Mexican Cabbage Rolls Recipe

These delicious Mexican Cabbage Rolls are a wonderful lower carb option for dinner tonight!

While cabbage rolls take a bit of prep work, they are totally worth it, in my opinion. They are wonderful, healthy comfort food.

Cabbage Rolls

Cabbage rolls are delicious. They make a wonderful casserole dish that is perfect for either a family dinner, or dinner for one, depending on how many rolls you make.

I’ve made regular cabbage rolls and Italian cabbage rolls so far, and I have loved them both every time I’ve made them. There is something very comforting about cabbage rolls.

What Are Mexican Cabbage Rolls?

Mexican cabbage rolls are simply cabbage rolls that have a Mexican twist. You use taco meat a grain, (while I used quinoa, you can easily substitute with Spanish Rice if you prefer), salsa and cheese. You could also add some black or pinto beans if you really want to beef up the filling a bit for more rolls.

Stuffed Cabbage

The term, “stuffed cabbage”, is pretty much just another name for cabbage rolls. While recipes vary, they are pretty much the same. Same goes for stuffed cabbage rolls.

Cabbage Roll Soup

If you make a big batch of this and end up with a lot of leftovers, you could easily turn this into soup by chopping everything, adding it to enough chicken broth to suit your tastes, and warming it in a pot. Feel free to add corn or beans to fill out the soup a bit.

What You’ll Need

1 lb ground turkey – You can use full fat, lean or extra lean turkey. I used lean. Ground turkey breast is a lower fat option if you prefer that.

1 tbsp. oil – I used coconut oil, but any oil you prefer will work here.

1 tbsp. garlic powder – If you prefer fresh garlic, I recommend using at least 6 cloves. Be sure to mince them as fine as you can manage.

1 tbsp. onion powder – If you prefer using fresh onion, I highly recommend purple onion, but yellow or white will work too. As with the garlic, chop the onion as fine as you can get it. Use about ½ a cup finely chopped onion.

1 tbsp. ground cumin – If you prefer not to use cumin, you can substitute this with paprika. Use the regular stuff, not smoked paprika.

1 tbsp. chili powder – If you prefer not to use chili powder, you can use extra cumin or substitute the chili powder with paprika.

12 medium cabbage leaves – These are the larger leaves off the outer side if the cabbage. You can use smaller leaves, but they will be harder to roll. Use either green or purple cabbage. Both will work. But purple cabbage tends to have slightly thicker leaves, so you may have to boil them a few extra minutes to get them nice and pliable.

1 ½ cups cooked quinoa – You can also use brown rice if you prefer that. Rice will make the filling stick together a bit better, but the quinoa is really tasty.

1 cup salsa – Use your favorite. Just make sure there is no sugar added.

½ cup shredded cheddar – It’s best to hand grate your own cheese to avoid the additives they put in the pre-shredded packages at the store. But you don’t care about that, a nice Mexican cheese blend will also work well here. Pretty much any type of cheddar you prefer will be tasty.

How To Make Mexican Cabbage Rolls

Here’s how to make these delicious Mexican cabbage rolls. Mush like lasagna, the prep involves cooking three different things and then combining them.

Cook quinoa to package directions. I used chicken broth instead of water for extra flavor.

Boil the cabbage leaves for approximately 5-8 minutes in fully boiling water.

Cook the turkey meat in the oil and add the spices. Cook fully.

Preheat oven to 400 F. and set up and assembly line with all your ingredients. Lay out your first cabbage leaf.

Add approximately 2 tbsp. of taco meat to the center of the leaf, followed by approximately 2 tbsp. of quinoa. This amount can vary slightly, depending on the size of your leaves.

Fold in the edges of the cabbage leave over the meat, and roll like a burrito.

Place the roll, open side down, in the casserole dish.

Pour salsa over the top.

Sprinkle cheese over the salsa. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool slightly and serve.

What To Serve With Mexican Cabbage Rolls

A great side for this dish is refried beans. Pretty much anything you would use as a side for a Mexican meal, you can use as a side here. An extra side of vegetables never hurts either.

How To Store Mexican Cabbage Rolls

These will keep in the fridge for about 3 days, as long as you package them in an air-tight container.

Can You Freeze Cabbage Rolls?

Technically, you can freeze anything. But raw cabbage doesn’t do very well in the freezer. If you don’t mind these falling apart when you go to eat them, you can freeze these in the casserole dish, after baking, for a week or two. But again, cabbage is not great in the freezer. So only do this if you absolutely must. Never freeze raw cabbage. It’s gross and unusable when it thaws out.

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Mexican Cabbage Rolls Recipe