You only need one pot and about 10 minutes of prep for this easy Dump-and-Bake Sausage and Cabbage Dinner! The hands-off recipe is a cozy and delicious meal for busy nights!
Maybe it's the Russian and Polish blood running through my veins, but I just love cabbage! If you appreciate the slightly sweet, nutritious, crunchy veggie as much as I do, then you've come to the right place...
How to Prepare this Easy Sausage and Cabbage Dinner:
Time is precious, and very few of us have the luxury of spending hours in the kitchen each night to get dinner on the table for our family. That's where a simple one pot meal like this kielbasa and cabbage comes in!
You can literally slice the ingredients, dump them in a pot, and basically forget about them for the next 45 minutes. Don't you just love that idea?
I used my biggest Dutch oven to accommodate all of the raw cabbage, onion, potatoes, sliced kielbasa, and diced tomatoes. It looks full, but don't worry -- the vegetables will shrink drastically as they cook!
Step #2: Prepare the Sauce for your Sausage and Cabbage Dinner.
Just whisk together balsamic vinegar, chicken broth, and tomato soup to form a basic sauce. Dump it into the pot, cover with a lid, and stick the pot in the oven to bake for about 45 minutes (or until the veggies are tender).
I like to stir my pot about halfway through, just to ensure even cooking.
The next thing you know, you'll have a warm, comforting dinner to serve your family -- and boy is it good.
This flavor combination reminds me a lot of my Polish grandmother's stuffed cabbage rolls (which I turned into a dump-and-bake casserole), but my version is obviously SO MUCH EASIER.
Cooking cabbage doesn't have to be difficult or time-consuming!
Whether it's a Sunday supper that you serve to your family on a lazy fall evening, or just a quick throw-together weeknight meal at the end of a busy work day, I have no doubt that this Dump-and-Bake Sausage and Cabbage Dinner will suit your schedule, your lifestyle, and your tastebuds.
It might just remind you of your grandmother, too!
You might also enjoy these cabbage recipes:
- Fried Cabbage with Apples and Onion
- Slow Cooker Cabbage Patch Detox Soup
- Dump-and-Bake Stuffed Cabbage Rolls Casserole
- Dump-and-Bake Corned Beef and Cabbage
Dump-and-Bake Sausage and Cabbage Dinner
Ingredients
- 1 medium head of cabbage, shredded
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 red potatoes, peeled and diced into bite-sized pieces
- 1 (13 ounce) package smoked kielbasa sausage, sliced into rounds
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can petite-diced tomatoes, drained
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 1 cup condensed tomato soup, NOT diluted
- For garnish: chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a large Dutch oven (or other oven-safe pot) with cooking spray.
- Place cabbage, onion, potatoes, sausage, garlic, salt, and diced tomatoes in the pot.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together balsamic vinegar, chicken broth, and condensed soup. Pour over cabbage mixture and gently stir to combine.
- Cover with a lid and bake for 45 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. I like to stir the pot halfway through the cooking time just to ensure even cooking.
- Garnish with parsley just before serving.
This recipe is sooo easy! Good change up to my menu.
Exactly! Thanks, Karly!
Would mushrooms be good added to this
Hi, Bob! Yes, I think they would be delicious! 🙂
I loved this ,just what I was looking for.quick and easy too.
Wonderful! Thanks, Sandy!
My husband and I eat low carb as much as possible. I made this recipe last night substituting 6 large mushrooms for the potatoes. It was great! My husband is picky but asked me to add this dish to our rotation.
That's a great tip about using the mushrooms in lieu of the potatoes. Thanks, Marilyn!
what are the potatoes giving to this dish?
