Cabbage reaches its lowest price per pound in mid-March as St. Patrick’s Day specials hit the shelves. However, don’t neglect to search your local farmer’s markets. In June or July. I have found seriously great deals on absolutely huge heads of locally-grown cabbage at farmers markets.
You can save big money on groceries when vegetables are the basis of your weekly meal plan. I’m feeding my family of 6 for just $200 a month. That means we spend just $50 per week. Living on a limited grocery budget means making the best use of in-season produce.
This easy cabbage and rice casserole was born out of the fact that it was mid-week and I had a head of cabbage and 2 cups of leftover rice in the fridge. When I decided to add layers of my homemade marinara sauce, magic happened. Seriously!
This stuff is so easy and so delicious that you absolutely will not believe it! It takes less than 20 minutes to assemble, cooks in your crockpot, making it a painless, nearly hands-off process.
Ingredients
- 8 cups shredded cabbage
- 3 cups marinara sauce – divided use (Use my salt-free, oil-free marinara recipe)
- 2 cups leftover rice
- 3 Tbsp chopped fresh basil (or 2 tsp. dried)
- 1 cup water
Directions
Chop one, medium head of cabbage into evenly sliced pieces and set aside. I don’t do it fancy. I literally take a large knife, remove the core, and then chop it into slices and get them as close to the same size as I can. If you want, you can mix purple and green cabbage. I did and it makes a pretty finished product. Not only that, red (or purple) cabbage contains different cancer-fighting compounds than does the traditional variety.
Stir 1/2 cup of marinara sauce into the rice. Set aside
Pour 1/2 cup of marinara into a 4-quart crock pot. Layer with 1/2 of the chopped cabbage. Top this with 1 cup of marinara sauce, followed by all of the rice mixture. Sprinkle the chopped basil evenly across the rice.
Top with the final 4 cups of chopped cabbage. Gently pour 1 cup of water over the cabbage. You don’t want to disturb the layers. Finish by topping the cabbage with the final 1 cup of marinara sauce.
Turn the crockpot on “high” for 4 hours or “low” for 6-7 hours.
Serve in bowls or on plates. Add a fresh sprig of basil on top for garnish if desired.
I have some kids who aren’t huge cabbage fans and they were begging for seconds.
Click here for a free downloadable PDF of Easy Crockpot Layered Cabbage Rice Casserole.
