Stuffed Cabbage Rolls – cabbage leaves stuffed with rice and ground pork with a tangy and spicy tomato based sauce seasoned with herbs and spices. A great make-ahead weeknight meal or for special gathering
Aside from spinach, cabbage makes it to my top 5 favorite leafy vegetables. Although it’s kinda tricky to work on it sometimes, I’d still put down my skillet for cabbages. I usually saute them and tossed them with other ingredients, either meat or veggies, just like this Caribbean Corn Beef and Cabbage and this popular Southern Fried Cabbage.
But this Stuffed Cabbage Rolls has been a new favorite to me. It is pure comfort and pretty creative to serve when you have guests coming over.
You will love how deeply flavored the stuffing is – it’s a meal on its own! Wrapping it in soft cabbage leaves make it a healthy-ish choice for a weeknight meal. Can well all just agree as early as now how creative this Stuffed Cabbage Rolls are?
This dish is said to originate in parts of Europe, Iran, West Asia and Northern China with a variety of fillings and were either baked, simmered or steamed with an accompaniment of a sauce.
In some places, these stuffed cabbage rolls are also known as “pigs in a blanket” and also “Jewish cabbage”. Here in the U.S., cabbage rolls are prominent in Cajuns and Louisiana Creoles in the southern part of the country where they are filled with ground pork, rice and chopped vegetables and stuffed into parboiled cabbage leaves with a tomato-based sauce.
How long to cook cabbage?
While others would simply place the whole cabbage in the freezer and thaw it to soften, I do love mine parboiled. In this recipe, I boiled a raw cabbage for about 4-5 minutes, remove from the stove and pour in hot water and add ice water. Just enough to hold the filling without easily tearing off.
When tossed into the tomato sauce mixture, I let the stuffed cabbage cooked undisturbed until tender for about 35-40 minutes over medium-low heat.
You’ll definitely going to love the soft cabbage leaves wrapping a roll of well-seasoned ground meat, rice and veggies. And the sauce? It’s a winner! Here I used my favorite homemade Creole Seasoning HERE to add depth in flavor and dash of cayenne pepper for an added heat. Oh boy, I just wanna smother an entire plate of rice with this sauce.
This would also be a perfect centerpiece on St. Patrick’s day, if you’re in the U.S. Serve it alongside with this Oven Roast Red Potatoes HERE. Happy cooking!
Tips and Notes:
- You can replace ground pork with beef or a half of both.
- For a low carb option, you may replace rice with cauliflower rice. It’d still taste good!
- Store leftovers in airtight containers and place in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- You can make the sauce and stuffed cabbage ahead of time stored separately and placed in the fridge for up to a day ahead.
- If desired chop the remaining cabbage , saute with salt and pepper , then serve with the cabbage .
Stuffed Cabbage Rolls – cabbage leaves stuffed with rice and ground pork with a tangy and spicy tomato based sauce seasoned with herbs and spices. A great make-ahead weeknight meal or for special gathering.
- 10-12 Cabbage Leaves
- ½ pound (226.8 g) ground pork (replace with beef)
- 1 Tablespoon (8.4 g) minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon (2.1 g) smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons (1.6 g) thyme
- ⅓ cup (38.3 g) finely chopped onions
- 1 Large egg
- 1 teaspoon (5.7 g) salt (adjust to taste)
- ½ teaspoon (1.3 g) Chicken bouillon
- 1 1/2 teaspoon (2.7 g) white pepper
- 2 tablespoons (7.6 g) parsley
- ⅓ cup (85 g) cooked rice
- ½ cup (75 g) diced onion
- 1 teaspoon (.80 g) thyme
- 2 teaspoons (9.4 g) minced garlic
- ½- 1 15 ounce canned tomato Sauce
- 1 teaspoon (0.9 g) creole seasoning
- 1 teaspoon (1.8 g) white pepper
- ½ teaspoon (0.9 g) cayenne pepper to taste (optional)
- 1 teaspoon (2.1 g) smoked paprika
- 1/4 cup (45 g) chopped green pepper
- 1-2 teaspoon beef or chicken bouillon (optional)
- 1 -2 cups (240 g) chicken broth
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Fill a large pot with water. Carefully remove core from head of cabbage, discard leaves that are discolored or torn.
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Add raw cabbage and boil for about 4-5 minutes or until leaves are pliable tender. Remove from stove , then pour hot water out and add ice water , let it cool.
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Once cooled remove about 10-12 cabbage leaves. If desired use a paring knife to cut away the thick center stem from each leaf, without cutting all the way through- makes it easier when folding. Set Aside.
