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.
I made these tonight, minus the final step of actually putting them in the oven and have them in the casserole dish ready to cook tomorrow. I can’t wait to eat them! I made a few adjustments with spices and kept tasting the filing as I went along and the filling was delicious so I’m sure they will be even better after they are baked! Thank you for the recipe!!
I love making these. It’s just my brother and I but I make about 50 in two large crock pots and layer them with the sauce. I then cook on low for 8 hrs. and when they are cooled enough I put about 4 each in a zip lock freezer bag with some sauce and freeze them. They go great with garlic bread. Thanks for the recipe.
Tasted great.
But, if you can prep this in 35 minutes I would be surprised. Took me 1 hr 15 min. and I wasn’t dawdling at all.
i don’t know what the beef ones taste like but i made myself ones without meat and they’re good ! put some sour cream on top. yum!
Do these freeze well?
They do! You can freeze them before or after baking with great results.
Love experimenting with different culture take on stuffed cabbage rolls. Curious what your thoughts are on fermented cabbage rolls VS fresh?
Thanks
I haven’t tried it but sounds delicious! Let us know how it works out for you!
I’m figuring the egg is for binding… any substitute? My son is allergic.
Yes, the egg is for binding. You can leave it out in this recipe (or add a touch of bread crumbs if you’d like).
Whether or not we use eggs, the cabbage rolls turn out wonderfully. This is an excellent recipe.
Hi Lo,
My Grandma taught me that eggs and bread crumbs was commonly used in ground meat only because they purchased large amounts ( 1/2 cows etc.) that were then frozen, for the year. It also allowed them to used a little less meat, to fill their bellies, because bread is a tasteless filler. Fresh meat binds on its own very easily and can well do without the extra calories of bread crumbs. More cabbage rolls , PLEASE. Oh yes, I will make these for sure!
I made them for supper. That were delicious everyone loved them. The best I have tasted.
My family loved these!! Thank you!!
Just terrible
Sorry, it didn’t work out for you.
I made these for Canadian Thanksgiving and it was the absolute highlight. My in laws loved them so much they keep asking me to make them. I made them today, gonna be dropping some off for the inlaws! Easy preparation and super tasty!
hi there, when do you add the parsley..is it a garnish or chopped fine into the mix? thx
The parsley is added in step 4 along with the seasonings. Enjoy Jason!
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!! I love Golabkis! I think we use ground veal and poultry seasoning in addition to the rest of your ingredients. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome Christina!
Anyone know if these freeze well?? I’m a single guy and have been craving these. It’s snowing here in South Dakota and what better way to warm up! Thanks for posting and looking forward to a hearty dinner!
Aaron, you can freeze these either before or after baking. They freeze well. Enjoy!
Thank you you recipes are divine, good to know how Polish make Cabbage rolls
everyone makes them different, my Mum makes it with sour Cabbage and mixes meat, rice garlic pieces of smoke bacon and Hungarian sweet paprika etc all raw and rolls in Cabbage on bottom she puts rinds or bacon bones and on top she puts pieces of Cabbage on top and covers with water and cooks for awhile and at end makes a roux, flour and paprika, you can do it in oven or stove top, mum even puts some made from Spinach because my brother did not like Cabbage
My boss is from Macedonia and made it for my son but it was meatless, Slavic countries all make but it is all different, even my mother and mother in -law made it different. Thank you you make it easy
Your Mom’s version sounds delicious Vickie, thank you for sharing with us!
Hi Vickie Many thanx for sharing your traditional version of delicious cabbage rolls ! .. You had me at “roux” and I am thinking of New Mexican cuisine with the roux consisting of flour, olive oil, and red Chile powder uhhh yumm !!
I think I’m in love with your boss from Macedonia preparing Vegan for your son as it is so much healthier, planet sustainable, and simply just HUMANE
Thank you ‘Holly’ for putting vintage cabbage rolls back on the menu ☺️ !! !
Love cabbage rolls. So happy you are enjoying the recipe!
Hi I’m going to make thus recipe on weekend I love saurkraut with can I add it to your recipe have u ever tried it Thanks Terry
Sounds delicious but I haven’t tried it. Let us know how it goes!
You show nine rolls in your. 9×13 pan. I have using your recommendations of 1/3 cups per roll 25 cabbage rolls? Do you have two layers? Is this going to be enough sauce
I do only one single layer and generally have enough sauce for the layer. If you have extra filling, it can be cooked on its own or layered with leftover cabbage.
Can I cook the cabbage rolls ahead of time, and then reheat later same day ? Will they become soggy ? Want to bring these to thanksgiving.
Hi Sarah, you definitely should be able to cook them and reheat later that day, I don’t think they would get soggy. Let us know how they turn out!
These cabbage rolls were delicious . I quadrupled the recipe to make a large batch to freeze. What I need to know is how long to reheat, and at what temperature to cook after I have defrosted a batch. Thank you so.mich for your help
Hi Joanne, if the cabbage rolls are fully thawed you should be able to cook as per recipe instructions.
If I’m planning to freeze & bake later ~ should I par bake prior to freezing or bake completely?
You can freeze these either before or after baking.
First of all, I love the fact that you have nutrition information, specifically carbohydrates, as I need toy count them because I have Type 1 diabetes and to give myself insulin based on serving size and number of carbohydrate I am going to consume. I don’t see serving size. Is it two caggabe rolls, or 3 or 5? Perhaps I am overlooking something? I have tried many of your recipes and have really enjoed every one so far. Thank you!
The exact number of cabbage rolls per serving will depend on the size of your cabbage, and how many you make with the cabbage. Take the total number that you make and divide by 6 servings. Nutrition information is an estimate and varies based on the exact ingredients you use. You may want to try a calculator like My Fitness Pal (which is free) and plug in your exact ingredients for a closer estimate. Hope that helps!
Have made twice & love this recipe! Only difference, I use my Instapot to boil water, I slice the end of the cabbage and w/tongs remove leaf by leaf in no time! I do have a ??? though. Serving it to friends tonight. What would be a great side and best type of salad???
Thank you for sharing your tip! I hope your friends enjoyed the cabbage rolls. I serve this with a fresh salad, most often dill salad with lemon vinaigrette.