This Beef Cabbage Stew is hearty, comforting and makes a perfect meal with crusty bread. It is packed with lots of flavors to warm you up! Quite versatile too. Add in whatever vegetable you forget in the fridge.
This post was originally published in 2011 and has been updated with new pictures and additional information.
I don’t remember how many times I have heard that cabbage has so many benefits for health this year. Our favorite cabbage dish is stuffed cabbage leaves, but I can’t make it as often as I want because of limited time. And I have discovered a great alternative cabbage dish to stuffed rolls: Beef Cabbage Stew!
It wasn’t a dish I had made before, it just came to my mind all of a sudden when I was trying to decide what vegetable to buy at bazaar one day. Cabbages on the stand looked so fresh and small enough for me to carry. I was tempted to buy a head, but I didn’t have time to make stuffed rolls. Then I thought a stew with cabbage and ground beef could be as tasty. There would be no stuffing and rolling, but the same taste with almost the same ingredients with our regular cabbage rolls. Glad I bought cabbage that day and made this stew because it has become one of our favorite dishes since then!
Ingredients For This Cabbage Stew
- olive oil
- onion
- ground beef
- tomato paste
- water
- salt
- cumin
- black pepper
- chili powder
- chopped cabbage
- carrot
- garlic
- lemon juice
It is really easy to make and everything cooks in the same pot. Who would refuse a tasty, healthy and quick dinner like this comforting stew on a weekday? Unlike the original recipe, I didn't add any bulgur in this stew. We love it both ways, so you can add bulgur, rice or quinoa if you want to make your stew even richer.
How To Make Cabbage Stew Recipe
The best thing about this recipe is that you cook everything in the same pot. Start with heating olive oil in a pot and cook chopped onion until transparent. Add in ground beef, thick tomato paste and a little water. Stir occasionally pressing gently on the ground beef so that there aren't any blocks left.
Cook until the ground beef first releases and then absorbs its juice. Season it with black pepper, cumin and chili powder. Add in roughly chopped cabbage, carrot, garlic and 1 tablespoon lemon juice.
Cook it over medium high heat for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Pour 1 and cup hot water and cook until it boils. Bring it to the lowest heat and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.
Serve it hot with some fresh herbs on the top.
What To Serve With Cabbage Stew?
We love serving it with some crust bread or with our favorite No Yeast Quick Dinner Rolls or Rice Pilaf with Orzo. In addition, a bowl of homemade yogurt or Cucumber Dip aka Turkish Cacik could accompany. Optionally, you can serve a simple Red Radish Salad too. If you are really in a hurry, you can just slice a red radish and squeeze lemon on it. As tasty as pickles.
Can You Freeze Beef And Cabbage Stew
Yes, you can. This is one of those freezer-friendly recipes. The only thing you need is to thaw and reheat. Super time-saving for a busy weeknight meal!
When planning the recipe, I wasn’t sure if we would love it because cabbage stew is not one of those much liked dishes in Turkey. But I was determined to cook and see myself if it could become a hit or not. How could a dish with ground beef and cabbage become tasteless? To our surprise, it was superb! Plus, it is very easy and doesn’t require a lot of time to cook this cabbage stew, I’ve made it several times since then. Try it when cabbage is still in season!
Other White Cabbage Recipes
- Vegetarian Cabbage Casserole
- Unstuffed Cabbage Roll Casserole
- Pickled White Cabbage
- Cabbage Soup With Hamburger
- Baked Cabbage Rolls
- No Mayo Coleslaw
Beef Cabbage Stew
A comforting and tasty stew with cabbage and ground beef.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 7 oz (200g) ground beef
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- ¼ cup water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 3 cups cabbage, roughly chopped
- 1 carrot, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 cup hot water
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a pot, add in onion and cook until transparent. Add in ground beef, tomato paste and ¼ cup water. Stir occasionally pressing gently on the ground beef so that there aren't any blocks left.
