This stuffed cabbage rolls recipe is one I enjoyed from my grandma’s kitchen for years and years.
Tender cabbage leaves are filled with a beef and rice mixture and baked in with a simple tomato sauce.
This dish can be made ahead of time and reheats and freezes well.
Types of Cabbage Rolls
This cabbage rolls’ recipe comes from my grandma and my mom. My grandma immigrated from Poland so we have enjoyed many cabbage dishes or even just simple fried cabbage. Between pierogi and rouladen, Grandma’s kitchen always smelled incredible and there was always something amazing to eat!
There are many many different ways to make cabbage rolls based on family tradition and location. Polish cabbage rolls usually contain meat and rice while the Ukrainian version my friend Penny makes generally contain only rice.
While some add raw meat and rice and cook them with the cabbage, our family has always pre-cooked the rice and meat.
Ingredients in Cabbage Rolls
Cabbage
We use a head of regular green cabbage and boil it in a large pot of water to make it tender. Many people freeze the whole head of cabbage and thaw it to eliminate the boiling step but I find the cabbage isn’t as tender this way.
Meat Mixture
My grandmother always used pork in her cabbage rolls so I use a mixture of beef and pork. You can use just one or the other (or any ground meat). Cooked long-grain white rice is added to the meat along with an egg to help it hold together.
Sauce
Most Polish cabbage roll recipes are covered in tomato sauce or tomato juice. We love the addition of a can of tomato soup to tomato sauce. It may not be typical but it softens & sweetens the sauce slightly and tastes delicious!
How to Make Cabbage Rolls
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Boil cabbage until tender.
- Cook rice slightly undercooked per the recipe below. Brown the ground beef and pork while the rice is cooking. Combine remaining filling ingredients
- Add the filling to cabbage leaves and roll. Place seam side down in a casserole dish.
- Top with the sauce and bake.
Tips for Great Cabbage Rolls
- For the most tender cabbage leaves, boil them in salted water.
- Cut 1/2 inch off the head of cabbage, the leaves will fall off as they cook.
- Once boiled, use a small knife to cut the thick stem of the leaf (image above).
- Overlap smaller leaves and fill, even if they’re not pretty, they’ll cook perfectly.
- You may have leftover filling depending on the size of your cabbage. Extra filling can be added to tomato soup, or stuffed in zucchini or bell peppers.
- Cabbage rolls can be frozen before or after baking.
More From Grandma’s Kitchen
- Homemade Pierogi
- Cabbage and Noodles
- Creamy Cucumber Salad
- American Goulash Recipe
- Beef Rouladen
- Homemade Borscht
Did you make these cabbage rolls? Leave a comment and rating below!
Easy Cabbage Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 head green cabbage
- 1 cup uncooked rice
- 1 pound ground pork (or ground turkey)
- ½ pound ground beef
- 2 small onions diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon dill weed
- 3 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 can diced tomatoes (14 ounces) with juices
- 1 egg
- 1 ½ cups + ⅓ cup tomato sauce divided
- 1 can tomato soup 10.5 ounces
Instructions
- Boil cabbage leaves for about 2 minutes or until soft. (See note below for removing leaves). Set aside to cool.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Cook rice according to package directions but reduce cooking time by 5 minutes so the rice is slightly underdone. Set aside.
- Cook pork (or turkey), beef, onions, garlic, & seasonings in a pan until no pink remains. Drain any fat. Add in rice, diced tomatoes, & ⅓ cup of tomato sauce. Stir in egg.
- Mix remaining tomato sauce and tomato soup in a bowl. Spread a very thin layer of the tomato sauce mixture in a 9x13 pan.
- Remove or thin any thick stem on cabbage leaves. Lay the cabbage leaf flat and add ¼ to ⅓ cup filling to the center of the leaf. Fold in the sides and roll the cabbage up. Place seam side down in the pan. (See note for small leaves). Repeat with remaining cabbage.
- Pour sauce over the cabbage and cover tightly with foil. Bake for 75-90 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Once boiled, use a small knife to cut the thick stem off the leaf (image above).
- Overlap smaller leaves and fill, even if they're not pretty, they'll cook perfectly.
- You may have leftover filling depending on the size of your cabbage. Extra filling can be added to tomato soup, or stuffed in zucchini or bell peppers.
- Cabbage rolls can be frozen before or after baking.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Beef, Casserole, Dinner
Cuisine Polish© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
I made a few changed a few things, I freeze my cabbage for 24 hours, thaw, don’t need to boil, and i don’t like dill so i omitted it over all a great recipe
My husband was very excited to eat these. He’s half Polish and said they were very much like his mom’s method, from pre-cooking the filling to tomato soup on top. He rolled them for me. He actually suggested adding some cream to the sauce. That was probably the Italian half talking ;) Thanks to Holly for the recipe and for answering my question about the soup!
Enjoy the recipe Tricia! Can’t wait to hear how it turns out.
Should the tomato soup be the condensed kind?
Yes it should be condensed, you do not need to add liquid, use it condensed.
Made this recipe for dinner this evening. thought my Father-in-Law and husband was going to the whole thing !highly recommend. mi
Good receipe
Greetings y’all finally a great recipe ,been trying to make moms recipe for 20 years and finally yours tastes closest to Hers ,thank you , outrageous
Great. Froze very well too.
I’m curious why you chose to cook the meat first. Almost no other recipe I found online does this and some say that it dries it out. Haven’t tried it yet either way.
This is how my grandmother has always prepared cabbage rolls.
Thank you awesome cabbage roll recipe just like Mom made.
Absolutely delicious. I didn’t realise before that you had some Polish blood in you. I have made many recipes of yours and love Polish cuisine so I’m going to look through more of your recipes now. You have inspired me. Thank you so much.
Easy recipe. I added a sprinkle of cayenne in my mix. Took me a little longer to prep, only because it was family time and had to take my turn at Srabble. Wonderful meal.
theres a problem with your setup when printing a recipe
lest say i do this recipe which i treid three times to print heres how it looks
Easy Cabbage Roll
Prep time 45 mintues
Cook time 1 hour 15 mintues
total time 2 hours
servings 6 servings
AUTHOR Holly Nillson
Homemade cabbage rolls are so flavorful & filling. With meat, rice, sauce, and cabage, they’re just like grandma used to make!
Ingredients
. 1 head green cabbage
. 1 cup uncooked rice
. 1 pound ground pork
instructions
(prints out blank instructions)
Notes
To remove…etc
Hi Gregory, we have tried printing this recipe a few separate times and we can’t recreate this issue. I am sorry I can’t offer more assistance.
THE EASIEST recipie . I toasted the rice with olive oil In a skillet 1st
I used 1 cup of crushed tomatoes and used more salt in the filling alone with garlic powder
sooo delish . My family ate 24 rolls
This is now my weekly winter staple
This recipe was a hit at my home and my dad and his wife. So very delicious and very filling.
easy and yummy 5 ⭐
The sauce and the filling were delicious!! My cabbage leaves were chewy. Not sure what I did wrong. :-(
Oh no, I am sorry to hear that Robyn. Did you boil the cabbage leaves? That helps to soften them and keep them from getting chewy.
I like the simplicity of this recipe and I think the garlic adds extra flavour.
Thank you for sharing!
I use the small and broken leaves to line the bottom of the casserole dish. This prevents the cabbage rolls from sticking or browning. Also tastes delicious and there’s no wasted cabbage.
Such a great idea! Thanks for sharing.
Can I use purple cabbage instead?
You should be able to without any changes. Enjoy Jayne!
all her recipes aer great..and not too complicated