Ever accidentally buy more than what you need of something and then have to scramble to figure out what to do with the stuff you didn’t use? This recipe is borne from me smoking some ribs on Labor Day, buying a couple of bags of coleslaw mix, and then only using one bag for coleslaw. Oops. Cue the panic that comes from potentially wasting perfectly good food. Thankfully, this week ground beef was on sale, so I decided to try to make all this into a one-pot meal-prep dish that tastes like cabbage rolls without the extra carbs you get from the rice filler.
This is still a fairly carb-heavy meal, thanks to the tomato sauce and paste. I prefer a really low-carb breakfast, so it ends up averaging out in the end. Today’s breakfast, for example, was only 4 net carbs, so adding the 9 net carbs you get from this recipe still gives you 7-12 for dinner and snacks, depending on where you like to aim. I’m a 25 net carbs a day kind of girl, so I feel like I have plenty of wiggle room left in my day after eating this for lunch. If you want to cut the carbs a bit, getting rid of the chopped onion will get rid of 1 net carb per serving. Just replace it with a teaspoon or so of onion powder. If you also replace the garlic with garlic powder and leave out the tomato paste entirely, it’ll take off two.
To make this, start with a pound and a half of ground beef. I usually like to use 85% lean, because I think that 80% ends up being too watery once it’s cooked, and anything higher than 85% doesn’t give me the fat macros I need. Chop a medium onion, which will yield about 3/4 cup. Heat a large Dutch oven or saucepot over medium-high heat, then add the beef and onion, along with a teaspoon and a half of salt, a tablespoon of minced garlic, and a teaspoon each of paprika, dried dill, and dried parsley. Use black pepper to taste. Brown the beef, breaking it up as it cooks. Once it’s brown, the onion should also be turning translucent. This should take about 6-8 minutes total.
When the beef is browned, add a 1-pound bag of coleslaw mix and stir it to mix in the beef. At this point, add a 14.5 ounce can of tomato sauce, and a tablespoon of tomato paste. Mix it around until there are no more clumps of tomato paste. Bring the mixture to a boil, turn it down to a simmer, and allow to simmer for at least 10 minutes, or until the cabbage is softened. Add additional salt and pepper to taste at this point. I used another teaspoon of salt, but your taste buds may differ.
Unstuffed Cabbage Roll Skillet
A deconstructed version of stuffed cabbage rolls, minus the rice.
Heat up a large Dutch oven or saucepot over medium high heat. Add the beef, onion, garlic, paprika, parsley, dill, 1.5 teaspoons salt, and black pepper to taste. Brown the meat, breaking it up as it cooks, until it is cooked through, about 6-8 minutes.
Add the coleslaw mix and stir into the meat mixture. Pour in the tomato sauce and tomato paste and stir until the tomato paste breaks up. Turn the heat down and allow to simmer until the cabbage is soft, about 10 minutes. Taste, add an additional teaspoon or so of salt to taste, and more black pepper if necessary.
Macros per serving: 298 calories, 9 grams net carbs, 21 grams protein, 17 grams fat.
Keyword beef, easy, high protein, keto, low carb, low-calorie, meal prep, one dish
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I’ll start off by fully admitting that I’m not sure how “Brazilian” this actually is. We call it Brazilian because my Brazilian great-aunt used to make it when she visited us while I was growing up. It does use my Brazilian Green Stuff wet rub as its only seasoning, though. So it’s Brazilian until someone tells me otherwise.
This is going to have a lot of steps, but it’s actually a lot easier than it sounds. There are very few ingredients, all things considered. It’s just getting them layered properly that’s the rub. If you don’t put it together properly, the cheese will leak out all over everything and it won’t be as good. And honestly, even if you do put it together properly, it’ll leak a little bit. You just want to keep that to a minimum, so you have a bit of gooey cheese in every slice. So make sure you read the steps and look at the pictures for this one.
Start off with a large bowl. You want it really big, because you’re going to be putting three pounds of meat in that bad boy. Dump in a pound of ground beef, a pound of ground pork, and a pound of ground veal. If you have moral objections to veal, you can do a pound and a half of the beef and pork. Then add a rounded tablespoon of Green Stuff, two eggs, and a half-cup of grated parmesan cheese. Mix that together with your hands until you can’t differentiate the meats anymore and all the egg is incorporated.
