Crazily enough, my youngest daughter’s favorite homecooked meal is stuffed cabbage rolls. I don’t make them that often, only because I don’t always keep a head of cabbage in the house. When I plan to make them, I have to plan ahead and get the cabbage. It really isn’t that hard of a meal to make and it is so yummy! The beef mixed with the tomato, the sour of the cabbage, along with the filling of the rice, all blends together to make a delicious, comforting meal that leaves you full and satisfied. You can pair the cabbage rolls with all kinds of sides. I usually just keep it simple and make extra rice, then cook a vegetable or make a salad. You can really have whatever sides you want, the stuffed cabbage rolls go with almost anything.
If you want to cheat and use a jarred sauce, you can, but I strongly urge you to try the from-scratch version. The aromatics of the garlic along with the tang of the balsamic vinegar truly bring out the tomatoes and ground beef. This is an absolutely fabulous recipe!
I start by gathering all my ingredients and preheating my oven to 350 degrees. For the sauce, sauté the onions in the olive oil until translucent. Add the garlic, tomato paste, brown sugar and vinegar. Cook about 30 seconds, then mix in the tomatoes and seasoning and simmer on med-low heat for 20 minutes.
In a large pot of boiling water, blanch the cabbage leaves for about a minute. Remove the leaves when they are nice and flexible. Cut out the white spine if it is too thick or tough.
In a large bowl, mix the beef filling with ground beef, uncooked white rice, Italian breadcrumbs, chopped onion and parsley, and salt and pepper. If you are like me, and absolutely hate the feel of touching raw meat, and do not have gloves; use a gallon size ziploc bag. Just put all the ingredients in, then squish the outside of the bag until everything is nicely mixed.
Spread a cup a sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish. Assemble the cabbage rolls. Scoop a large spoonful of beef mixture onto one end of a cabbage leaf and roll up, tucking the sides in as you go. Place rolls into baking dish. Spoon the remaining sauce over the rolls and cover with foil. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Dish up with whatever sides you want, add a little parsley for garnish and enjoy. The savory goodness of this recipe will be a family favorite!
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Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
Ingredients
Sauce
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ½ large onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 can crushed tomatoes 28 oz
- 2 tsp oregano, fresh (1 tsp dried)
- salt and pepper to taste
Cabbage Rolls
- 15 cabbage leaves blanched
- 1 lb ground beef
- ¼ cup white rice uncooked
- ¼ cup Italian breadcrumbs
- ½ large onion chopped
- 2 tbsp parsley freshly chopped, save some for garnish
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
For the sauce
- In a large pot, saute the onion in olive oil until translucent, about three minutes.
- Add the minced garlic, tomato paste, brown sugar, and balsamic vinegar.
- Cook for about 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Mix in the crushed tomatoes, oregano, salt and pepper, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer sauce for 20 minutes
Cabbage Rolls
- Preheat oven to 350℉.
- Bring water to a boil in a large pot and blanch the cabbage leaves until they are tender, about a minute. Drain and set aside.
- Make the filling. Mix the ground beef, one cup of sauce, rice, breadcrumbs, onions, parsley and seasonings.
- Assemble the rolls. First, spread on cup of sauce on the bottom of a 9×13 inch dish. In each cabbage leaf, cut out the tough spine of the leaf, then add a large spoonful of beef mixture at one end and roll up, tucking the sides as you go. Place in dish with the seam on the bottom.
- Add the rest of the sauce across the top of the cabbage rolls and cover with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy!
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