It should come as no surprise that I enjoy lamb-stuffed cabbage rolls since I enjoy lamb burgers and meatballs, and I’m delighted to report that these specific “lambage rolls” were the greatest non-beef version yet!
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 45 mins |
| Additional Time: | 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 45 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 8 cabbage rolls |
Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 pinch dried oregano
- 1 pound ground lamb
- 1 cup white rice
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ¼ cup packed chopped Italian parsley (Optional)
- 2 tablespoons sliced almonds
- 1 tablespoon dried currants
- 1 head cabbage
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cup tomato puree
- 3 ½ cups chicken broth
- ½ onion, sliced
- ¼ cup crumbled feta cheese (Optional)
- 2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley (Optional)
Instructions
- Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat; heat oil in the melted butter. Cook and stir 1/2 diced onion until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook and stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in 1 teaspoon black pepper, cumin, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and oregano. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
- Combine lamb, rice, 2 teaspoons salt, 1/4 cup parsley, almonds, and currants in a large bowl. Add cooled onion mixture and mix until combined. Cover and place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Fill a large pot halfway with water and bring to a boil. Remove the core from the cabbage head and place the head in the boiling water. Cover and simmer until leaves begin to fall away, about 5 minutes. Remove the 2 outer layers of leaves to a paper towel-lined plate, cover and continue cooking for 1 to 2 more minutes. Remove the remaining large leaves to the plate. You will need 8 large and about 7 smaller leaves.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Take 1 cabbage leaf and remove the root end. Place about 1/2 cup of the lamb mixture toward the bottom edge of the cabbage leaf and roll into a log. Repeat with remaining lamb mixture and 7 more large leaves to create 8 cabbage rolls.
- Line the bottom of a large casserole dish or Dutch oven with 4 or 5 smaller cabbage leaves. Place cabbage rolls on top; season with salt and black pepper. Add bay leaves and tomato puree. Pour in chicken broth. Sprinkle 1/2 sliced onion over the top and cover with 3 or 4 more cabbage leaves. Cover casserole.
- Bake in the preheated oven until the lamb is tender and the rice is cooked, 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 30 minutes. Serve with pan juices poured over the top and garnished with feta cheese and 2 tablespoons parsley.
- This recipe appeared in Allrecipes Magazine and was modified to use ground turkey in place of ground lamb.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 740 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 70 g |
| Cholesterol | 119 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 11 g |
| Protein | 32 g |
| Saturated Fat | 16 g |
| Sodium | 2564 mg |
| Sugars | 17 g |
| Fat | 39 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
In my experience cooking rice in cabbage rolls cook the rice first otherwise using uncooked rice takes a long time to cook in the cabbage rolls.
Great recipe, I had to sub chopped prunes for currants. I soaked the rice for 30 minutes. My only issue was that there was very little pan juices left. The flavor profile is wonderful. Thank you Chef John, once again you have provided a delicious meal for us!
Wow this recipe is for the gods. I changed it up though. And I used a pressure cooker!! 30 mins total I set it at so I wouldn’t risk undercooking the rice. In the lamb mixture Instead of oregano which I feel is boring, I added ground cloves , cinnamon, cumin seed and hot chili powder for a kick. Then instead of currants I did golden raisins from Trader Joe’s. I added chopped mint along with the parsley. When I had everything rolled and ready in my pressure cooker (I didn’t use Dutch oven as recipe states) I then added 5 whole cloves, 3 bay leaves and 3 cinnamon sticks. Also, I rinsed soaked my rice for 20 mins BEFORE mixing it into lamb bc I had a fear that it wouldn’t cook all the way. I used pressure cooker for 30 mins. Bam. It was done and freaking amazing: I also don’t like the idea of feta with this. I suggest plain full fat yogurt dollip- or grated Parmesan- OR sour cream dollup. Just my 2 cents. Thanks chef. Your recipe was BOMB.
For those of you who say the rice is too al dente/hard what I found is add about a 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup chicken broth to the lamb mixture. It helps with the over-all texture and the flavor of the rice.
It was delicious! I already use the same spices to make lamb burgers and kebobs without the almonds and butter. For this recipe I wanted to bring down the calories per serving so I only used half a tablespoon of butter, added less rice, left out feta and I didn’t have currants so I left those out as well. Although it was a lighter version it was still amazingly good and I will be making it again.
