When I was growing up, my Ukrainian parents would make this particular recipe for cabbage rolls. These cabbage rolls don’t include any meat. They occasionally had salt pork, but I didn’t like for that.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 2 hrs 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 3 hrs |
| Servings: | 8 |
Ingredients
- 1 medium head cabbage
- 3 cups water
- 1 ½ cups uncooked white rice
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 onion, chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 (46 fluid ounce) can tomato juice, or as needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a 2-quart casserole dish.
- Fill a large pot with a few inches of water and insert a steamer basket; bring to a boil. Place whole head of cabbage into the steamer basket, cover, and steam until tender, 10 to 12 minutes.
- At the same time, bring 3 cups water to a boil in a saucepan. Stir in rice and reduce the heat. Cover and simmer until rice is tender and water has been absorbed, about 20 minutes.
- Melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir onion into cooked rice and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Cut leaves off cabbage and cut any larger leaves in half. Spoon 1 tablespoon rice into each leaf and roll tightly. Stack rolls in layers in the prepared casserole dish. Pour tomato juice over the rolls, using enough just to cover.
- Cover and bake in the preheated oven for 2 hours.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 207 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 40 g |
| Cholesterol | 8 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 6 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Sodium | 521 mg |
| Sugars | 7 g |
| Fat | 4 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Truly a Ukrainian recipe – my mom taught me to do it this way except we sauteed cut up bacon and mixed in with the onions and garlic etc. The tomato soup is sort of the traditional sauce to use because it’s not so acid-y. I mix the soup with some water otherwise this is my recipe too. BTW, love the comments about Ukrainian recipes being different from Russian or Polish.
This is a Christmas Eve dish for us. My uncle would make them with Kasha, onions, dried mushrooms, etc. While I made everything else. Today. I put in the oven. Made with Buckweat that I toasted, rice, onions, garlic, dried mushrooms and mushrooms, salt and pepper. Plain tomato sauce and small diced tomato over the top…… The filling. The balance and depth of flavor is awesome. Earthiness of the toasted Buckwheat and dried mushrooms, sweatness of onion with a back tone of garlic. Fresh ground black pepper that comes at the end….. Mmm, tasty
I cooked my rice in the slow cooker, then added the sauteed onion and some Italian herbs. I also used homemade marinara sauce on the cabbage rolls.
Thanks for the basic, simple GOOD recipe! I used my home canned tomatoes, and added pork sausage. It was delicious! I noticed another review mention that she had spent time in Russia. I’d like to explain to her that Ukraine has its own culture and proud traditions. It is unlikely that she experienced any of it during her time in Russia. Here is an educational link for anyone interested in appreciating Ukrainian culture, food and history! 🙂 http://www.foodbycountry.com/Spain-to-Zimbabwe-Cumulative-Index/Ukraine.html
My babas cabbage rolls had a lil bit of ground pork in them and were nowhere near as big as the ones pictured, they were 2 , maybe 3 bite rolls at the biggest.
I will make this recipe again!
Excellent recipe that is just like grandma’s. We add a little salted pork to this recipe. Sometimes I make the rice with a bit of tomato juice in the water.
Red sauce over White any day. I make a huge batch and freeze the extra meals.
Great recipe! I didn’t bother frying the onions and I used chopped cabbage. Still amazing! I’ll definitely make this again.
I really enjoyed this recipe! I altered it slightly (adding ground beef to the filling) but was surprised at how much my family enjoyed it– my two young boys took leftovers for school lunch. Giving it 4 stars b/c I altered it, but may make it straight sometime soon. Thanks!
Delicious, and the recipe is easily adjustable. I made a much smaller amount, and since most ingredients were previously cooked, I didn’t have to cook it as long. I also cooked iton slightly higher heat. I also added a little diced chili pepper. I’m a vegetarian, and as someone who has sent time in Russia, it was nice to find a vegetarian recipe from that region.
