Stuffed Cabbage Rolls – Immaculate Bites

What Are Stuffed Cabbage Rolls?

This dish is said to have originated in Turkey and then spread to Europe, Iran, West Asia, and Northern China. Each country (and everyone’s Oma) has its own recipe with a variety of fillings. They’re either baked, simmered, or steamed with an accompaniment of a sauce.

In the U.S., cabbage rolls are prominent in Cajun and Creole cooking in the South. The rolls are usually filled with ground meat, rice, and chopped vegetables and stuffed into parboiled cabbage leaves with a tomato-based sauce.

Recipe Ingredients

1. Cabbage – One head of cabbage is all you need to wrap up the beautiful stuffing for a stunning presentation. Most recipes use green cabbage because it’s prettier. You could also use savoy cabbage for this recipe.
2. Stuffing – An egg binds the ground pork, cooked rice, and diced onion. Then it’s perfectly seasoned with smoked paprika, thyme, chicken bouillon, salt and white pepper, and parsley. 
3. Sauce – The rolls simmer in a sauce made with canned tomato sauce, chicken broth, onion, garlic, green pepper, thyme, Creole seasoning, white pepper, cayenne, and smoked paprika. 

How to Make Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

Cabbage Rolls

• Parboil Cabbage – Fill a large pot with water. Carefully remove the cabbage core and discard any discolored or torn leaves. Add the raw cabbage to the pot and boil it for 4-5 minutes or until the leaves are pliable and tender. Cooking time depends on the size of your cabbage. (Photo 1)
• Cool – Remove it from the stove, pour out the boiling water, and add ice water to the pan to stop the cooking process. Let it cool, and then once cooled, remove 10-12 cabbage leaves. Set aside. (Photo 2)
• Stuffing – In a large bowl, combine the ground pork, cooked rice, diced onion, garlic, paprika, egg, salt, white pepper, parsley, and chicken or beef bouillon. Mix well. (Photos 3-4)
• Stuff – Place about ¼ -⅓ cup of the meat mixture in the center of each cabbage leaf and tightly roll the leaf around the filling, tucking in the ends. Secure with toothpicks. Repeat the process until all the meat mixture is used up. Set the rolls aside. (Photos 5-6)

The Sauce

• Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium.
• Saute – Add the chopped onion, thyme, and garlic, stirring for about a minute. (Photo 7)
• Season – Next, add the tomato sauce, Creole seasoning, white pepper, cayenne pepper, and paprika. Stir the pot frequently to prevent the sauce from sticking to the bottom. (Photo 8)
• Simmer – Add the salt and bouillon (if desired) with about 2 cups of stock. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat, and let it simmer for about 15 minutes or more to blend all the flavors, stirring occasionally. Give it a taste and adjust the seasonings as needed. (Photo 9)
• Stovetop Method – When the sauce is ready, add the stuffed cabbage seam-side down in a single layer. Spoon enough sauce over the stuffed cabbage to cover. Cover with a lid and simmer on medium-low heat, undisturbed, until tender, for 35-40 minutes. (Photo 10)
• Oven Method – Place the cabbage rolls, seam-side down, on top of the tomato sauce (I used a 12-inch pan) or a 9×13 casserole dish and bake at 350℉ (175℃) until the filling is cooked through and the cabbage is tender (about 45 minutes).
• Serve hot with rice.

Recipe Variations

1. Swap out the meat. You can replace ground pork with beef, ground turkey, or a mixture of all three.
2. For a low-carb option, you may replace rice with cauliflower rice. It’ll still taste good! 😋
3. Hungarian stuffed cabbage rolls. The recipe is almost the same, just trade out the Creole seasoning and thyme with more paprika and add some sauerkraut to the mix.
4. German stuffed cabbage rolls. Again, the recipe is similar. Replace the thyme with marjoram, and add a little Dijon mustard and a couple of eggs to the stuffing. Use ground beef instead of pork (or not), and add diced carrots and a bay leaf to the sauce instead of Creole seasoning.
5. Instant pot stuffed cabbage rolls. Stuff the cabbage rolls and make the sauce, then put them both in your pressure cooker. Seal the lid and cook on high pressure for about 20 minutes.
   Release the pressure, carefully remove the lid when the pressure allows it, and remove the cabbage rolls. Thicken the sauce if necessary, and enjoy.
6. Vegetarian stuffed cabbage rolls. The super easy fix includes replacing the ground meat with diced mushrooms and the broth with vegetable broth.

Tips and Tricks

1. As you remove the cabbage leaves, cut away the thick center stem with a paring knife without cutting all the way through the leaf. It makes them a lot easier to fold.
2. Not sure what to do with the rest of the cabbage? Chop it up, saute it with salt and pepper, then serve it as a side or toss it in the sauce.
3. Don’t forget to take out the toothpicks that are holding the rolls together before serving them to your guests. 😬
4. To test if the cabbage is tender, poke it with a fork. If it pierces easily, you’re good to go!

Make-Ahead and Storage

You can make this delicious recipe a day ahead of time and store it in the fridge. Pop the cabbage rolls and sauce in a baking dish or large skillet to finish cooking when ready to serve.

You can also store them in a freezer-safe container and freeze them for 2-3 months.

What Goes With Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

Stuffed cabbage rolls go great with steamy rice or garlic mashed potatoes if you aren’t afraid of carbs. They also go well with crusty homemade bread and easy side salads too!

More Recipes for Cabbage Lovers

1. Ground Beef and Cabbage
2. Chicken Cabbage Soup
3. Southern Fried Cabbage
4. Cabbage Roll Casserole
5. Corned Beef and Cabbage

This blog post was originally published in March 2018 and has been updated with additional tips and gorgeous photos