This Instant Pot stuffed cabbage casserole is so tasty! Simple pressure cooker cabbage recipe to make for dinner. Unstuffed cabbage is so much easier to make than the traditional method. The ultimate 15 minute comfort food, we love this recipe!
This Instant Pot stuffed cabbage casserole as we called it was full of flavor, the cabbage maintained a perfect not too soft and not underdone consistency, and overall was a healthy meal for all 5 of us. Definitely one of our favorite Instant Pot recipes now! (originally published 1/18, affiliate links present)
Instant Pot unstuffed cabbage
I hadn’t ever had a stuffed cabbage roll at all until I met my husband.
He raved about this dish his grandmother used to make so I gave it a whirl years ago and shared it here on my slow cooker stuffed cabbage post.
Let’s start with a few basic tips:
- Make sure to Bookmark our InstaPot recipes page. We add new ones each week!
- Then LIKE our IP Facebook page for new ideas daily.
- This is a great InstaPot cookbook to grab too.
- I HIGHLY recommend you buy this non stick pot. It is easier to clean and will avoid the burn message too.
- For reference, this is the pressure cooker I have and use for all recipe creations.
In the past making stuffed cabbage was quite time consuming, and my kids found it hard to eat. SO I thought a deconstructed version would be a bigger hit in our house. That is where this creation came about. 😉
I got to experimenting and boy did it come out great! On the first go around it was perfect, and thinned out with some more broth it makes a great soup reheated as well.
- Two meals out of one creation is my kinda one pot meal I tell you.
Instant Pot unstuffed cabbage rolls
I thought about this dish the other night since I hadn’t made it in a while. A sort of deconstructed Instant Pot stuffed cabbage dish was what I wanted. It took only 12 minutes to cook and was great!
I love being able to dump and go with my pressure cooker and have a complete meal in under 30 minutes including the time it takes to pressurize.
If making this you can opt for ground beef or I like a mixture of 1/2 lb. spicy ground sausage and 1/2 beef.
Unstuffed cabbage casserole really is a complete meal. Other than a dinner roll I don’t serve it with much.
You could but the consistency of the leaves will be a bit mushy when reheated. I suggest storing in the fridge and reheating in the next 2-3 days for the best results. 1 min. in the microwave should do it.
- The cabbage cut up into little squares works perfectly when you’re ready to eat and makes it the perfect consistency once it is done.
I don’t like it too wilted and soft or super crunchy either. This timing made it turn out perfectly. Even the kids said it was a winner of a dinner. 😉
My mother in law was over and raved about it too. You could use ground turkey if you rather, and topped with grated parmesan cheese at the end is a must!
Instant Pot unstuffed cabbage casserole
- 1/2 head of cabbage
- cabbage leaves cut into 1″ squares
- 1 jar spaghetti sauce (I just grabbed what was on sale)
- Can of tomato soup
- or tomato sauce if necessary
- 1 lb. ground beef….or ground sausage is amazing – this is how to defrost Instant Pot frozen ground beef in case you forgot to thaw it out the night before. 😉
- Onion and garlic
- White rice – uncooked
- some have used brown rice, cook times would be different if using this
- Beef broth
- could use water
- Spices, salt and pepper
Like I said, it is a really easy dinner to put together and probably something new you haven’t tried before.
If you love Instant Pot casseroles we have a few here on our site so after you’ve tried and love this you should head on over and make our Instant Pot chicken parmesan casserole too. 😉
I have also made a slow cooker stuffed cabbage soup that was amazing but of course took all day to cook
- Then I made this pressure cooker cabbage soup we loved.
- It’s now included in our list of Instant Pot soup recipes
If you want to make a similar dish but on the stovetop, try our unstuffed cabbage casserole recipe here.
Instant Pot stuffed cabbage casserole
If you’re looking for more easy Instant Pot sausage recipes we have more to enjoy!
