Instead of using ground beef, I’ve substituted ground turkey in this recipe for cabbage rolls. You can eat half of this recipe for dinner and save the other half for another time because it freezes well. The side dish of mashed potatoes is tasty.
| Prep Time: | 25 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 20 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 45 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup uncooked long grain white rice
- 16 large cabbage leaves
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound ground turkey
- ⅓ cup chopped onion
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
- ⅔ (6 ounce) can tomato paste
- 1 cup water
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 cups baby carrots, sliced lengthwise (Optional)
Instructions
- In a pot, bring 1 cup water and rice to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 9×13 inch casserole dish.
- Bring a large pot of water to boil. Reduce heat to low and place cabbage leaves in pot. Simmer 4 to 5 minutes, until tender. Drain leaves and set aside.
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat and cook turkey and onion until turkey is brown and onion is tender. Transfer turkey and onion to a bowl, cool slightly, and mix in cooked rice, egg and 1 can tomato sauce. Season with salt and pepper.
- In a separate bowl, mix 1 can tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, brown sugar, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce.
- Scatter carrot slices evenly over bottom of casserole dish. Spread cabbage leaves on a flat surface and place about 2 tablespoons turkey mixture in the center of each leaf. Fold edges of leaves over filling, then roll into logs. Place cabbage rolls seam side down in dish over carrots. Pour sauce evenly over rolls.
- Cover and bake 1 hour in the preheated oven. Remove cover during last 10 minutes of cook time. Allow to sit 5 minutes before serving.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 245 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 28 g |
| Cholesterol | 68 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Protein | 14 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Sodium | 660 mg |
| Sugars | 13 g |
| Fat | 9 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I decided right off the bat to microwave the cabbage. Yes that’s right, microwave it. Just wrap the cabbage in plastic wrap and cook it on high for 10 minutes. Let it cool and cut the core out. Leaves will fall off easy. As far as the meat mixture, I decided to season the meat and sauce with Herbs De Provence. It lends a nice herb flavor to everything. I also cut out the water and used straight sauce. So give those a try and see if you like it better.
Great base recipe but I made a lot of changes to add some extra flavour. I sautéed spinach with the onions, added alot of garlic, mixed my tomato paste with pizza sauce and added a bit of cheese before rolling them up.
Instead of carrots on bottom of baking dish I used a little Sauerkraut.
Yumm
The only difference I made to the recipe was to add 2 chopped garlic cloves, garlic powder, garlic salt, about a tsp of italian herbs, and then I only used 1/2 cup of water. My husband loved it and I will be adding this to my meal planning.
followed recipe as written. I thought it was a little bland and needed more of something. If I made it again, I would eliminate half of the water and put in a can of .. i don’t know… maybe seasoned diced tomatoes.. The sauce was too watery. If you make this, put in 3/4 cup of water instead of the full cup
This was excellent! I did not have brown rice (it’s been hard to find during this pandemic), so I substituted bulgur wheat! Very yummy. I will make it again!
easy to follow recipe…i’d make it again but i’d season the meat with more than just salt and pepper next time…just a personal preference.
Tips: if your stove is anything like mine, boiling a large pot of water takes TONS of time (way mor than pre heating the oven). Do this step first. Also: BUY 2 CANS TOMATO SAUCE. I don’t know why the recipe lists it twice separately – To me, that makes it more likely to miss on the shopping list. thankfully had an extra can in my pantry. Great flavor. Will try adding garlic next time to the sautéed turkey and onion.
Great recipe. I did add mushrooms to the filling but that’s because I had some I needed to use. One of the reasons I like this type of recipe. You can add so many different things. I may try to use my slow cooker next time.
I was the lucky recipient of my grandson’s Bonnie Plants 3rd Grade Giant Cabbage and decided to try this recipe with the huge outer leaves. I made 4X the recipe, 3 for the freezer and one for dinner. It was very successful and our 8&9 year old grandsons ate cooked cabbage without a problem. For a new food, I’d say it was a success! I used homemade beef bone broth instead of water to cook the rice, brown rice instead of white, added garlic and used a VERY large can of tomato sauce instead of sauce, tomato paste and water. I did the first two pans as rolls but sort of lasagna-layered the last two because I ran out of time. Didn’t add any mozzarella but may add to the frozen ones when reheating. Cheese will make it even more popular with the grandsons
I had to be out for the day, so I thought that I would make this into a cabbage roll casserole in my slow cooker. I really didn’t change much except I chopped the cabbage instead of rolling the ingredients in the leaves. I fried the turkey first, and put the rice into the slow cooker raw. I added about twice the water because of the uncooked rice. I cooked it about 6 hours on low. It was delicious!
These were wonderful. I would make a bit more sauce next time. Totally enjoyed by all.
There are not words. I’m telling you, just try them. You will not be sorry. These are fabulous.
1/3 of the rice – salsa/ground beef/onions – cheese.
I made this just the way the recipe says, to mixed reviews. One kid loved it the other was m’eh. I like them because they are tasty and healthier than made with beef.
I was really happy at how you couldn’t even tell it was turkey. I love cabbage rolls and a healthy version scared me. I even used brown rice instead of the white, the sauce was great and I make a huge batch so I can freeze some
We really liked this dish. I’ve never made cabbage rolls before, so I wish I had paid attention to the tips about simmering the whole head of cabbage to make it easier to peel off the leaves. I tore up most of the outer leaves before trying that and it worked like a charm. I also added a clove of garlic to the turkey and onions as recommended by other reviewers and I think that really added some great flavor to the meat mixture. I will make this again, I will probably follow some of the other recommendations to make the sauce a little more spicy, though.
Great healthy recipe – tastes great. Will definitely make it again!
I would reduce the. brown sugar to 2 tbsp. and add a dash of hot sauce to meat mixture. Great fall dinner.
I replaced the rice with cauliflower, because we are trying to be carb-free. I also did half turkey, half beef. It was delicious! Will definitely make again!