Make Simple and Tender Cabbage Rolls at home

A meat and rice filling is placed within tender cabbage leaves(Cabbage Rolls), which are then baked with a straightforward tomato sauce.

This recipe for cabbage rolls’ reheats freezes and may be prepared in advance.

Varieties of cabbage rolls

My mum and my grandmother gave me the recipe for these rolls. We frequently ate various recipes made with cabbage or even just plain fried cabbage because my grandparents moved from Poland.

Grandma’s kitchen always smelt great, and there was always something delicious to eat, whether it was pierogi or roulade.

Depending on the geography and family tradition, there are countless ways to prepare rolls. While my friend Penny’s Ukrainian-style cabbage rolls often solely contain rice, Polish cabbage rolls frequently have both meat and rice.

Our family has always prepared the rice and meat ahead of time, unlike those who cook the cabbage with raw meat and rice.

Components of cabbage rolls

Cabbage

To make the cabbage soft, we use a head of ordinary green cabbage and boil it in a large saucepan of water. Many people skip the boiling phase by freezing and thawing the entire head of the cabbage, but I feel the cabbage isn’t as soft this way.

Meat Blend

Because my grandma always used pig in her cabbage rolls, I combine beef and pork in mine. One or the other may be used alone (or any ground meat). The meat is mixed with an egg and cooked long grain white rice to help it hold together.

Sauce

Tomato sauce or tomato juice is a common ingredient in Polish cabbage roll recipes. We adore making tomato sauce using a can of tomato soup. While it may not be customary, it tastes great and gently softens and sweetens the sauce.

Make Cabbage Rolls at Home

1. Bring water in a big pot to a boil. Till soft, boil the cabbage.
2. Rice should be prepared as directed in the recipe below. While the rice cooks, the ground beef and pork are browned. Mix the remaining ingredients for the filling.
3. Roll the cabbage leaves with the filling inside. Place in a casserole dish seam side down.
4. Add the sauce on top, then bake.

Excellent Cabbage Roll Recipes

• Boiling cabbage leaves in salted water will make them the most tender.
• Cut the cabbage head in half; the leaves will fall off while it cooks.
• Use a tiny knife to chop the leaf’s thick stem after it has been boiled (image above).
• Even though the leaves are not attractive, they will cook well if you overlap smaller ones.
• Depending on the size of your cabbage, you might have extra filling. You can add more filler to tomato soup or pack bell peppers or zucchini.
• You can freeze cabbage rolls either before or after baking.

Cabbage Rolls

The flavor & filling of homemade rolls is unmatched. They are made exactly how Grandma used to, with meat, rice, sauce, and cabbage.

Ingredients

• 1 head of green cabbage
• 1 cup uncooked rice
• ½ pound ground beef
• 1 pound ground pork (or ground turkey)
• 2 small onions diced
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• ½ teaspoon dill weed
• 3 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped
• 1 can diced tomatoes (14 ounces) with juice
• 1 egg
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 ½ cup + ⅓ cup tomato sauce divided
• 1 can tomato soup 10.5 ounces

Instructions

1. Boil the cabbage leaves for 2 minutes or until they are tender. (Note on the removal of leaves below.) Set apart for cooling.
2. Set the oven to 350°F.
3. Rice should be cooked as directed on the package, but with a 5-minute cooking time reduction. Place aside.
4. In a pan, cook beef, pig (or turkey), onions, garlic, and spices until no pink is discernible. Remove any fat. Rice, diced tomatoes, and 1/3 cup of tomato sauce should be added. Add egg and mix.
5. In a bowl, combine the remaining tomato soup and sauce. In a 9×13 pan, spread a very thin layer of the tomato sauce mixture.
6. Any thick stems on cabbage leaves should be cut off or thinned. Lay the cabbage leaf flat and fill the center with 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the filling. The cabbage is rolled up by folding the sides in. Put the pan seam side down. (Note regarding little leaves.) the remaining cabbage, then repeat.
7. Cover the cabbage with sauce and a tight layer of foil. 75 to 90 minutes of baking. Before serving, let sit for 15 minutes to cool.

Notes

Cut about 14″ from the bottom of the head of cabbage to remove the leaves, then submerge the entire head of the cabbage in boiling water. roughly two minutes to boil.

The leaves should be peeled away. Repeat the process with the remaining head in the boiling water until all of the leaves are gone. Cooked leaves should be free of any tough stalks.

After the leaf has been boiled, remove the thick stem using a tiny knife (image above).

Even though the leaves are not attractive, they will cook well if you overlap smaller ones.

Depending on the size of your cabbage, you might have extra filling. You can add more filler to tomato soup or pack bell peppers or zucchini.

You can freeze rolls either before or after baking.

Nutrition information

Calories: 488 | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 108mg | Sodium: 431mg | Potassium: 895mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 620IU | Vitamin C: 66.1mg | Calcium: 113mg | Iron: 3.3mg