This Braised Cabbage with Ground Beef dish is inspired by an Albanian dish called ‘mish me lakra’ or ‘gjellë me lakër dhe mish’. Braised cabbage makes for a delicious winter meal, it’s inexpensive and can be used for meal planning as leftovers are even better tasting the next day:).
Cabbage is an essential vegetable during winter time in the Balkan and Mediterranean regions. We all make different salads with cabbage, we make it into a stew, we braise it, we stuff the cabbage leaves, we bake into a casserole with rice, we pickle it etc etc et. Think of all these recipes combined with different cooking methods and slightly different ingredients in each country, and you have an endless supply of cabbage recipes:).
What type of cabbage can you use for this recipe?
Back in Albania I used to use a white cabbage, while here in the United States I use a green cabbage because that’s what’s available in the markets around me. I haven’t been able to ever find white cabbage here. Maybe it’s a Florida thing because I have family in the Northern states and they can find white cabbage there.
I don’t use the purple cabbage for braised stew, I have never tried it so I don’t know if it will work taste wise. If you ever try it, feel free to leave me a comment as I’m always curious about variations:).
How to prep cabbage for braised cabbage?
I use a medium size green cabbage head for this recipe. Usually I tend to rinse the cabbage on the outside and let it air dry. I remove the outer layers then cut the core. Finally, I chop the cabbage in thin layers. The thicker you cut it, the longer it will take to cook.
Variations of cabbage stew
This dish has so many variations, starting with my own household.
- Meat – you can make this dish with pork, beef for stew, minced beef or lamb meat. Each will taste different and cooking time will vary, especially on how thick the meat cuts are.
- Casserole – you can easily turn this dish into a casserole. About 20 minutes from the end, pour the pot on a baking dish and place it in the oven at 350 degrees for those 20 minutes. Then broil for 5 minutes! I make a similar casserole with leeks and beef.
- Rice – some people add a bit of rice to this recipe and either serve it a stew or bake it like in option 2. If adding rice, you have to add more water or broth.
- Lemon or Vinegar – this dish needs some acid when served. Even though as a child, I didn’t think that was necessary, as my taste buds matured I realized how delicious this dish is with some lemon or in its absence with some vinegar. You can squeeze some lemon juice as the cabbage is being braised, but then add more fresh lemon juice in your own plate over the stew.
- Cooking method – you can make this dish in a pressure cooker, slow cooker, Dutch oven or in a regular soup pot. Adjust the recipe to each cooking method.
Pro-tip: If stew is running out of water, but cabbage is not cooked yet, add about a quarter cup to a half cup of hot water slowly on the sides of the pot, almost like you are drizzling that water over. This will help finish cooking the cabbage.
Step by Step Process of Making Braised Cabbage (Mish me Lakra)
This is a very easy dish to prepare, I remember my mom leaving me in charge as early at 7th or 8th grade to get started on the dish and braise the cabbage. I would leave it cooking over the woodstove in our kitchen, on low heat for hours. When everyone was home later on, dinner was ready!
- Prep veggies: cabbage, onion, carrots and peppers.
- Brown the beef or whatever meat you’re using.
- Add vegetables slowly.
- Finally add shredded cabbage.
- Cook the cabbage down.
- Add seasonings and water or broth.
- Cook on low for a minimum of 1.5 hours
Braised Cabbage with Ground Beef
Equipment
- 1 Large Soup Pot or Dutch Oven
Ingredients
- 1 cabbage head
- 1 yellow onion
- 1-2 carrots about 1 cup full of sliced carrots
- 2-3 peppers red peppers is better
- 3 tbsps olive oil extra virgin
- 1.5 lbs ground beef
- 2 bay leaves I used a little more because mine were on the smaller size
- 0.5 tsp paprika
- 0.5 tsp crushed red pepper add more if you like spice
- 0.5 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp sea salt
- 3 tbsps tomato paste
- 1 lemon
- 0.5 cup water or beef broth up to 8 ozs
Instructions
- Wash and pat dry or air dry the cabbage. Remove the outer layers and cut the core out. Slice the cabbage as thin as possible because it makes the braising time faster.
- Dice the onion, slice the carrots or cut them in strips. Slice the peppers too.
- Start sauteing the ground beef on olive oil in medium to high heat. You want to brown the meat using a wooden spoon to prevent it from sticking to the pot or burning.
- Slowly add in onions and carrots, then few minutes later the red peppers and few minutes later slowly add the cabbage in. Its volume is bigger than the pot, so make sure to add to the rim then wait for it to wilt or cook down, then add more. Lower heat to medium.
- Once all cabbage is cooked down, then add seasoning, tomato paste and water or broth. You want to add enough liquid to make it look like a thick stew, not too much. Add salt at this point too.
- Once you see the stew bubble and boil, lower heat to low and cover the pot. Let the stew braise for at least 1.5 hours. Add few tbsps of water as needed if it gets too thick.
- Once it's all cooked, drizzle fresh lemon juice on the pot as well as lemon slices to serving bowl. Serve with warm bread and a salad. Enjoy:).
Video
Notes
- This recipe yields approximately 4-6 servings.
- I always tend to use the whole cabbage head when making this recipe, so weight fluctuates on size. That means that sometimes I need to cook it a little longer or add a bit more water etc.
- You can use less meat if you’re trying to lower meat consumption.
- If you can’t find fresh peppers, use roasted red pepper sauce.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for few days.
Nutrition Label
Nutrition
Yes you can make it meatless or even cook it with less meat. It’s a flexible recipe!! We used to add broth or even a beef shank with very little meat on it to give it the flavor, but not have a lot of meat in the stew. I would adjust to add more olive oil if making this dish meatless.
You can and a lot of people do boil the cabbage for few minutes before slicing it (make sure to cool it before cutting into it).. The parboiling will help shorten braising time. Usually we parboil the cabbage after removing the core, core side down in the pot. Some cabbages though are fairly big and you’ll have to include an extra pot that has to be big enough to boil the cabbage head.
If you would like to save this recipe for later, please save the below picture in your boards in Pinterest so you can easily retrieve it later. Let me know in comments if you have any questions. Thank you:).
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Additional Albanian Recipes
I have plenty of Albanian recipes or Albanian inspired recipes in my blog:). Hope you enjoy them and if you ever need any specific recipe, don’t hesitate to contact me.
- Orange and Leeks Salad
- Albanian Byrek with Meat (Phyllo Meat Pie)
- Stuffed Peppers
- Chicken and Rice (Pulë me Oriz)
- Chicken and Potatoes (Pulë me Patate)
and so many more. Check out my Albanian recipes corner of the blog for more:).
Lori
How much tomato paste?? Unfortunately, I didn’t realize the amount wasn’t listed in the ingredient list until I was already making it.
admin
Hi Lori,
It’s 3 tablespoons of tomato paste.