Cabbage Rolls {Portion Fix/21 Day Fix}

 

My grandmother used to make cabbage rolls. As a kid, I would turn my nose up at them, and being a grandmother she would make me something else… yes spoiled. I know that it was just the cabbage on the outside that I wasn’t going to eat. And so did she, because she would make me a hamburger patty with the same sauce on it.

It wasn’t until I was an adult that I actually tried the whole dish and fell in love with it. Cabbage rolls are richly flavored tomato sauce bubbling around cabbage leaves stuffed with a flavorful meat mixture, YUM! Then there came a time that I wanted to learn to make them myself. My very 1st batch looked awful but tasted good! Soon after that, I tried again and it was a little better! Down thru the years, I have perfected them. 

Let’s talk cabbage…

Cabbage is a very economical food. Under $1 per pound, all year round makes it a big part of my budget conscience meal plans. I can get multiple meals out of just 1 head. Coleslaw, Egg Roll in a Bowl, and steamed are 3 of our favorite ways to eat it. 

But if you look in the top left corner of this picture you will see whole leaves. I usually peel off the 1st 4 large leaves off of a new head of cabbage. Not the big tough dark green ones although I do have a recipe that uses those dark leaves HERE. 

Over the years I have figured out a few “tips” for removing the outer leaves. First to make it easier to peel them it is important to start with a room temperature head of cabbage. Then I make knife cuts where the leaves meet the core, a few leaves deep.  My next tip is to soak the whole head of cabbage in hot tap water for a few minutes, again you are trying to soften those leaves to make peeling them without ripping a little easier.  I let it soak while I am getting the rest of my recipe together, then VERY carefully pick at the edges of the 1st leaf starting at the core end, pushing it away from the core. Once I have the 4 leaves I put the rest of the cabbage away to finish prepping later.

 

Prepping the cabbage leaves

Start by prepping the cabbage leaves to parboil. I cut the hardest part of the leaf stem out of the leaf. This will make the whole leaf cook about the same amount. If you leave that v-cut piece in it the leaf it will not cook as much around there and make folding your roll harder. 

I use boil in the bag brown rice so I soften the leaves in that water while the rice is cooking. Fill a bigger pot than needed for the rice so that you have room to dip the cabbage leaves in whole.  I only parboil one leaf at a time, setting it on a slotted spoon and lowering it into the boiling water for just 15-20 seconds, till I see it turn color just a little. But not too long or they will just be too mushy to work. Remember I said my 1st attempt looked awful….. 

Cabbage, brown rice, spices, 2-3 cups of sauce (homemade or jarred) are all that is needed to make these cabbage rolls. 

Assembling the cabbage rolls

The next thing you have to make is the meat mixture. It is a very simple almost meatball/loaf mixture that you fold into the cabbage leaves. 1 1/2 cups of ground beef, 1/2 cup of cooked brown rice, green onion to taste, and garlic to taste, a little salt and pepper is all that goes into it. 

Just mash it all together, making sure to distribute all the bits and pieces. You can add any spices you want to this mixture…oregano, basil, Italian seasoning, or even some heat with cayenne pepper and make it your own! 

Have your baking pan ready by spraying it with olive oil spray and putting about 1/4 of an inch of your prepared sauce in the bottom of it.

Form 4 equal-sized oblong-shaped patties and lay each one on a leaf, carefully wrap it in the leaf, and then lay in the pan smooth side up. Spray the tops of the rolls with a little olive oil to help keep them from drying out. 

All that is left to do is to cover the 4 bundles with the rest of the sauce. I almost always use a large jar of sauce for this because it is easy. I have plenty of ideas for store-bought sauces in this post HERE.  But if you want a homemade sauce to use for other things too HERE is a great recipe! 

Freezing or cooking the cabbage rolls

You don’t have to cover the entire cabbage rolls but want it deep around them, and some spooned over them before you cook them. Sometimes if I am prepping these for later I will freeze them at this point. I keep a set of casserole dishes just for my prepped freezer meals so I don’t have to bother taking them out of the pan. To cook them from frozen I just set them out to thaw in the fridge the day before or on the counter while I am at work for a few hours. You want it completely thawed because of the raw ground beef, it needs to cook thru to the center and it won’t do that frozen. 

Bake for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees, again you are aiming to get the ground meat done. I use a meat thermometer when I make them to make sure they are done because I can’t see them.  But time-wise it is usually 30-35 min.  Make sure to serve it with plenty of the sauce with the roll, to make sure to get a full Green container in your serving. Each roll with sauce is 1/2Red, 1Green, 1/4Y.  I often have 2 as my whole meal or just 1 with dishes. I also like to serve them with parmesan cheese sprinkled across them! 

What do I serve with cabbage rolls?

Since I have made the “boil in a bag” of brown rice for this recipe, then I usually plan a rice side dish. The cabbage rolls only have 1/4 of 1Y so I can finish using up that Yellow. Broccoli and rice with a bit of cheese is my favorite! 

 

Usually, if I am going to have my oven on anyway I make another casserole type dish. Squash casserole is my favorite way to eat squash!! All that cheesy goodness!! Recipe HERE.

I hope you enjoy these old-fashioned style recipes! I sure do!