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Cabbage leaves stuffed with a savoury combination of ground beef, pork, rice and vegetables, then cooked in the oven in a creamy tomato sauce. Making cabbage rolls at home is much easier than you think!
Serve these with our Herb and Garlic Mashed Potatoes for a satisfying and cozy dinner.
Cabbage Rolls
Stuffed Cabbage rolls is a dish that every Russian and Ukrainian family makes. It’s a true comfort food for us, while managing to be quite healthy! It might be a little fiddly but not difficult at all.
Do you ever wonder how Russians survive long and cold winters without constantly coming down with colds? The secret is eating a lot of cabbage in the winter.
How is it relevant? Cabbage has LOADS of vitamin C, more than oranges! We can eat it as a salad, in soups, braised, or many other ways as well!
How to Make Cabbage Rolls
The recipe I am sharing today is my mother’s. I might’ve tweaked it a bit to make it easier but the taste remained the same.
What cabbage to use
The most traditional cabbage to use in this recipe is green cabbage, however I’ve recently been experimenting with Savoy cabbage and loved the results.
Savoy cabbage is considered to be the sweetest of all cabbages. It also adds more texture to this dish and is a dream to work with as the leaves separate much easier.
Whatever type of cabbage you use make sure it’s fresh and crispy. I found that using cabbage later in the season (around March or April) produces cabbage rolls that could be a bit tough and stringy.
Cabbage roll stuffing
These rolls are stuffed with a mixture of extra lean proteins. Ground beef and pork, caramelized onions, carrots, lots of fresh parsley and rice.
After the cabbage leaves are stuffed and rolled they are baked in a sour cream tomato sauce. It’s a one pot dish, that takes a bit of time to prepare but once it’s in the oven, it cooks hands free!
How to Separate Cabbage Leaves
My mother never did that but I use a new method for separating cabbage leaves, which is much easier and faster.
According to the traditional method you have to boil a head of cabbage for a short time until the leaves soften enough to pull them apart. Sounds easy enough but it turns out to be a lot of pain!
You have to boil it long enough for the leaves to become pliable but not too long so they turn mushy.
Then you have to pull that cabbage out of boiling water, burn your fingers in the process, cut away the outer leaves, then put it back in the water, then take it out again. Pain!
I’ve heard that it’s possible to freeze cabbage instead of boiling it with the same results. Sure enough, I froze it for a couple of days, then defrosted it and the leaves were very easy to separate and perfect for rolling! Success.
This recipe yields 10-12 servings. Basically it makes enough for two full meals.
Can I freeze cabbage rolls?
Yes! They are very freezer friendly. Just pop them in freezer bags and they will keep for at least a month. This way you’ve got delicious dinner put away for a day in the future when you don’t feel like fussing in the kitchen.
More authentic Russian cabbage recipes to try
- Braised Cabbage with Bacon and Mushrooms
- Homemade Russian Sauerkraut (Kvashenaya Kapusta)
- Beef and Cabbage Soup Shchi
- Lazy Cabbage Rolls (Easy Version)
Cabbage Rolls “Golubtsi”
Equipment
- This is an affiliate link.Cast iron casserole dish
Ingredients
For the sauce
- 250ml/1 cup This is an affiliate link.chicken stock
- 250ml/1 cup sour cream or creme fraiche, full fat
- 500ml/2 cups This is an affiliate link.canned crushed tomatoes, or passata
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Freeze the cabbages 3 days before you need it. The night before defrost cabbage and keep them in the fridge until you are ready.
- Cook rice in plenty water the same way you would pasta until al dente for approximately 5 minutes after the water boils. It shouldn't be too soft. Drain and set aside.
- In a frying pan heat olive oil and cook onions over low heat for 7-10 minutes until tender.
- Grate carrots. In a large bowl combine beef, pork, parsley, onions, carrots, rice, salt and pepper.
- In a medium bowl whisk together stock, crushed tomatoes and creme fraiche, salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Place your head of cabbage on a cutting board, cut off the bottom and pull the leaves away from the stalk. Repeat with the second head of cabbage.
- Preheat your oven to 350F/180C.
- Clear your work space, so all ingredients are within reach. Take a cabbage leaf and cut the rib down, so it's not too thick. Put 2 tbsp of filling at the bottom of the wide part of a leaf (see picture above) and roll it like a burrito, tucking sides in. Your cabbage rolls will vary in size slightly depending on the size of cabbage leaves. You will have approximately 30-32 cabbage rolls.
- Pour a cup of the sauce on the bottom of your cast iron casserole or any other heavy bottom casserole dish and start stacking your cabbage rolls. Half way through add a couple of bay leaves and 1/3 of the sauce and continue stacking until all cabbage rolls are gone.
- Pour the remaining sauce over cabbage rolls, cover with a lid and bake in the oven for 1 hour. Then take the lid off and bake for 30 more minutes. Serve with additional sour cream or creme fraiche and fresh herbs like dill and parsley.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I found your recipe after already preparing my own. I’m definitely going to try your version but I must thank you for the frozen cabbage trick!!
Hey Julia, have you ever tried using venison instead of beef? I just killed an Ossabaw Island pig and I think I’ll try wild pork and venison. I’ll let you know how it turns out….I’ve been meaning to make this with venison for a long time.
I haven’t but I love venison, Jenna! Please let me know what you thought of your experiment.
Oh man it was delicious! I only had one head of cabbage in the fridge so the other half went uncooked in the freezer for next time! I may need to add a bit more seasoning as the venison and pork are such a lean wild meat. I followed your instructions to a T so I’ll play around with it next time! Wonderful easy recipe!
This recipe is so good! Our family makes the Polish version with tomato soup as the base for the sauce. Since it was my first time making this version, I subbed out the tomatoes for the tomato soup, but still added the chicken stock and sour cream. The flavor was so much better than just using the soup diluted with water. Followed the rest of the recipe as written. Hubby liked these better than his Polish Mama’s! Thank you for a keeper recipe!
Sour cream makes everything better! This is an Eastern European motto. haha I am so glad you enjoyed my recipe, Deb!
Would it be ok to cook these in a slow cooker/crock pot?
Hi Deb, yes you can cook these in a slow cooker with a couple of minor changes.
1. Make sure they are fully submerged in a brothy sauce even if that means doubling the amount listed.
2. Hold off mixing in sour cream until the end to avoid curdling.
3. Cook them on High for 3-4 hours or Low for 7-8 hours.
Hello!
I would love to make golubtsi for Christmas dinner this year and have been on the hunt for the perfect recipe. Yours sounds amazing, and I’m going to test it out in the next couple weeks. Here’s my question – if I make this the day before Christmas, allow it cool and put the pot in the refrigerator overnight, how would you suggest reheating it on the day of? Thanks, in advance, for any guidance you can provide. Can’t wait to taste it!
Hi Katie, Take the pot or baking dish out of the fridge about 30–45 minutes before reheating so it isn’t ice-cold.
Cover tightly with a lid or foil.
Warm in a 300°F / 150°C oven for 45–60 minutes, or until the rolls and sauce are fully heated through (the center of a roll should be piping hot).
I would also recommend adding a splash of water, broth, or tomato sauce before reheating.
Thanks so much for your reply! Sorry for my delay in responding. I didn’t get a notification (or it went to spam). This is super helpful!
this was delicious. Thanks so much for sharing