Grandma’s Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls with ground meat, rice and cabbage cooked in savory tomato sauce. This one pot meal is perfect for busy weeknights!
We are a Ukrainian-Russian household, so cabbage for dinner makes a frequent appearance at our table. Instant Pot cabbage rolls and grandma’s borscht recipe, adults and kids love them all!
I think you are going to love these unstuffed cabbage rolls! As much as the old fashioned cabbage rolls are worth the wait, sometimes we just don’t have the time or energy for “holubtsi”.
I was born and raised in Ukraine, and I never do roll cabbage rolls. Instead, I like to chop cabbage into coarse square chunks and cook with rice and meat in flavorful tomato sauce in one pot. And grandma did the same on busy days. Otherwise, she rolled the rolls before going to work. Can you imagine?!
Ingredients for Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls
In Ukraine, cabbage rolls are made with ground beef or pork, white rice and tomato sauce. There are many Eastern European variations of this dish but here is what I use now.
Ingredients are simple and use what you have on hand:
- Onion and garlic: Chopped onion and minced garlic.
- Meat: Extra lean ground turkey but you can use ground pork or beef.
- Cabbage: Coarsely chopped. You can get away with using a variety of different types of cabbage like green, red, napa or even savoy cabbage in this recipe.
- Rice: Uncooked brown rice. Use white rice which cooks faster or leftover cooked brown rice which reduces total cooking time to 30 minutes.
- Liquids: Oil, low sodium tomato sauce, can of diced tomatoes, low sodium broth (or water), honey, or maple syrup to balance acidic ingredients, vinegar.
- Herbs: Dried oregano, thyme, bay leaves.
- Seasonings: Salt and pepper for taste.
- Garnish: Fresh dill or parsley or green onions, yogurt or sour cream.
How to Make Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls
Start by chopping garlic, onion and cabbage before you begin to cook. Peel and mince the garlic, chop the onion not too finely, and peel a few outer leaves from the cabbage and chop into big chunks.
Time to saute it all. Preheat a deep non-stick pan or a 5-6 quart Dutch oven. I absolutely love my Lodge dutch oven and cook most one pot meals in it. Food doesn’t burn and cooks evenly!
Swirl oil to coat and add onion and garlic, stirring occasionally. Then add ground meat, uncooked brown rice, dried oregano and thyme, salt and pepper. Continue cooking, breaking the meat into pieces.
Sauteing rice now cuts back its cook time. If you are using white rice, the cook time will be approximately 30 minutes. For pre-cooked brown rice, use 3 cups of cooked rice, reduce the liquids to 1 cup and cut the cooking time to 30 minutes.
Now it’s time to add the broth, tomato sauce, vinegar, maple syrup, and cabbage. Stir well to combine and bring to a boil.
Once boiling, cover, reduce heat, and cook on low for about an hour. As tempting as it might be to open the lid to check on it! Not until it’s completely done.
Tips for Best Results
- If your rice is a bit firm at the end: If rice is not cooked by the end, add 1/4 cup water, cover, and cook for another 5-10 minutes.
- To feed smaller crowd: When I say this recipe feeds a hungry crowd, I mean it! It yields close to 14 cups of food. If you don’t need that much, cut the recipe in half and keep the same cook time.
- Use heavy duty pot: Otherwise you risk cabbage rolls burning on the bottom.
- Don’t open the lid: Cooking time will lengthen because steam releases.
Variations
- More protein: Feel free to add an extra 1 pound of ground turkey. Also ground beef, chicken or pork work great!
- Sauerkraut: You can replace some of fresh cabbage with sauerkraut but cut salt in half and then season to taste after, if necessary.
- White rice: Cooking time will be around 30 minutes.
- Cooked brown rice: Use 3 cups cooked brown rice, reduce liquids to 1 cup and cook for 30 minutes.
How We Serve Them in Ukraine
At home, we serve unstuffed cabbage rolls as a meal on its own. It is a true one pot meal. Serve warm almost hot, with a generous dollop of yogurt or sour cream for the most authentic flavor.
Add a lot of chopped fresh dill and freshly cracked ground pepper. A slice of a rye bread or whole grain toast is a must to sop up the sauces, juices and bit of meat and rice at the bottom of the plate. So good!
You can add hot sauce on top if you feel like things spicy.
If you would like a true Ukrainian side salad for this dish, make lettuce salad or cucumber and tomato salad.
How to Store
Store: You’ll have leftovers for days! Enjoy up for 4 days later, being kept in the fridge in an airtight container. This dish actually gets better with time.
Freeze: Once fully cooked, freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. If you have a ton leftover, might be wise to freeze individually and only take out what you need.
Reheat: Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and reheat in the microwave. You can also use the pot with a splash of water or broth to simmer while covered for 10 minutes.
FAQs
Yes. The advantage is that it will cook faster. However, the texture will be more mush. I prefer more bite and substance to the cabbage in this recipe.
While this recipe has not been tested in a slow cooker, you can make it in the oven or the Instant Pot! Slow cooker will require different amount of liquids and might burn the tomato sauce.
Because we are not rolling cabbage, this recipe is pretty forgiving. Use green, red, napa or even savoy cabbage. Cook time will be a bit less for napa and savoy cabbage.
