Some dishes do not need any introduction, since they are dearly loved by more than one generation of people, and cabbage rolls can easily be included among such dishes. Tasty, juicy and tender cabbage rolls are an indicator of the culinary skill of the housewife. Do you want to cook the same? “Culinary Eden” will be happy to tell you how to do this and share all the subtleties and secrets.
The options for preparing cabbage rolls are extremely varied. They can be stewed on the stove, baked in the oven or cooked in a slow cooker, but the filling is a completely different matter. Classic cabbage rolls are prepared using minced meat - for example, it can be pure minced pork, a mixture of pork and beef, pork and chicken, or pork and turkey. If you use minced meat without fat, for example, chicken, you can add a small piece of butter to the filling of each individual cabbage roll for juiciness. In addition to meat, the stuffing for cabbage rolls can also be vegetable, fish, mushroom, or made with the addition of cereals. Yes, vegetarian and meatless cabbage rolls are a very popular dish among those who, for one reason or another, limit their diet. Such cabbage rolls can be prepared, for example, with potatoes or buckwheat and mushrooms. The variety of cabbage rolls makes them an always desirable dish that never gets boring, because the scope for culinary experiments here is limitless.
Among other things, the so-called lazy cabbage rolls deserve special attention, which not only help diversify the usual dish, but are also great for those who are not a fan of cabbage. First of all, we are talking about children, who often eat all the filling, leaving cabbage leaves on the plate. In lazy cabbage rolls, finely shredded cabbage is mixed into the minced meat, which greatly simplifies the cooking process and allows you to obtain a very tender and juicy dish. Lazy cabbage rolls cooked in tomato sauce are especially appetizing. It’s simply impossible to resist such a delicious treat!
When preparing cabbage rolls, you should take a responsible approach to the selection and pre-processing of white cabbage. Ideally, it will be young cabbage of early varieties with green leaves - cabbage rolls from such a vegetable will turn out especially tender. It is best to take flattened cabbage rather than round cabbage, since such cabbage has larger leaves and a smaller stalk. The cabbage should be large so that it is convenient to wrap the filling in its leaves. The cabbage will need to be pre-boiled in boiling water (it can be lightly salted) for 7-10 minutes. To do this, first remove a few of the top leaves, then make deep cuts along the stalk to separate the remaining leaves, and place the head of cabbage in water, sticking a fork or knife into the stalk. Turning the cabbage, gradually remove the leaves from the fork as they soften - this is convenient to do using a fork. As a result, you should be left with one stalk and a pile of leaves in the plate. Next, the cabbage leaves need to be allowed to cool, and then the hard veins should be cut off from the outer surface of the leaves. The place where the leaf was attached to the stalk should be lightly beaten with a meat hammer.
Savoy or Chinese cabbage can also be used to prepare cabbage rolls. Please note that savoy cabbage has a denser structure than white cabbage, so it will take longer to stew cabbage rolls from it, but such cabbage leaves retain their shape well. But from Chinese cabbage your cabbage rolls will turn out to be the most tender in a short period of time.
The process of forming cabbage rolls only seems complicated, but in reality it’s easy to get used to. Place the filling (1-2 tablespoons) on the cabbage leaf, roll it up, and tuck the edges of the leaf inside the cabbage roll. These cabbage rolls keep their shape perfectly. There is also an option - put the filling on the base of the sheet, cover with the side parts of the sheet, then roll it up, and wrap the remaining top edge inward.
The sauce in which cabbage rolls are stewed can be sour cream, creamy, tomato or vegetable. A necessary condition is that during cooking the cabbage rolls must be immersed in the sauce. If you place several layers of cabbage rolls in a pan, keep in mind that each layer should be poured with sauce, and only then add the next layer. To prevent the bottom layer of cabbage rolls from burning, it is recommended to place a few cabbage leaves on the bottom of the pan. Well, let's go to the kitchen and cook the most delicious cabbage rolls?
