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 Instant Pot mashed potatoes and parmesan roasted 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.
There’s a great little polish carryout here in Baltimore, and the stuffed cabbage from there is awesome. I wanted to try it at home and this recipe couldn’t have been better.
Do you have any advice on how to get the cabbage to be a little less crunchy? The rolls from the Polish carryout can be easily cut with a fork, the cabbage was a little too crunchy in mine to be able to cut with a fork. Otherwise, excellent recipe!
You can cook the head of cabbage for longer, do 7-8 minutes!
My first time making cabbage rolls. Made a half batch since I was going to be the only one eating them. Came out Great!
I’m going to try the leftovers this morning for brunch to see how well they reheat. Will definitely make these again.
Thank you for sharing this recipe. this was easy, delicious! Just perfect. Followed recipe exactly. My husband and our neighbor thought it was perfect. Will save this one and use many times.
Can you used uncooked rice? Then add more cooking time in the oven?
Yes that’s fine!
I used uncooked instant rice, then you can bake it for the same amount of time recommended.
do you brown the ground beef first?
You do not brown it!
Perfectly balanced recipe. I was skeptical because I hated my mom’s stuffed cabbage, but this was excellent. The meatballs, sauce, and pan size came out even! I can tell you really worked on getting this recipe just right, and I’ll be checking out more of your recipes.
What is the best way to reheat the rolls? I have made this recipe exactly as written it was delicious! I would like to make these a day ahead of and would like to know the best way to reheat them without drying out the meat. Thank you!
I’d cover the pan with foil and reheat at 325 degrees F for about 20-25 minutes or until the rolls are heated through!
Hi – can I ask for clarity – in point 7 of the instructions, “Add 1/2 cup of the tomato sauce to the bowl”, is this plain tinned tomato sauce, or are you referring to the prepared tomato sauce with the onions, red wine vinegar, brown sugar, etc?
The prepared tomato sauce!
I have made this several times now and it is always a hit! You can add anything extra to the meat/sauce (I like some chili flakes in my meat mixture) but, seriously, it is so perfect any way you make it. I use microwave white rice as my rice to save time and it’s still amazing. Can’t stop making these because of how good they are!
If you add ground pork or pork sausage, the flavor is Ofc the charts!
Yes! I do a 1/2 pork, 1/2 beef mixture and it is SO good!
I add pignoli nuts and currants to the mix,as I often do with my meatballs. Currants add a delicate sweetness and pignolis compliment the rice. This is an easy and wonderful recipe.
Made this but without the rice – Keto Friendly =) So added sweet Italian sausage and it came out wonderful. Awesome recipe! Thanks for sharing!!
Great dish! I made it exactly with the exception was I had a box of dirty rice I used instead of plain but it was fantastic. Thanks for the recipe!
This was a fabulous recipe! My MIL was polish and this is was of his all time favorite dishes that she made
I definitely recommend. Cutting a “V” shaped notch out of the cabbage leaf…… make it so easy to roll
Also, I added some Better then Chicken bullion to my rice….. great flavor…. 1/2 C dry long grain rice, 1/2 C plus 6 T spoon water , salt , 1 t butter…. bring to boil , reduce heat cover on low 15 min, remover covered for 15 min more, and fluff with fork
Also, I used 1 lbs meatloaf mix (equal parts veal, beef , and pork). My husband said they were better than his Mom,s …….little fluffy pillows
Thank u for sharing this gem of a recipe👍😎
Delicious! I made this last night and it’s a winner. After looking at many recipes I decided on this one and it did not disappoint. I will add this to my recipe collection.
My husband called this “dreamy”!
How well do they freeze? If I take on the work I’d like to make extra to freeze.
It should be fine to freeze, the tomato sauce may be a bit thinner when thawed!
one trick you might light to make leaf separation easier is to use an inch and a half hole saw to core the center of the cabbage.
you don’t even have to use a drill… just put the hole saw over the core end and pound in with a mallet. You’ll need pliers to get the saw out. Steam the cabbage head as usual!
Doug
Awesome recipe! This is going to be in regular rotation at our house. I used organic grass fed beef, brown basmati rice, organic cabbage, organic parsley, organic Vidalia onion and organic egg. San Marzano While peeled tomatoes that I crushed in the pan, and Hunts tomato sauce. No need to salt the sauce, but I salted the water for the cabbage. Take each leaf out as it separates from the head so it doesn’t overcook. Respect the cabbage! I coated the pan with EVOO instead of using weird cooking spray. Baked for one hour and 15 minutes and it was perfect. Have some crusty buttered bread to dip in the sauce. It would be great served with with apples or applesauce and wedge salad with blue cheese and bacon crumbles. I’m 25% Polish and my husband is half Polish and this is as good or better than anyone in our family has made. Your site dinneratthezoo has special meaning to me since my father was the Detroit Zoological society president. Thanks for this great recipe!
Whew! This took a lot of time to make, mostly to getting the cabbage leaves peeled and ready to be filled. It was well worth it though. It’s been forever since I made my own sauce, but this one was simple and delicious. Keeping low carb, I used Splenda. Thank you!
Cant wait to make this tonight. Will return with how I did.