Stuffed cabbage rolls with ground beef and rice. This is a complete meal that reheats well the next day. A savory meat-and-rice filling, with tomato sauce that covers the cabbage rolls during cooking. A wonderful comfort food when the temperature starts to drop outside.
History
Cabbage rolls have a long, shared history across several cultures, with Eastern Europe becoming one of their most enduring homes. The birthplace of cabbage rolls remains uncertain, and similar dishes may have developed independently wherever cooks wrapped fillings in edible leaves. Many cultures have stuffed vegetables and leaf-wrapped foods, including Middle Eastern and Ottoman cooking. Ottoman expansion between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries helped spread these culinary practices through the Balkans and neighboring regions. As cooks adapted leaf-wrapped dishes to northern climates, cabbage became a practical alternative to grape leaves, used for grains, vegetables, and meat. Regional traditions gave rise to Polish gołąbki, Ukrainian holubtsi, and Russian golubtsy—names associated with “little pigeons.”
Change the meat filling.
This recipe uses ground beef, but you can also use round pork, chicken or lamb. Many prefer using a blend of ground pork and ground beef.
Tomato sauce inside the cabbage rolls or not?
After talking with several Polish friends and acquaintances, tomato sauce is on the outside only. Whether you put it inside the cabbage roll or not, it is still a very flavorful meal.
In this recipe, I put tomato sauce both on the inside and outside. With different flavors on the inside versus the outside. This keeps the dish interesting. You can choose whether to put tomato sauce on the inside of the cabbage rolls.
How long will they last?
These can be refrigerated for up to 4 days. If you choose to freeze them, the cooked cabbage rolls will last in the freezer for up to 3 months.
What can I serve with cabbage rolls?
A side salad works well. I have a cucumber dill recipe as an option here.
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Sauté' the onions/leeks with olive oil until soft. Set aside.
- Take the whole green cabbage and cut the bottom in a small circular 'V'.
- In a Dutch oven fill 1/2 with water and bring to a boil.
- Add Cabbage to boiling water carefully. Boil for 5-6 minutes. With lid on.
- Remove cabbage from boiling water and set aside to cool.
- Remove individual leaves and cut a 'V' at the bottom of the leaf where the white part of cabbage is. Set aside.
- Cut up the Roma tomatoes and place in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook for about 12-15 minutes while stirring to cook tomatoes.
- Add oregano, basil, and jar of your favorite pasta sauce. Cook for about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
- Start with 2/3 cup of the main sauce. Add 2 ounces of wine or cooking wine and brown sugar. Simmer for about 5-7 minutes.
- After cooking the sauce should be reduced like this See photo. Set aside to cool.
- In a large bowl add ground beef, onions/leeks, Herbes de Provence, salt, pepper, white rice, egg, and tomato sauce for the stuffing (this is optional.)
- Mix well with your hands.
- In a 13 x 9 baking dish add about 1/2 of the tomato sauce into the bottom of the pan and spread evenly.
- Start with a cabbage leaf which you trimmed earlier. Add about 1/2 cup of meat mixture on to part of the cabbage leaf. Roll into a small football.
- Place the rolled up cabbage rolls in the pan on top of the tomato sauce.
- Once you have used up all of the meat stuffing and rolled up all of the cabbage rolls place them all in the baking dish. Pour the remaining tomato sauce over the cabbage rolls.
- When ready for the oven it should look like this…
- Cover with aluminum foil and seal the edges. Bake at 350℉ for 1 hour.
