by Tania Sheff · This post may contain affiliate links
Jump to Recipe Jump to Video
This Cabbage Lasagna is filled with sweet onions, carrots, juicy ground meat, and melted cheese. Topped with marinara sauce and some extra cheese, this dish tastes as impressive as it looks!
Let's talk about Cabbage Lasagna today. Yes, this delicious, goodness-filled dish definitely belongs on your "MUST TRY" list. You'll fall in love with the texture, colors, smell and TASTE.
We have all had traditional lasagna, but I prefer to give it a little extra twist each time I make it. This time I substituted pasta sheets with cabbage leaves and simplified the sauce a little bit. I also made it upside down. OK, I shouldn't have called this dish lasagna, but how else to call it??? Anyways, my friends and family enjoyed this Cabbage "Lasagna" tremendously and so will you.
HOW TO COOK CABBAGE LEAVES?
You'll need to cook the cabbage leaves for this recipe. It is very easy to do and you can make it a night before, or while prepping and cooking the sauce.
Choose a medium, 2 ½ - 3 lbs. cabbage
Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil
Using a large sharp knife remove the hard core from the center of cabbage
Place the cabbage inside the pot with boiling water, cut side up
Cook about 15-25 minutes (depending on cabbage variety) until outermost leaves become soft and fully cooked
Remove the cooked leaves with a fork or tongs
Continue until the entire cabbage is peeled and all of the leaves are cooked through.
Remove any tough stems from cooked leaves.
It is absolutely OK to have torn and damaged leaves! They won't be visible in lasagna anyways.
WHAT KIND OF MEAT TO USE FOR CABBAGE LASAGNA?
You may use ground pork, beef, chicken or turkey in this recipe. I enjoy it the most with ground pork.
HOW TO MAKE CABBAGE LASAGNA:
1. In a large skillet, saute the onions in olive oil and butter for 15 minutes on medium heat.
2. Add carrots and cook for another 5 minutes.
3. Add ground meat and cook for 10 more minutes, stirring, and breaking the meat into small pieces.
4. Add 1 cup of marinara sauce, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. Stir everything well and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350F.
5. Place 2-3 cabbage leaves on the bottom of medium-sized bowl. Spread a generous amount of meat sauce onto the cabbage leaves, and add some mozzarella.
6. Repeat layers until you ran out of sauce and most of the cheese (reserve a little for topping). Finish with the cabbage leaves.
7. Place a baking tray on top of the bowl and flip the "lasagna cake" onto it.
8. Spread ½ cup of marinara sauce on top and bake at 350F for 30 minutes.
9. Take the cabbage lasagna out, spread the remaining ½ cup of marinara and add some cheese on top. Bake for another 10 minutes.
10. Let it cool slightly, garnish with chopped parsley and serve.
Hope you'll give this Cabbage Lasagna a try. This dish looks very impressive and tastes even better. Looks at these layers! YUM, YUM, YUM!
Other cabbage recipes you'll love:
Cabbage Sauteed with Chicken
Skinny Cabbage Salad
Cabbage with Ribs
Creamy Cabbage with Chicken
CABBAGE LASAGNA VIDEO RECIPE
Cabbage Lasagna
Tania Sheff
This Cabbage Lasagna is filled with sweet onions, carrots, juicy ground meat, and melted cheese. Topped with marinara sauce and some extra cheese, this dish tastes as impressive as it looks!
Start by spreading a layer of your tomato-based sauce (either a plain tomato sauce or your pre-made ragù) on the bottom of your dish. Next, add a single layer of pasta sheets. Then, add a layer of white sauce, followed by another single layer of pasta sheets.
Let me break it to you: If you want to make a lasagna, three layers just won't cut it! For the perfect lasagna, you need at least 4-5 layers to really enjoy all those mouth-watering flavors. And, here's a pro-tip: make sure to season each layer generously, but not too much. The average lasagna has 8 layers!
In an oven preheated to 375 degrees F, this homemade lasagna should be perfectly baked in about 50 minutes (30-40 minutes covered, 5-10 minutes uncovered).
Use plenty of herbs and spices: Herbs and spices can add a lot of flavor to a vegetarian lasagna. Some good options include basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, and red pepper flakes. Add some umami-rich ingredients: Umami is a savory taste that can be found in ingredients like mushrooms, tomatoes, and soy sauce.
It's also important not to overload you vegetable lasagna. Having a proper amount of vegetables will help the lasagna maintain its shape, and will keep everything moist, but not watery. As you're creating layers, don't worry if it looks more sparse than you'd think.
Some acidic bakes (like fruit cobblers) and lasagna or casserole (containing tomatoes, citrus, or other acidic fruit) may bake best in a glass dish, to prevent the metal from reacting to the acidic ingredients.
(Do notice that I put the noodles criss cross – perpendicular from the layer below – it helps it to hold together when you serve it). So, the noodles directly on the cheese means there won't be enough for a top layer of noodles.
When taken out of the oven a lasagne needs to 'rest' for about 10 minutes before cutting and serving. This will allow the lasagne to 'set' a little so that the postions are less likely to fall apart.
The sauce could be too watery. The noodles can be holding on to water. The vegetables are releasing excess moisture. If you are using ricotta be careful of the moisture it can add.
Pro Tip: There's nothing worse than having the top portion of cheese stuck to the foil. To prevent this, I poke 8-10 toothpicks evenly around the top of the lasagna, pushing them in halfway to keep the foil from touching the cheese. Just be sure to count and remove every toothpick prior to serving.
A good tomato paste helps to thicken but also adds a sweet and savory umami flavor. Lean Ground Beef: Lean beef adds a robust and hearty meatiness that's essential in a classic lasagna recipe.
Adding egg to ricotta cheese helps to bind the cheese for lasagna so that it doesn't ooze out of the casserole when you cut it. Basically, the egg helps all the cheesy goodness stay intact. So what happens if you don't put eggs in your lasagna? It'll just be a bit runnier, but omitting the egg won't affect the taste.
Line the bottom of the baking pan with 4 cooked lasagna noodles, overlapping them. Spread the ricotta mixture first then the meat sauce on top. Sprinkle grated mozzarella and top with another three noodles. Repeat layering the ricotta and meat sauce with the cheese.
You want sauce on both side of the pasta sheets to rehydrate them properly and stop them sticking to the bottom of the dish. The bottom layer is pasta noodles. However there should be a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of the pan to prevent sticking but not meat. You put a thin layer of sauce then noodles.
For the best results, we offer the following tips for assembling your lasagne: Begin with a 13 x 9 x 3-inches deep baking pan, sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Spread 1 cup of sauce on the bottom of the baking pan and begin layering.
It's better to grease an oven dish or to streak it with béchamel sauce. Don't overdo it with the béchamel, a necessary ingredient in many recipes, particularly for the consistency it lends to the taste, but one which can ruin the dish if there's too much of it.
Introduction: My name is Tyson Zemlak, I am a excited, light, sparkling, super, open, fair, magnificent person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