Ingredients:
- 1 white cabbage,
- 400 g minced pork,
- 100 g rice,
- 1 onion,
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil,
- 3 tablespoons sour cream,
Preparation:
Boil the rice in salted water until half cooked. Mix cooled rice with minced meat and onions, previously fried in vegetable oil. Add salt and pepper to taste, mix well.
Place the cabbage head, cut around the stalk, into a saucepan and boil in plenty of water, gradually removing the softened outer leaves. Cut off the thick veins from the leaves, place the filling on each leaf and roll it up. Place stuffed cabbage rolls in a saucepan. Dilute sour cream and tomato paste in 400 ml of water. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour the sauce over the cabbage rolls, bring to a boil and simmer over low heat, covered, until the cabbage is soft. The average cooking time is about 45-50 minutes.
Diet cabbage rolls with chicken
Ingredients:
- 1 white cabbage,
- 450 g chicken breast,
- 2 onions,
- 1 carrot,
- 60 g wheat cereal,
- 1 clove of garlic,
- 1.5 tablespoons of tomato paste,
- salt and spices to taste,
- greenery.
Preparation:
Grind chicken breast, one onion and garlic through a meat grinder. Add wheat grits, half of the grated carrots, spices and salt to taste to the resulting minced meat. Mix well. Place the cabbage head in boiling water, removing the leaves as they soften. Using a knife, cut off thickenings on the leaves. Wrap the filling in the leaves.
Place the remaining chopped onion and half the grated carrots into the pan. Pour a glass of boiling water and simmer the vegetables for 5-7 minutes. Add tomato paste, salt and spices to taste. You can also add a little sugar if the paste is very sour. Simmer for another 2 minutes, then add the cabbage rolls to the sauce. If necessary, add additional boiling water. Cook the cabbage rolls over low heat, covered, until the cabbage is soft. This time depends on the type of cabbage and averages from 40 to 60 minutes. Sprinkle the finished cabbage rolls with chopped herbs and serve.
Cabbage rolls made from Chinese cabbage under a “fur coat” in the oven
Ingredients:
- 1 head of Chinese cabbage,
- 500 g minced meat,
- 100 g rice,
- 1 onion,
- 1 egg,
- salt and ground black pepper to taste.
- 2 carrots,
- 2 tomatoes
- 1 large onion,
- 200 g sour cream (20% fat),
- 1 tablespoon of tomato paste,
- 2 teaspoons ground paprika,
- 2-3 bay leaves,
- vegetable oil.
Preparation:
Boil the rice until half cooked and cool. Mix the minced meat and rice, chopped onion and egg. Add salt and pepper to taste. Knead the minced meat well. Separate the cabbage leaves from the stalk. Cut off the hard vein from the outer surface of each leaf and lightly beat off the dense part with a meat mallet in the place where the leaf was attached to the stalk. Place minced meat on each sheet (about 1 tablespoon) and wrap carefully. Place cabbage rolls in a baking dish.
To prepare the gravy, fry the onion, cut into half rings, in a small amount of oil until golden brown. Add coarsely grated carrots and chopped tomatoes. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Add sour cream, tomato paste, ground paprika and 200 ml of water to the vegetables. Mix well and cook for a couple more minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then pour the gravy over the cabbage rolls in the pan. Add the bay leaf and cover the pan (with foil or lid). Bake in an oven preheated to 190 degrees for about 40 minutes.
Stuffed cabbage rolls in garlic and sour cream sauce
Ingredients:
- 1 kg white cabbage,
- 400 g minced meat,
- 1 onion,
- 70 g loaf,
- 2 cloves of garlic,
- 3 tablespoons boiled rice,
- salt and spices to taste.
- 200 g sour cream,
- 2-3 cloves of garlic,
- 2 bay leaves,
- 1 tablespoon flour,
- 1 teaspoon dried basil,
- salt to taste.
Preparation:
Place the head of cabbage, cut around the stalk, into a saucepan and add water. Cook for about 10 minutes, removing the leaves one at a time and placing them on a plate. When the leaves have cooled, cut off the thickenings from them. To prepare the filling, mix the minced meat with chopped onion, chopped or pressed garlic, boiled rice and a loaf of bread, previously soaked in water and squeezed. Salt the resulting mass and season with spices to taste. Place the filling on the cabbage leaves and roll into envelopes. Place cabbage rolls in a thick-walled pan.