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***** If you LOVED this recipe give it 5 Stars below and let everyone know what you thought about it. 😉
Time needed: 15 minutes.
Instant Pot Cabbage Casserole
- Saute
Turn Instant Pot to saute, normal. Add a bit of olive oil, ground beef and diced onion. Could add minced garlic too. Cook until beef is not pink and onions soften
Turn Instant Pot OFF/cancel button and deglaze your pot. Important step so pot does not overheat and can cool off while draining grease and adding other ingredients.
If you do not turn it off in between you may have an error/burn code come on as it senses it is overheating.
- Add ingredients
Pour in all other ingredients EXCEPT rice and cabbage. Do not stir.
When all other ingredients are added pour uncooked rice in, do not stir.
Break up chunks of cabbage and add to top of your mixture, gently push down into the liquid. (make sure pot is not more than 3/4 full or it may not reach pressure) - Cook
Put lid on and close steam valve. Cook at high pressure for 10 minutes (or if you don’t have that option push your rice button which will automatically set for 12 minutes).
Do a natural release for 2 minutes, then a quick release. - Serve
Lift lid carefully, stir, and serve! Can top with chives or even cheese!! It will thicken more as it sits.
* NOTE: Make sure you do a quick release at the end or else the cabbage will become too soft.
- Also, this will thicken quite a bit as it cools and sits in the pot. Initially it will be a bit thinner.
Just allow the cooked rice and cabbage to sit after pressure cooking to get thicker. Consistency in the photos is approx. 5-10 after taking lid off.
Instant Pot Stuffed Cabbage Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef or ground sausage
- 3 1/2 c beef broth
- 1 tbsp garlic minced
- 1 c rice white, uncooked
- 1 onion diced
- 1 jar spaghetti sauce 20 oz
- 1 can tomato soup 10 oz
- 1 dash hot sauce optional
- 1 tbsp worchestershire sauce
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- 1 tsp oregano
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2-3 c cabbage cut into small chunks 2×2 pcs
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to saute, normal. Add a bit of olive oil, ground beef and diced onion. Cook until beef is not pink and onions soften
- Turn Instant Pot OFF/cancel button and deglaze your pot. Important step so pot does not overheat and can cool off while draining grease and adding other ingredients. If you do not turn it off in between you may have an error/burn code come on as it senses it is overheating.
- Add in all other ingredients except rice and cabbage. Do not stir.
- When all other ingredients are added pour uncooked rice in, do not stir.
- Break up chunks of cabbage and add to top of your mixture, gently push down into the liquid. (make sure pot is not more than 3/4 full or it may not reach pressure)
- Put lid on and close steam valve.
- Push rice button, or if you don't have that then choose pressure high for 10 minutes.
- Allow to naturally release steam for 2 minutes followed by a quick release.
- Lift lid carefully, stir, and serve! Can top with chives or even parmesan cheese!! It will thicken more as it sits.
Gratefulcook says
Kept on getting “burned” notification 🤪 I even cleaned it, added more water. Kept showing up
Dawn says
Since rice is usually 1:1 with liquid, could I reduce the broth by 1 cup, cook the rice separately and then just add it at the end when everything is cooked?
Cj says
Excellent..my wife asked me to please bookmark this site. Still learning my IP but your directions were excellent. I read through your instructions several times for baseline and then went with my tastes. Beef and hot Italian pork sauteed with onions, poured into another bowl and drained. Did 3.5 cups broth made with better than bullion and used it to deglaze the pot. (Yes, I have the non stick. Much easier to clean) After adding the meat and onions back to the pot I added the spices and 1 can of great value sauerkraut (Walmart brand). Less than 2T of additional liquid. I used 1 cup of rice a roni beef because I had some I wanted to use up. I used most of an 8 inch head of green cabbage chopped as instructed. (I have an 8 qt viva). Took almost 20 minutes to come to pressure and almost 6 minutes to fully vent on quick release after the 12 minutes cook time. Thank you so much for the inspiration. Much easier than rolling all those stuffed rolls. We are both over full and had to stop ourselves. Plenty to share with the bil and nephew.
