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!
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.
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.
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.
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!
How To Know When They’re Done
As Nan says, take one out and test it!
Ground beef should reach a minimum internal cooking temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit. To check the internal temperature of the cabbage rolls, use an instant-read meat thermometer. It’s a handy tool to have in the kitchen!
I typically cook cabbage rolls for 2 hours, 15 minutes to 2 hours, 30 minutes. Check at the former.
If they aren’t done, continue cooking.
Can I Thicken the Cabbage Roll Sauce?
If you want things a little thicker, place the tomato sauce into a pot over medium heat.
Allow it to come to a low simmer and cook, uncovered, until it has reduced to the consistency that you like.
How Long They Last
Properly store leftover cabbage rolls in an airtight container in the refrigerator and use within 2 to 4 days. Reheat before serving.
How to Reheat Cabbage Rolls
To reheat cabbage rolls, place them in a 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 in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven. Place cabbage rolls in a baking dish (with a some tomato sauce and splash of water). Loosely cover with aluminum foil. Cook for about 30 to 40 minutes or until heated through.
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 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!
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.
Like This Stuffed Cabbage Roll Recipe? You May Enjoy These Too
- Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup With Ham
- Traditional Newfoundland Cod au Gratin
- Newfoundland Salt Cod Fish Cakes
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)
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. 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
- Cook rice according to package instructions and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit at this point too.
- 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 or so 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 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 160 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 in an airtight container in the refrigerator and use within 2 to 4 days, reheating 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 (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 note on times provided: appliances vary, any prep and/or cook times provided are estimates only.
Tried this recipe?
If you do make this recipe, thank you!! It would mean so much if you could leave a comment below. Love to know how you enjoyed it, and it helps other readers too!
Denis Larose
Just made these using ground chicken rather than beef and they turned out awesome. These remind me of the ones I fell in love with at a local restaurant many years ago. Thanks for sharing
Dawn | Girl Heart Food
Thank you so much, Denis! Sounds like a tasty twist. Happy you enjoyed!!
K Wadford
Can you make these the day before? I’m sure you can, my question is should I bake them and refrigerate them or not bake them and cook them the next day?
Dawn | Girl Heart Food
Hi there! You can. If you bake the cabbage rolls and aren’t enjoying right away, be sure to properly store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 to 4 days. Reheat before serving.
Alternatively, if you prep the cabbage rolls and want to bake them the next day, that’s okay too. Just be sure to properly cover them, store in the refrigerator and the next day when you are ready to bake them, just take them out of the refrigerator while you are preheating your oven. You are likely to have to bake them a little longer. Bake until the cabbage rolls reach a minimum internal cooking temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Hope that helps and enjoy the recipe!!
Chris Meilleur
I loved making this recipe, I do have a question, do you cook one cup of rice and then take one cup of the cooked rice to mix with the hamburger? 1 cup of raw rice makes more than 1 cup, so just wondering so I don’t mess the recipe up. Thank you.
Dawn | Girl Heart Food
Hi Chris, the recipe uses 1 cup of cooked rice (that’s about 1/3 cup of uncooked rice before cooking). Hope you enjoy!!
Colleen Haugh
Can you use crushed tomatoes instead of whole with the tomato sauce?
Dawn | Girl Heart Food
Hi Colleen! Yes, you can. Hope you enjoy the recipe!!
Johna
Dealing with the cabbage leaves for me is always the most labor intensive. I liked your idea to boil in stages. This is my new favorite recipe and was a real crowd pleaser! Picky father-in-law approved!
Dawn | Girl Heart Food
Thank you very much, Johna!! So happy to hear that you all enjoyed the recipe!!
mary jo leis
Just tried your recipe for cabbage rolls – it’s been years since I made them. They were a great success – I’m taking them to my grandchildren’s house tomorrow – I know they will love them! Wasn’t sure about the oven temperature but checked other recipes and settled on 350. I liked the tips in your website.
Dawn | Girl Heart Food
So happy that you enjoyed the recipe and hope your family did as well!! You are correct, the oven temperature for cooking the cabbage rolls is 350 degrees Fahrenheit (it’s noted in the recipe card at the beginning). 🙂 Thank you so very much for the kind words!!
Rhonda
Made these yesterday and they were delish. I cooked a 9×13 full of the rolls. I then made 1 dozen meatballs from leftover mixture. Placed in freezer container and covered with remaining tomato mixture…voila porcupine meatballs!! I modified the tomato combo with what I had available : 1 15 Oz can tomato sauce, 1 15 Oz can petite diced tomatoes, 1 small can tomato paste diluted with water to equal 2 cups. I am very pleased with this recipe.