- Cook until the ground beef first releases and then absorbs its juice. Season it with salt, black pepper, cumin and chili powder. Add in roughly chopped cabbage, carrot, garlic and lemon juice.
- Cook it over medium high heat for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Pour 1 cup hot water and cook until it boils. Bring it to the lowest heat and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.
- Serve it hot with some fresh herbs on the top.
Keywords: cabbage stew, beef cabbage stew, cabbage stew recipe
This looks super delicious! Curious if there is a way to make this dish in the slow cooker? Could I brown the meat first and then throw in everything else and let is slow cook all day? Wondering if the cabbage would end up too soft?
Hi Taylor! Never tried this recipe in the slow cooker, but I guess it would work fine. Yes, brown the beef first. Just slice the cabbage in thick pieces to prevent it from getting too soft. Cooking it for 4-5 hours would be enough. Hope these help.
This is such a dreamy recipe. I can only imagine how yummy it is with a cup of cacik. And these photos.. They take my breath away and make me very hungry.
★★★★★
Thanks my friend! You need to make it before spring comes in your area. And we are so happy to hear that you love the photos!
I discovered your blog a couple of nights ago, and have just made your recipe for Kiymali Kapuska after getting the required ingredients today. I've done a little test of the finished product, and it certainly has some heat, presumably mainly from the chilli powder, because I used tomato paste instead of pepper paste. I can see why you suggest eating this cabbage stew with some yoghurt!
This is the first time I've cooked Turkish food, and I'm really pleased with the result. I've had a look at some of your other recipes and am looking forward to trying them too. Your blog is lovely, and it's opened my eyes to a new cuisine.
Love this! I've been reluctant to make the rolls because of the time, but this yummy cabbage stew on the other hand, would be easy to make. thanks for the brilliant idea.
Absolutely a great alternative to cabbage rolls! So easy and quick!
I love cabbage, especially cooked. This looks so wonderful. Many thanks for sharing the recipe.
Love this dish, yum!!!!! Have a great weekend 🙂
I haven't made this recipe before, although I love cabbage stew, so thanks for this Zerrin, it looks awesome 🙂
Sounds interesting 🙂 and looks very nice, I hope I will remember to get cabbage 😀
Cabbage does not get enough props - this is a great recipe!
mmmmmm! I love me some cabbage stew!
I am with the Turkish women - I hate to waste food so I am the one to finish up the food on everyone's plates. 🙂
I knew we have this in common!
I would love this. As far as leaving food on the plate goes, I just can't do it. When I was a child I wasn't allowed a pudding if I didn't finish my first course and I still feel guilty leaving food. Luckily I do all the cooking and only cook things I want to finish these days.
I love cabbage. I really love cabbage made with a bit of smoked bacon though. Oh dear.
Hi Zerrin, another interesting tradition and a great and recession-proof dish. I was brought up to finish everything on my plate. I guess it's to do with the history of a country that has experienced two famines. It is a hard habit to break but I don't eat anything once I am no longer hungry. Sometimes that means an empty plate. Sometimes not.
I love sour/picked cabbage soup and also stuffed ones(my favorite) and my husband love plain cabbage stew as you did just without vinegar and lemon.
Do I eat everything..well no! But after the kids leave some on the plate I eat that later:)))
Looks fantastic, and those are yummy photos!!!
Zerrin, the cabbage stew looks delicious, I know people in Turkey have mixed feelings about this dish but I LOVE it. Like you, we prefer the stuffed cabbage but the prepartion takes a fair amount of time, so this makes an excellent alternative.
I really like this one! I'm big on cabbage and I am loving the ingredients here. Will have to try it out! Thanks!
Cabbage has never been a favourite of mine but the combination of spices along with it intrigues me and I will definitely give this a try.
this is sure a kick-as stew, lovely, musy be awesome delicious!
I would love a bowl of this wonderful stew right now!
I love this recipe. I will be making this for sure!