Polish Stuffed Cabbage Rolls or Golabki, are a filling fall and winter meal that is full of hearty veggies and a rich tomato sauce. Each tender cabbage leaf is stuffed with an extra meaty mixture of ground pork, ground beef, rice, and veggies and then rolled up and baked until tender.
Cabbage rolls are one of those dishes that take a little bit prep time, but they are just so good that the effort is well worth it!
In fact, these cabbage rolls are perhaps one of my favorite dishes to eat that I make myself. This dish takes inexpensive, unassuming ingredients and elevates them to something special. The cabbage itself gets soft and infused with the flavors of the tomato sauce and the filling. The filling has rice, ground meat, and LOADS of veggies. This dish proves that healthy does not have to feel lacking or unfilling. This stuffed cabbage recipe is also naturally gluten free and low fat!
Cabbage is a great source of vitamins C and K (54% and 85%). It is also great source of fiber which can aid in digestion. For other cabbage recipes from Slow Cooker Cabbage and Bacon or Slow Cooker Kielbasa and Sauerkraut.
Recipe Tip: Double the Dish
This cabbage roll recipe is ULTRA meaty. It has 2 full pounds of meat! And each cabbage leaf is stuffed to capacity. If you want to stretch this meal in a super easy way, simply add more rice to the meat mixture!
Doubling the rice (4 cups instead of 2), using a second head of cabbage, and filling the cabbage leaves ever so slightly less full, could easily fill up two trays of cabbage rolls. And since cabbage and rice are both super inexpensive, this would be a very economical way to make this meal have double the servings for now or to freeze for later.
Ingredients for Golabki
Cabbage Rolls
- head of cabbage
- ground pork
- ground beef
- carrot
- celery
- onion
- garlic
- salt
- egg
- black pepper
- cooked rice
Sauce
- tomato sauce
- diced tomatoes
- salt
- garlic powder
- red wine vinegar
How to make polish stuffed cabbage rolls
Preparing Cabbage Leaves
Core your cabbage head.
Bring a large stockpot of water up to boil, and add cabbage.
Cook for 5-7 minutes, until the leaves begin to peel off easily. They should be half cooked at this point.
Remove full cabbage from pot and let cool.
Once cool enough to handle, carefully remove 1 leaf at a time. You will need about 12-16 leaves, depending on their size.
Preparing the Sauce
Combine all sauce ingredients in a bowl.
Stir until well combined.
Creating the Filling
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients for the filling.
Stir together until well combined.
Take 3-4 tablespoons of the sauce mixture and add it to your filling mixture to give it some moisture.
Putting it all Together
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Take half the remaining sauce mixture and coat the bottom of a 9 ½ x 13 glass dish.
Take a baseball sized amount of filling and form so it is slightly elongated.
Place the filling near the stem side of the leaf. Fold in sides of leaf, and then roll leaf with filling toward the outer part of the leaf.
Snugly tuck the cabbage roll into the sauce covered glass pan.
Continue until all filling is used up.
Pour the remaining tomato sauce on top and cover dish with aluminum foil.
Place in the oven and bake for 1 ½ to 2 hours, until everything is cooked through and the cabbage is soft.
Let cool and serve.
Can cabbage rolls be frozen?
For sure! This meal freezes great and heats up beautifully. I would suggest preparing them in an aluminum disposable pan. This way you don't have to be without your glass dish for however long it’s frozen, and there’s no concern on heating the glass up from frozen. This would be a wonderful freezer meal to give to someone in need. It is delicious, and it is also gluten free and dairy free, so it would work with a lot of diets! You can cook the pan of cabbage rolls from frozen, but be sure to add 30-45 minutes on to the cook time.
Slow cooker adaption instructions
This exact cabbage rolls recipe can absolutely be adapted to cook in the slow cooker. This would be a wonderful crockpot dish. Prepare everything the same, but instead of using a glass 9x13, place half of the sauce on the bottom of your Crock-pot. Layer the rolls on top, and finish with the rest of the sauce.
what to serve with cabbage rolls
Cabbage rolls are a delicious all in one meal, they have veggies, protein, and carbs. If you want to serve additional sides or condiments try any of the following.
- spaetzle
- red cabbage sauerkraut
- polish cucumber salad
- crusty bread or rye bread
- hot sauce
- bean salad
Polish Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 head of cabbage
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 carrot peeled small diced
- 1 celery stalk small diced
- 1 medium onion small diced
- 3 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 2 cups cooked rice
- Tomato Sauce
- 1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
- 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- ½ tsp. salt
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
Instructions
- Core your cabbage head.
- Bring a large stockpot of water up to boil, and add cabbage.
- Cook for 5-7 minutes, until the leaves begin to peel off easily. They should be half cooked at this point.
- Remove full cabbage from pot and let cool.
- Once cool enough to handle, carefully remove 1 leaf at a time. You will need about 12-16 leaves, depending on their size.
- Combine all sauce ingredients in a bowl.
- Stir until well combined.
- In a large bowl, combine all ingredients for the filling.
- Stir together until well combined.
- Take 3-4 tablespoons of the sauce mixture and add it to your filling mixture to give it some moisture.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Take half the remaining sauce mixture and coat the bottom of a 9 ½ x 13 glass dish.
- Take a baseball sized amount of filling and form so it is slightly elongated.
- Place the filling near the stem side of the leaf. Fold in sides of leaf, and then roll leaf with filling toward the outer part of the leaf.
- Snugly tuck the cabbage roll into the sauce covered glass pan.
- Continue until all filling is used up.
- Pour the remaining tomato sauce on top and cover dish with aluminum foil.
- Place in the oven and bake for 1 ½ to 2 hours, until everything is cooked through and the cabbage is soft.
- Let cool and serve.
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