Hi! I'm not sure that I understand the question. Are you just wondering if you can leave them out? I think that the recipe would work fine if you choose to omit the potatoes. I tested it with the potatoes, because I like the added starchy carbohydrate to round out the meal. I haven't tested it without the potatoes, but you can certainly give that a try if you don't care for them. 🙂
awesome, thanks! yes, looking to omit, but making sure they didn't better warrant a substitution. and thanks for a quick response: cooking now! lol
Okay, let me know how that works! I imagine that there was more "sauce" or liquid at the end of cooking, simply because there wasn't as much bulk or ingredients in the pot. Was it tasty otherwise?
haha! so in momspeak "cooking now" ended up being "looked at it tonight, but then bedtime, put it on in the morning, but then turned it off and put the whole crockpot in the fridge to run errands, then finally cooking it two days later."
it's really good! my phone spazzed when I was in the store shopping so I used tomato sauce instead of soup/diced. and I opted to nix the potatoes, but added a bit of cornstarch. and I cooked in my crockpot with the lid off instead of a dutch oven (don't own one).
whew! lots of small changes, but I'll definitely be making this again. very tasty!
Great! Thanks for the update, and I'm glad that it worked out! 🙂
this is the kind of recipe that makes my husband purr. i'm one of those weird cooks who always has a cabbage in my fridge, so versatile ~ the cabbage, not the weirdness lol. i'll have to triple the meat, but i know we'll love this, tfs!
Perfect! I hope that your husband approves! 🙂
PS -- I don't think you're weird -- I LOVE cabbage and I often keep it in my fridge as well.
Hi Blair ! This recipe sounds SO tasty and l will definitely be giving it a try ! Just curious , could l use bagged coleslaw and , if so , how much ? It comes in 454 gram bags and you may have an idea as to how many cups .would be needed . This would eliminate one step OR could be cinsidered the height of laziness ! Lol !!
Hi, Cindy! No shame about laziness! I considered using bagged coleslaw too, but I was worried that it's cut so thin that it would practically fall apart while cooking. If you do use the bagged coleslaw, you'll probably want to reduce the cooking time for that reason.
I like the texture of the more coarsely chopped head of cabbage, but it should work fine either way.
As far as the amount goes, I would say that you will want to use anywhere from about 6-8 cups of the raw coleslaw. Hope that helps, and enjoy!
Wondering, can this be converted to a slow cooker meal if we don't have a dutch oven pot or 45 minutes after work?
Hi, Julie! Yes, I think it would probably work really well as a slow cooker meal. I haven't tried it that way, so I can't tell you a specific cooking time, but I would start with about 3-4 hours on low. It shouldn't require too long since the sausage is fully-cooked before it goes into the pot. Let me know if you give it a try!
TO anyone who wants to skip the potatoes I have to say reduce the amount if you need to, but do put in at least one finely chopped. The potatos absorb all the flavors in the pot & helps it to be more satisfying.
Thank you for your timely response to my inquiry about
using bagged Coleslow . I'm going to stick with chopping my own...your explanation makes sense ! The smallest head of cabbage l was able to buy was 4 pounds ! Any suggestions on how much of that to use ? Thanks !
Hey, Cindy! That's a BIG head of cabbage! 🙂 I would say that about half of it should be plenty. In the end you want about 6-8 cups total chopped cabbage. 🙂
Thank you so much Blair for your help ! I'm sure l looked riduculous weighing an assortment of cabbage trying to find the smallest ! Lol ! I like cabbage in stir fry so the rest will definitely be put to good use . I'm making your Egg Roll in a Bowl...which l love...for supper tomorrow night for company and trying this recipe Thursday night for company . You recipes never disappoint and your quick feed back is always appreciated ! ????
I've made this before and it's wonderful. But my question is where did you get your serving bowl from.
Hi, Valerie! So glad that you liked the meal!
