Name: Old-Fashioned Cabbage Rolls (Inspired by Nan)
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 135 min
Total time: 195 min
Ingredients: 1 cup cooked long-grain rice (or similar variety (you'll need about 1/3 cup of uncooked rice to yield 1 cup of cooked rice)); 1.5 pounds lean ground beef (or extra lean ground beef); 1.5 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce; 1 large egg; 1 yellow onion (peeled and minced); 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley; 3 cloves garlic (minced); 1.5 teaspoons salt; 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 1/2 teaspoon dried dill (dill weed); 1/2 teaspoon onion powder; 1/2 to 1 teaspoon red chili flakes (crushed red pepper flakes) (optional); 3 (13.5-ounce) cans tomato sauce; 1 medium head green cabbage; 1/2 cup water (leftover from boiling cabbage); Chopped fresh dill (garnish to taste (optional))

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These easy old-fashioned cabbage rolls are stuffed with a savoury ground beef mixture, coated in tomato sauce and are oh so scrumptious! Inspired by my grandmother, it’ll be the only stuffed cabbage roll recipe you’ll need!

Old-fashioned cabbage rolls with tomato sauce and dill garnish in a serving dish.

Hi friends!

Today I’m sharing another family recipe with you!

I mentioned a while back that I would share this easy cabbage roll recipe with you guys one day and I couldn’t be more excited to do so!

These old-fashioned cabbage rolls are inspired by my grandmother or, as I call her, Nan.

For as long as I can remember, Nan was known in our family for her stuffed cabbage rolls.

She actually learned to make them from my grandfather (pop) when he was just a young fellow working and living in Toronto with his friend’s family, who were Polish.

When I attempted to get the recipe from Nan, I had to question some things she was telling me (or wasn’t telling me, LOL). I tease, I tease!

Did you ever watch Everybody Loves Raymond? There’s an episode where Debra gets her mother-in-law’s recipe for meatballs, but they didn’t quite turn out the same because her mother-in-law secretly replaced a bottle of basil with tarragon by disguising the label.

Nan laughed when I teased her about it, but I think she’s proud of how these turned out.

In all seriousness, though, I made a couple of tweaks to put my own spin on them but, at the heart, they’re Nan’s.

And when I cook them? All I think about is how much the house smells like hers when she makes them. Who would have thought that stuffed cabbage leaves could be so delicious? That smell and taste just makes me happy.

Cabbage Roll Ingredients

Cabbage (I use standard green cabbage, but you could use savoy).
Cooked rice
Egg
Aromatics, like onion and garlic
Herbs, like parsley and dill
Seasonings, like Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, onion powder, red chili flakes (chili flakes are optional)
Tomato sauce
Water

How To Make Cabbage Rolls

Full details are in the recipe card below, but here are the basics:

Prepare the meat filling

In a bowl, combine ground beef, Worcestershire sauce, egg, cooked rice, minced onion, parsley, salt, pepper, dill, onion powder, red chili flakes (optional) and tomato sauce.
Next, simply mix to combine everything.

Collage of steps to make the ground meat filling for a stuffed cabbage roll recipe.

Prepare the cabbage

The easiest way to prepare cabbage for stuffed cabbage rolls is to place the full head of clean cabbage in a pot of boiling water, cover with lid ajar and cook for 8 to 10 minutes. You can carefully flip cabbage over partway through.

Tip: Don’t fill your pot of water to the brim. When you place the head of cabbage in there, it will displace some of the water. To be sure how much water you’ll need, test it out before bringing the water to boil.

Next, remove cabbage leaves and core:

Once cabbage is cool enough to handle, cut off leaves (one at a time).
Then remove core from each leaf.

Tip: As you get so far into removing the leaves, you will have to place the head of cabbage back in boiling water to soften those leaves further in the centre of the cabbage.

Collage of steps to remove the leaves and core from cabbage.