You are missing one key ingredient! The mushrooms! You’re supposed saute chopped mushrooms with the onion and that is part of the filling. Rice by itself is boring
This was very good for a family that can’t have meat due to health issues. I used wild rice because we can’t have white rice either. It was something I would make again. I followed suggestion to boil cabbage whole. The next time I make it I will use the suggestion about freezing the whole cabbage and taking the leaves off once it’s defrosted. Will be interesting to see which way works better.
I tweaked this recipe a bit because I prefer a more spicier dish. Overall it was a good base recipe for me.
Rating this 5 stars as this is THE good basic Holubchi/cabbage roll recipe that all the personal and family versions and variations start from or build upon. I have been making cabbage rolls most of my life as taught by my Baba and Aunties. Their recipes sometimes added the ground meat or smoked ham or bacon, to the rice, whatever was handy. Now that I am the Baba myself, over the years I have tweaked recipes to suit myself, the kids and my husbands family. Hubby likes this plainer filling version made with sour cabbage leaves, which you can buy at some grocery stores, usually in the fall and winter, or make yourself, and no tomato sauce, just melted butter and water. Most often I just make with the regular (sweet) Green Cabbage. I now always buy heads of cabbage when in season (cheaper and better) and double wrap in plastic and just throw into freezer. When I plan to make a batch of cabbage rolls, I take the heads out and let them thaw in a big bowl or tub for 24 hrs. , then place them in the fridge (keep in bowl or tub as they will leak juices) until ready to use. No need to boil them this way, softer easier to roll leaves, and they bake up more tender and quicker. Most often we add finely diced cooked bacon and onions to the rice with some butter and salt and white pepper to taste. The one thing I learned from all the ukrainian and polish women in my family and friends circle is make sure you use the correct rice!! Use a plain short grain rice, unscented unflavored, an
I used this recipe for my second attempt at making cabbage rolls. I prefer small rolls and primarily rice, although I did add a little bacon and some dill to this recipe. The method of cooking the cabbage rolls was brilliant! The weekend before a friend showed me how she made her cabbage rolls and she boiled the whole head in a big pot of water. The cabbage was soggy and too cooked. This method was so easy. I’d just peel off some leaves and carry on rolling while the next leaves were gently steaming. I learned that if you chill the rice it rolls much better, particularly if you have bacon in the mixture. This will be my go to recipe for cabbage rolls from now on.
great recipe, try slicing the salt pork into larger pieces and after frying with onions pick out the pork and add the rest to the rice mix, this is the way my wife likes it all the taste and none of the pork. for a different take skip the pork, add garlic and well rinsed canned sliced mushrooms to the rice.
This is a true Ukranian recipe, thank you. There should not be meat in a real cabbage roll.
OMG these are awesome even my picky child ate them! After reading the other reviews I did make a few changes. Freeze the cabbage & then thaw- wow this really works!! I added 1 pack of bacon cooked and cut into small pieces. I sauted the onion in the bacon fat. Added all the above to my cooked rice (1 cup each of white and brown minute rice) Seasoned with basil and oregano. I also used 1 can condensed tomato soup plus 1/2 can of water to dilute and poured over the rolls, I also added a can of puree diluted with another can of water as there didn’t seem to be enough liquids. I actually made this ahead of time and cooked later. It cooked (covered) at 325 for approx 45 mins and was done perfectly when i removed it from the oven. I ended up with enough left overs for another couple of meals which I plan on freezing. definately a keeper – this is going into my recipe binder for sure
I ended up changing something out of necessity. Instead of rolling into cabbage rolls I layered the cabbage and rice mixture (onions in butter, an egg to bind). Then put pasta sauce on top. Following the recipe exactly would have been ideal and I would have loved it but my cabbage had been cut in half and I had to improvise. As others have stated the basics were perfect.
Made them today.. tip for the cabbage… Cut around core and put 1 cup of water in a deep microwavable bowl.. put cabbage in core down, put plastic wrap on top and cook on high for “three” 10 min times… Let cool and use!!! I also put a tin of tomato soup on the top… I added bacon and garlic also…