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!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 head green cabbage
- 1 cup long grain white rice uncooked
- 1 pound lean ground pork or ground turkey
- ½ pound lean ground beef
- 2 small yellow onions diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon dried dill
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley or, 1 tablespoons dried parsley
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 (14.5 ounce each) can diced tomatoes with juices
- 1 egg
- 1 ¾ cups tomato sauce divided
- 1 (10.75 ounce each) can condensed tomato soup
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, and ⅓ cup of tomato sauce. Stir in egg.
- Mix the 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.
This will make a great Keto friendly recipe. All I have to do is remove the rice and we are all set. Thank you. Great recipe, clear instructions and beautiful photos. Gosh have I got a craving now.
Enjoy it!
Cinnamon Vogue ~ Just so you know, you can use Miracle Noodle Rice in place of regular rice. Miracle Noodles are actually called shirataki noodles, which are derived from the Konjac plant. You should be able to find them at any health-conscious market (PCC in the Seattle area, Whole Foods, etc., but you can also find them online at Vitacost, Thrive Market, Lucky Vitamin, and Swanson Vitamins). Miracle Noodles come in various forms (spaghetti, fettuccini, angel hair, and rice). Google them and check them out. This is a HUGE find for peeps steering clear of pasta and rice. And they are SUPER easy peasy to use. Cheers. :)
Thank you for the tip Dana!
You can also use riced cauliflower. I have used it in a few recipes & I can’t tell a difference.
That’s a great idea for a low carb substitution Holly! Thanks for sharing!
I made them keto friendly and used cauliflower rice!
My mother made these in Dutch oven pot on top of stove. She also added lemons and sugar. A sweet and sour sauce. Really good. Held cabbage with toothpicks. Served with rice.
That sounds yummy! Thank you for sharing Jeanne!
Is the tomato soup condensed?
Yes the soup is condensed soup. You do not need to dilute it.
How many cabbage rolls did you get out of this recipe? I left out the rice and tomatoe soup bc I’m low carb’n it. I got 8 rolls by following your recipe. I see it serves 6, just want to know if 1 serving is 1 or 2 rolls. Thanks.
This recipe made 12 cabbage rolls for me, so 2 per serving. Yours are just a bit bigger than mine were I guess :) So one serving would be about 1½ of your rolls. Enjoy Toni!
Toni, you can check out Holly’s Easy Low Carb website for more low carb recipes!
Use cauliflower rice You have to cook it by it self then squeeze out the water then add it to recipe
Regarding the soup. We don’t eat many processed foods especially canned soups as most contain ridiculously high amounts of sodium along with other unfavorable ingredients (natural flavors for one, which is an MSG alias. MSG is an excitotoxin, which means it overstimulates brains cells to death. Most people are unaware of this. There are over 100 MSG aliases hidden in processed foods). Is there a healthy, minimally processed tomato soup perhaps we don’t know about? Thanks in advance.
I would suggest looking for an organic or MSG free soup and checking the ingredients list to see if it is a fit for your personal choices.
The problem is (with most processed foods) the MSG aliases are just that. Aliases. They won’t disclose that it is MSG. These are ingredients listed under different names SNUCK in as one thing when it’s actually MSG (hence ‘hidden’ under different names). This is why it’s good to steer clear of most processed foods. I’ll most likey have to leave this out or juice my own tomatoes and use that. Well, thanks anyway.
In this case it might be best to skip the canned soups and create your own homemade tomato sauce. I hope you enjoy the recipe!
If it were not for the pork, this might be a kosher recipe. This is a traditional stuffed cabbage recipe that has been honored for many years. It is my favorite way to make cabbage rolls. Glad you posted it.
Thank you!
Made these tonight and they were the BEST cabbage rolls I’ve ever had! I used only fresh made sausage bc that was all I had but followed everything else and they turned out so good! The tip for cooking the cabbage helped big time too!!! Thanks for the recipe
I’m so glad you loved them!
So good especially the next day. I used stewed tomatoes crushed by hand in the meat mixture gave a sweetness & used crushed tomatoes with the soup to pour over. Everything else the same. I will try the freeze of the cabbage head next though. Thanks for sharing..yummy!
You’re welcome Donna! Happy to hear that you love :)
I could not find the “note” on small cabbage leaves. The recipe is close to my mothers and sounds be a winner.
Sorry about that! If you have some smaller leaves and still have filling leftover just overlap the leaves as needed. The rolls will still cook up perfectly.