To prepare the sauce, mix sour cream, flour, finely chopped garlic and dried basil. Pour the sauce over the cabbage rolls and add a little water (about 1.5 cups). Add salt to taste, cover the pan with a lid and simmer for 30 minutes. After this, add the bay leaf and simmer for another 20-30 minutes until the cabbage softens.
Ingredients:
- 1 fork white cabbage (weighing about 700 g),
- 1 large onion,
- 2 carrots,
- 200 g mushrooms,
- 200 g rice,
- salt and ground black pepper to taste,
- vegetable oil.
Preparation:
Boil a head of cabbage in boiling water for 5-7 minutes, separating the leaves at the base. Allow the leaves to cool and cut off seals. Boil the rice until half cooked.
Fry finely chopped mushrooms in a little vegetable oil until they are ready. Separately, fry the chopped onion with grated carrots until soft. Add tomato paste, stir and cook for another 5 minutes.
Mix half the fried vegetables with mushrooms and rice. Add salt and pepper to taste. Place the filling on the cabbage leaves and form cabbage rolls. Place cabbage rolls in a saucepan and top with fried vegetables. Pour the remaining water from cooking the cabbage so that it covers the cabbage rolls, lightly salt it, and simmer covered for about 40 minutes.
Lazy cabbage rolls in the oven
Ingredients:
- 500 g meat,
- 500 g tomatoes,
- 250 g white cabbage,
- 1 onion,
- 80 g rice,
- 2 onions,
- 1 carrot,
- 1-2 cloves of garlic,
- 1 teaspoon tomato paste,
- salt, sugar and ground black pepper to taste,
- vegetable oil.
Preparation:
Finely chop the cabbage. Lightly salt and mash with your hands. If your cabbage is of late varieties, you need to pour boiling water over it in chopped form for 10-15 minutes, then squeeze it out. Boil the rice until half cooked in salted water and let cool. Pass the meat and onions through a meat grinder, add rice, salt and black pepper to taste. Mix thoroughly with your hands.
Heat vegetable oil in a saucepan. Add chopped onion and fry until golden brown. Add coarsely grated carrots and chopped garlic. Fry for another 3 minutes. Add finely chopped tomatoes, peeled. Cook for a couple of minutes, and then add tomato paste, pour in two glasses of water and stir. Add salt and sugar to taste to make the gravy sweet and sour. Bring to a boil and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Wrap the filling in cabbage leaves and place the cabbage rolls in a baking dish, lightly greased with oil. Pour vegetable sauce on top, cover the pan with foil and bake in an oven preheated to 220 degrees for 15 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 180 degrees and bake for another half hour.
Despite the fact that cabbage rolls require time and effort, this is more than compensated by their excellent taste and the joy of loved ones! Bon appetit!
Classic cabbage rolls with meat and rice are a favorite dish for many. The combination of juicy minced meat, soft cabbage leaves and rich tomato and sour cream sauce is incredibly tasty and satisfying! However, when preparing this popular dish, there are some points that should be taken into account to achieve the perfect result. This includes boiling cabbage, properly prepared filling, and forming cabbage rolls. In our step-by-step instructions we will consider all the stages in detail.
The most time-consuming process in the cabbage rolls recipe is preparing the cabbage. It is necessary to carefully separate the leaves from the head of cabbage so as not to tear them or damage them. This can be done in different ways (using freezing, microwave, under running water, etc.). But today we will use the traditional method.
Ingredients: 
- minced meat (pork + beef) - 0.5 kg;
- cabbage - 1 large;
- rice - ½ cup;
- carrots - 1 small;
- onion - 1 large or 2 small;
- garlic - 1-2 cloves;
- tomatoes - 2-3 pcs.;
- fresh herbs (dill or parsley) - 3-4 sprigs;
- vegetable oil - 40-50 ml;
- salt, pepper - to taste.
For the sauce:
- tomato paste - 2 tbsp. spoons;
- sour cream - 4 tbsp. spoons;
- water - about 400 ml;
- salt - to taste.
