This stuffed cabbage rolls recipe is cabbage leaves filled with beef and rice, coated in a homemade tomato sauce and baked to perfection. A comfort food classic that’s hearty, delicious and simple to make.
I’ve been eating stuffed cabbage since I was a child, and I’ve been working on this recipe for a long time to create the ultimate rendition of cabbage rolls. Serve your stuffed cabbage rolls with a side of mashed potatoes and broccoli, and watch the rave reviews pour in!
I grew up eating cabbage rolls, and I’ve had enough in my time to know the difference between a good cabbage roll and a less than stellar cabbage roll. My version of cabbage rolls features a flavorful beef and rice filling, and the rolls are cooked in a simple homemade tomato sauce for fabulous results.
How do you make stuffed cabbage rolls?
The first step is to make your filling. The filling is a combination of ground beef, cooked rice, onions, garlic, egg and seasonings. Everything gets mixed together to form the base of your dish.
The meat mixture gets wrapped up inside cooked cabbage leaves, then the cabbage rolls are layered in a baking dish on top of homemade tomato sauce and baked. This dish takes over an hour to bake because to want to make sure your meat is cooked through, so plan accordingly!
How do you get cabbage leaves off the head?
If you try to remove raw cabbage leaves from the cabbage head, you’ll want to slice off the root end and very carefully peel the leaves off to avoid tearing. Sometimes tearing is inevitable no matter how careful you are, so I’ve found the best method is to cook the head of cabbage first. Cut off the root end, then submerge your cabbage head in a pot of boiling water until the leaves are tender and can easily be peeled away.
Tips for Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
- You’ll need to cut thick part of the cabbage leaves away before you start rolling them up. I’ve found it’s easiest to take a paring knife and cut a V-shape out of the bottom of each leaf to remove the tough rib.
- Place the cabbage rolls seam side down in the baking dish.
- The homemade tomato sauce does contain brown sugar and vinegar, as cabbage rolls are traditionally baked in sweet and sour style sauce. If you don’t want to use brown sugar, you can omit it, but the flavor won’t be as authentic.
- Cabbage rolls can be assembled and stored covered in the fridge for up to 8 hours before you plan to bake them.
How long do you bake stuffed cabbage rolls?
You’ll want to plan on baking your cabbage for a minimum of one hour. The cabbage should be tender and the meat cooked all the way through. I typically start checking at the hour mark, but have found that sometimes it can take as long as 1 hour 30 minutes for cabbage rolls to be ready.
Cabbage Roll Soup
Love cabbage rolls but don’t want to go through all the effort of peeling and folding and baking? Try my easy and wildly popular cabbage roll soup instead!
These stuffed cabbage rolls may be a little more work than your typical dinner, but they’re totally worth it the extra effort!
More great dinner options
- Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff
- Pizza Stuffed Shells
- Stuffed Pepper Soup
- Beef Noodle Casserole
- Chicken Parmesan Pasta
Stuffed Cabbage Rolls Video
Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
Ingredients
For the tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup onion finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon garlic minced
- 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes do not drain
- 15 ounce can tomato sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
For the cabbage rolls
- 1 pound ground beef I use 90% lean
- 1 cup cooked rice
- 1/2 cup onion finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves chopped, divided use
- 1 egg
- 1 head cabbage
- cooking spray
Instructions
- For the tomato sauce: Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 4-5 minutes or until translucent.
- Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, salt and pepper to the pot.
- Stir in the brown sugar and red wine vinegar. Bring to a simmer.
- Cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- While the sauce is simmering, assemble the cabbage rolls. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Immerse the cabbage head in the boiling water. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until cabbage leaves are pliable. Peel 12 large leaves off the cabbage.
- Place the ground beef, rice, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, 2 tablespoons of parsley and egg in a bowl. Add 1/2 cup of the tomato sauce to the bowl. Stir to combine.
- Lay each cabbage leaf on a flat surface. Use a small knife to cut a V-shaped notch to remove the thick part of the cabbage rib.
- Shape 1/3 of a cup of the meat mixture into a log shape and place in the center of a cabbage leaf. Roll the cabbage leaf around the meat mixture. Repeat with remaining meat and cabbage leaves.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Coat a 9"x13" pan with cooking spray. Place 1/2 of the tomato sauce in the bottom of the baking dish. Place the cabbage rolls, seam side down, in the dish. Top with remaining sauce.