Alot of work and for some reason it was very “bland”.
Terrific. I think I would soak the rice for 30 min or so before adding to the meat. Just to give it a head start. Used a home-canned pint of tomato jam (npt what ypu think — its a savory thing) and two ice cubes of homemade concentrated lamb stock (I call them lamb flavor bombs) and water instead of chicken stock.
I grew up with stuffed cabbage on the menu.. so when I received ground lamb in my imperfect food box and googled what to do with this and this recipe came up I was intrigued. The flavors are phenomenal. I only made one slight change. But as it turned out it made the sauce so good! As I was making them I realized I was out of ground cumin. As my boyfriend went to retrieve some for the store I realized I was running out of time to make them before guest arrived. So I put them together without it and poured the chicken stock and a can of tomato sauce on top. When he got back with the cumin I mixed it in a half a cup more chicken broth and poured it on top. The sauce… made the dish ya’ll. It was so good you would want to drink it!
Delicious!
Phenomenal-I am obsessed! These are definitely getting added to the rotation. I used purple cabbage cause that’s all I had, and my rice to meat ratio was too low, so I will adjust that next time. I topped it with garlic infused crushed tomatoes from a can cause I’m a working parent. Very impressed, I can eat these everyday!
I replace the lamb with a mix of ground beef and polish kielbasa. Everyone Who tried it went crazy about it. Excellent.
It was okay. Did not really think the sauce added to the dish. Did like the lamb and seasoning though. Think next time I would add more tomato purée or sauce and more currants.
I had a half a head of cabbage so layered half in a pan, put in the filling and cooked rice. Topped with more cabbage. Used a can of diced tomatoes. It was delicious.
THIS WAS REALLY GOOD. NO CHANGES NEEDED. I HAD A VERY LARGE HEAD OF CABBAGE, SO I CUT IT IN THIRDS TO GET THE RIGHT SIZE LEAVES. THEN I WAS ABLE TO PULL THE LEAVES OFF & THEN BLANCH WITHOUT COOKING THE REST OF THE CABBAGE.
We NEEDED to cater my brother’s wife’s grandparent’s 70th wedding anniversary party!! They were traveling all the way from Hungary just to dine with our extended family! I chose this recipe for the lamb and the spice arrangement (oooo Nagymama )! We octupled the recipe to feed 40 people! I *soft* cooked the rice before mixing the meat! The dish was a hit and our meat guy was pleased! Never underestimate the power of traditional dishes with a twist! If only all families could experience the joy our’s shared this weekend!
I wouldn’t rate the recipe as easy…but it was easier than I thought it would be…and soo tasty! It reminded my wife of the grape leaf wraps she would get in her native Albania. Another SUPERB recipe from Chef John! Thanks for making the difficult recipes easy for all of the rest of us.
Omg! Wonderful! Not my mommas stuffed cabbage. So much flavor and texture! Thank you for sharing. 🙂
Thank you for sharing your recipe. I followed the recipe and really liked the outcome. My personal preference is a little more puréed tomatoes and a little less broth. I think the broth I used made it a little too salty. I will definitely make this again. It’s the best recipe I’ve found for lamb stuffed cabbage rolls.
I love this recipe and make it frequently. It’s a weekend meal, because it takes a while to make, but it’s worth it. I am heavy handed on the spices and add tumeric. I also cook the rice by itself first and then add it to the meat mixture. if you put it in uncooked it comes out crunchy. You end up not using as much rice that way because cooked rice takes up more room, but that’s ok with me. I also mix the tomato sauce and chicken broth together before pouring it over the rolls. My husband doesn’t like cabbage, but he loves this dish. My boys are 6 and 8 and they eat the meat mixture out of it and don’t eat the cabbage, which means more cabbage for me. I highly recommend watching the video on how to cook the cabbage and cut it to make the rolls the first time you make it.
Amazing flavor! I made it with ground beef instead of lamb, but it’s still terrific. . . a family and guest favorite for sure.
I’m a stickler for following the recipe exactly so that it turns out right. I made this recipe and baked it at the recommended temperature and for the recommended time and the rice was NOT cooked through. The meat tasted fabulous but it was not edible because of the rice. In the past, I have always precooked rice before adding it to cabbage rolls and I will do it that way if I ever make this recipe again.