Taco-Style Gołąbki Casserole
I love gołąbki but some days I don't love ROLLING gołąbki. Blanching cabbage, shaving ribs, carefully tucking filling, hoping they don't fall apart during cooking — it's a labour of love that requires actual labour. On tired Tuesdays, I want the gołąbki flavour without the gołąbki effort. Enter: taco cabbage casserole. All the elements of cabbage rolls — ground beef, rice, cabbage, tomato sauce — layered in a baking dish instead of rolled into individual packets. Same ingredients, zero rolling, one dish, thirty minutes of oven time while I sit on the couch and pretend I'm resting.
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds ground beef
- 1 medium head cabbage, shredded
- 1 cup cooked rice
- 1 can diced tomatoes 14oz
- 1 can tomato sauce 8oz
- 1 large onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- Salt and pepper
- 2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
- Sour cream, cilantro, hot sauce for serving
Method
Cook the Beef
- Brown the ground beef with diced onion in a large skillet, 6-7 minutes. Drain excess fat. Add garlic, cumin, chilli powder, and smoked paprika. Cook 1 minute until fragrant. Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and cooked rice. Stir to combine. This is essentially taco-seasoned gołąbki filling — same meat-and-rice base, different spice profile.
Layer the Casserole
- In a large 9x13 baking dish: layer half the shredded cabbage on the bottom. Spread all of the meat-rice mixture over the cabbage. Top with the remaining shredded cabbage. Pour any remaining tomato sauce from the skillet over the top. Cover tightly with foil.
Bake
- Bake at 175C / 350F for 45 minutes covered. Remove foil, sprinkle with cheese, and bake uncovered 10-15 more minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly and the cabbage is tender. The cabbage should be soft but still have some structure — not mushy. It should taste like a tender gołąbki wrapper, because that's exactly what it is.
Serve
- Let rest 5 minutes. Scoop generous portions. Top with sour cream, fresh cilantro, and hot sauce. Serve with tortilla chips or crusty bread — depending on whether you're feeling Mexican or Polish that evening. Both are correct.
Notes
Fridge 5 days. Reheats beautifully — the flavours deepen overnight. Freezes for 3 months. One of the best meal prep casseroles: make one full pan for dinner, portion leftovers for lunches. It's giving bigos energy — better on day two, effortless to reheat, feeds the whole family with one dish.