Here’s where things get interesting. Grab a loaf pan and put about half the meat in the bottom. Press it up the sides so you make a…meat tunnel? Meat chasm? Meat trench? I can’t come up with a description of this that doesn’t sound dirty.
Meat trench!
You’ll want to be really careful to do this part right, as it’s the foundation of the entire dish, and any air holes or gaps you have here can lead to all your cheese running out. So see these air holes near the bottom of the loaf pan in the picture below? Those are the devil. Reach in there and seal those up before you get started. This is why I always make this in a clear glass loaf pan. Otherwise you’re kind of rolling the dice.
Don’t start filling the meatloaf before you get rid of these holes.
Get three slices of deli ham. You’ll want these to be fairly thick, because they’re the first line of defense against the cheese. Fold them in half and line the meat trench with your ham folds. Press them up the ends.
Next, put in the cheese. Four slices of provolone or mozzarella, torn in half. Layer them over the ham.
Finally, the key ingredient. Line up three hard-boiled eggs in there on top of the cheese. I have the world’s best hack for hard-boiled eggs, so I’ll let you know what I do. I have this awesome electric kettle that is perfect for boiling eggs. Pop your three eggs in there, fill the kettle with water, turn it on, and then as soon as the kettle switches off after reaching a boil, set a timer for 12 minutes. When the timer is done, pour out the hot water and fill the kettle with ice water to cool off the eggs. To peel them, crack them on the counter and then roll them on the counter with your palm. They’ll peel easily. Or, well, mostly easily. I still had one that wanted to be a pain. I made it sit in back.
Top it with the rest of the meat mixture. Again, be really careful to fill in all those seams and air holes, because that’s where your cheese will escape. And let’s be honest, it’ll still escape. We just want a minor scrape rather than a sucking chest wound. When you have a meatloaf, put it on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet, because the meat juices have a tendency to overflow the pan. Bake it at 350 degrees for an hour and 20 minutes. Wait at least 30 minutes before slicing it if you’re using it for meal prep, because you’ll want the cheese to be less runny and the slices hold up better that way. Otherwise, hack into that bad boy right away. This makes ten servings, which makes it perfect for meal prep for two people for an entire work week. I serve mine with cauliflower mash. This one doesn’t freeze particularly well, because of the egg, but you can freeze and reheat in a pinch.
In a large bowl, mix together the meats, parmesan, raw egg, and Green Stuff until the meats are uniform and the egg is incorporated.
Put half of the meat into a loaf pan, pressing it up the sides to make a tunnel. Make sure to fill any seams or air bubbles. Line the tunnel with the ham, then the cheese, then the hard-boiled eggs. Top with the remaining meat, making sure to fill the air holes and seams as best as possible.
Put the loaf pan on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for an hour and 20 minutes.
Macros per serving: 381 calories, 1 gram net carbs, 31 grams protein, 27 grams fat.
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My husband and I got married in Jamaica, and even before that, I had a soft spot for Jamaican food. I love the blend of spices, and the heat doesn’t drown out the flavor, it enhances it. When we were down there, I ate jerk chicken or pork almost every day, and eventually when I feel like making it again, I’ll also post my jerk pork recipe. But today is something different.
This recipe is inspired by one I found on a sadly now-defunct recipe website called Jamaican It Paleo several years ago. It was a delightfully spicy chicken curry stew with greens and sweet potatoes, and while it took forever to make, I ate it frequently. Obviously, once I switched over to keto, that stew became off-limits because of the sweet potato. I always meant to try to recreate it without the sweet potato, but I haven’t gotten around to it until now.
There are several keys to this recipe that I’ll mention in here. The first is the Jamaican curry spice. This is not the same as regular curry powder, so don’t substitute that. I am lucky to have a local spice market that carries it, so I just use that. If you buy yours, just make sure the mix doesn’t contain added sugar! If you can’t find it, there are multiple recipes online. This one seems to be pretty standard. All of the ingredients except for the fenugreek can usually be found in your local grocery store. The fenugreek can easily be found in an Indian grocery, as it’s frequently used in Indian food as well. You’ll need 1/4 cup of the spice blend for this recipe. The other key is what you do with it. Most recipes just call for adding the spices in after the meat cooks. You’ll want to coat the meat with it and let it sit and marinate for at least a couple of hours. The longer you let it sit, the more flavorful your end product will be.
