Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

Stuffed cabbage is one of my hubby's favorite meals from childhood. One of the reasons I'm growing cabbage this year is because he likes it so much.

I'm not as big a fan, but I'm happy to make his favorites once in awhile.




The first time I tried to make stuffed cabbage, soon after our wedding, was a royal disaster. That was long before the days when you could look up a recipe on the internet, and my one and only cookbook didn't include one either. Hubby told me that the stuffing was made up of ground beef and rice, and his mother poured a can of tomato juice over the top.

So that's what I did. I formed ground beef and uncooked rice into balls and tried to wrap them in cabbage leaves, which snapped and cracked as I tried to fold and roll them up. I skewered them closed with toothpicks but they were a sorry mess. I poured a can of tomato juice on top and baked them. The rice wasn't cooked at all and they were nearly inedible.

I'm a much better cook these days, if I do say so myself. The ability to look up recipes and cooking techniques online has helped me a lot. What a blessing!

The cabbage in my garden is ready to use now, so the first thing I made was stuffed cabbage. One head of cabbage and a pound of ground beef made one big pan of the little polish burritoes, with enough cabbage leftover for a side dish of steamed cabbage for hubby the next evening.

I use this recipe for cabbage rolls from All Recipes. This is a slow-cooker recipe, but I've only made it in the oven. I imagine it's even better in a slow-cooker.

The first step is to cook the rice and set it aside. The second step is to steam twelve cabbage leaves for two minutes so they are soft. This sure makes it easier to wrap up the filling!

To make the stuffing you'll need:
1 pound of ground beef, uncooked
1 cup of white rice, cooked
1 egg
1/4 cup of water (beef broth or even spaghetti sauce would give it more flavor)
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp pepper

Combine this by hand in a large bowl. Divide into twelve parts and place on cabbage leaves. Fold and wrap the leaves, and place seam side down in a large baking dish. (I cut out the middle vein of the cabbage at the bottom of the leaf so that it was easier to wrap around the stuffing.)

For the sauce you'll need:
1 8-oz can of tomato sauce
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Whisk these ingredients together in a bowl and pour over the cabbage rolls in the baking pan. Cover the pan with foil and bake the stuffed cabbage in a 350°F oven for 1 1/2 hours.

I'm still not a fan of stuffed cabbage but hubby said it was delicious. That's good enough for me.


Related Posts:
Tips on Growing Cabbage
Freezing and Dehydrating Cabbage



This post has been shared at some of my favorite blog hops.


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