These Instant Pot Cabbage Rolls are my lazy unstuffed version where cabbage rolls aren’t rolled at all but made into a casserole instead! It’s a quick and easy one pot meal.
Reader’s Review
OMG – so good & so easy! I made sure to have fresh dill to add at the end as you state & a minced raw garlic clove. Just elevates the recipe even more! So delicious. 😋 Thank you.
Gayle Campbell
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Instant Pot cabbage rolls recipe lets you enjoy the ultimate comfort food from my Ukrainian grandma but with a modern twist made in an electric pressure cooker.
Sure, old fashioned cabbage rolls will always be special, and if you have the time and energy to put towards rolling them, go for it. But for weeknights I find myself making these deconstructed cabbage rolls in Instant Pot is the way to go!
Sometimes I also make unstuffed cabbage rolls on the stove and other days I make cabbage roll soup. All of them have signature flavors without all of the extra work!
Topped with sour cream and dill it’s a gloriously messy plate of absolute deliciousness, but again, the roll isn’t necessary!
Ingredients for Instant Pot Cabbage Rolls
- Ground meat: Ground beef, pork, chicken, and turkey can be used. Ground beef is traditional, but I used ground turkey as a leaner choice. You can also use less meat and not change the recipe.
- Cabbage: Green, red (purple), napa, or savoy cabbage are all great choices. I have tried all of them. The color will be masked by the tomatoes anyway.
- Rice: Brown rice and white rice will both work, however, keep an eye out for the different cook times. You’ll use the same amount of water, no matter which type you use. If you use purple rice, treat it the same as brown rice. Wild rice is not recommended for this recipe.
- Tomato products: You can use 28 ounces of each or a combination of diced tomatoes or tomato sauce. Then one small can of tomato paste adds a depth of flavor, especially if you use only diced tomatoes that contain more water.
- Spices: Dried herbs like thyme and oregano. If you’re not a fan of thyme, feel free to use basil or rosemary.
How to Make Cabbage Rolls in Instant Pot
I used a 6 quart Instant Pot and the entire batch fit in with no problem. The recipe was tested in 8 quart as well so you can definitely use it if that’s the size you have. For 3 quart, cut recipe ingredients in half and keep same cook time.
- Sauté onion and garlic first, just until fragrant. Then, sauté ground turkey and spices for about 4-5 minutes, crumbling up the turkey into small pieces as you go. Pink pieces are OK. It will continue to cook under pressure.
- Add cabbage and stir. This step helps to prevent the dreaded Burn and shrink the cabbage a bit.
- Add remaining ingredients: Pour in chicken broth, uncooked rice, tomato paste, and diced tomatoes, in that order. Do not stir.
- Cancel Sauté and cook: If you’re using brown rice, cook for 22 minutes. If you’re using white rice, cook for 10 minutes. On high pressure for both.
- Release the pressure using Natural Release by allowing the pin to drop down on its own.
- Season more with the freshly grated garlic clove (trust me, life-changing Ukrainian hack) and add fresh herbs like dill or parsley.
Tips for Best Results
- Shred cabbage not too thin: You want sturdy pieces so it doesn’t “dissolve” under pressure. Not too thick, however, so the deconstructed cabbage rolls texture is enjoyable.
- To avoid the Burn: Don’t stir after you add the tomatoes. This way you will not get the Burn message.
- Note different cook times for rice: Cook white rice for 10 minutes, brown rice for 22 minutes.
- If your rice comes out crunchy: Different altitudes, brands and types of rice may impact the cook time. What you could try doing is giving it a stir and allowing it to sit with the lid on. The residual heat will continue to cook the rice. Next time you could try adding a few extra minutes of pressure cook time.
- Reduce salt: If you are not using a can of low sodium tomatoes, add less salt to the recipe.
Serving Ideas
The best I advice I can give you is from my heart. The way we enjoy lazy cabbage rolls is with a generous amount of sour cream or plain yogurt on top and a slice of dark rye bread or the North American version which is toasted whole grain bread. That’s it! Literally the best way to eat them, pure and simple.
Don’t forget to sop up all that sauce at the bottom of the plate. That sauce is the best! If you are looking to add more protein to your diet, serve with my crusty Greek yogurt bread or Greek yogurt biscuits.
Make a Freezer Meal
Saute ground turkey, breaking into small pieces. Add all the ingredients, except chicken broth, to a gallon-size freezer-friendly bag (I love these reusable ones) with tomato products going first.
The cabbage will be kept separate in a 2nd bag just for the sake of saving space. Freeze for up to 3 months.
When you’re ready to cook it, cook from frozen with the broth following the directions as listed.
How to Store and Reheat
To store: Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
To freeze: Once completely cooled, transfer to an airtight container for up to 3 months. It freezes beautifully! Thaw on a counter for 6-8 hours or in the fridge overnight. Reheat from thawed.
To reheat: Simmer with a splash of water or broth on low heat. The tomato and spice flavor is so rich, a splash will not dilute the final dish.
More Cabbage Recipes to Try
- Instant Pot borscht
- Instant Pot corned beef and cabbage
- Cabbage roll casserole
- Instant Pot cabbage soup
- Cabbage stir fry
Instant Pot Cabbage Rolls
Equipment
Video
Ingredients
- 2 pounds cabbage, medium-coarsely shredded
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced + 1 clove, grated (divided)
- 2 pounds ground turkey , or other meat
- 2 teaspoons thyme, dried
- 2 teaspoons oregano, dried
- 1 3/4 teaspoons salt
- Ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon oil, for frying
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth, low sodium
- 2 cups uncooked white or brown rice, rinsed & drained
- 6 ounces can tomato paste, low sodium
- 28 ounces can diced tomatoes, low sodium
- 1 small bunch dill, finely chopped
- Greek yogurt or sour cream, for serving
Instructions
- On Instant Pot, press Sauté and wait until display says Hot.