Dawn | Girl Heart Food
Thank you so much, Rhonda!! Yum!! So happy you enjoyed the recipe!!
Esther
Would ground turkey work in these?
Dawn | Girl Heart Food
Hi Esther! I haven’t tried this specific cabbage roll recipe with ground turkey, but imagine it would work. Just keep in mind that ground turkey needs to reach a minimum internal cooking temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit when checked with an instant read food thermometer. Hope you enjoy!!
Diana
The best cabbage rolls ever. I have not made them for over fifteen years. Your recipe was amazing. I am definitely making these on a regular basis. Thanks so much for sharing. Diana
Dawn | Girl Heart Food
Oh my goodness! Thank you very much, Diana!! So glad you enjoyed them!!
Kathi
This is my basic recipe I use tomatoe soup instead of tomatoe sauce. And sprinkle balsamic vinegar over the rolls. Love them
Dawn | Girl Heart Food
Love balsamic vinegar! Happy you enjoyed!
Carol
Dawn I tried your cabbage rolls recipe and I have to say they were fantastic. I especially liked the dill component. It added such a beautiful flavor. The full batch was gone in one sitting and it was only my husband and I eating them. Suffice it to say they are very morish!! I will make them again. Total hit!
Dawn | Girl Heart Food
Thank you very much, Carol!! They’re a favourite around here and so happy you enjoyed them too! 🙂
Rebecca
Made this recipe for the 3rd time tonight. It’s really great!
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
That’s awesome! Thank you very much, Rebecca – so happy you enjoy the recipe!
Christina
These are absolutely delicious, we made them last night and loved them! Do you know if they can be frozen? If so, would you suggest cooking them and then freezing or freezing them uncooked?
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
Thank you so much, Christina! Happy you enjoyed the recipe!! I usually store leftovers in the fridge and enjoy within a few days. However, if freezing, I would think the best thing to do is freeze cooked cabbage rolls. Allow them to cool, freeze in a freezer safe container and allow them to thaw in the fridge the day before you are ready to reheat and enjoy. Hope that helps! Have a great weekend!
Yvonne Baldwin
Thank you so much, my dad loves cabbage rolls and we haven’t had them for 20 years, since my grandmother passed away! I made them today and they are wonderful! He does like a sweeter sauce, so I did what you said and added a little brown sugar. They taste just like my grandmothers! Also, it is weird, my father loves rice, but not in cabbage rolls, so I had to make them without it!!!!
Thank you,
Yvonne
Berniece Cronquist
My Mother made these for years. Now I make them. They are a frequently requested meal. I just use tomato soup for the sauce. Mix per soup directions and add some chili powder or whatever spices you like. I put 2 cups water in a big bowl, cut out the core and place cabbage in the bowl in the microwave for 10 minutes. Remove what leaves you can and microwave longer if inside leaves are still too stiff. We even had this for Thanksgiving last year. My family loves it. The sauce is awesome over mashed potatoes.
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
Sounds lovely! Great idea to serve over mashed potatoes! Thanks for stopping by!
Marissa
I love family recipes like this, Dawn! Looks like you (and your Nan) perfected cabbage rolls. Absolutely going to make these! SO good!
Dianne Bowler
I made a double batch of your cabbage rolls this afternoon to use up some home grown cabbages. 1kg beef mince and 1/2kg of pork mince and just doubled the remaining ingredients. I didn’t use the sugar but instead used 2 cans of condensed tomato soup and 1 can of chopped tomatoes.
We will definitely be making them again. Absolutely yummy. A real hit with my hubby.
Next time I will add a bit of finely grated lemon zest to the mince.
Thank you for such a wonderful meal.
Dianne
Dawn | Girl Heart Food
I’m so happy to hear that you and your husband enjoyed the recipe, Dianne!! Thank you very much!!
Katerina | Once a Foodie
Dawn, oh my gosh! My grandmother was Polish and she made the exact same cabbage rolls. I’ve been craving them for so long (she’s now gone and I haven’t got any of her recipes). I might just give this a go and see if they turn out just like I remember. Thanks sooooo much!
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
Yay! Hope you love them! Thanks Katerina 🙂
Pj
These were terrific! I didn’t have dill, tomato sauce or paste so I substituted Italian seasoning, home canned tomatoes and a can of tomato soup. I also made my meat mixture the night before and stored it in the refrigerator, so I used uncooked basmati rice. Thank you for the recipe, Hubby can’t wait for me to make them again!
Dawn | Girl Heart Food
Thank you very much!! So happy you and your husband enjoyed the recipe!!