The Typical Mom says
So glad I could help!!
Marilyn says
Excellent I had no rice so I used orzo. Added carrots & green peppers as well. Added more spices to give it some zip. Would make again for sure
The Typical Mom says
Glad you loved it
Rachel says
This was tasty, we love lazy cabbage rolls. This was my third instant pot recipe in my nova duo. I followed the directions very carefully for fear of the burn error. it was all good.
The reason for 4 stars is mine did not thicken up like the photos, it was more like a soup/stew consistency with too much sauciness and the cabbage was a little crunchy for my liking.
Any recommendations to thicken this up and cook cabbage a little more would be appreciated as I don’t have enough experience using my instant pot yet.
Lynda says
Can this recipe be doubled?
Billy says
Thanks for sharing this – it looks pretty easy to make. How often do you find yourself making this?
Nancy J Green says
I admit to using this recipe as a guideline knowing that there were several ingredients I didn’t have. Instead of soup and spaghetti sauce, I added tomato sauce, tomato paste, fresh chopped Roma’s and some chopped sun-dried tomatoes plus fresh garlic, and Italian seasoning. I used vegetable broth in place of beef and Arborio rice. Definitely a keeper!! Thank you for the great tips. Really hit the spot!!
The Typical Mom says
So glad you loved it too
New Instant Pot User says
Made to recipe specifications, except omitted tomato soup for a larger jar of spaghetti sauce. I also added some chopped celery because it needed to be used. Recipe was good, but overall felt kind of one-note. Anything you recommend to ‘break up’ and add variation to the flavor or consistency of the dish? Next time I might do larger chunks of cabbage for better texture variation, but not sure what else to do.
The Typical Mom says
I don’t know what you like so hard to say. Could add some worcestershire sauce.
Kristi Stem says
I add a can of sauerkraut to mine.
Deb says
I thought we were the only ones to add kraut! Always have because Mom did?. I find it tasteless without. I use diced tomatoes because I love the pieces and V8 not soup & spagetti sauce.
Jackie says
We love this with ground turkey, chicken stock, and brown basmati rice, everything else the same. Adding the soup and sauce after the stock lessens the burn (which comes off easily after a soak, then a gentle rub with baking soda or salt and hot water).
The Typical Mom says
So glad you loved it too.
Rose says
Made this for my husband’s dinner today. He is not a fan of Polish golumpki (stuffed cabbage roll). Made this, he LOVED it! Did one stupid thing, stirred the rice into the sauce and meat. Had a rice-sticking-to-the-bottom-of-the-IP issue. Not a bad one, but I will know not to next time I make this recipe. The only MAJOR variation that I did was to NOT add any salt. He is on a salt restricted diet, so I used no-sodium broth and no-sodium pasta sauce.
The Typical Mom says
I typically don’t add salt to things either, so glad he loved it!
Kathy says
I noticed a comment above, but didn’t see a response. First, I browned my meat on the stove to avoid the burn error. When I hit my rice setting, it set for 12 mins at LOW pressure. I didn’t watch the video until after – just followed the directions. I’m guessing it should be set to HIGH pressure? Mine came out more soupy but still tastes great! Beats making regular stuffed cabbage! Just looking for clarification. Thanks!
The Typical Mom says
High for 12 or you can use the rice button if your pressure cooker doesn’t have high/low. It thickens a lot as it cools and sits a bit so it will thicken for sure in no time at all.
Kathy says
Thank you! Yes, my rice setting has a low and high pressure setting. I’ll make a note to make it on the high setting next time!
Stacy Charrette says
Well I did mine at high pressure and after fifteen min of coming to pressure I got the burn message. So frustrating. Had to release it all.
The Typical Mom says
Did you thoroughly deglaze your pot after cooking the meat? That is usually the issue, that is why I highly recommend getting the non stick pot.