Stuff the cabbage rolls

Place about ¼ cup of filling in the cabbage leaf (I like to shape into somewhat of a log).
Fold over sides of cabbage.
Roll up.

Collage of steps to stuff and roll cabbage rolls.

Assemble stuffed cabbage rolls in baking dish and bake

Place some cabbage leaves in the bottom of a greased baking dish.
Top with stuffed cabbage rolls.
Mix tomato sauce with a little reserved cabbage water and pour over top.
Cover with more cabbage leaves, then tightly cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake until the cabbage rolls are fully cooked through. That’s it! You’ve made delicious old-fashioned cabbage rolls!

Collage of steps to assemble cabbage rolls and tomato sauce in a baking dish.

Can I Thicken the Cabbage Roll Sauce?

If you want things a little thicker, place the tomato sauce into a saucepan over medium heat.

Allow it to come to a low simmer and cook, uncovered, until it has reduced to the consistency that you like.

Stuffed cabbage rolls in a baking dish with tomato sauce on top.

Leftovers

Properly store leftover cabbage rolls in an airtight container in the refrigerator and use within 3 to 4 days. Reheat before serving.

Old-fashioned cabbage rolls piled high with tomato sauce over them.

How to Reheat Cabbage Rolls

To reheat cabbage rolls, place them in a sauté pan (over medium heat) with a little tomato sauce and splash of water. Cover and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes or until heated through.

Alternatively, you can reheat them in the oven. To do so, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the cabbage rolls in a baking dish (with a some tomato sauce and splash of water) and loosely cover with aluminum foil. Cook for about 30 to 40 minutes or until heated through.

Cabbage roll with tomato sauce and dill, sitting on a spatula.

Serving Suggestions

These old-fashioned cabbage rolls are super hearty all on their own. However, if you want to make things even more substantial with garnish or sides, any of these work:

Sauerkraut (and, honestly (though not traditional), I love cabbage rolls with kimchi)
Sour cream
Homemade bread
Mashed potatoes
Skillet potatoes
Simple side salad
Splash of vinegar (I love a little touch of vinegar on my cabbage rolls). The little bite just works!

Close-up of a homemade cabbage roll with tomato sauce and dill garnish.

Tips for Making These Old Fashioned Cabbage Rolls

Use lean or extra lean ground beef. If the beef is too fatty, it will leak out into your tomato sauce and the end result will be too greasy.
Roll the cabbage leaves tight and place in the baking dish seam side down.
You can add a little brown or white sugar to your tomato sauce if you want less of a tomato bite.
If you use no salt added tomato sauce, you may have to add a little salt to the mix. Just add to taste.
Alternatively, you can replace some of the tomato sauce with canned tomatoes. Use diced or whole peeled tomatoes (crush whole canned tomatoes with your hands or a potato masher before using). If opting for this, use one (28 ounce) can of tomatoes, along with one (13 to 14 ounce) can of tomato sauce.
To add more richness to the tomato sauce, mix in 1 to 2 tablespoons of tomato paste into the sauce/water mixture when pouring over the stuffed cabbage rolls.

A stuffed cabbage roll on a plate, showing the meat filling interior.

Like This Stuffed Cabbage Roll Recipe? You May Enjoy These Too

Hope you love these easy cabbage rolls as much as we do! We think they’re the best cabbage rolls because they’re inspired by Nan.

If you make this stuffed cabbage roll recipe, be sure to leave a comment below!

Old-Fashioned Cabbage Rolls (Inspired by Nan)

Dawn | Girl Heart Food

These easy Old-Fashioned Cabbage Rolls are stuffed with a savoury ground beef mixture, coated in tomato sauce and are so scrumptious! Inspired by my grandmother, it'll be the only stuffed cabbage roll recipe you'll need!