Wow! Best ever. I did make a few exchanges; I used a meatloaf blend that our local Stater Bros markets carry for the meat, which provided a perfect blend of spices, and used a spicy red pepper pasta sauce. Served over a bed of Basamati steamed rice and everyone just loved it. Thanks!
Great time saver! I’ll have to look for a meatloaf blend, I’ve never heard of it!
can I leave out the diced tomatoes or substitute something else?
I have only made the recipe as written.
My Mom passed away last year but my sister’s and I have her recipes which we love to make and share. The ‘old recipes ‘ are truly a treasure. I started a cookbook of my own several years ago. I’ve tweaked a few of my Mom’s recipes which stuffed cabbage was one. My Mom approved, much to my delight. I now make them for other’s with the ‘original story of my Mom’. If you have a ‘family recipe’ please write it down to share with future generations, otherwise, they will be buried with you…
Such a special memory! I agree, family recipes are such a treasure.
Cabbage roll lasagna
Cook onion and bell pepper with ground sausage and ground Chuck beef. drain grease set a side. Pour grease in pot for cabbage. Peel cabbage head. boil for 10-12 min
Set a side. Keep broth for rice. (Measure and add to pot for rice. Prepare one box of Zatarain’s Jambalaya rice. With Frozen mixed vegetables. When cooked set aside. Take 1cup broth mix and 3 cups spaghetti sauce of choice. Add 2 eggs to mixture. Set aside.
In baking pan pour a thin base of sauce. Layer cabbage. Meat.rice. shredded cheese. A bit more sauce. Layer again cabbage. Meat. Rice. Cheese pour the remainder of the sauce mixed. Bake 15-20 mins 400° measurements to desired taste.
Very yummy.
Sounds delicious!
Made this recipe yesterday, and it turned out super tasty. I only used 1lb ground pork, as I didnt have any ground beef, I increased the dill (actually I used dill seed), I added more fresh parsley, I omitted the can of tomato soup, I added 3 diced, fresh tomatoes (as they were staring me in the face on my counter), I added roasted garlic/red pepper spice, and finally, I didnt precook the rice (used white basmati) but simply increased the liquid and simmered the rice with the cooked pork, while the cabbage was boiling (so the rice was basically al dente when I stuffed the cabbage leaves).
And voilà, the result was great! Thanks so much Holly!
So glad you enjoyed it Katherine!
I am lookin my at this recipe, and wonder if everything is already cooked except the egg, why is the cook time so long? I have sen recipes that stuff the cabbage leaves with a RAW meat mixture, and cook 45-60 min at the same temp. IS there a reason? Thanks!
To soften the cabbage and blend the flavors… that’s how my Grandma made it. :)
My recipe also calls for the meat to be raw in the cabbage rolls. My family put uncooked Minute Rice in the meat. My recipe got destroyed a decade ago. I was hesitant to go completely by memory so thank you for posting this recipe. It has always been a hit!
You’re welcome Patty! I’m so happy you found the recipe you’ve been looking for!
I’m just curious why the long cook time since everything is already cooked?
It blends the flavors and the cabbage is softened but not quite cooked.
These were very good! I just made a couple of changes. I used pork sausage instead of ground pork, one part sausage to two parts ground beef. Did not include the diced tomatoes, and did not cook the meat but mixed the raw beef and sausage with the cooked rice, onions and garlic. Also, I added 1-2 tsp. of worcestershire sauce to the tomato mixture. My grandmothers recipe is very similar (she was Slovak), but instead of a red sauce called for sauerkraut and a bacon and onion gravy. Both versions are delicious!
Thank you for sharing your tips, I’ll have to try pork sausage in this recipe!
The cabbage rolls were fantastic!
Too much rice! Should have only used 1/2 cup uncooked rice, not one full cup!
As rice is the main filling on this recipe, it should have quite a bit. Depending on the size of your head of cabbage you may have extra filing leftover.
My mama made cabbage rolls often and so delicious… Only difference in recipes above is that she did not cook the rice first and rolled it up raw… The rice cooked perfectly with the meat in 90 minutes! One less step. She also used 1 can of tomato juice to simmer in. Super delicious!
What a great tip for saving time on cabbage rolls! Thank you for sharing!
just substituted ketchup for pasta or tomato sauce. more like my mom used to make. really good stuff
I am so glad you were able to make this recipe like your mom used to!
Can i make this recipe by doing everything the same but not cook the meat and spices first? Can i just mix the uncooked meat with the other ingredients and put the uncooked mixture into the cabbage rolls and bake?
I haven’t tried this recipe without cooking the meat first so i can’t say for sure how it would work.