Debbie says
It worked great for me. Looks good, tastes good. It was good!
The Typical Mom says
So glad you loved it too, our fave.
Crystal says
This was really yummy. I love cabbage rolls but they are so time consuming. I browned a mix of ground pork and beef in a pan before hand on the stove and substituted the pasta sauce for 1 can crushed tomatoes and 1 can tomato sauce. It was amazing and I even shared the recipe with my mom. The comfort of cabbage rolls without the work!
The Typical Mom says
So glad you loved it, it is one of our faves.
Peggie says
This recipe was too easy to be so delicious!
Daniel Boyce says
How would you adjust the time of you wanted to use basmati rice ?
The Typical Mom says
I’d think basmati and jasmine would be the same, that is what I typically use.
Daniel says
The directions say ” Press Rice button and it will automatically set it to low for 12 minutes “, the video says ” 12 minutes High “. I’m going to try the Rice button but would like to see this clarified.
Daniel says
I tried this recipe. Didn’t know at the end of 12 minutes when it’s said and done, press cancel and then quick release ! I left it on for an extra four minutes.
So ? How did it turn out ? It looks like Cabbage Casserole Soup and I’m not sure if this step made the difference. As well unsure if using the ” Rice ” button was a good idea or if I should have pressed ” High ” and the outcome dish is because one of these two elements. So far sitting before it cools down to serve wondering if it’ll thicken up.
Sheryl says
I have same question & one additional.
1. Rice setting or Steam
Temp ?
2. High or Low Setting
I have made cabbage before & the recipe called to pressure cook cabbage for 12 minutes & this was quartered & was far to mushy for my liking. More like 3 minutes needed for cut up cabbage but not enough time to cook the rice.
On this basis would it be better to cook the mixture at high for 12 minutes then do quick release & then add your cabbage & cook on high for 3 additional minutes?
Sonja says
Did this without the rice and broth. Hubby is doing low carbs. Tastes great without rice, but i had rice on the side to add if anyone wanted. It does make it taste like the cabbage rolls I’ve made which take hours and a lot more effort and time.
The Typical Mom says
Glad you liked it, like stuffed cabbage soup then!
Margie D. says
Can you use riced cauliflower to cut carbs? What adjustment(s) would have to be made?
The Typical Mom says
Yes but I don’t know the timing, I haven’t used that.
Danielle says
Did you just substitute water for broth?
The Typical Mom says
Yes
Lilly says
I don’t have the IP. I have a power pressure cooker. I made this recipe and it is great. It reminds me of the time consuming cabbage rolls my Mom made when I was a kid.
Pat says
I am going to try it today. I’m using my homemade spaghetti sauce which I made in my IP. I love my instant pot. I use it every day. Always trying new recipes. I’ll let you know how I do. I always read the comments to get all the hints.
The Typical Mom says
Awesome!
Barb says
Burn notice came on three times. All was in pot for about 20 minutes. I did a quick release. Cooked except for some of the cabbage core was still a little tuff. There was a little burning but not enough to affect casserole. I too followed directions, so not sure ? what went wrong. Tasty ? nonetheless.
The Typical Mom says
Remember to turn your pot off and deglaze the pot after cooking your ground beef, that will trigger the burn error.
Melanie says
I cut the cabbage core out of it too when chopping in to pieces.
David Fiddler says
5 stars all around!! easy peasy, no problems and so flavourful. Followed the recipe and was very happy.
Cathy says
This was my second time making this recipe. I wanted to make a double batch, so started with 2 lbs ground beef and doubling all the rest. I discovered that the pot would be too full, so I removed half the contents to cook separately.
As many have noted, my pot wouldn’t come to pressure due to burn warning. Had to restart three times, and finally got it going. When I emptied contents in order to do 2nd batch, there was a thick layer of burned rice on bottom. After thoroughly cleaning and letting pot cool, started batch #2 and was careful to barely push rice and cabbage down. This time everything worked great and the consistency was much better.