Stuffed cabbage rolls recipe step by step with photos at home
- Remove the top damaged leaves from the cabbage. Next, we make deep cuts around the stalk with a knife to separate the base of the leaves from the head of cabbage. Choose a large saucepan (ideally the cabbage should fit completely there) and fill it with water. Place the head of cabbage on a knife or fork and immerse it in boiling salted liquid.
- Gradually, the cabbage leaves will begin to separate from the head of cabbage (we carefully help them with a fork).
- When there are 3-5 leaves in the pan, remove the head of cabbage from the pan. Cook the separated leaves for 1-2 minutes (until soft and elastic), then remove with a slotted spoon. Next, place the head of cabbage in the pan again, wait for the leaves to separate, etc. We repeat the procedure until all suitable leaves are gone.
Stuffing for cabbage rolls recipe with photo
- While the cabbage leaves are cooling, prepare the meat filling for the cabbage rolls. Heat a frying pan with vegetable oil, fry finely chopped onion until soft.
- Next we add carrots to the onions. Stirring, sauté everything together for about 3 minutes.
- Add the carrot and onion mixture to the minced meat and squeeze the garlic cloves through a press. Add chopped herbs to the mixture.
- Boil the rice until half cooked and also add it to the meat mixture. For juiciness, be sure to add tomato pulp to the filling ingredients. To do this, soak the tomatoes in boiling water for a couple of minutes, then rinse them with cold water and remove the steamed skin. Grind the pulp with a knife or turn it into a “puree” using a blender.
- Salt and pepper the filling ingredients, mix thoroughly.
How to cook cabbage rolls with meat and rice
- Forming cabbage rolls. Take a cabbage leaf and remove the hard part (the stem) with a knife. Lay out a portion of the meat mass (about 2-3 tablespoons). Cover the filling with the bottom edge of the cabbage leaf.
- Then we bend the sides to the minced meat and fold the top edge. We get a completely closed “envelope”. From the amount of products indicated in the recipe you will get approximately 9-10 cabbage rolls.
- Heat vegetable oil in a saucepan or deep frying pan. We fry our semi-finished products on both sides.
- Mix sour cream and tomato paste, dilute with water, lightly salt. Pour the prepared sauce over the cabbage rolls. The liquid should cover the products almost completely (add water if necessary). Cover the pan with a lid.
- Stew cabbage rolls with meat and rice for 30-40 minutes over low heat. Serve the finished products with the sauce and add herbs.
Stuffed cabbage rolls with meat and rice are ready! Bon appetit!
10 most delicious cabbage rolls recipes - be sure to save.
1. Stuffed cabbage rolls with mushrooms
Ingredients:
White cabbage - 8–10 leaves
Water
Salt - to taste
Vegetable oil - 2 tbsp. l.
For filling:
Fresh mushrooms - 500 g or dried mushrooms - 100 g
Tomato paste - 1–2 tbsp. l.
Crispy rice porridge - 1/2 tbsp.
Salt - to taste
Preparation:
1. Boil cabbage leaves in boiling water for 2–3 minutes, remove from the water, and let the water drain.
2. If necessary, lightly beat the hard veins of the leaves until soft with a wooden hoe.
3. Place 2-3 tablespoons of filling on each cabbage leaf and wrap it. Fry the cabbage rolls in oil, then simmer in a casserole dish or in the oven on a baking sheet.
4. Serve with boiled potatoes and cucumber salad.
5. For the filling, wash and boil dried mushrooms, boil fresh mushrooms, chop finely, mix with rice and tomato paste, add salt to taste.
2. Transcarpathian cabbage rolls
Ingredients:
Cabbage - 3 kg
Pork loin - 1 kg
Pork fat - 150 g
Onion - 250 g
Sour cream - 130 g
Tomato puree - 40 g
Ground pepper, salt
Preparation:
1. Cut the core out of the cabbage heads so that the leaves do not fall apart. Place the cabbage in a saucepan with salted boiling water and cook over low heat for several minutes. When the cabbage has cooled, separate the leaves and cut off the thick part of each one.