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In a large bowl, combine ground beef and pork, then add garlic , paprika, onions egg, salt ,white pepper, parsley , chicken or beef bouillon and rice . Mix well.
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Place about ¼ -⅓ cup of meat mixture in center of each cabbage leaf, and tightly roll up, tucking in ends. Secure with toothpicks .Repeat process until all the meat mixture is used up. Set aside.
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In a large saucepan, add about 1/4 cup oil, bring to medium heat.
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Add chopped onion, thyme and garlic to the oil, stir for about a minute.
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Next add tomato sauce, creole seasoning , white pepper, cayenne pepper and paprika. Stir the pot frequently to prevent the sauce from sticking to the pot.
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Add salt and bouillon according to preference with about 2 cups of stock. Bring to a boil and let it simmer to blend all the flavors- about 15 minutes or more –stirring occasionally. Salt and adjust seasonings.
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When the sauce .is ready, place the stuffed cabbage seam-side down in single layer in the sauce. Spoon some of the sauce over the top of the stuffed cabbage so that they’re covered. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat undisturbed until tender , about 35-40 minutes.
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Place the cabbage rolls, seam-side down, on top of the tomato sauce (I used a 12 inch pan) or a casserole dish , if using one (9″ × 13″ baking dish would work), seam side bake at 350 degrees F until filling is cooked through, about 45 minutes, or until tender.
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Serve warm with rice.
How to Make Cabbage Rolls
Fill a large pot with water.Carefully remove core from head of cabbage, discard leaves that are discolored or torn.
Add raw cabbage and boil for about 4-5 minutes or until leaves are pliable tender. Remove from stove , then pour hot water out and add ice water , let it cool. Once cooled remove about 10-12 cabbage leaves .If desired use a paring knife to cut away the thick center stem from each leaf, without cutting all the way through- makes it easier when folding . Set Aside.
In a large bowl, combine ground beef and pork, then add garlic , paprika, onions egg, salt ,white pepper , parsley , chicken or beef bouillon and rice . Mix well.
Place about ¼ -⅓ cup of meat mixture in center of each cabbage leaf, and tightly roll up, tucking in ends.
Secure with toothpicks .Repeat process until all the meat mixture is used up. Set aside
In a large saucepan, add about 1/4 cup oil, bring to medium heat. Add chopped onion, thyme and garlic to the oil, stir for about a minute. Next add tomato sauce, creole seasoning , white pepper, cayenne pepper and paprika. Stir the pot frequently to prevent the sauce from sticking to the pot.
Add salt and bouillon according to preference with about 2 cups of stock. Bring to a boil and let it simmer to blend all the flavors- about 15 minutes or more –stirring occasionally. Salt and adjust seasonings.
When the sauce .is ready, place the stuffed cabbage seam-side down in single layer in the sauce.
Spoon some of the sauce over the top of the stuffed cabbage so that they’re covered. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat undisturbed until tender , about 35-40 minutes.
Delicious! I grew up eating cabbage rolls but have never made them myself. I decided to try making them using your recipe and they turned out so good! I didn’t have all the ingredients listed, so I left the ones I didn’t have out, but the cabbage rolls still turned out great! Thank you, Imma!
I absolutely love Cabbage rolls! I am so glad you were able to make it work with the ingredients you had and it was still a hit! Thanks for stopping by, Chanty!
Do I cook the meat and rice before I stuffed the cabbage or no
Hi, Jay. You use cooked rice and raw ground pork or beef. Mix it up along with other spices and seasonings and stuff it in the cabbage rolls. Next, cook the tomato sauce as per direction then when the sauce is ready you simmer the cabbage rolls in it or bake them, whichever you prefer. Hope this clarifies everything. Enjoy!
This is delicious, as someone coming from a Polish family I am still always looking for ways to spice things up and the blend of spices in this dish are delicious. I never liked Golabki with a more plain tomato sauce as a kid. Anyone not willing to try a different variation is just missing out for sure! My husband was obsessed with these!
Polish Golabki prepared the same way with ground beef or pork and rice, egg and onion rolled inside a cabbage leaf with tomato sauce or soup or crushed tomatoes are the original and do not need to be doctored up with various spices. or other ingredients to change them. We do not want ours to taste like caribbean or Louisiana style.
Thanks for sharing
Well, I personally like a little spice and enjoy the change. Fusing cultures produce the best foods. Sometimes polish food is as bland as commenters like Dee.
Hi,
im just wondering when you cook them do you leave the toothpicks in or do you remove just before you put them in the sauce?
🙂 thank you.
Hi, Lucy. You leave the toothpicks on and remove it after cooking them.
Am trying this tonight. Love to try new recipes.
