Stuffed Cabbage Sloppy Joes

by Sabrina Snyder

Published on Last updated

22 Comments

5 from 8 votes
6 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
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Stuffed Cabbage Sloppy Joes topped with buttery crisp cabbage, mozzarella cheese and rich tomato and beef gravy for the perfect unstuffed cabbage in 30 minutes.

Enjoy all the flavors of Stuffed Cabbage Casserole and Ultimate Sloppy Joes combined in a rich beefy and tomato gravy with the most amazing crispy buttery cabbage topping (like these Crispy Roasted Cabbage Steaks).

Stuffed Cabbage Sloppy JoesStuffed Cabbage Sloppy Joes

Crispy buttery cabbage may not be the first thing you think of when it comes to the ultimate comfort food, but these sandwiches were among the highest rated sloppy joes we made in this entire sloppy joe year of recipes.

We’ve posted about 15 sloppy joe recipes and my husband declared this one his favorite so far and I don’t blame him. Rich tomato sauce with beef broth and Worcestershire sauce topped with melted mozzarella cheese.

If you love cabbage or love brussels sprouts, you will LOVE these sloppy joes!

WHAT GOES GOOD WITH SLOPPY JOES FOR A SIDE DISH?

We love serving sloppy joes with Crispy Sweet Potato Fries, Beer Battered Onion Rings, Loaded Garlic French Fries or your favorite roasted vegetables.

TIPS FOR MAKING THESE SLOPPY JOES:

  • Make sure the cabbage is chopped well and make sure it’s dry, wet cabbage will cause the cabbage to sweat rather than to brown.
  • Make sure your ingredients are ready ahead of time, don’t let the pan scorch.
  • Make sure you only add back in half the cabbage as the second half is going to be used as a topping.
  • Make sure you drain excess fat from the beef, I use 85/15 to minimize excess fat.
  • Stop cooking when its just slightly too wet still, the tomato sauce as it thickens too much can become bitter and burned.
  • If you want to meal prep just leave the sauce extra saucy before shutting off the heat. You may need a bit of water when reheating.
  • Fresh mozzarella would be delicious but not necessary as the meat is so saucy and the cabbage is so buttery.

Ground Beef and Cabbage

Are you going to join us and enjoy this recipe on Wednesday? Remember if you make this dish this Wednesday, we’ll be having the same dinner.

I’d love to know how it turns out for you so if you do make the recipe pretty please come back and leave a comment letting me know how you enjoyed them.

We put a ton of effort into recipe testing 35 Sloppy Joes for this weekly series! The reason we did (aside from the fact we LOVE them) is because you all have gone nuts for ALL 4 of the original sloppy joes on the site!

Cabbage Sloppy Joes

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Dinner, then Dessert

Stuffed Cabbage Sloppy Joes

Stuffed Cabbage Sloppy Joes topped with buttery crisp cabbage, mozzarella cheese and rich tomato and beef gravy for the perfect unstuffed cabbage in 30 minutes.
Yield 6 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Main Dish, Sandwich
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
Stuffed Cabbage Sloppy Joes
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 4 tablespoons butter , divided
  • 1 head cabbage , chopped
  • 1 yellow onion , diced
  • 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 cup tomato sauce
  • 1 cup beef broth
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 6 brioche buns , toasted
  • 8 ounces mozzarella cheese , sliced

Instructions

  • In a large skillet add the butter to the pan on medium high heat and cook the cabbage until crisp on both sides, stirring occasionally (about 8-10 minutes).
  • Remove the cabbage and add the beef and onions, cooking well, breaking it apart but leaving some chunks about the size of a raspberry or small grape (don't crush the heck out of it, the larger crumbles will help give the sandwich stability).
  • Cook until well browned (5-6 minutes), then add in half the cooked cabbage, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, tomato sauce, beef broth and cornstarch before adding it to the pan along with the cooked beef and stirring well.
  • Continue cooking until the sauce starts to evaporate and the mixture becomes "sloppy" (about 5-6 minutes).
  • The consistency you are looking for is reduced enough that spoonfuls can be placed on top of each other with the bottom spoonful not spreading more than a half inch or so.
  • Toast the buns then spoon over the mixture and top sliced mozzarella and the remaining cabbage.

Nutrition

Calories: 585kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 35g | Fat: 34g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 110mg | Sodium: 1131mg | Potassium: 870mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 580IU | Vitamin C: 60mg | Calcium: 330mg | Iron: 5.5mg

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About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. I am not a good cook, but I made this and am so pleased with the outcome!!!

    Thank you for sharing!!!

    Reply

  2. It would be helpful to have a cup measurement for the cabbage. If you use an entire head, it has to be a very small one. As i was chopping I almost stopped at 1/2 the head, but I went on to follow the recipe exactly. There was much too much cabbage. As a result it never really thickened to a sloppy joe consistency. It was very tasty, but it had to be eaten with a knife and fork. It would not work as a sandwich at all. Also, the thickening time was more like 10-12 minutes instead of 5-6 as stated.

    Reply

  3. I have been wanting to make this since I first saw it on your site and I made it last night. We both gobbled it down and I will make it many times again. I haven’t had sloppy joes for a long time and would not have thought to use cabbage. It was very tasty! The instructions were a little confusing to me because I never figured out why the butter was divided and how much to use when. Also the instructions around the cornstarch…it says add in and then after it says before adding in. But I managed and it turned out great. Introduced me to brioche buns too, I’d never had them before and will definitely get them again.

    Reply

    2. I didn’t divide the butter. With an entire head of cabbage you needed all of it to sauté! Also, the confusing bit on the middle… I think it is meant to say: “make a slurry of the beef stock and con starch before adding in.” You never add dry cornstarch to a recipe.

      Reply

  4. This looks amazing I surely will be trying this one for sure thanks so much for sharing your recipes I have made lots of your recipes and they all turned out amazing so I am sure these will too

    Reply

  6. I need to try this immediately, it looks so good! My husband definitely love this Stuffed cabbage sloppy joes!

    Reply

  8. I was brought up eating stuffed cabbage and still make it from time to time, so this sounds like an easy and delicious comfort food to me. I love your recipes!

    Reply