Oven-Baked 6-Ingredient Beef and Cabbage Casserole

This oven-baked Beef and cabbage casserole is one of those weeknight dinners I come back to again and again — six ingredients, one dish, minimal prep, and the oven does all the work. You layer raw shredded cabbage, seasoned ground beef, a simple tomato-broth sauce, and finish it with melted cheddar on top. It’s hearty, cozy, and on the table in under an hour.

Why You’ll Love This

One dish, minimal cleanup — everything layers straight into the casserole dish, no browning the meat first, no extra pans
Only 6 ingredients — all pantry staples you probably already have
Hands-off cooking — covered in foil for most of the bake, so you can walk away and do something else
Incredibly budget-friendly — ground beef and cabbage stretch into four solid servings for almost nothing
Great leftovers — tastes even better the next day, reheats beautifully, and works spooned into tortillas or over rice

About the Ingredients

The cabbage — just a regular green cabbage, nothing fancy. I’ve tried it with savoy once and it was fine but slightly different texture. Green is what I reach for. About a pound and a half to two pounds once you’ve taken the core out. You want it sliced thin, kind of like you’re making coleslaw. Thick wedges don’t soften the same way.
The beef — I use 80/20 most of the time, sometimes 85/15. I’ve done it with leaner beef and it’s fine but it’s a little drier, which I notice especially in leftovers. You don’t need anything special here.
The tomato sauce — just canned, whatever’s in my pantry. I’ve used the plain 8-ounce cans, and I’ve also used the stuff with basil already in it and that works fine too. Honestly I’ve used marinara sauce in a pinch and it was good, maybe even better — though it changes the flavor profile slightly, a little more Italian, which isn’t bad.
Cheddar on top. I like a sharp cheddar but use what you have. Mozzarella makes it pull-y and melty in a different way. I’ve thrown a handful of parmesan on top of the cheddar before and that’s a very good idea.

The Ingredient List

1 small head green cabbage — about 1½ to 2 pounds, cored and thinly sliced
1 pound ground beef (I use 80/20)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese — maybe a little more, I usually do a little more
1 cup canned tomato sauce
½ cup beef broth
A drizzle of olive oil or butter to grease the pan

How to Make It

Preheat your oven to 375. While it’s heating up, grease your casserole dish — just a drizzle of olive oil rubbed around with a paper towel, or a little butter. The cabbage sticks to glass if you skip this step and then you’re scraping and it’s annoying.
Slice your cabbage. I cut the head into quarters first, cut out the core from each quarter, then slice across the grain into thin strips. You want it roughly coleslaw-sized — thinner than you think, honestly. It looks like an insane amount of cabbage when you pile it into the dish. It’s going to cook down significantly so don’t panic. Spread it out as evenly as you can.
In a bowl, combine the ground beef with all your seasonings — the salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder. I mix this with my hands, just enough to distribute everything. Don’t overwork it. You’re not making Meatballs. Drop the seasoned beef over the top of the cabbage in small clumps, trying to cover it fairly evenly. There will be gaps. That’s okay. The beef shrinks as it cooks and the juices run down.
Whisk the tomato sauce and broth together in a measuring cup — this just takes about ten seconds — and pour it evenly over the whole thing. It’ll pool a little and start seeping into the cabbage. That’s exactly what you want.
Cover tightly with foil. Really tightly. The steam is doing a lot of work in that first phase. Bake for 35 minutes.
After 35 minutes, carefully pull back the foil — steam, careful — and scatter the cheese over the top. Back into the oven, uncovered, for another 10 to 15 minutes. I usually check it at 12. If you want more color on the cheese, turn the broiler on for a minute or two, just don’t walk away.
Let it sit for five or ten minutes before you serve it. This isn’t optional, it’s not just me being fussy — it settles and firms up a little and the portions hold together better. If you scoop it straight out of the oven it’s soupier than you want.

Variations

A layer of thinly sliced onions under the beef, directly on top of the cabbage, caramelizes a little in there and is a really good addition. If you want it spicier, add red pepper flakes to the sauce mixture, or a couple dashes of hot sauce. A full teaspoon of smoked paprika in the beef is also really good, gives it a slightly different character.
Ground turkey works if that’s what you have, just bump up the seasonings by about half because turkey is milder.
I tried it once with purple cabbage because that’s all I had. It tasted fine but turned a color I wasn’t prepared for. Graying, purplish, not ideal visually. Green cabbage only, for appearances.

Storing and Reheating

This keeps in the refrigerator for about four days, maybe five if you’re not fussy. I store it right in the casserole dish covered with plastic wrap or foil — one less container to wash. Reheat individual portions in the microwave, two to three minutes, or reheat the whole dish covered with foil in a 350-degree oven for about twenty minutes.
The leftovers are excellent spooned into flour tortillas with a little sour cream. I don’t know why this works so well but it does.

I usually serve this with a simple green salad, or steamed green beans, because the casserole itself is pretty rich and you want something light next to it. Sometimes we do warm rolls. There is nothing wrong with using those rolls to scoop up the extra juice in the pan.