This tomato-less stuffed cabbage with cashew cream is great for St. Patrick's Day or any day of the year. It's dairy free, rice free, and nightshade free so it's a perfect for an AIP or Paleo friendly meal.

My mom used to get out this large, banged-up, silver oval pot every year around St. Patrick's Day.

In would go cabbage, carrots, and potatoes, and it would cook, and cook, and cook, until you could drink it through a straw. I've never been a fan of mushy food.

Cabbage isn't the sexiest of ingredients either, but I do like my grilled cabbage in the summer. And then there’s crunchy red cabbage salad that’s good with anything.

I decided to try and make a healthy stuffed cabbage St.Patrick's day recipe. I omitted the nutrient-less rice and inflammatory tomatoes to make this an AIP, Paleo friendly stuffed cabbage.

Tomatoes belong to the nightshade family, along with peppers. Both can be inflammatory in the body, which can then lead to gut issues and autoimmune diseases. I have some sensitivity to all of the above, so tomatoes are out for me.

Honestly though, I feel like tomatoes are only good for about one week out of every year, so I don't miss them that much. They can add some moisture to a recipe, but I have some workarounds for that while also keeping this healthy stuffed cabbage dairy free.

If you're reading this blog, I'm guessing you may not eat white rice. It's really doing nothing for you except spiking your blood sugar and filling you with empty calories. Then there’s also the thing about a lot of white rice having traces of arsenic in it. Yeah, just say no to arsenic in your food.

So the white rice traditionally in stuffed cabbage has been replaced with gluten free cauliflower rice. I then loaded in some other healthy veggies like carrots and kale to round out the healthy St. Patrick’s day stuffing.

I'm all about the good paleo fats so I used protein-rich, grass-fed ground beef in these rolls, but feel free to use ground turkey or chicken instead.

Since this is sans tomato sauce, I made a dairy free cashew cream to serve with the stuffed cabbage. I like the cashew creaminess combo with the beef and veggies. If cashews don't fit with your AIP diet, you can also try my dairy free hemp lime cream sauce on this.

If you want a St. Patrick’s Day side dish recipe to go with your stuffed cabbage, try my healthier Irish Colcannon with mashed cauliflower and kale.

St. Patrick's Day or not, enjoy this healthy, tomato-less stuffed cabbage with cashew cream.

Tomato-less Stuffed Cabbage with Cashew Cream
{Paleo, AIP, Whole30, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Grain Free}

Makes 8 rolls

Ingredients

1 medium head of cabbage (about 16 big leaves)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced
1 pound ground beef, preferably organic and grass-fed (or ground chicken or turkey)
1-1/2 cups cauliflower rice (pre-riced, or place in a food processor to get rice)
1/2 cup fresh parsley
1/2 cup carrots, roughly chopped
1/2 cup fresh kale, stems and spine removed
1 cup beef broth (or chicken broth is using ground chicken)
1 tablespoon of coconut oil or olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Cashew Cream

1 cup raw cashew, preferably organic
3/4 cup filtered water
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Fill a large pot with salted water and bring to a boil. Carefully remove about 16 large leaves from the cabbage and submerge into the boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Work in batches. Remove from water, cool, and dry.
Place the oil in a medium pan and sauté the garlic and onion until translucent, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Use a food processor to make small rice-like pieces of the cauliflower, parsley, carrots, and kale. Work in batches.
In a large bowl, combine the meat, cooked garlic, and onion, cauliflower, parsley, carrots and kale, with salt and pepper. Mix until combined.
Take a 9" x 13" dish and place enough cabbage leaves to cover the bottom. Then take an individual leaf and fill with about 1/3 cup of the meat mixture. Fold in the cabbage on the sides and then roll up. Place seam side down in the dish. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Take the additional cabbage leaves and layer them on top of the rolls. Pour the broth into the dish and place in the oven. Cook for 45-60 minutes, or until the meat is cooked through.
While the cabbage rolls cook, make the cashew cream by placing the cashews, water and lemon juice in a high-speed blender until it's smooth. Season as necessary. (If following an AIP diet, try my hemp lime cream sauce instead)
When the stuffed cabbage is done cooking, serve with the cashew cream on top.
Serve it with my healthier Irish Colcannon with mashed cauliflower and kale.