OLD-FASHIONED CABBAGE ROLLS (INSPIRED BY NAN)

These easy old-fashioned cabbage rolls are stuffed with a savoury ground beef mixture, coated in tomato sauce and are oh so scrumptious! Inspired by my grandmother, it’ll be the only stuffed cabbage roll recipe you’ll need!

Prep Time 40minutes mins

Cook Time 2hours hrs 15minutes mins

Cooling Time 20minutes mins

Total Time 3hours hrs 15minutes mins

Servings18 cabbage rolls (approximately)

Ingredients

1 cup COOKED long-grain rice, or similar variety (you’ll need about ⅓ cup of uncooked rice to yield 1 cup of cooked rice)

1.5 pounds lean ground beef, or extra lean ground beef

1.5 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 large egg

1 yellow onion, peeled and minced

⅓ cup chopped fresh parsley

3 cloves garlic, minced

1.5 teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ teaspoon dried dill (dill weed)

½ teaspoon onion powder

½ to 1 teaspoon red chili flakes (crushed red pepper flakes), optional

3 (13.5-ounce) cans tomato sauce, divided (about three (398-millilitre) cans or 5 cups of tomato sauce. See point “5” below in recipe “Notes”)

1 medium head green cabbage, you’ll need about 18 leaves for the rolls and another 8 to 10 or so for the bottom of the dish and over top

½ cup water, leftover from boiling cabbage

Chopped fresh dill, garnish to taste (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit for use shortly.

Cook rice according to package instructions and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine ground beef with Worcestershire sauce, egg, cooked rice, onion, parsley, garlic, salt, black pepper, dill, onion powder, red chili flakes (if using) and ½ cup of tomato sauce. Mix until well combined. Set aside.

To a large pot of boiling water, add head of cabbage, cover with lid ajar and boil for 8 to 10 minutes (carefully turn over partway through). Carefully remove. Don’t discard water because you will need to re-boil the cabbage as you start to peel off the leaves and you will need some of the water for your sauce.

Note: Don’t fill the pot all the way up because the cabbage will displace some of the water. Before boiling water, test how much the water will displace by placing the head of cabbage in the pot.

Once cabbage is cool enough to handle, carefully remove leaves and cut out core from each leaf. Once you start taking leaves off, you’ll likely need to add the cabbage back to the boiling water (to soften more leaves). Just boil for another bit, let cool enough to handle and continue removing leaves.

Place some cabbage leaves on the bottom of a deep 9-inch x 13-inch baking dish or roasting pan.

To assemble the cabbage rolls, taking one leaf at a time, distribute about ¼ cup of ground beef mixture on top and wrap up (fold in sides and roll up, placing in prepared dish, seam side down). Continue with remaining ground beef mixture/leaves.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining 4.5 cups of tomato sauce and ½ cup of cabbage water. Pour over top of cabbage rolls. Top with more cabbage leaves.

Note: You could stir in about a tablespoon of white or brown sugar into the tomato sauce if you want less of a tomato bite. I like the brightness of tomatoes, so I skip this.

Cover the baking dish tightly with aluminum foil. Cover and bake in the preheated oven for 2 hours and 15 minutes to 2 hours and 30 minutes or until cabbage rolls are fully cooked through (the ground beef should be no longer be pink, it should be brown all the way through and the internal temperature of the cabbage rolls reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit when checked with an instant-read meat thermometer).

Once done, be careful removing foil covering as there will be steam. Discard top cabbage leaves. Allow to cool for 20 minutes or so before serving. Garnish, if desired, with fresh dill. Enjoy!

Note: If you have any leftovers, properly store in an airtight container in the refrigerator and use within 2 to 4 days, reheating before serving.

Notes