Homemade cabbage rolls are delicious. Local farmers often have an abundance of cabbage every fall time, so we always purchase a few just to make into cabbage rolls. They can be time consuming to prepare, but are wonderful when you can take them from the freezer and bake them up. We always make cabbage rolls in the fall and freeze some for Thanksgiving and Christmas as well as to enjoy through the cold winter months.
Pioneers often took leftover pieces of meat and vegetables, as nothing went to waste, and created new dishes with them. Whether they tossed meat like pork into a bowl of cooked potatoes and added herbs, salt, pepper and an egg and then pan fried it up (called a fritter), or chopped up tougher meats that was then wrapped in cabbage leaves and cooked for many hours, making it tender, the pioneers often made due with what they had. The took plain, tough cuts of meat and vegetables, like root vegetables and cabbage, and created delicious meals from them.
Cabbage rolls are one of these dishes because you do not need an expensive cut of meat to make a wonderfully delicious cabbage roll. Different cultures have different variations of cabbage rolls, but the basics include a grain of some sort, onion, seasonings and a ground (or chopped fine) meat of sorts from pork and beef to lamb or poultry.
My gramma made large cabbage rolls that had more meat than rice and then cooked in a tomato base. Other relatives made small cabbage rolls with rice and bacon and cooked in butter and onion. Friends made them with rice and bacon and cooked them in cream and dill. The church ladies made them small with rice in either regular cabbage or sour cabbage. My mother-in-law made them small with rice and a little ground beef (more rice than meat). My mom always made large cabbage rolls with ground beef or a mixture of ground beef and pork and some rice (more meat than rice) in a tomato base that was always spiced with cayenne and chili pepper flakes. I make them my own way, either plain rice and onion or ground beef and rice (of somewhat equal proportions!).
Everyone has their own version of cabbage rolls, and I am going to share mine with you!
Let’s get started!
Cabbage. I always pick the larger heads. I peel off the outer couple layers and remove the inner core.
Next, we need to cook the cabbage. I boil it just until it turns color. If it is boiled too long, then the cabbage leaves will tear too much when trying to separate.
I used to roll the cabbage rolls without first cooking the cabbage, but I found the cabbage rolls to be so much more tough that way.
While the cabbage cooks, prepare your filling. I use cooked rice and ground beef. I usually cook the rice earlier in the day, or the day before so it is cold. I also use sticky rice or sushi rice because it holds together so much better when forming the cabbage rolls. Season with salt and pepper. I use about 1 teaspoon of salt for every pound of ground beef and a few sprinkles of fresh ground pepper.
Once the cabbage has cooled, gently separate the leaves. Cut out any of the tough core. Put a spoonful of rice and meat mixture into a cabbage leaf, towards one end. Roll burrito style – tuck the cabbage under the rice/meat mixture, fold in the ends and roll.
My daughters love helping me roll cabbage rolls! Such an easy way to get the kids involved in the kitchen! Just be sure they wash their hands before and after since this can get rather messy!
Place in a casserole dish or roasting pan, seam side down.
If you are wanting to freeze, place onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Once pan is full, place in freezer, 6 to 8 hours, or until frozen. Remove from pan and place in a freezer bag or freezer-safe container.
To cook from frozen, place in a roasting pan or casserole dish. Scatter with onion and butter or onion and tomato sauce (I use spaghetti sauce because it adds so much flavor and I like the taste better than tomato soup) and some water. I add an extra sprinkle of salt and pepper before baking. Bake 2 to 3 hours, covered. Remove lid in the last 30 minutes.
To cook from fresh, follow the above, but only bake 1 to 2 hours or until fall-apart-tender, removing the lid for the last 30 minutes.
This batch I cooked with onion and butter and a splash of water. Some we ate fresh, and some I froze for Thanksgiving, and some to enjoy during the long, cold winter months.
This batch I cooked with onion and spaghetti sauce (or you can use tomato sauce or tomato soup) and a splash of water. So yummy — we gobbled it all up!
The cabbage rolls sometimes break apart during cooking, but they still taste amazing! We ate this batch up fresh — it was absolutely scrumptious and so yummy — especially since we have not had homemade cabbage rolls since the fall before! I make cabbage rolls every fall (clearly, not enough), to enjoy all winter long!
How to Make Cabbage Rolls
- Boil cabbage until it turns color. Remove from boiling water and let cool. Plunging it into ice cold water will stop the cooking process and cool it faster.
- Cook rice. I use a sticky rice like sushi rice because it just rolls so much easier. Let cool.
- To the cooled rice, add ground beef. Add 1 tsp salt for each pound of ground beef. Add a sprinkle of fresh ground pepper, about 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. I like a fair amount of rice and meat together and aim for a 50-50 mixture. You can easily use less meat or more – the amount is up to you. We also made some that were plain rice with some cooked onion. Bacon is a great accompaniment to the plain rice and onion as well. You can add chili pepper flakes if you prefer a little kick. I opt to omit it.
- Gently separate cabbage leaves. Cut out any of the hard core.
- Place a spoonful of meat into a cabbage leaf, to one end. I make regular size cabbage rolls, but if you prefer smaller cabbage rolls, cut the leaves in half.
- Roll the cabbage roll burrito-style. Tuck the cabbage under the filling, roll in each of the sides and roll. Place seam side down.
- Freeze cabbage rolls at this point or bake. Whenever I make fresh cabbage rolls, I cook some and freeze the rest. They are excellent either way. If placed in the freezer in an airtight container, they will last about 6 to 10 to 12 months, in the freezer.
- To cook place in a roasting pan or casserole dish. Scatter with onion and butter or onion and tomato sauce (I use spaghetti sauce) and 2/3 cup water. I add an extra sprinkle of salt and pepper before baking. Bake covered. Check every 45 minutes or so, adding water if pan is too dry.
From frozen – Bake 2 to 3 hours, removing lid for the last 30 minutes.
From fresh – Bake 1 to 2 hours, removing the lid for the last 30 minutes.
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