What size can of tomatoe sauce? Regular or large 28oz?
15 ounce canned tomatoe sauce
I cant fund a temp to bake it at. Please help
Bake at 350 Degrees F.
I made this tonight as part of our annual New Year’s Food Tradition (was looking for a new way to incorporate cabbage to serve alongside the collard greens because some people like them and others don’t!) and I have to say that this recipe is to die for! Thank you so much for sharing!
Awww. Thank you for the kind words, Madeleine. Glad you love it.
I thought tasted so good and husband and 5 year old liked. I left out the cayenne. I was intimidated to mate at first but was pretty easy. I didn’t have toothpicks and not a problem.
Made a vegan version of this and it was delicious!!!
Glad you like it, Bianca. 🙂
How do i make a vegan dish of this recipe.
Just fill the cabbage leaves with vegetables instead of meat. Cook@ 350° till tender
Good luck
Make this quite often to feed a crowd. I use tomato paste & V-8 juice and a tsp of sugar, then add spices and fresh garlic & minced onion, for the sauce. Can also go vegan and I use 2 boxes of Knorrs Farfel in place of meat. Add veggies like grated carrots, celery & parsnips, and rice. Delish!
Thank you for sharing, Marlene.
Hi, love the sounds of this recipe but couldn’t find the oven temperature. Can’t wait to try this though.
It’s 350 degrees F.
I made these for my special aunt’s birthday…. so delicious. I only had sweet paprika so I used some of that with Aleppo pepper and cut out cayenne since she can’t deal with too spicy. I didn’t have creole spice so I just looked up creole spice and added those individually. Seemed to work. But I want to follow recipe explicitly next time too :). Cannot wait to try more recipes.
Thanks for letting me know, Renee. Can’t wait for you to try some of my recipes, too. 🙂
Hi Imma, I’m planning on making this soon. Just making sure, it only calls for 1/2 pound of meat, correct? Also, what chicken and/or beef bouillon brand do you use? I have both Maggi and Better than Bouillon on hand.
Thanks!
Thanks for a great recipe! I made a mistake and added the green pepper to the filling… It was still yum. I used a mix of pork and beef mince. This was the first time I cooked cabbage rolls and I have to say that they were divine. My husband hates cabbage but enjoyed these. I didn’t have access to creole seasoning so added a little hit of peri peri. These were amazing! Thanks for sharing.
The peri peri replacement is brilliant! Glad you and your husband love it, Knicky! Thank you for stopping by. =)
Please can you suggest an alternative to Creole seasoning. Spice easily obtainable in Nigeria. I would like to give this a try. Thank you.
Hi, Nsa, you can leave out the creole seasoning or sub it with an Old Bay seasoning. Please let me know how it turns out for you.
came out very good. i used ground Turkey. the meat did come out a bit soft. but was cocked. i must have done something wrong. i heard turkey wont always firm up. is there a way to make meat firmer
Sorry to hear that the meat came out a bit soft. I haven’t tried it with ground turkey, but I’ve read somewhere that turkey is fattier compared to lean ground pork.
Seriously, you are my favourite chef . I’ve made over 20 of your recipes and every single one has me feeling like a gourmet chef . My boyfriend thinks I’m an amazing cook because of you ahahahaha . Thanks 🙂 keep them coming . I love every single one !
P.s. if you can please make a mustard chicken recipe that would be amazing ! Thanks !
I’ll do my very best!
20? Oh Yes! Am doing a happy dance JR. So happy you would take time out to let me know. THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Hi Imma,
I’m totally bummed that your pin button isn’t working, and I couldn’t find this recipe on your Pinterest site. Any way you can fix that as I’d love to save it.
Hi Gail, Sorry to hear that! It’s working on my end. I have pinned it to my Pinterest board if that helps.
Imma I actually stuck to your recipe and measurements this time and this dish came out delish. Surprise it tastes even better the day after.
Love it. Thanks
In the ingredients list you say 2 teaspoons sauce. What kind of sauce? These look fabulous. I adore the aroma while they cook.
Wishes for tasty dishes,
Linda
Hi Linda. Recipe has been updated . Please check recipe, it’s a typo. Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Happy Cooking !!!
Yes, stuffed cabbage rolls are lovely , origi9nated in Eastern Europe.
However, for a one-man chef/consumer they are too much work.
I’d rather stick to your African and Caribean dishes.
This recipe looks delicious!
I think i will try it.
Is it possible to make and freeze the rolls?
Thanks Diana! Yes you sure can. Make the rolls ahead of time and use the day of .
I tried this for dinner that same day, for dinner, and it was yummy!
Thank you.
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