Instant Pot Low Carb UNStuffed Cabbage Rolls

 Instant Pot Low Carb UNStuffed Cabbage Rolls with ground turkey or beef and fantastic sweet and sour sauce is the perfect keto stuffed cabbage family dinner!

Instant Pot Low Carb UNStuffed Cabbage Rolls can be made with ground turkey or ground beef and fantastic sweet and sour sauce is the perfect LOW CARB / Keto deconstructed cabbage rolls family dinner! Based off of my very popular and authentic Instant Pot Jewish Sweet and Sour Stuffed Cabbage recipe, this low carb version of cabbage rolls have every bit the amount of texture flavor and goodness as stuffed cabbage rolls.

 Whether you use your Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker, your oven or cook the cabbage rolls on the stove, Low Carb Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls are absolutely sure to please. 

 

Ingredients for Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls

• Ground Turkey or Ground Beef
• Cabbage and Onions
• Diced Tomatoes (w/juice) or Tomato Juice
• Crushed Tomatoes
• Sour Salt
• Brown Sugar Substitute
• Riced Cauliflower
• Xanthan Gum
• Fish Sauce – totally not authentic at all, but adds a huge boost and depth of flavor. I promise, there is ZERO fish taste!

Pro Tip: If you are nervous about using fish sauce in the sweet and sour sauce, leave it out and taste the sauce. Then add a bit and see what you think. Better yet, taste your final dish and see what you think. Then add in just a drop to one portion and see what you think.

 

Whisk up the sweet and sour sauce. A good Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls recipe starts with a delicious sauce. The sauce can make or break a recipe. To make the whole process easy, I use this Pyrex 32 ounce Glass Measuring Cup to mix the sauce, as the pour spout helps for pouring the sauce into the pot. If you want to savor the delicious sweet and sour sauce, add this Instant Pot Mashed Cauliflower to a plate or bowl and serve the Instant Pot Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls over the mashed cauliflower.

Sweet and Sauce Sauce Tips

• Vine Ripened Tomatoes are picked, peeled and processed, which gives them the best freshest flavor. Use the best brand of tomatoes you can afford. Jersey Fresh Crushed Tomatoes, Cento Crushed Tomatoes and Bionaturae Organic Crushed Tomatoes are my favorites and more reasonably priced that other brands.
• Sour Salt gives the Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls the nice sour flavor. Don’t be fooled by the name, Sour Salt is not a salt. It is just citric acid. The flavor is actually quite similar to the sour crystals found on sour gummy babies. Sour Salt literally gives this recipe an authentic Old World flavor. The two brands of sour salt I like are the Lieber’s Sour Salt  and Geffen Sour Salt.

What to Use in Place of Sour Salt

• A couple teaspoons of True Lemon Crystals or the juice of two lemons will add nice sour taste.

Pro Tip: If you prefer a sour sauce and not a sweet and sour sauce, simply leave out the brown sugar. You can also adjust the amount of Sour Salt used by adding more to increase the sourness of the sauce.

 

Ground turkey is less colorful and flavorful than ground beef, so a bit of Worcestershire sauce will “beef” up the flavor. Ground turkey is also very wet. Therefore, a bit of xanthan gum will bind the meatballs and when you open the pot, you’ll actually see nice whole meatballs. I really like using turkey in Low Carb Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls. In my insanely delicious Instant Pot Turkey Meatloaf recipe, I again use Worcestershire sauce to beef up the flavor.

Pro Tip: Skip the xanthan gum if using ground beef and reduce Worcestershire sauce to two teaspoons. 

 

Hey now, don’t yuk the cauliflower! Let me just put this out there and tell you why riced cauliflower in these Low Carb Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls are a great idea.

Riced Cauliflower Instead of White Rice

• There is ZERO cauliflower taste in the meatballs, but it is there for two good reasons.
• It is a perfect low carb substitute for the rice, so that you will see little white dots in the meatballs. Plus, and most importantly, the cauliflower will soften, hold in moisture and ensure fork soft and tender meatballs.
• The meatballs can be easily cut with a fork. You certainly do not want the firm texture of a hamburger for the meatballs.

How to Make Riced Cauliflower

Ricing the cauliflower yourself is easy and there is no need to purchase bags of riced cauliflower. Simply cut the cauliflower into large chunks and toss them into a food processor. I recommend the Cuisinart Large Food Processor. Push the pulse button just one second at a time until the chunks of cauliflower have turned into riced cauliflower.

 

Make sure to mix up the meatball mixture really well. I like to use food service gloves for this part.

Can I Leave Out Cauliflower?

• Of course you can! You can always try another lower carb veggie like zucchini, but it will change the flavor of the meatballs.
• Keep in mind that if you eliminate the riced cauliflower your meatballs will be a bit firm and not as tender as if using the cauliflower.

Pro Tip: If you are not following a low carb or keto diet and prefer to use rice instead, use 1.5 cups of rinsed long grain white rice in place of riced cauliflower. The rice will plump and keep the meatballs tender.

