Cabbage Not-Rolled Casserole

This is kind of like my boyfriend's mother's version of Polish cabbage rolls, except I think a million times easier. But it doesn't have any of the rice/buckwheat filling. It still tastes amazing though, and we eat it at least once a month when we pick up cabbage at the store.

It may seem a little time consuming, because you have to cook the cabbage first, which is why I usually make this on the weekend. Plus it needs to cook for an hour.

BUT TRUST ME-------It's worth it!

Cabbage is super cheap, and adds a lot of extra bulk to this meal. This is 2 pounds of meat, so it makes about six portions (5oz of meat each). It really doesn't seem to fit very well into a 9x13 pan, so I always have to use two pans. But, again, totally worth it!

Ingredients

1) 2 pounds of ground meat (I used beef, but any mix or any type would work)

2) 2 normal-sized cabbages (I used green, you could use green and red if you want)

3) 2 cans (14oz each) of tomato sauce---or you can make your own!

4) 1 TBSP each of: Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Paprika

Instructions

1) First get a big pot of water on the stove to boil.

2) Chop up your cabbages into strips, like noodles.

Cut up your cabbage into strips

3) Once the water is boiling, add some salt to the pot, and then add in your cabbage. If your pot is big enough, you should be able to fit it all in. If not, do it in two batches.

So much cabbage!

4) Let the cabbage boil for 10 minutes, until soft. Then drain.

Time to drain the cooked cabbage

5) While the cabbage is boiling, get your ground beef browning in a separate pan.

6) Once browned, add in your tablespoons of onion powder, garlic powder, and paprika. Stir to incorporate.

Yummy meat filling

7) Now you're ready to assemble your casserole! You'll need two 9x13 pans, or a 9x13 and an 8x8 pan. I used a 9x13 and an 8x8 so the rest of the recipe follows that guideline. (Assume the 9x13 will get 2/3 of your layers, and the 8x8 gets 1/3 to make this easy).

8) Layer cabbage onto the bottom of your pans. You should use 1/2 of the total cabbage, split accordingly between your two pans.

9) Next layer is your meat---using 1/2 of your total meat, layer it on top of your cabbage. I used a measuring cup to do this. It won't cover every piece of cabbage, just make it evenly distributed.

Cabbage layer + Meat Layer

10) Use one can of tomato sauce to spread over both pans. Again, it won't cover everything, just spread it around.

Cabbage layer + Meat layer + Tomato Sauce layer

11) Repeat all three layers again until your ingredients are gone.

Layered up!

Oven Time

12) Cook at 350 degrees for 1 hour, until the top is browning and everything is bubbly.

13) Let cool for at least 10 minutes so you don't burn your mouth! ENJOY!

Eat me!

Portioned out for lunches. Coworkers be jealous!