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.
Hi Olena,
I love your healthy and easy recipes! Thanks so much! I made this today, and it is great. I am wondering, though, if I was supposed to drain the diced tomatoes before adding them. This seems a little soupier than I expected. God bless!
Hi Jane. Glad you liked it! You are not supposed to drain tomatoes. Casserole is more liquidy when you first open but after you stir and it sits for an hour, it becomes more thick. You can use 1/2 cup less broth next time and see how you like that.:)
Hi! Do you know if the cabbage roll recipe would work with riced cauliflower instead of rice?
No because cauliflower rice will not absorb any moisture but rather release it. It’s a vegetable. Plus 2 cruciferous veggies is too much. Also it is not an Instant Pot candidate. You could make it on the stove better.
So excited to try this recipe. How long should it cook with white rice?
I have not myself tried cooking this recipe with white rice. You can experiment. As a rule of thumb, white rice will cook faster in the instant pot than brown rice.
Made it with white rice! Cooked for 10 mins. Perfect!
YAY! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out!
I am sorry I have never cooked white rice in Instant Pot.
To me cabbage rolls are meat wrapped in cabbage , not shredded into cabbage.
This recipe is more of a cabbage roll casserole. The taste is the same whether or not it is rolled up or shredded in!
Hi, this sounds so wonderful, wonder if it would work without the meat?
Hi Karen. I am sure it would. You might need to adjust seasoning to taste at the end and use less salt to start with.
I actually made this recipe twice this week. The first time through the process of course I stuck to the script and it was simply fantastic!! Olena, you did a super job!! My wife has a Polish background and her family preferred to have sour head cabbage like the Croatians make Sarma. When I made it tonight I veered off the recipe just a bit. I used 1lbs of shaved cabbage and then added 32oz of sauerkraut. There are not a lot of places to purchase sour head cabbage. It tasted just like my mother-in-laws Sarma. Thank you so much for having your site up and running. Everything that I have made from this site gets “put into the meal rotation.” Thank you for your hard work and dedication.
Hi Jeff. Thank you for your wonderful review!!! I know exactly what you mean. My family made cabbage rolls with fresh cabbage. But we have Croatian friends and they use sauerkraut. 🙂
I have been making a dish similar to this in the oven. The method is:
Mix ground beef, onion, rice, garlic powder, salt, pepper, eggs, Worcestershire Sauce & Tabasco. Line bottom of a large pot with half of the cabbage. Press beef mixture on top; add remaining cabbage. Pour tomato juice over cabbage/beef. Juice should be no more than 1/4 inch above top of cabbage. Bake (uncovered) for 1-1/2 to 2 hours at 350F.
Anyone have any thoughts on cook time. Thanks
If you are asking about cook time for your version, should be same and similar liquid to dry ratio as in my recipe here.
Thanks, I was thinking about the same. I’m new to the instant pot. It’s so much fun.
It is a ton of fun. I have YouTube channel with lots of tips. Once you understand how it works you can make anything in it. Good luck!:)
My rice didn’t fully cook. Any suggestions?
Yes. Some brands of rice or altitude do that. Try natural pressure release or cook for 22 mins with QR.
I also had this problem. Some rice was cooked and some was still raw… I think the reasons why are:
1. I put too much cabbage(forgot to weigh it). My 8q pot was practically 2/3rd full. I weighed the last quarter after putting in 3/4 of a cabbage and realized it was probably about 3 lbs of cabbage instead of the 2 that’s required. Next time I’ll use only half a head.
2. I didn’t think the order of ingredients mattered but they do. I made the mistake of putting the rice last so it wasn’t really touching any liquid. I think its important to specify to put the rice BEFORE the tomatoes and liquid. I even put twice the amount of liquid because I prefer mine to be more saucy but that didn’t help.
Too much cabbage was not the issue. Otherwise, it would just release more liquid. Instructions specify tomatoes last. No liquid will touch rice ever in IP because it’s not like pot on stove-it needs half amount of it. And it doesn’t matter because everything cooks under pressure. What the problem was the altitude you live at or type of rice, just add 3-4 mins to cook time. 5 mins if you want very soft rice and next time it will be perfect for you. For more sauce add more broth. That’s it and enjoy!
Second time making this and it was amazing! Used Napa cabbage this time making the prep so much easier for me and I also remembered to get the fresh dill which totally kicked it up a notch!
I love napa and savoy cabbage in traditional Ukrainian recipes. I agree, it is easier to operate, cut etc. Glad you loved it!
Finally got around to trying this one and it’s another 5 star recipe!! Forgot to buy dill but next time I will remember 🙂
Awesome! 🙂