 

A layer of just onions will get spread across the bottom of the pot and is what I call a “buffer” layer. Those onions act as a barrier between the pot and the meatballs so that the meat is not directly on touching the bottom of the pot and the pot will easily come to pressure.

Layering Cabbage and Onions

• As the bottom of the pot heats up pretty quickly, the onions will start cooking and break down, which will add nice flavor to the sauce. 
• The layering of the rest of the onions and the cabbage will create various textures to the finished dish, which is nice. Some of the cabbage will disintegrate, some will be very soft and the rest will be less soft. All will be nicely cooked.

Pro Tip: Rough chop the cabbage and mix it together with one of the onion and set it aside.

 

Grab a cookie dough scoop and let’s make meatballs.

Make the Meatballs

• Scoop up some meat and roll into a ball. If you find long pieces of the cauliflower, just pull them out.
• The meatballs do not have to be perfect. A bit larger than golf ball size meatballs would be good. 

Pro Tip: Visually divide the meat mixture in half and then make about 10 or 11 meatballs for each layer.

Another meatball recipe made in the pressure cooker is my Instant Pot Greek Meatballs {Keftedes}. There is a little trick in that recipe as well!

 

Place the meatballs into the pot on top of the onions.

Add half the cabbage and onions into the pot and kind of give them a little push down to make some room, but be careful not to smash the meatballs. Instant Pot Low Carb UNSTUFFED Cabbage Rolls are great for those following a low carb or who are not following a low carb diet. Those following Weight Watchers will love the low point value!

You also will enjoy my Instant Pot Italian Meatballs in Red Wine Sauce and using the same substitutions as these unstuffed cabbage roll, it’s super easy to convert to low carb.

 

Here is where that 2 quart glass mixing bowl comes in. Carefully, pour one-half of the sweet and sour sauce into the pot. Try not to let it splash out all over you.

Non Keto Version

• Use brown sugar place of a sugar substitute.
• Use 1.5 cups of rinsed rice in place of riced cauliflower.
• Instructions and cook time are exactly the same as Instant Pot Low Carb Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls!

 

Roll the rest of the meatballs and add them to the pot and then finish off the layers.

So that there are varying degrees of doneness, I like to use about half the remaining cabbage and onions and spread over the meatballs, more sauce and then the rest of the cabbage. The reason is that the cabbage at the very top will be firmer than the rest and I prefer firm cabbage.

The pot is going to be very full.

 

Fullness of Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls in Pot

• Don’t worry about the pot being so full. The cabbage and onions will quickly shrink down below the fill level.
• The onion layer will mostly disintegrate.
• The layering of the rest of the onions and the cabbage will create various textures to the finished dish, which is nice.

Watch the video below as I walk you through every step and detail of this recipe. I’ve given you a ton of information above, but sometimes a live visual of the process helps so you can follow along. I have my own cooking show on my YouTube Channel, so be sure to check it out and subscribe!

 
Watch my video and then scroll to the bottom for the printable recipe card.

Tips & Tricks for Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls

1. A layer of onions on the bottom of the pot acts as a buffer between pot and meat.
2. Sour Salt is key for old World flavor.
3. Riced cauliflower will keep the meatballs, moist and tender.
4. Prep the cabbage and onions and set aside

 

Take a look! Oh my gosh, wait until you get a whiff of the Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls. So delicious and looks so wonderful. You can see how much the onions and cabbage shrunk, and it is under the fill line.

Once you give it a mix, you’ll see the WHOLE meatballs. The top layer of cabbage is on the top and that layer will be just a tad less soft than the bottom, so, layers.

Freezing Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls

• This is a very easy low carb recipe, and it makes a lot.
• If you are just cooking for one, divide up the leftovers and freeze it in portions. It makes a big batch and it is nice to have another meal in the freezer.

Pro Tip: The recipe can be cut in half. Preparation and cook time remain the same.

 

As Ed is not looking up, I guess he is really super hungry, or he just loves Instant Pot Low Carb Cabbage Rolls.

Or, maybe a little of both!

 

Let’s serve it up the unstuffed cabbage rolls. Notice how nicely the meatballs stayed together. It’s because of the low carb binding agent used, along with the layers of the cabbage and onions protecting the meatballs!

More Instant Pot Low Carb Dinners to Make:

• Instant Pot Pesto Chicken Low Carb + Video
• Instant Pot Crack Slaw [Low Carb Egg Roll Bowls]
• Pressure Cooker Low Carb Manhattan Clam Chowder Soup
• Low Carb Avocado Chicken Salad [Instant Pot]
• Instant Pot Low Carb Margherita Pizza Meatballs

Kitchen Equipment and Essentials

• Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker
• J.A. Henckels Classic 8 inch Chef’s Knife
• J.A. Henckels Paring Knife
• My FANTASTIC Teak Cutting & Charcuterie Board
• Amco Advanced Performance 18/10 Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons
• Simply Gourmet (Dry) Stainless Steel Measuring Cups
• Pyrex 32 ounce Glass Measuring Cup
• Rösle Stainless Steel Flat Whisk– a MUST have, probably my most used utensil

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Here is the handy printable recipe:

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