My cookbook is here! 
This ground beef cabbage bake is a delicious and simple to make dish. It’s packed with cabbage, ground beef, black beans, corn and cheese for an incredibly healthy dinner!
This ground beef and cabbage bake is a vibrant, nutrient dense meal that reimagines classic comfort food. You get a satisfying caramelized cabbage texture that perfectly carries the savory flavors of browned ground beef and aromatic onions and bell peppers.
This cabbage bake is a naturally gluten free powerhouse, designed to fuel your body with high quality protein and a massive dose of fiber.
The magic of this dish lies in its fusion of ingredients. We have also made this without the black beans and corn for an amazing low carb dinner!
If you like this recipe, you will also love my Easy Beef Cabbage Soup or my Cheesy Beef + Cabbage Skillet.
If you don’t have marinara sauce, simply use a jar of Salsa. The ground beef can be substituted with ground chicken, ground turkey, ground lamb or ground pork!
Thank you for stopping by Hungry Happens! If you decide to make this or any other dish from our site, we would greatly appreciate you taking the time to comment and rate the recipe! LOVE YOUR LIFE!
Ground Beef Cabbage Bake
Ingredients
- 2 tbs olive oil, divided
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 small green cabbage, chopped
- 1 lb (0.45 kg) ground beef
- 4 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 tsp each salt, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika + Italian herb blend
- pinch red chili flakes
- 1 cup (245 g) marinara sauce
- 14 oz (400 g) black beans, rinsed + drained
- 1 cup (165 g) frozen sweet corn
- 2 cups (225 g) shredded Mexican blend cheese, divided
- 2 tbs grated parmesan cheese
- Garnish: scallions, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400℉.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a deep, 12 inch skillet over medium heat. Sauté the onions and pepper for 2 minutes. Add in the cabbage and remaining olive oil and sauté for 10-12 minutes or until they soften – season with salt and pepper to taste! Transfer the vegetable mixture to a large plate and set aside.
- Heat a light drizzle of olive oil in the same skillet on medium high heat. Add in the ground beef and break up the ground beef until no longer pink. Drain any excess oil. Add in the garlic, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, Italian herb blend, red chili flakes and stir to coat. Next, add in the marinara sauce and stir to coat.
Assembly:
- In a 9×13 inch baking dish, add in the cooked cabbage mixture, ground beef mixture, black beans, corn, Mexican blend cheese and mix until combined. Sprinkle with grated parmesan. Bake for 30 minutes. Take it out of the oven and top it with the remaining cup of Mexican blend cheese. Bake for 5-10 minutes or until melted and golden.
Notes
- To make this LOW CARB, simply leave out the beans and corn.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in your fridge for up to 3-4 days.
- You can use shredded cheddar cheese instead Mexican blend cheese.
- You can use Pinto beans or any other type of bean you prefer or you can leave them out.
- You can use salsa instead of marinara sauce.
- Use any type of ground meat works in this recipe like ground turkey, chicken, lamb or pork.
About how many cups or grams of cabbage did you use? Hard to decide as is a “small cabbage”, or how much to put in if my store only has larger ones
would this freeze well for leftovers?
I’m having surgery and looking for high protein meals to freeze for recovery.
HI Lynn, Yes this does freeze well and I hope you have a speedy recovery after your surgery!
This is delicious, definitely making this again!! Thank you, Stella!
Such a delicious healthy main dish! Could you suggest a few good side dishes?
Thank you very much🙂
Oh my Gosh!!! This is awesome!!! Delicious!!!! Yummy 😋!!!! I love this dish. It was taking a lot of time, but it was worth it 😁!
Hi Bee, Thank you for trying the recipe out!
I’m so glad you loved the cabbage bake!
I’m going to try this recipe. Thanks
Enjoy the casserole Elizabeth!
Though this took longer than I expected, once the chopping and skillet work was complete, it was easy to assemble. I really enjoyed the end result. Yum!
Hi Susannah, I’m so glad you liked the casserole recipe in the end! Thank you for trying it out!
This recipe was very good. My husband really liked it and is not a big fan of cabbage. The cabbage bakes down like lasagna noodles. Highly recommend.
Hi Tracy, Thank you for the kind feedback and I’m so glad you both enjoyed the casserole!
Was so delish… will definitely make again
Hi Cori, that’s awesome! Thanks for trying the recipe!
The cabbage wasn’t cooked thoroughly. It really needs to be shredded not chopped as in the recipe and in the picture. This is just an average dish. I won’t be making it again.
Hi Cathy, I’m sorry the recipe didn’t work for you. I would have recommended that maybe you didnt saute your cabbage long enough..? or maybe sliced it too large. Ours was great as is
Can I make this with low fat part skim mozzarella cheese instead of the Mexican Cheese blend to reduce the saturated fat content?
Hi Holly, of course, any shredded cheese you prefer works here!
Hello Stella. I made this recipe today. I use Italian sausages for the beef and I left the corn out. This is a keeper.
Hi Gay, I’m so glad you tried it and loved it! Thanks for the feedback – it sounds delicious with the sausage!
been on a cabbage kick the last year. definitely going to try this in short order. likely tomorrow lol I’ve got the burger thawing already, so why not? thanks!!
Hi Dustin, same here! Cabbage everything in my house!
You are going to love this recipe and any leftovers the next day!
Enjoy!!
This was so good! I had a bag of coleslaw mix . A cup of shredded carrots and a bag of corn nibblets in the freezer. Threw that in and wow. so yummy!
So much fibre! And flavour!!!
Hi Anne Marie, YES! So yummy and filling!
Made this today for my wife and my mom. All three of us took one bite and decided it was a keeper. Thanks for the recipe.
I have a bag of cole slaw mix to use up. I am going to scale this recipe down and see how it turns out.
Hi Donna, should be a win! Let us know how it goes!