Stuffed Cabbage Rolls in Tomato Sauce

Stuffed cabbage rolls made from juicy pork and beef meatballs wrapped in tender fresh cabbage leaves and smothered in a tangy homemade tomato sauce. Make it ahead and pop it in the oven to bake for a quick and easy meal the whole family will love.

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Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

Cabbage has to be one of my favourite vegetables. It’s so versatile – there is so much that you can do with it. For instance, you can shred it with carrots and cover with a tangy dressing to make a coleslaw.

I also like to boil it until it is just cooked and then drain and mix in a tablespoon of cornflour until there are no lumps. Then I add a cup of milk and a knob of butter and boil until thickened. Add plenty of ground black pepper, and there you have it – instant cabbage and creamy sauce in one pot – delicious served with a roast.

I even eat it steamed and topped with a knob of butter.

So you can imagine my disappointment when not one, but all three of my children hated cabbage and refused to eat it. Until I presented them with stuffed cabbage rolls in tomato sauce that is. They devoured them, and stuffed cabbage rolls became a regular feature on our menu.

If you are a lover of cabbage you also might to like to try this sautéed cabbage recipe from WellPlated.com.

Ingredients for stuffed cabbage rolls

You can get the complete list of ingredients and full instructions on how to make stuffed cabbage rolls on the printable recipe card at the end of this post.

Stuffed cabbage rolls in tomato sauce are really easy to make. You just form minced pork and beef into meatballs and roll them up in cabbage leaves. Then cover with homemade tomato sauce and bake in the oven.

To make it easy for you to draw up your shopping list, I’ve listed the ingredients here:

This recipe uses rice instead of breadcrumbs as a filler for the meatballs. The rice helps to absorb the juices from the meat and tomato sauce as the dish cooks, and prevents it from being too watery.

How to make stuffed cabbage rolls

How long does it take?

This dish takes around 2 hours and 15 minutes to make and this may seem like a long time.

I’ve broken it down into the different steps so you can see where the time is used. You could also prepare this the day before and let it stand in the fridge overnight and then pop it in the oven the next day.

Some of the steps can be done simultaneously. For instance, you could start the sauce while the cabbage is softening, and roll the meatballs while the sauce is simmering.

• Prepare the cabbage – 15 minutes
• Mix ingredients for the meatballs – 5 minutes
• Roll the meatballs into the cabbage leaves – 20 minutes
• Prepare the tomato sauce – 30 minutes
• Put into a baking dish – 5 minutes
• Bake – 1 hour

Prepare the cabbage

• I used a savoy cabbage for this dish, but you can use any cabbage of your choice as long as the leaves are large enough to wrap around the meatballs.
• You can either steam the cabbage or you can boil the cabbage in a saucepan large enough to take the whole cabbage.
• The cabbage leaves need to be pliable enough to roll around a meatball. So you should just cook the cabbage just long enough for the outer leaves to pull away easily. If the inner leaves are still too hard to pull off, just continue cooking for another few minutes until they soften and pull away easily.
• To steam – place the whole cabbage in a steamer and let it steam for about 8 minutes.
• To boil – place the whole cabbage in a large saucepan of water and boil for about 8 minutes.
• You will need about 16 cabbage leaves. Be careful when pulling them off the cabbage, they will be very hot.
• If the inner leaves do not all come off steam or boil for a bit longer.

Assemble the cabbage rolls

Prepare the mince for the filling

• Chop the onions and place with the rest of the ingredients for the meatballs in a mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly to combine.
• I like to use half beef and half pork mince but you could use all beef if you prefer.
• Note – the onions are quite coarsely chopped. They do not have to be as finely chopped as they would be for regular meatballs.

Assemble the cabbage rolls

• Cabbage leaves have a thick vein running down the back which makes them difficult to roll. Just slice through this vein with a sharp knife to remove it (image 1 above).
• Take a spoonful of the mince mixture and form it into a short sausage shape.
• Place on the base of a cabbage leaf (image 2 above).

Tip – keep a bowl of clean cold water next to you so that you can dip your hands. The meat will not stick to your hands if they are wet.

• Fold the bottom of the cabbage leaf over the meat and then fold both sides in (image 3 above).
• Continue to roll until you have a sausage shape.
• Note – If you run out of large cabbage leaves, you can overlap 2 smaller ones. The result will be the same .
• If you are having difficulty in getting the cabbage rolls to keep their shape, you can secure them with a toothpick. Just remember to remove the toothpicks before serving.

Make the tomato sauce and assemble the dish

• Heat the oil in a saucepan (use a saucepan that has a lid).
• Fry the onions gently in the oil until they start to soften. Do not allow to brown.
• Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for about 30 minutes with the saucepan lid on.
• The sauce should be quite thick and chunky (image 1 above).

Assemble the dish

• Spoon half of tomato sauce into a baking dish.
• Arrange a layer of cabbage rolls on the tomato sauce (image 2 above).
• Cover with the remaining tomato sauce.
• If you only have a small baking dish, you can make more than one layer. Just cover each layer of cabbage rolls with tomato sauce and ensure you leave sufficient sauce to cover the final layer of cabbage rolls.

Bake the cabbage rolls

• Cover the baking dish with a layer of aluminium foil and bake in a medium oven 175C / 350F for about an hour.
• The cabbage should be soft and juicy (image 3 above) and the meat should be cooked through. You can test by cutting one of the rolls in half. The meat should not be pink.

Your questions answered

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Additional resources

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If you live at a high altitude you may find you need to adjust your baking recipes to compensate for this. You can read all about it in this post on baking at high altitudes.

Recipe – Stuffed Cabbage Rolls in Tomato Sauce

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