My family loves the flavor of this dish. Thank you. Deducting 1 star due to learning curve of recipe.
Meg Ulmer says
So, this is the 2nd time making it. First time, I used brown rice, added a little more time and it was perfect. This time I did the same exact thing and kept getting the “burn” light. I tried to switch it to rice mode, but it still said burn. I dumped everything into a regular pot and put it on the stove to get the rice to cook. There was burned rice on the bottom of the instant pot. I am not sure what I did wrong- I let it cool, I didn’t stir, and used the same exact ingredients. The rice cooked slowly on the stove and it tasted fine. I will have to try it again, because we love this recipe.
The Typical Mom says
A few others have said this has happened to them and I honestly don’t know. I have made it a few times and have never had an issue with it reaching pressure or saying burn so I’m stumped. I do think some pots/models are a bit more sensitive than others when it comes to the burn message but since it hasn’t happened to me so I’m not sure why.
Sharon says
I think the problem some have had may have something to do with the liquid amounts and thickness. Some types of rice need to absorb more moisture and spaghetti sauces are of different consistencies. I am a new Instant Pot fanatic and have never had a problem stirring ingredients before cooking provided that there is enough, thin, liquid in the pot. It is easy to thicken a too-thin dish later by taking the lid off and setting it to sauté, or adding a mashed potato.
The Typical Mom says
Good insights!! Quite possibly. I have never had an issue with it and it turns out amazing.
Lisa DeRuiter says
I attempted to make this tonight, I failed! I kept getting the burn message. I followed your directions to a “T”. I made sure that there wasn’t anything stuck on the bottom after draining the greese. What happened?
The Typical Mom says
You need to make sure your turn the pot off and deglaze the pot after cooking the ground beef so it doesn’t trigger the burn message.
Paula says
How do you deglaze?
The Typical Mom says
There’s a link to directions above the recipe card.
Mark says
I tried this for the first time. Delicious!!! The only thing I did different was use tomato and roasted red pepper soup. That was all I had handy and it worked great.
Brenda Gokey says
think you could use a crockpot? As I don’t have a pressure cooker
The Typical Mom says
I am working on a crockpot version as we speak!
mary ann bossinger says
Crock pot recipe would be much appreciated.
The Typical Mom says
Just posted, it is great: https://temeculablogs.com/slow-cooker-stuffed-cabbage-soup/
Courtney says
Would I need to add more time for brown rice?
The Typical Mom says
Yes brown rice definitely takes longer, I haven’t done that yet so I am unsure of the time.
Courtney says
On round 3 of cooking this…guess it takes a lot longer!! ?
Courtney says
It was perfect after 30 min. total.
Carrie says
Could you use cauliflower instead of long grain rice?
The Typical Mom says
I haven’t tried that but would imagine it would take much less time.
Krista says
I used cauliflower rice & it turned out like soup.
The Typical Mom says
Cauliflower rice is totally different than traditional rice when it comes to cook times. It takes just a fraction of the time so I wouldn’t recommend it for this recipe unless you just put it in for maybe 1-2 minutes.
Kat Mize says
Deglaze works. But my ultra IP also indicates burn a lot of times when other items previously have been cooked in it. I’ve learned to make sure IP is completely cool prior to use by using my second pot with couple cups of ice cold water. Takes about 10 minutes and no burn signs.
Brandi says
Where in this recipe does it say *do not mix liquids with beef*? It just says do not stir rice in. I kept getting the burn too, stirred a few times, still getting burn. Added more liquid and put it on the rice setting. Here’s hoping it works.
The Typical Mom says
States do not stir in recipe after cooking meat, that is important to prevent it from potentially burning. Meat on bottom creates a barrier. Also turning it off after cooking meat as stated helps prevent burn message from coming up on pot. It has never burned and always turns out well for us using the directions stated.
