These delicious Stuffed Cabbage Rolls combine tender cabbage leaves that are stuffed with rice, beef, and sausage, and braised in a tangy sauce until tender. These Polish-inspired rolls are perfect for holidays and special occasions but so good you’ll make them all year long.
I’ve always loved rolls of any sort, whether it be beef braciole, rouladen, and more recently, stuffed cabbage rolls.
There’s something about stuffing one ingredient with a mixture of other ingredients and slow-cooking it that’s pure genius.
These stuffed cabbage leaves (Golabki) are one of my favorites, and while not 100% authentic, they are certainly inspired by the Polish version of stuffed cabbage as they contain meat and rice.
These rolls are great alongside spaetzle, egg noodles, roasted carrots, or roasted broccoli, though they are almost a meal unto themselves!
Recipe Ingredients
All ingredients for this recipe are shown in the pic below and special notes are made in this bulleted list to assist you.
- Stuffing. The stuffing for the cabbage rolls includes cooked rice, ground chuck, and bulk Italian sausage. To make this dish easier, you can use frozen rice, or leftover rice from the day before. If you can’t find bulk sausage, simply buy sausage links, cut a slit down the middle, and remove the sausage from the its casing. And if you want a more authentic Polish version, omit the Italian sausage and simply double the ground chuck.
- Cabbage. The leaves from a large green cabbage work best for stuffed cabbage.
- Sauce. To make the sauce I’m using a combination of tomato paste, cider vinegar, and brown sugar. When combined it makes a tangy, slightly sweet-slightly sour sauce that’s just perfect with the stuffed cabbage. Many other recipes rely on Campbell’s condensed tomato soup for their sauce which you could also do. If doing this, the soup does not get diluted.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to make it
Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and set the rack to the middle level. Remove the outer leaf or two of the cabbage then core it and bring a large pot of salted water to boil.
- Once boiling, add the whole head of cabbage, turning it every few minutes and cook until soft, about 10 minutes.
- Once soft, place the cabbage into a colander to drain and once it’s cool enough to handle, gently separate 16 leaves. If the leaves are still to hard, add the cabbage back to the pot of water for a few more minutes.
- Finely dice 1 large onion and mince 1/4 cup worth of flat-leaf Italian parsley. Heat a frying pan to medium heat and add 3 tablespoons of butter and the onions. Add a pinch of salt and cook until the onions are very soft and slightly caramelized, about 12-15 minutes.
- Once the onions are done, add them to a large mixing bowl along with 1 cup of cooked long grain rice, 1 pound of ground chuck, 1 pound of bulk Italian sausage, 1 teaspoon of dried oregano, 1 1/2 teaspoons of paprika, 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper, 2 teaspoons of fine sea salt, the minced parsley, and 1 large egg. Mix well to combine.
- Place a cabbage leaf onto a cutting board and flatten it out. With a paring knife, cut the thick rib out by making a v-cut approximately 1 to 2 inches down the leaf as shown below. Repeat for the remaining leaves.
- Using a large cookie scoop or spoon, place 1/3 cup or ~65g of filling in the center of the cabbage leaf.
- Fold the ends of the leaf over and tuck the sides in as if you were folding a burrito.
- Roll the leaf to close it up and repeat the process for the remaining leaves then place them seam side down into a 9×13 baking dish. Note: you may need 2 baking dishes to fit all the rolls.
- Heat 4 cups of water in a kettle or microwave, then combine with 1 6-ounce can of tomato paste, 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar. Taste test and season with a touch of salt and pepper to taste.
- Pour the sauce into the baking dish until it mostly covers the rolls, adding a touch more hot water if needed. Cover the baking dish(es) tightly with foil and place in the oven.
- Bake the rolls until they are very tender, about 2-3 hours. If the liquid dries out during the baking process, add another 1/2 to 1 cup of water. Use a knife or fork to test to see how tender the rolls are.
- If you prefer to keep your rolls on the blonder side, you can keep them covered the entire time in the oven, but if you prefer a darker roll as pictured below, uncover for the last hour of baking. Uncovering the rolls will help thicken the sauce a bit too. Once the rolls are tender, remove them from the oven and let them sit for 15 minutes before eating.
- If the sauce is too thin you can transfer the rolls to a platter and transfer the sauce to a sauce pot and cook over medium-high heat until it thickens to your liking.
- Then remove the sauce from the heat and whisk in 3 tablespoons of cold cubed butter, one cube at a time.
- Pour the sauce over the rolls and serve. Enjoy!
Top tips
- Cabbage leaves. Be sure the leaves are very pliable before rolling. If they’re not pliable enough, simply place them back in the boiling water for a few minutes. Once the bottom part of the rib is removed from the leaf, the leaf can be formed into a circle to make it easier to roll and close up. Broken or ripped large leaves can be “patched” with pieces of smaller leaves.
- Leftover filling. If you have some leftover filling but not enough large leaves, you can combine smaller leaves to make more stuffed cabbage rolls, if desired.
- Sauce. Thickening the sauce is preferred but you can omit this step. Keep in mind to only lightly salt the sauce initially so it doesn’t become overly salty should you choose to thicken by power-reducing it at the end.
