Name: Slow Cooker Beef and Cabbage
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 120 min
Total time: 135 min
Ingredients: 1 pound lean ground beef; 1/2 head cabbage; 2 large carrots; 1 teaspoon garlic powder; 1 teaspoon onion powder; 1/4 teaspoon oregano; 24 oz tomato sauce; 1 teaspoon sugar; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 1/8 teaspoon pepper

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Slow cooker beef and cabbage casserole is an easy way to make a delicious, healthy meal with very little effort. This recipe only takes about 15 minutes of prep time, and the slow cooker does all the work for you.

stack of pink and blue plates with beef and cabbage and carrot casserole on top

Trying to eat more veggies but finding it a struggle? Casseroles like this are such a great way to eat healthy without a lot of hassle.

I love this recipe because even my kids who normally don’t care for cabbage will gobble this down. The flavor is just so good and the texture works well for people who don’t like super crunchy cabbage.

These kinds of meals for the slow cooker are my favorite to prepare, because once I drop everything in early in the day, I don’t have to touch it or stress about dinner the rest of the day. That really takes the mental load off cooking a healthy meal for my family.

shredded cabbage and sliced carrots in glass bowl

Ingredients

ground beef – use a high quality, grass fed beef for best results. I like Butcher Box.

cabbage – choose a firm and heavy head of cabbage that isn’t too large

carrots – use regular carrots you peel for best flavor and results

tomato sauce – simple canned tomato sauce without any seasonings

spices – a variety of dried spices including garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, salt and pepper

sugar – just a bit of sugar to cut the acidity (optional)

white oval slow cooker filled with beef, cabbage and topped with tomato sauce

How to make beef and cabbage

While you can absolutely make this in a skillet or dutch oven, I really like the hands off approach of using my slow cooker.

Here are my tips for making this quick and simple:

make up several batches of ground beef in the skillet and keep them in your freezer for recipes like this
chop the cabbage up in advance while you are prepping veggies for another meal and then store in fridge (can do this up to 1-2 days before)
Toss everything in the slow cooker, stir it up, turn it on and walk away

Of course you can make it all the morning of as well, and it will only take you 15 minutes or so.

slow cooker filled with beef and cabbage casserole

Common Questions

Can I add other veggies? Yes! Just make sure they are hearty veggies (like root veggies) that can stand up to hours of slow cooking

What should I do with leftovers? You can store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. This meal reheats beautifully.

Can I make this on the stove instead? Yep!! Here is a similar recipe I have for the dutch oven on my other blog.