- Cover with foil. Bake for 60-90 minutes or until cabbage is tender and meat is cooked through.
- Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons of parsley, then serve.
Lin says
Can these cabbage rolls be frozen?
Sara says
Yes that’s fine!
Lauren says
Great recipe! My first time making these, tasted (almost) like my grandma’s halupki! My only regret was not making a bigger batch!
My Modifications:
I used ground turkey (highest fat content) and no one could tell a difference!
For the sauce I used all of the ingredients listed but instead of tomato sauce I substituted one can of Progresso Tomato Basil soup and one can of crushed tomatoes and it was the perfect amount and taste!
I didn’t add red wine vinegar, but would like to next time.
Beth Blair says
Made these for dinner tonight because it’s been ages since I have made stuffed cabbage. Left out the egg since I am intolerant, and forgot to add the tomato sauce to the meat filling, but they were STILL DELICIOUS! They were fantastic, and the sauce was fabulous! Ended up only filling 10 leaves instead of 12 because of how full I made them. My husband and I polished off 6 between us, I gave a nice big one along with mashed potatoes and corn to my elderly neighbor (who devoured it), and we have 3 left over for lunch tomorrow! This recipe is a keeper!
Nicole says
I’m just curious as to what type of rice you use. Thank you!
Sara says
Just standard long grain white rice!
Dave says
Awesome recipe easy to follow straightforward the cabbage fell off the of the big head of lettuce of cabbage and was very easy to do boiling just slightly doing it with tongs none of the leaves from the cabbage had even broke and I didn’t like the v so I just cut the vein down a little bit I think that’s better That’s what my mom used to do anyways and I prefer that rather than making the v and losing all that space to put stuff in
Kate W says
Used red cabbage instead of green because that’s what I had on hand- worked great! I also added some chopped green bell pepper to the meat mixture for extra veggies and some cinnamon to the tomato sauce to give it a Greek twist. I used freekeh in place of the rice and I wouldn’t recommend it; the pieces are too small to give it a distinct texture. Will use brown rice or buckwheat groats next time, and there WILL be a next time! This was great 🙂
Carol says
Is the tomato sauce like passata or is it tomato purée?
Sara says
It’s canned pureed tomatoes seasoned with salt and garlic.
Michael says
I just made these for dinner and they were absolutely delicious, was hoping for leftovers but alas…
They were surprisingly light.
I will definitely be making these again and again.
Pat Needleman says
Delicious stuffed cabbage leaves!
Mark Hackney says
Would it be OK to substitute cilantro For parsley ?
Sara says
That should be fine!
Charlotte Porter says
Was curious as it calls for a 15oz can of tomato sauce. Then it says to add the tomato sauce to the tomato sauce that we are making. Okay, got that, but then it says for making the cabbage rolls to add 1/2 cup of tomato sauce to the meat mixture. So if I am reading this correctly we would need more than 15oz of tomato sauce or only use 1/2 cup of tomato sauce for the sauce mixture and the other 1/2 cup of tomato sauce for the meat mixture. .
Sara says
No you add 1/2 cup of the tomato sauce that you’ve made, it’s not an additional amount of canned sauce.
Joie says
Quick question. Can you brown the ground meat and drain before combining with onion, rice, etc. Thank you very much.
Sara says
Yes that’s fine!
Deborah says
Instead of making my own sauce can I use canned spaghetti sauce
Sara says
That should be fine, the flavor will be a little different!
Lisa says
That is my intent as well.
Margaret says
Wow – delicious! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe :)))
Laurel C Long says
This were absolutely delicious! I was afraid it would be difficult to make but it was much easier than I thought. I followed the recipe exactly, except for adding a little more sugar to the sauce (I like sweet!). The filling was moist and flavorful. My family loved it and has already asked when I’m planning to make it again. I had extra filling so I just baked it in a separate dish with the sauce on top; we can use that for another meal 🙂
Ray says
Made the same way, with riced cauliflower, low carb diet, MEAT TWINKIES!! They were great. Used leftover meat stuffing to make stuffed bell peppers, we will see how they turn out!