The bowl is an enamelware bowl from Crow Canyon. It's this pasta bowl: https://crowcanyonhome.com/product/pasta-plate-vintage/
You can often find Crow Canyon products on Amazon, and you can also buy them from independent retailers on the internet. I've collected a variety of pieces over the years, so I can't remember exactly where I picked this one up. If you use the product locator on that website that I linked above, you should be able to grab one. 🙂
I just wanted to stop by and comment for anyone wanting to cook this without a Dutch oven. I don’t own one so I used a foil pan and covered with aluminum foil. It was in the oven for 2 full hours at 400, and sadly, the cabbage and potatoes and even the tiny diced onions were still crunchy ☹️ The foil pan is all I can think of to blame because my oven works just fine. I checked it.
Strangely the sausage was fully cooked, I thought I was supposed to put that in raw, so I did. The flavors were outstanding but I think since I don’t have a Dutch oven, but I think next time I would either do it in a crock pot or even try it in my Instant Pot.
Hi there! I cooked mine in a Dutch oven and am having the same issues. I just put it back in the oven after testing it again after an hour and a half. Potatoes and cabbage are still crunchy. The taste is awesome, but , for me, the cooking time needed to be adjusted. Oven temp is accurate, and I cut everything to bite size. Next time I may pull out the crock pot and just let it cook all day!!
I used a crockpot for this today. The potatoes is what took forever to cook. I cooked it on low for 5 hours. Turned out good
The potatoes definitely take the longest. The smaller that you dice them, the faster they will cook. Thanks for the slow cooker update, Alyssa! 🙂
Do you have to cook it in the oven? Can i just do it on the stove?
Hi, Elizabeth! You can definitely do this on the stovetop. You'll want to keep the dish covered, and you'll want to be sure to stir it regularly. The oven heats the dish from all directions, while the stovetop will cook from the bottom of your pot (and therefore it won't cook as evenly unless you stir regularly). I can't say exactly how long it will take since I haven't tried it, so definitely let me know if you give it a shot! 🙂
I don’t have a Dutch oven. Would one of those black roasting pans with lid work?
Yes, that should be fine, Jamie! 🙂
I didn't use potatoes, but I added caraway seeds and some dried mustard. Instead of tomato soup I used a small 8oz can of tomato sauce. I used a dutch oven, chopped everything up, and its sitting in my refrigerator waiting for 5 o'clock. Can't wait to have dinner!!
-Electric Pressure Cooker Attempt
Stumbled upon this wondering what I could do with 2 giant raw chicken breasts that I haven't done before in a quick fast hurry with minimal effort and no giant mess to contend with. I cheated and got a surplus of broth via the chicken using my 8qt electric pressure cooker- but- I then diced the chicken and tossed it, along with this receipe down to a T, right on back into the not-instant-but-magic pot. 25 minutes on high pressure worked well.
Wow, that's awesome! I hadn't thought to try it in the pressure cooker, so thank you for sharing those details!!
Hi Blair!
I was wondering if you think a normal pyrex casserole dish covered in foil would work instead of the dutch oven? I didn't even know what those were until I saw it in this recipe and googled it haha. Would you recommend a new-ish cook to get a dutch oven and are there any on the budget-friendly side you prefer? Anyways, thanks again for another great easy meal idea.
Alyssa F
Hey, Alyssa! Yes, as long as the pyrex dish is large enough to hold everything, it should work fine! I love my Dutch ovens, but I tend to use them most in the cooler weather months for braised meats, stews, soups, chilis, etc. It's not something that gets quite as much use in the summer, so you could probably hold off and ask for one for Christmas. 🙂 I am spoiled with my Le Creuset and Staub Dutch ovens, but they're not budget-friendly. I know there are other more affordable options out there, but I haven't tried them myself. You might start with a brand like Cuisinart? Enjoy!
Could you use honey garlic sausage in this .
Yes! I think that would work really well! 🙂
A hit. What can we do w/ the leftovers? Any delicious suggestions?
Hi, Liana! I'm so glad that you enjoyed it! I don't have any specific suggestions for the leftovers. Just brainstorming, you could toss it with some cooked rice or pasta, or even turn it into a soup by adding the cooked sausage and cabbage to a can of tomato soup or vegetable soup.