More Cabbage Recipes to Try
Ukrainian Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 large onion chopped
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 lb ground turkey extra lean
- 1 cup brown rice uncooked
- 3 lbs cabbage coarsely chopped
- 28 oz can tomato sauce low sodium
- 14 oz can diced tomatoes low sodium
- 2 cups water or any low sodium stock
- 1 tbsp oregano dried
- 1 tsp thyme dried
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- 1 tbsp honey or maple syrup
- 1 tsp salt
- Ground black pepper to taste
- 3 bay leaves
- Fresh dill, parsley, green onions and yogurt/sour cream for serving
Instructions
- Preheat large and very deep non-stick skillet or 5-6 quart Dutch oven on medium-high heat and swirl oil to coat. Add onion and garlic; cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add turkey, rice, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper; cook for 10 more minutes, breaking into small pieces and stirring often.
- Add broth, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, vinegar, maple syrup, cabbage, bay leaves and stir well. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 60-70 minutes. Do not open!
- After check if rice is cooked and if not (mine was) add 1/4 cup water, cover and cook for another 5 – 10 minutes.
- Serve warm topped with Greek yogurt and herbs.
Video
Notes
- Store: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
- Freeze: Fully cook, cool completely, and freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw in a refrigerator overnight. Reheat in a microwave or in the oven at 375 F for 10 minutes.
Delicious i’ve made it twice in the last two weeks . So easy ? I used the cabbage ? and roma tomatoes ? from our garden! I also added bacon ?. Highly recommend this recipe! I also live on magical Vancouver Island ?.
Awe, so happy to hear you loved this recipe, Dawn! Great additions. Where do you live? It is truly magical here. I just can’t believe how amazing it is!!!!!
Really good I make it often now.me family love it
Fantastic! Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
\Just made this and it’s delicious
Wahoo! Glad to hear, Dawn.
easy to make and tastey
Fantastic! Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I have made this a couple of times. So easy and tastes great!
That is so amazing to hear! Glad you enjoyed my recipe!
This is not the original recipe! Where did the original one go? Very disappointed! I want the original recipe back!
This one?
Cabbage Rolls Casserole
Print Recipe
Healthy Cabbage Rolls Casserole that doesn’t require pre-cooking rice, boiling cabbage and wrapping the leaves. Lazy man cabbage rolls.
Author: ifoodreal.com
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 115 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 5 minutes
Yield: 8 servings 1x
SCALE 1x2x3x
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, crushed & divided
1.5 lbs extra lean ground turkey
2 cans (28 oz each) crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce, divided
1 cup long grain brown rice, uncooked*
1 cup water
2 tsp brown sugar, divided
5 bay leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 medium cabbage (3 lbs), thinly shredded
1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped (for garnish)
Greek yoghurt (for garnish)
8 slices fresh mozzarella cheese (optional)
Instructions
Preheat large skillet on medium heat and add olive oil. Add onion and half of garlic. Saute until golden brown stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Transfer in a separate bowl and set aside.
In the same skillet brown ground turkey, breaking into pieces with a spatula. Add onion and garlic from step 1, 1 can of crushed tomatoes, rice (see Notes), water, 1 tsp brown sugar, bay leaves, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp ground black pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
In the meanwhile, remove the outer leaves from cabbage. Cut the cabbage in half and using a sharp knife or mandoline thinly slice/shred it. Place in a mixing bowl along with 1/8 tsp salt. Massage cabbage using your hands until the volume of cabbage decreases. This helps to soften the cabbage.
Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. In a 2.5″ deep 9 x 13 casserole dish, spread evenly half of the shredded cabbage topping with half of the meat-rice sauce. Then another layer of remaining cabbage and another layer of meat-rice sauce, until all used up.
To remaining can of crushed tomatoes, add remaining garlic, 1 tsp of brown sugar, 1/8 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp ground black pepper and mix together. Pour over the layered casserole, spreading evenly with spatula. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 90 minutes. Remove from the oven, let rest for 10 minutes and cut with a knife into 8 pieces. Serve warm (I like hot) with a dollop of non-fat Greek yogurt and a slice of rye bread. The casserole tastes even better the next day and makes great leftovers and work lunch.
Store: Refrigerate covered for up to 3 days. Freeze in an airtight container for up to 1 month. To defrost, thaw overnight in the refrigerator or in a microwave.
Notes
*A few readers reported that rice was still uncooked after an hour. I didn’t have this problem when creating the recipe, neither I had a chance to re-test this casserole again. Alternatively, you could pre-cook the rice with half amount of water and time as specified on the package.
Can I substitute a bean instead of meat. Got a lot of vegetarians in my family.
I thin so.
Loved it… it’s just perfect and my kids loved it too!!! Definitely doing this many times.. and the fact you can freeze is just perfect for busy moms.
Yes. I agree. So happy to hear! If you have Instant Pot, you can cook lazy cabbage rolls in it as well.
This is SO good!! First time I made it i followed the method exactly, and it took way longer because of the brown rice. Everything kind of over cooked by the time the rice was done. Second time I cooked the rice separately
and it was awesome!
YUM!!!
I love your site by the way! 🙂
Oh, yay! Sure thing. See and I love mushy and saucy cabbage rolls concoction on my plate. I love you too, Wendy! xoxo
Made this 2 nights ago – makes a lot! Which I love – if you’re going to be cutting veggies & cooking, etc. – why not do it once and have extra meals, right? My husband LOVED this – so did I 🙂 Didn’t have avocado oil, so used olive oil. The only thing I added were some spices to the tomato sauce & diced tomatoes – I whisked them together in a separate bowl and added a bit of garlic powder, onion powder, basil & oregano before adding them to the pan. Will DEFINITELY be making this again!! We had some leftovers for lunch today – quick and easy. Thank you for this recipe!
Your comment makes me smile because your “a lot” is our dinner and maybe 2 people lunch. It’s so sad here LOL. Glad you liked this recipe so much!