So now that you know the crucial deets, let’s get started on the actual recipe. Cube 3 pounds of chicken breasts into bite-sized chunks, then put it in a gallon-sized Ziploc bag and toss in 1/4 cup of Jamaican curry powder. Make sure all the pieces are coated, and put it in the fridge for at least 2 hours. When you’re ready to cook it, set your Instant Pot to saute and add 2 tablespoons of avocado or coconut oil. You’ll want to cook the chicken in two or three batches. They don’t need to get brown and crusty, they just need to cook part-way and toast the spices. Stir them frequently, as the batches might be large enough that not every piece touches the bottom of the Instant Pot very well. Each batch should take about 6-7 minutes max.
The first batch of spiced chicken cooking in the Instant Pot.
While the first batch is cooking, chop half a medium onion, and, using gloves, remove the stem and seeds of one Scotch bonnet or habanero pepper and mince it finely. If you have ventilation in your kitchen, turn it on, and if not, open a window. Remove the first batch of chicken, add two more tablespoons of oil, and put in the second batch of chicken along with the onion and pepper. When it’s close to done, add a tablespoon of garlic and saute for another minute, then stir in a cup of chicken broth and scrape up all the lovely brown spices from the bottom of the pot. Add a can of coconut milk and set the pot for the Soup setting, or for about 30 minutes if your pressure cooker doesn’t have that particular setting. Allow for ten minutes of natural release, then use the quick release after that.
During the ten minutes of natural release, tear a bunch of collard greens into bite size pieces, making sure to remove the thick stems, then wash them in a salad spinner. If you can find callaloo, use it instead of the collard greens, as it’s much more authentic. I didn’t feel like hunting it down, so collard greens it was. Once the Instant Pot is able to be opened, add the collard greens to the chicken, stir them to wilt, then put the lid back on and pressure cook for another 5 minutes. Use the quick release, add up to two teaspoons of salt, and you have your stew. Serve it on its own or over cauliflower rice. Be careful dishing it up, especially if you have white countertops like I do, because the turmeric in the curry powder can stain. For the non-keto folks in your life, this would be great over mashed sweet potatoes or with some fried ripe plantains. This is one of those meals that ends up better after it sits overnight, so it’s perfect for meal-prep.
Instant Pot Jamaican Chicken Curry
A keto Jamaican stew made in the Instant Pot, with healthy leafy greens.
3poundsboneless, skinless chicken thighscut into bite-sized pieces
1/4cupJamaican curry powdersee notes above
1/2mediumonionchopped
1Scotch bonnet or habanero pepperstemmed, seeded, and minced
1tbspminced garlic
1cupchicken broth
1canfull-fat coconut milk
1bunchcollard greens or callaloo
2tspsalt
Instructions
Cut up the chicken thighs and put the pieces in a gallon-sized Ziploc bag. Add the curry powder and toss the chicken to make sure all the pieces are coated. Put the chicken in the fridge for at least two hours to marinate.
Set your Instant Pot to saute and add two tablespoons of avocado or coconut oil. Put 1/3 to 1/2 of the chicken in the pot and saute, turning frequently, for about 6-7 minutes. Remove from pot and add two more tablespoons of oil, then add the remaining chicken along with the chopped onion and pepper. Repeat, then add the garlic and saute for about a minute.
When the final batch of chicken is done, return the first batch to the pot, then add the chicken broth. Stir to scrape up the toasted spices from the bottom of the pot. When that's complete, stir in a can of coconut milk. Set the Instant Pot on the Soup setting, or for 30 minutes on high pressure. When the timer is finished, wait ten minutes, then use the quick release method.
During the ten minutes of natural release, remove the collard green leaves from the thick center stem and tear them into tiny pieces. Rinse them in a salad spinner. Once you've opened the Instant Pot, put in the collard greens, stir them a bit so they begin to wilt, and then put the lid back on and pressure cook for another five minutes. Use quick release to open the cooker again and add the salt, being careful to taste after the first teaspoon to see if you need more. Serve by itself or over cauliflower rice.
Macros per serving: 463 calories, 7 grams net carbs, 33 grams protein, 33 grams fat.
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