- Swirl oil to coat, add onion and 2 cloves of garlic; cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add ground turkey, thyme, oregano, salt and pepper; cook for 4 minutes, constantly breaking meat into small pieces with spatula. Meat won’t get browned and some pink pieces are OK.
- Add cabbage and stir.
- Add chicken broth, rice, tomato paste and diced tomatoes. Do not stir.
- Close the lid, set pressure vent to Sealing and press Cancel to turn Sauté off. Then press Pressure Cook on High pressure for 10 minutes – white rice, for 22 minutes – brown rice.
- After let pressure come down naturally on its own until the pin drops.
- Open the lid, add 1 grated garlic clove and dill, then stir gently but well.
- Serve hot with sour cream or Greek yogurt and whole grain toast.
Notes
- Store: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- Freeze: Fully cook, cool completely and freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw on a stovetop covered on low.
- Freezer meal: Saute just turkey until small pieces. Add all ingredients to gallon size bags with tomato products going first, no broth and cabbage in a 2nd bag (too much to fit into 1). Freeze for up to 3 months. Cook from frozen with broth as per recipe.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I’m not sure what you are doing with ground near in UKRAINIAN cabbage rolls (Holubtsi). They should have salt pork and no other meat!
In Ukraine I was born and raised, you could use any ground meat. We used pork and beef. Ukrainians do not make huge fuss about ingredients they use, they use what they have unless it is a must add ingredient, and in this case meat and rice and cabbage must do but no one says can be only this rice or this meat
What happens when immigrants come to North America, they bring their region’s recipe, then modify over decades using local ingredients. These recipes actually become not so original after all. I don’t even know what salt pork is.
Also, I recommend you be more respectful in expressing your opinion, especially towards women, even if online. With all due respect, judging by your last name, you were not even born in Ukraine, so can’t really speak what is true Ukrainian or not. Unlike me.
I haven’t made this recipe yet, but I’m going to now purely based on this comment. Love when I see women putting men in their place.
Came back to say I made it last night, and it was awesome! My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed it. And I used 93/7 grass fed ground beef (not salted pork).
I will add that I always have issues with burn notices when it comes to rice. So what I do to avoid that is I add everything in except the rice, set the instapot on high for 18 min, vented, added the rice in, cooked on high for 3 min and slow released for 12 min. That strategy works for me.
Anyway – overall this was amazing and will definitely be making it again!
So nice of you to say, so happy you loved it! Your Instant Pot must be sensitive then. Glad you made it work!
Oh my goodness! This was amazingly delicious! I was nervous that it would burn in the Instant Pot like others had mentioned, but following your directions to not mix the tomatoes in was key.
Super happy to hear my recipe worked for you!
I love cabbage and have been wanting to try making cabbage rolls but have been procrastinating because they seemed like too much work. Can’t wait to try this! I’m not a fan of tomato chunks or seeds though. So I usually swap out canned diced tomatoes for tomato sauce. Should I still do the tomato paste with the tomato sauce? Or do you think it will be too tomato-ey, and I should leave out the tomato paste? Also, I’ve been trying to avoid rice due to the high arsenic levels. So I’m thinking about doing farro instead. Any suggestions on cooking time? And should I reduce the amount? Sorry to have to make a few changes to your recipe. It sounds amazing!
I would skip tomato paste if using tomato sauce. I never cooked farro in Instant Pot but I would give it a try by following the recipe and see how it goes.
Very very good! My husband couldn’t say enough how good it was! I used a bit less cabbage and put it some sauerkraut like you mentioned for your stove top version. Also I used half ground Turkey and half chorizo sausage. Makes a lot but I will freeze some.
So glad to hear!
My whole family loves this amazing recipe. I grew up thinking I hated cabbage rolls, but then as an adult realized my poor non-Ukrainian mother just never could get the hang of the recipe. I made them myself a few years ago and realized I loved them, but it took so much time that I didn’t think I’d ever make them again . . . Until I found your recipe! Now we enjoy the flavor of cabbage rolls all the time without the hassle. My kids love this meal!
All of the above is true. Now that my kids are older I might go back to making traditional cabbage rolls just to bring childhood memories and honor my grandma but busy nights are made for this casserole. I’m so happy your family loved the recipe. Thanks for sharing that with me!
Can you make this in a crockpot? I don’t have an instant pot.
Unfortunately not because recipe will require different amount of liquids. Check out this stovetop version of my lazy cabbage rolls.
Hi Olena! We have made this recipe many times and love it! We are thinking of swapping out the brown rice for cauliflower rice – just mixing in the cauliflower rice at the end after pressure cooking is complete. Do you have any thoughts on this?
That would work, although because rice does absorb some of the liquid you may have extra liquid.
I had a real problem with the burn notice when I cooked this recipe. I even emptied the pot and cleaned it and put it back on. It burned again. I ended up putting it on the stove to get the rice cooked. But my husband loved it. It tasted a little burned to me. However, this had nothing to do with the recipe. Mostly I think it’s my instant pot.
Have you had other IP recipe trouble with burn notice? You may like the stove version of this – Ukrainian unstuffed cabbage rolls.
Omg. Your recipes are the best. This is SO good. Just made with ground beef and white rice. Cooked the beef and cabbage for 5 minutes first because I wanted it to be soft like in the original recipe, and then went along with the suggestion of ten minutes.
So glad you enjoyed it!
OMG – so good & so easy! I made sure to have fresh dill to add at the end as you state & a minced raw garlic clove. Just elevates the recipe even more! So delicious. 😋😋 Thank you.
So glad you enjoyed it!