First note, smells totally delish while baking. Second note, SUPER easy to prepare. Third note, based on reviews saying it took longer to cook, I decided to heat my liquid ingredients before adding to veg/sausage mix thinking this may speed up the heating/ cooking process . I did not have a very good seal on my casserole dish and learned about 45 mins into baking that covering my dish TIGHTLY with foil really helped to keep the heat in, to really cook the cabbage etc. (Wish I would have covered tightly with foil right from the beginning, so not much steam can escape and the veg cooks quicker) Took me a solid 1.5 hours to achieve the level of tenderness I was hoping for in the cabbage! Otherwise a very, very delicious, easy dish, we just had to wait longer than I expected for dinner. Next time I will start the COOKING at 3 pm if I want to eat by 6! It is very hot when it comes out of oven so letting it sit will only blend the flavours even more!
My other small tips - - I added dried dill (1 tsp) and sweet paprika (1 TBLS) to my liquid mixture for added flavours that I always enjoy with cabbage! Thanks so much for this recipe inspiration and post! Loved it!
Thanks, Cher! 🙂
Loved this recipe. My daughter was in charge of dinner the following night and added ground browned venison (could use ground beef) and it was great. Loved it both ways, just wondering how well this would freeze. I cook a lot on my days off for freezer meals for work and home.
Hi, Andrea! I'm so glad that you enjoyed the recipe! I haven't tried freezing this myself, but I think it would be okay. The only concern is the cabbage. It's totally fine to freeze cabbage, but I think that the texture will be different when thawed. Maybe you don't mind, but just be prepared for the fact that it might be soggy or more watery/mushy after it has been frozen. Have a great week! 🙂
Hi, I’m just discovering your website and I am new to this whole having to cook constantly scene, because of COVID-19
I must say though your dishes have made it so much easier and they are so tasty. This dish right here made me and daughter’s tummy sing and smile.
Thanks so much for your recipes.
Now a happy cook
That's awesome, Brenda! I'm so glad that some of my recipes are making cooking easier for you. Thanks for taking the time to let me know. 🙂
Hi there.
Looks a wonderful easy recipe. However, I have been so frustrated by the bite sizes led potato pieces that just wouldn’t cook. Doubled the cooking time and still crunchy potatoes. In hindsight I’d zap them in microwave before adding to dish. Used white all purpose type potatoes and in a casserole dish. I assume potatoes must cook for most as saw no similar comments.
Any ideas?
The flavor of this dish was delicious and even better the second day. It gave me memories of when my bopsue used to make golumpkies. BUT how in the world did you get this to cook in 45mins?? I followed directions to a T and by 2hrs it was so not cooked 100%. I ended up taking the potatoes out and cooking them in a separate pan on the stove. I started this at 5pm and we didn't eat until almost 8pm. I'm definitely going to use this again but double (or triple at least) the cooking time. I actually like this so much I'm making it again tonight. Thanks!!
Hi, Nadia! I'm so glad that you enjoyed it -- eventually. 🙂 I'm not sure why your dish would have taken so long. Two hours seems like a long time to cook potatoes at 400 degrees. Are you at a high elevation? Or was your oven not quite calibrated? Were the potatoes cut into bite-size pieces? The type of dish that you use can impact the cooking time as well -- glass and ceramic dishes will not cook as quickly as metal pans, for instance. So many different factors, but I'm glad that you were ultimately able to make it work. Just sorry it took so long!
We need more “spice” what can you recommend?
For a spicier dish, I would add crushed red pepper flakes to this meal. 🙂
I have made this with smoked paprika and a pinch of cayenne (To taste) for more spice! I have also tried this using dill weed as the “herbal” spice profile that goes well with tomato and cabbage. It wasn’t “spicy” but tasted very nice with the dill!
Great tips. Thanks, Cher!