4.91 from 21 votes

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Prep Time 40

Cook Time 2 15

Cooling Time 20

Total Time 3 15

Course Main Dish

Servings 18 cabbage rolls (approximately)

Ingredients

1 cup cooked long-grain rice, or similar variety (you'll need about ⅓ cup of uncooked rice to yield 1 cup of cooked rice)
1.5 pounds lean ground beef, or extra lean ground beef
1.5 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 large egg
1 yellow onion, peeled and minced
⅓ cup chopped fresh parsley
3 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon dried dill (dill weed)
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ to 1 teaspoon red chili flakes (crushed red pepper flakes), optional
3 (13.5-ounce) cans tomato sauce, divided (about three (398-millilitre) cans or 5 cups of tomato sauce. See point "5" below in recipe "Notes")
1 medium head green cabbage, you'll need about 18 leaves for the rolls and another 8 to 10 or so for the bottom of the dish and over top
½ cup water, leftover from boiling cabbage
Chopped fresh dill, garnish to taste (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit for use shortly.
Cook rice according to package instructions and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine ground beef with Worcestershire sauce, egg, cooked rice, onion, parsley, garlic, salt, black pepper, dill, onion powder, red chili flakes (if using) and ½ cup of tomato sauce. Mix until well combined. Set aside.
To a large pot of boiling water, add head of cabbage, cover with lid ajar and boil for 8 to 10 minutes (carefully turn over partway through). Carefully remove. Don't discard water because you will need to re-boil the cabbage as you start to peel off the leaves and you will need some of the water for your sauce.
Note: Don't fill the pot all the way up because the cabbage will displace some of the water. Before boiling water, test how much the water will displace by placing the head of cabbage in the pot.
Once cabbage is cool enough to handle, carefully remove leaves and cut out core from each leaf. Once you start taking leaves off, you'll likely need to add the cabbage back to the boiling water (to soften more leaves). Just boil for another bit, let cool enough to handle and continue removing leaves.
Place some cabbage leaves on the bottom of a deep 9-inch x 13-inch baking dish or roasting pan.
To assemble the cabbage rolls, taking one leaf at a time, distribute about ¼ cup of ground beef mixture on top and wrap up (fold in sides and roll up, placing in prepared dish, seam side down). Continue with remaining ground beef mixture/leaves.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining 4.5 cups of tomato sauce and ½ cup of cabbage water. Pour over top of cabbage rolls. Top with more cabbage leaves.
Note: You could stir in about a tablespoon of white or brown sugar into the tomato sauce if you want less of a tomato bite. I like the brightness of tomatoes, so I skip this.
Cover the baking dish tightly with aluminum foil. Cover and bake in the preheated oven for 2 hours and 15 minutes to 2 hours and 30 minutes or until cabbage rolls are fully cooked through (the ground beef should be no longer be pink, it should be brown all the way through and the internal temperature of the cabbage rolls reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit when checked with an instant-read meat thermometer).
Once done, be careful removing foil covering as there will be steam. Discard top cabbage leaves. Allow to cool for 20 minutes or so before serving. Garnish, if desired, with fresh dill. Enjoy!
Note: If you have any leftovers, properly store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator and use within 3 to 4 days. Reheat before serving.

Notes

Use lean or extra lean ground beef. If the beef is too fatty, it will leak out into your tomato sauce and the end result will be too greasy.
Roll the cabbage leaves tight and place in the baking dish seam side down.
You can add a little brown or white sugar to your tomato sauce if you want less of a tomato bite.
If you use no salt added tomato sauce, you may have to add a little salt to the mix. Just add to taste.
Alternatively, you can replace some of the tomato sauce with canned tomatoes. Use diced or whole peeled tomatoes (crush whole peel canned tomatoes with your hands or a potato masher to break up before using). If opting for this, use one (28ounce) can of tomatoes, along with one (13 to 14 ounce) can of tomato sauce.
To add more richness to the tomato sauce, mix in 1 to 2 tablespoons of tomato paste into the sauce/water mixture when pouring over the stuffed cabbage rolls.

A note on times provided: appliances vary, any prep and/or cook times provided are estimates only.

Keyword cabbage roll recipe, old fashioned cabbage rolls

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