Traditional Polish Style Stuffed Cabbage Rolls (no canned soup)

Stuffed cabbage, or Golabki, is a cabbage roll common in Polish cuisine made from lightly soft-boiled cabbage leaves wrapped around minced pork or beef, chopped onions, and rice, which can be baked in a casserole dish, made on the stove top or even in a slow cooker. They are usually topped and served with a tomato based sauce.

Goląbki are often served during the Christmas season and on festive occasions such as weddings and are very popular amongst the Polish American community. My first exposure to stuffed cabbage was right after I got married.

They are fairly easy to make and can be made ahead of time or as I like, leftovers.

Be sure to check out the tips I’ve shared at the end of the post.

To get started, I prepared a batch of my Perfectly Baked Rice the night before and let cool. It’s super easy to make rice this way and I’ll never make it on the stove again. I could never get it right. This way comes out perfect every time I do it.

The next thing to think about is the cabbage. I have tips at the end of the post on how to soften it but you also want to remove the white hard part of the core with a sharp a knife. This will leave the leaf with a V shape cut out. But that’s ok. You just want to remove it because it’s a little tough.

When it comes to what type of beef to use for this recipe, I suggest you use 90% lean ground beef. I say this only because a fattier cut will result in a lot of grease. Keep in mind the beef is rolled uncooked so there isn’t a way to drain the grease. I did mix it with a little pork, again, a very lean meat.

The ratio of beef to pork is a personal preference so feel free to tweak this to your liking. Once you get the mixture the way you like it you want to roll it into a little log.

Rolling it like this keeps it compact and helps the cabbage keep it’s shape as it’s cooking as well as when they are eaten. Put the beef mixture towards the core and then fold it up once, grab both side and tuck them in and continue rolling.

There are a few different options when it comes to actually cooking the stuffed cabbage. I recently broke my slow cooker (deep sigh) so I opted for baking. I placed all the rolled leaves in a 9 x 13 baking dish

Now here comes the best part for me! The majority of stuffed cabbage recipes called for Campbell’s condensed tomato soup which left me very frustrated since I didn’t want to ruin these great little cabbages with preservatives, MSG, BPH etc. so I played around until I made my own.

You can click here for that recipe.

There is something about this sauce that gives my stuffed cabbage recipe an amazingly different and uniquely addictive flavor. I hope you try these cabbage rolls and love them as much as we do! 🙂

TIPS!

Try removing as much of the core as you can before putting the cabbage in water. Also using a pair of tongs can help remove the leaves as they soften.
Make sure there is a good ratio of meat to rice. You want more meat, so I found a 3:1 ratio a perfect balance.
Grab a spoonful of the beef and rice and roll it into a little logs before placing it in the leaf. This will give a nice firmer center.
Layer some extra cabbage leaves on the bottom of the pan and in between the rolled cabbage. This extra layer will help prevent them from unrolling and staying moist.
Once the rolls are fully cooked and taken out of the oven, let them stand at least 30 minutes. This gives the flavors a chance to combine and it gives them a chance to cool a little.
Be sure to use a lean beef otherwise a fattier meat can make the cabbage rolls greasy.
One of my favorite ways to eat stuffed cabbage it is topped with sauerkraut !
A great side dish would be something bland such as steamed potatoes.