls are one of my family’s favorite dishes.

I cook this dish up in the slow cooker because the rolls come out juicy and full of tenderness.

What we love most about this meal is it is gluten free and dairy free.

What Ingredients Are Necessary For Making Stuffed Cabbage Rolls?

• 2 pounds of pre-mixed ground meat (Should contain some pork and beef, but you could use turkey burger or ground chicken too! )
• 1 ½ cups of riced cauliflower
• 1 ½ cups of cooked quinoa
• 1 large head of cabbage
• Teaspoon each of onion powder, garlic powder, basil, paprika, salt, black pepper and parsley
• ½ teaspoon of oregano
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• 1 cup of bone broth or chicken broth ( I use the bone broth I make because I feel like it has more nutrients and is healthier with more flavor.)
• 1 15 ounce can of petite diced tomatoes with garlic and basil seasoning or really any Italian seasoning
• 2 eggs

How Do You Make The Stuffed Cabbage Rolls?

1. Take your large cabbage head and carefully cut around the core or stem of the cabbage head to loosen up the cabbage leaves, but do not cut the cabbage head into halves or quarters. You want to carefully pull the cabbage head leaves apart one at a time until you have about a dozen of them. I find the bigger the leaves are the better the rolls come out.
2. Grab a mixing bowl and add in the pre-mixed ground meat, riced cauliflower, quinoa, herbs and spices, and eggs. Combine the ingredients together as if you were making a meatloaf. Then take two to three tablespoons of the mix at a time and fill the center of each cabbage leaf. Now, roll and tuck each filled cabbage roll up the best you can as if you were wrapping up a burrito or sandwich wrap.
3. Place each cabbage roll into the slow cooker, pour the chicken broth and can of petite diced tomatoes over them, drizzle the honey on top and place the lid onto the slow cooker. Turn the slow cooker on low or medium heat for about 6 to 8 hours.
4. Serve rolls up as they are with some of the delicious juice that is left behind in the slow cooker after cooking.

What Are Some Helpful Tips To Keep Mind?

1. If you want to make this dish vegetarian just keep the mixed meat out and fill them with a mixture of riced cauliflower, quinoa and replace the meat mixture with about 2 to 3 cups of jasmine rice. They will still come out just as hearty and flavorful.
2. If you end up forgetting to turn your slow cooker on like i have done on some occasions that’s okay. You can take the lid of your slow cooker and place some aluminum foil onto the top of the slow cooker dishes instead and bake the dinner in a 400-degree oven for about 45 minutes to an hour.