CQ says
I agree. It states do not stir after adding the rice in step four, nothing about not stirring the sauce in step three. Could have been clearer. I didn’t get a burn error, but it would only come up to pressure for a split second. I tried it twice before reading all the comments; both partial fails. Flavor is great, so I may try it again with this clarification…
Three starts for the flavor – it will be a five if it’s fully successful.
Danita says
My family loved this and it was so easy!
The Typical Mom says
I’m so glad!!
Lisa D says
Well, despite my ‘messing up’ by mixing the liquids with the beef (oops), this came out deliciously! (Fortunately, I didn’t mix in the rice or cabbage…just the beef.) I used basmatti as it was the only rice I had on hand. I feel it could be cooked less than 10 min; my rice was a wee bit mushy at that point, but it was still wonderful 🙂 Also, because I’m a cabbage fiend, I may just cook up the other half of the cabbage and mix it in, because I think that would still taste delicious!
I got 10 very full cups worth out of this recipe! I put it in myfitnesspal and made it 10 servings instead of 8 and got 258 calories per serving 🙂 ty!
The Typical Mom says
So glad you loved it!
Cathy says
Thank you for sharing the calorie count.
Brenda Studnicki says
Just made this for dinner. I thought it was missing something but couldnt figure out what. We all agreed that the cabbage needed to be cooked a little longer. I really think that would have made it much better.
The Typical Mom says
It is personal preference, just set it for 1-2 more minutes next time you make it if you want it really soft.
Bev Stroud says
Can you use instant rice & set on manual for less time?
The Typical Mom says
I don’t use instant rice for recipes so I am not sure.
Cindy says
I’ve made something very similar to this in a casserole for many years. How many cans of tomato soup would I need if I wanted to skip the spaghetti sauce? One or two add’l (to the one already on the recipe)?
Kimberlee Keener says
This recipe looks good. My Insta pot should be here by Wednesday. Can’t wait!
The Typical Mom says
It is wonderful.
Annie says
If you want to make it into soup, do you add broth before cooking and how long would you cook for? Thank you!
Lauren says
Can this be made in a croc pot?
The Typical Mom says
I haven’t done that yet.
Julia says
The picture shows that there are tomato’s added. Can a can of drained diced tomato be added??
The Typical Mom says
It is spaghetti sauce and tomato soup.
Crystal says
Yes you can absolutely .. I put a can of fire roasted tomatoes on top of the cabbage. Worked really well!
Rachel says
Could I use tomato sauce instead of soup in this recipe?
The Typical Mom says
It would have a different flavor, blander, but you can try it.
DJ says
Unfortunately my Instant Pot, a 6-quart, kept coming up with the “burn” code with this recipe. I scraped the bottom well while trying not to mix the rice in too much. Restarted and got the same problem. 2nd time I scraped and added in 1 cup additional beef broth but still got the burn code. After 4 times of the burn code issue and adding more broth, I gave up. Fortunately by that point the ingredients had been boiling for so long that it was cooked. I loved the flavor, so did my husband, I would love to be able to have this recipe work in my Instant Pot. Any idea why I keep having the issue?
The Typical Mom says
It states to not mix ingredients when adding to the pot after ground beef is done, that is probably the issue. If you mix them up it will stick more as the ground beef acts as a buffer on the bottom while cooking. You just make sure rice is covered with liquid by gently pushing down, not stirring.
wendy says
I’ve found that after using the saute function, you must deglaze, and scrape the bottom with a wooden spoon to make sure nothing is stuck, or you will get the burn code.
Tanya says
Why does it say not to stir the rice in?
Donna says
Isn’t an Instant Pot the same thing as a pressure cooker?
The Typical Mom says
It has 7 functions, 1 of them is a pressure cooker.
Shelly says
Made in what size a Instant Pot?
The Typical Mom says
I have a 6 qt but 8 would work too.
Jean says
Do you use instant rice or long grain rice?
The Typical Mom says
Long grain rice. Not instant.