This isn’t one of the most visually appealing recipes to emerge from my kitchen, but one of the simplest! It’s a quick and easy take on spaghetti without the grains. It even got an un-prompted “This is actually pretty good,” from my Italian husband!

how to make paleo primal grain free pasta

My favorite part… it only takes one (oven-safe) pan to make from start to finish and the kids all ate it!

Grain Free Spaghetti Recipe

This recipe uses shredded cabbage in place of spaghetti noodles for a nutrient rich substitution that is grain-free and gluten-free. Sounds strange but tastes great!

One-pan grain free gluten free spaghetti recipe

One Pan Spaghetti Recipe Over Cabbage Noodles (Grain Free!)

A grain free, cabbage based spaghetti recipe that packs extra nutrition from the vegetables while maintaining the delicious taste of spaghetti.

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 15

Total Time 25

Calories 243kcal

Author Katie Wells

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Servings

people

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef
2 medium onions
1 head cabbage
½ tsp oregano
½ tsp basil
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp salt
3 cups spaghetti sauce
1 cup mozzarella cheese (shredded, optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to broil.
In a large oven safe skillet, brown the meat.
While meat is browning, thinly slice the onions.
When the meat is almost finished cooking, add the onions and cook until the meat is done.
Thinly slice the cabbage into “noodle” thin pieces as you would for sauerkraut.
Add the cabbage to the skillet and saute until softened. You may have to do this in several batches, returning it all to the pan when it is cooked down.
Stir the spices and spaghetti sauce.
If using cheese, sprinkle it on top and put the skillet into the preheated oven to melt the cheese.
Remove and serve with salad and a garlic version of coconut flour biscuits. Salut!

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

One Pan Spaghetti Recipe Over Cabbage Noodles (Grain Free!)

Amount Per Serving (1.5 cups)

Calories 243 Calories from Fat 72

% Daily Value*

Fat 8g12%

Saturated Fat 4g25%

Cholesterol 61mg20%

Sodium 1031mg45%

Potassium 998mg29%

Carbohydrates 19g6%

Fiber 6g25%

Sugar 11g12%

Protein 24g48%

Vitamin A 805IU16%

Vitamin C 66.7mg81%

Calcium 186mg19%

Iron 4mg22%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Notes

I make my own spaghetti sauce, but it is possible to find good store-bought brands. Just look for a glass jar with no added sugars or chemicals.

Like this recipe? Check out my new cookbook, or get all my recipes (over 500!) in a personalized weekly meal planner here!

Do you miss pasta? Ready to try a healthier alternative?

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

27 responses to “Grain Free One Pan Spaghetti Recipe (Over Cabbage)”

Valerie

December 11, 2015

As a long-time wellness mama reader and fan, I’m ashamed to say that after reading this recipe, I wasn’t impressed and actually scrolled down to the comments, cynically expecting to see lots of bad results from making this… So far everyone is in love with it, even husbands… Guess I’ll have to try it! LOL

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Amanda

November 7, 2014

This recipe was great, made it last night. My vegetable picky toddler was not a fan of the cabbage but she worked her way around it. My husband loved it and we both agreed that although it was satisfying like Lasagna we didn’t have the bloated too full feeling we both get after eating traditional Lasagna with garlic bread. Thank you!

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Wavs

October 19, 2014

This dish sounds delish. Going to make it tomorrow for supper.

I did read up on cast iron and tomatoes and got the following from the Lodge website:

Are there foods that I shouldn’t cook in Cast Iron?
Foods which are very acidic (i.e. beans, tomatoes, citrus juices, etc.) should not be cooked in Seasoned Cast Iron until the cookware is highly seasoned. The high acidity of these foods will strip the seasoning and result in discoloration and metallic tasting food. Wait until cast iron is better seasoned to cook these types of foods.
Lodge Enameled Cast Iron is not affected by acidity and can be used with all foods.

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Lauren

July 1, 2014

Yum! I am new to the site and this was my first attempt at one of your recipes. It was easy and delicious! I’ve been using the site to explore topics for pregnant women. Thanks for the plethora of information and delicious recipes!

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Julie

June 18, 2014

I just tried this last night with my family and it was a hit!!! My husband said it was definitely a keeper!!

Reply
1. Wellness Mama
  
  June 18, 2014
  
  I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading!
  
  Reply
Shaindel

May 25, 2014

Looks yummy! I’m going to try it this week, but leave out the meat as we eat kosher (so no meat and dairy mixed). Hope it will work!