2. Cut the meat into thin slices, beat, salt and pepper. Place a slice of meat and onion stewed in fat on the sheet, bend it on both sides and roll it into a roll.
3. Place a lid of a smaller diameter on the bottom of the pan, line it with cabbage leaves, place cabbage rolls on them, cover with cabbage leaves, pour salted boiling water, add the remaining fat and cook over low heat for 1.5 hours.
4. Then add sour cream mixed with tomato puree to the cabbage rolls and place in a hot oven for 30–40 minutes.
3. Sarmi (Bulgarian cabbage rolls)
Ingredients:
Veal - 500 g
Pork - 300 g
Green onion - 1 bunch
Rice - 1/2 tbsp.
Yogurt - 1 tbsp.
Grape or cabbage leaves - 30–40 pcs.
Butter - 100 g or vegetable oil - 1/2 tbsp.
Parsley, mint, parika, pepper, salt to taste
Preparation:
1. Chop the onion and fry in oil, adding a little water, then mix with paprika and set aside.
2. Add finely chopped meat, rice, pepper, mint and chopped parsley. Pour hot salted water over everything and simmer until the rice has absorbed all the water.
3. Rinse the leaves with hot salted water and place a teaspoon of the prepared filling on each one.
4. Roll up the cabbage rolls and place in a saucepan. Add 3/2 cup water and a teaspoon of fat. Simmer over low heat with the lid closed.
5. Lightly beat the yogurt, add softened butter, sprinkle with paprika. Serve the sauce along with cabbage rolls.
6. You can stuff not only leaves in this way, but also sweet peppers, eggplants or zucchini.
4. Lazy cabbage rolls
Ingredients:
Cabbage (head) - 1 pc.
Meat - 500 g
Carrots - 1 pc.
Onions - 2 pcs.
Broth - 1 tbsp.
Rice - 1/2 tbsp.
Tomato - 1 tbsp. l.
Bay leaf, pepper, salt to taste
Preparation:
1. Rinse a head of cabbage with water several times and chop finely.
2. Place butter or margarine and half the cabbage on the bottom of the pan. Fry the meat cut into pieces, grated carrots, and tomatoes.
3. First put meat in a saucepan with cabbage, then carrots, then uncooked rice and remaining cabbage.
4. Add bay leaf, pepper, a little broth and simmer until done.
5. Stuffed cabbage rolls with minced fish
Ingredients:
Cabbage – 1 kg
Boiled rice - 100 g
Parsley and dill - 10 g
Onions - 2 pcs.
Sour cream sauce
Butter - 2 tbsp. l.
Salt, ground black pepper - to taste
Fish (minced) - 400 g
Preparation:
1. Boil the prepared head of cabbage until half cooked in boiling salted water. Cut off the thickened part of the boiled leaves. Finely chop the onion and fry in a little oil.
2. Mix minced fish with rice, fried onions, salt, pepper and stir.
3. Place the minced meat on the prepared cabbage leaves and wrap, giving the product a rectangular shape.
4. Fry the cabbage rolls on both sides in butter, then pour in sour cream sauce and bake in the oven for 8–10 minutes.
5. Serve cabbage rolls 2 pieces at a time. per serving, pouring over the sauce in which they were stewed, and garnishing with herbs.
6. Cabbage rolls with sausage
Ingredients:
Wheat bread - 200 g
Cabbage - 1 pc.
Boiled sausage - 200 g
Egg - 2 pcs.
Margarine or lard - 2 tbsp. l.
Mustard - 2 tbsp. l.
Apples - 4 pcs.
Salt - to taste
Preparation:
1. Soak and squeeze out bread and sausage through a meat grinder, add eggs, mustard, and salt.
2. Stir.
3. Separate the large leaves from the cabbage head. To make them flexible and elastic, scald them with water acidified with vinegar.
4. Place the prepared minced meat on the leaves and roll it into an envelope.
5. Fry the cabbage rolls in lard or margarine.
6. Add a little hot water to the pan, cover the cabbage rolls with chopped apples and simmer, closing the lid.
7. Stuffed cabbage rolls with cottage cheese “winter’s tale”
Ingredients:
Cabbage - 1/4 head
Cottage cheese - 8 tbsp. l.
