How To Make Amazingly Savory Easy Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

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This easy stuffed cabbage roll recipe I’m about to share has been passed down to me from my Great Grandmother Molly, aka Bubbie. I remember when I was a kid, she told me she and her 5 sisters were taught how to make holishkes. That’s Yiddish, for what we call stuffed cabbage. Apparently at the orphanage where they lived they had cooking classes. She told me this was the only possession she took before her and the sisters had to flee Nazi Germany.

Interesting, since she was living in Brooklyn during the Holocaust, and my mother was about to be born.

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She also told me she dated General Custer, so I’m not really believing they taught a 6-year old girl how to make stuffed cabbage. Regardless of how my Bubbie learned how to cook this, it’s without a doubt the most flipping amazingly easy stuffed cabbage roll recipe you’ll ever have the pleasure of making and eating.

My honey, who’s a food aficionado, even said he’s never tasted anything better than this; and his grandma came from Germany, and she too was a darn good cook. (Apparently not as good as my Bubbie)!

The key to this recipe is to make sure you use brown sugar and real lemon juice. Don’t buy that fake stuff that comes in a plastic lemon. That makes everything taste funky. As for the brown sugar you can use whichever one you have on hand. I typically purchase the dark brown sugar, but it’s equally delicious if you use light brown variety.

Bubbie’s Famous Stuffed Cabbage

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• 1 large cabbage head
• 1-1/2 pounds chopped meat
• 1/2 cup uncooked rice
• 1 medium onion (grated)
• 1 egg
• 1 cup water
• 1-1/2 tbsp Ketchup
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1  46 or 48-ounce can Tomato Juice
• 1  15-ounce can Tomato Sauce
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder

1. Remove the bottom core of the cabbage.
2. Parboil the cabbage leaves in a large pot until the leaves become tender.
3. Separate the head into individual leaves. Set aside to cool.
4. In a large bowl combine the ground meat, rice, grated onion, egg, ketchup, and salt.
5. Place a heaping tablespoon of the filling mixture onto each leaf, near the base. Fold the base of the leaf over filling and roll once. Then fold the sides of the leaf into the center so it encloses the meat. Insert a toothpick to keep the rolls secured.
6. In a bowl combine the water, tomato juice, tomato sauce, brown sugar, lemon juice, salt, and garlic powder.

7. Pour some of the mixture in the bottom of the oven-safe casserole dish.

8. Add the cabbage rolls to the casserole dish and cover with the remaining sauce.

9. Bake at 350° for 1 hour. Spoon sauce over cabbage rolls every 20 minutes to keep tops from burning.

10. Remove from oven. Cover with aluminum foil and heat at 375° for the last 30 minutes.

You can also make this in a crockpot. By doing so, add all of the ingredients in your crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours. 

Favorite side compliments

One of the best side dishes you can ever eat with stuffed cabbage rolls is homemade mashed potatoes with grass-fed butter and a huge dollop of sour cream mixed in.

Made too much and have leftovers?

The proper way to store your leftovers

If you have any stuffed cabbage rolls leftover, store them in an air-tight plastic container. Don’t cover the dish with aluminum foil or keep them in the dish you cooked them in. I know sometimes glass cookware – especially Anchor Hocking – has lids that go over the dishes. Although those are good to use when you’re marinating something, they’re really not air-tight enough.

The proper way to reheat

The best way to reheat stuffed cabbage rolls is to reheat them either in the microwave or oven.

Microwave reheating

• Place the cabbage rolls on a microwave-safe plate
• Cover the rolls with a damp paper towel
• Heat for 6 minutes on high (microwave oven wattage varies, so you may need to adjust your reheating time).
• Once heated thoroughly, let sit for 3 minutes while you heat the leftover tomato sauce.

Oven reheating

• Preheat oven to 350
• Drizzle leftover tomato sauce
• Cook for 30 – 40 minutes covered with aluminum foil

Stovetop reheating

I would strongly advise not to reheat your stuffed cabbage rolls on the stove.

Your turn

Do you think you’ll be making this amazingly easy stuffed cabbage roll dish soon? Share with a comment.

Until we meet again,

Stacey

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