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Irene Tiger

August 8, 2013

Don’t miss pasta…I’ve tried spinach as a sub, but not cabbage. Must try.

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Randa

January 11, 2013

Hi Wellness Mama – this recipe looks great and I hope to try it soon. Question about using a cast iron pan: is that not recommended with this, due to cast iron’s reaction with tomato products? It looks like you used a cast iron pan, though, so I’m a bit confused. Thanks!

Reply
1. Wellness Mama
  
  January 11, 2013
  
  Typically, it isn’t recommended, but I just used it to heat the tomato briefly so it was fine… You can also transfer to a casserole dish instead
  
  Reply
  1. Randa
    
    January 11, 2013
    
    Good to know – thanks for clarifying!
    
    Reply
Kirsten Cleigh

January 7, 2013

That looks delicious! I’m totally going to try it!

Reply
1. Kirsten Cleigh
  
  January 8, 2013
  
  I just tried this tonight and it is SO GOOD. I like it better than regular spaghetti (I wasn’t the biggest fan of spaghetti to begin with). It’s got so much more flavor.
  
  If anyone is interested, I broke down the nutrition facts based on the ingredients I used (93% lean ground beef, 6 oz. part-skim mozzarella, 1 whole medium head of cabbage, 24 oz. Classico Tomato Basil marinara sauce, 1 whole medium onion, and 1 tbs. added grapeseed oil to brown the meat)
  
  If you divide the recipe into 4 equal servings, each serving has 444 calories, 19.4g of fat, 7.75g Saturated fat, 88mg Cholesterol, 1278mg Sodium, 29g Carbohydrates, 9g Fiber, 16.5g Sugar, and 39.5g protein.
  
  I’m surprised at how low calorie it is. I am stuffed and only ate one serving.
  
  Reply
Aimeer Davis

April 5, 2012

I am slowly trying to incorporate primal eating into our family, even though they don’t know it. I made this last night for our family’s dinner. They loved it! I also made the biscuits and I know I will be making those weekly, if not more, for my little boys. Thank you.

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Lacy

February 29, 2012

I’ve made “lasagna” using steamed red cabbage leaves as noodles (well – I’m still sensitive to lactose, so it ended up with very little cheese and more like a ratatouille). The thicker parts of the cabbage made great “noodles” to eat on the side, but I didn’t think about making a whole dish that way.

Reply
1. Kandi
  
  June 6, 2016
  
  Thank you for the idea of using cabbage for lasagna. I made it the other night with cauliflower and didn’t like it at all, my husband did though. I’m excited to try this spaghetti reciepe.
  
  Reply
Lori

August 15, 2011

About two yrs. ago I started eating my spagetti sauce over half rice noodles and half whole green beans in an attempt to at a more gluten-free diet. As I’ve become more grain-free I cut out the rice noodles and I actually enjoy my spagetti sauce over just the whole green beans. No gut-ache or sluggish slump after spagetti dinner for me anymore! Now I’m curious and excited about trying out the cabbage thing too ;D

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Cecilia Powers

August 14, 2011

i made this last night for the first time. it turned out great. my husband ate three plates. he never even mentioned that it was made with cabbage. i was quite amazed! thanks!!!

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Flo

August 6, 2011

I made this tonight and I almost ate the whole batch! That’s how good it was! I added italian sausage and I am full and…sleepy! LOL!!

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Esdonlon

July 6, 2011

Thanks for this delicious recipe. We made it last night and it was great!!!

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Merm

July 5, 2011

Um… Thank you for bringing spaghetti back into my life. Made it tonight. Can easily see this staying.

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Ed

July 5, 2011

I am on a low glycemic diet and this looks like I can eat this with no problem!! Thank you!!!

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Jennifer Cordova

July 1, 2011

My family has only been grain-free for a couple of weeks, but I’ve been trying to think of pasta substitutes, especially for my son – recipes like this one are really what I miss about pasta, they’re so simple, comforting and homey!
I would never have thought of using cabbage, but I’ve got half a head of it sitting in my fridge waiting for inspiration, and now I’ve found it 🙂

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Steven

June 29, 2011

I don’t miss pasta, really. Cookies, yes, pasta…nah. 😉 But this recipe looks SO so so good…we’ll def have to try this one. Would you be willing to share your spaghetti sauce recipe?

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Robyn

June 28, 2011

I actually DON’T miss pasta (I’m almost 1 year primal-style now), which is shocking to everyone, me most of all. I like to use spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles as a pasta substitute. I haven’t tried to do cabbage yet, but your recipe looks fantastic!

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