Flour - 1 tbsp. l.
Rice - 1 tbsp. l.
Oil - 1 tbsp. l.
Egg - 1 pc.
Sugar - 2 tsp.
Salt - 1 tsp.
Sour cream - 1 tbsp. l.
Preparation:
1. Separate 5-6 leaves from a medium-sized head of cabbage, place them in a pan of salted boiled water, and cook for 5-10 minutes.
2. Then transfer the cabbage to a colander and let the water drain.
3. Cut off the thick middle veins from the leaves, place minced meat in the middle of each leaf and wrap.
4. After this, put the cabbage rolls in a saucepan, pour in 1/2 cup of sour cream and simmer in the oven until the cabbage becomes soft.
5. Minced meat: boil the rice in salted water, place on a sieve, mince the cottage cheese and mix with a raw egg, flour, boiled rice, salt solution and a teaspoon of melted butter.
8. Potato cabbage rolls
Ingredients:
Potatoes – 1 kg
Onions - 200 g
Carrots - 200 g
Vegetable oil - 50 g
Sour cream - 200 g
Ground black pepper – 3 g
Salt - to taste
Preparation:
1. These cabbage rolls are best stuffed into sauerkraut leaves.
2. Wash the potatoes, peel them, grate them on a fine grater.
3. Peel the onions and carrots, finely chop them and sauté in vegetable oil. Mix grated potatoes and sautéed vegetables, salt and pepper with ground black pepper.
4. Place the prepared minced meat on cabbage leaves, form cabbage rolls, place on a baking sheet, pour over sauce made from finely chopped fried onions.
9. Stuffed cabbage rolls with meat and cheese
Ingredients:
Savoy cabbage (large sheets) - 4 pcs.
Tomatoes - 500 g
Onions - 1 pc.
Cheese (grated) - 60 g
Pork (minced) - 175 g
Egg - 1 pc.
Flavored vinegar - 3 tbsp. l.
Bread (slice, for toast) - 1 pc.
Olive oil - 3 tbsp. l.
Potatoes (small) - 500 g
Salt, pepper - to taste
Preparation:
1. Blanch the cabbage for about 2 minutes, rinse with cold water, cut the leaves in half. Peel the tomatoes and cut into cubes.
2. Chop the onion, mix with 40 g of cheese, pork, egg and 1 tbsp. spoon of vinegar. Grind the bread pulp and add to the minced meat, add salt and pepper.
3. Place the minced meat on the leaves, roll into rolls, and secure. Heat 1 tbsp. a spoonful of oil, add tomatoes, 50 ml water, 2 tbsp. l. vinegar.
4. Simmer cabbage rolls in this sauce for 15 minutes.
5. Cut the potatoes into quarters. Fry in 2 tbsp. spoons of oil for 15 minutes. Salt and pepper.
6. Serve with sauce, sprinkled with cheese.
10. Sweet and sour cabbage rolls
Ingredients:
Minced beef - 500 g
Cabbage leaves (large) - 8 pcs.
Boiled rice - 100 g
Onions - 50 g
Tomato sauce - 100 g
Raisins - 50 g
Salt - 1 tsp.
Pepper - 1 tsp.
Tomato paste - 240 g
Ginger (grated) - 50 g
Flavored vinegar - 100 g
Preparation:
1. Place cabbage leaves in a glass saucepan.
2. Close and place in the oven for 4-6 minutes at 100%, simmer until soft.
3. Combine meat, rice, chopped onion, tomato sauce, raisins, salt, pepper. Mix well.
4. Stuff cabbage leaves with the mixture and roll them like cigars. Secure the seam.
5. Place seam side down in the pan.
6. Combine the remaining ingredients, mix and pour over the cabbage rolls.
7. Place in oven for 15–18 minutes at 50%. Cabbage leaves should not fall apart.
8. Leave for 5 minutes before serving.
Bon appetit Lord!