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Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
These delicious Polish-style stuffed cabbage rolls combine tender cabbage leaves filled with rice, ground beef, and sausage, and braised in a tangy sauce until tender.
Ingredients
For the cabbage rolls
- 1 large head of cabbage cored but left whole
- 3 tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter
- 1 large onion finely diced
- 1 pound (454) bulk Italian sausage
- 1 pound (454g) ground chuck
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup minced flat-leaf Italian parsley
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 cup (227g) cooked long grain rice
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
For the sauce
- 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
- 4 cups (~1L) water
- 1 tablespoon (13g) brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons (30ml) cider vinegar
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter optional
Instructions
For the cabbage rolls
- Preheat oven to 350°F and set the rack to the middle level.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and once boiling add the cabbage, turning it every few minutes. Cook until soft (about 10 minutes) then gently place the cabbage into a colander to drain. Once it is cool enough to handle, gently separate 16 leaves. If the leaves are still too hard add the cabbage back to the pot of water for a few more minutes.
- Heat a frying pan to medium heat with the butter and onions. Add a pinch of salt and cook the onions until very soft and slightly caramelized (about 12-15 minutes).
- Add the onions to a large bowl along with the rice, bulk sausage, ground beef, oregano, pepper, salt, paprika, parsley, and egg. Mix well to combine.
- Place a cabbage leaf onto a cutting board and flatten it out. With a paring knife, cut the thick rib out by making a slight v-cut approximately 1 to 2 inches down the leaf. If needed, see the process photos above. Repeat for remaining pieces.
- Using a large scoop add 1/3 cup or 65g of filling into the center of the cabbage leaf and fold the cut ends over. Tuck the sides in like a burrito and roll it to close it up. Repeat for the remaining pieces and then place each roll seam side down into a 9×13 baking dish. Note: You might need 2 baking dishes to fit all of the rolls.
- Heat the water in a kettle or microwave and then combine with the tomato paste, sugar, and vinegar. Taste test and season with a touch of salt and pepper. Pour the sauce into the baking dish until it mostly covers the rolls. If needed, add more hot water. Cover the dish tightly with foil.
- Bake the cabbage rolls until they are super tender. This will take anywhere from 2-3 hours. If during the baking process, the liquid starts to dry out, add another 1/2-1 cup of water.
- Once the rolls are tender remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes before eating. If the sauce is too thin, remove the rolls to a platter and add the sauce to a pot. Cook the sauce over medium-high heat until it thickens to your liking then remove from the heat and whisk in 3 tablespoons of cold butter, one cube at a time. Pour the thickened sauce over the cabbage rolls. Enjoy!
Notes
- Recipe makes approximately 16-20 rolls.
- If the leaves are not very pliable, place back in the boiling water for a few more minutes.
- After cutting out and removing 1-2 inches down of the thick rib, the cabbage leave can be formed back into a circle or round tortilla shape making it easy to roll and close up the cabbage rolls.
- There might be leftover filling. Smaller leaves can be combined and used to make more cabbage rolls, if desired.
- Thickening the sauce after braising is my preferred method, but you can omit this step. Keep in mind, the sauce should only be lightly salted initially so that it isn’t overly salty after power reducing. If you choose not to thicken the sauce, season with salt and pepper right before serving.
- Leftovers can be saved in the fridge for up to 3 days and can be reheatead in the oven or microwave.
Nutrition
Calories: 247kcal | Carbohydrates: 10.2g | Protein: 12.5g | Fat: 17.5g | Saturated Fat: 7.3g | Cholesterol: 73mg | Sodium: 243mg | Fiber: 1.7g | Sugar: 5.3g | Calcium: 30mg | Iron: 2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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A very cool trick I learned working in a Kosher Deli in NJ back in the 80’s is …instead of boiling the cabbage, (If you can plan a few days ahead) is to core the cabbage and then freeze it overnight. Then, the next day you place the cabbage in the fridge and let it defrost for a day. The leaves will be as soft and flexible as the boiled cabbage with essentially no work. Give it a try and enjoy!!!
I made your stuffed cabbage rolls recipe today for dinner and they were absolutely delicious. Five stars out of five stars. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
We are so happy you enjoyed, John!
Definitely going to try this one as I’ve made a lot you your recipes in the past actually at least one a week
I worked with an older Polish guy who’s mother made these with barley instead of rice
Wow what a game changer
You should definitely try Serbian sarma with fermented cabbage leaves.
A hack. You can freeze the cabbage, then thaw it so it becomes pliable. I like a sweet version so I add raisins and extra brown sugar to the sauce and make sure the rolls are totally immersed Then a good squeeze of fresh lemon. As long as there is plenty of liquid you can’t really overcook this great dish. It also freezes well.
I grew up in a Jewish household and while we ate pork, my grandma and mom always used all beef in their stuffed cabbage. They never put rice in the filling. The stuffed cabbage was served over cooked rice. They both would line a big pot with cooked cabbage leaves and then place the stuffed rolls on top of those leaves. For the sauce, crushed canned tomatoes, white vinegar and brown sugar was used by my mom. My grandmother had used something called sour salt.
By the way, my mom was excellent at Italian food. She learned from my father before they were separated and she hung with a lot of Italian friends. We came from Brooklyn…that should tell you something!