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.
1)How long is the cook time if I don’t add the rice and stock/water?
2)Do I follow the same cook time if I use quinoa instead of rice?
I stumbled upon your website by chance, and I love your recipes, especially the cheeseburger quinoa casserole! I look forward to many more recipes!
So happy to hear, Sharon! I would use 1 cup quinoa to 1 1/2 cups water ratio. Stir, cover and cook for 15 mins on low. Then check and see if quinoa needs another 5 – 10 mins. Enjoy!
Thanks for the quick reply Olena!
Do I need less cook time if I don’t use rice and stock/water?
Yes, not 50 mins. Please see my reply above.
I made this last night, and it was to die for! Could you please provide me your tips on the following that I could not find online:
1)How many of the outer leaves should I remove before cutting the cabbage?
2)How did you successfully cut down through the middle of the cabbage without struggling?
3) Would frozen cabbage also work with this recipe?
I remove just a few to get the outer layer off. To cut through use a sharp knife and be careful. Yes frozen cabbage works.
My Ukrainian Baba would make these, but she didn’t use tomato sauce…I believe she would cook them in stock..I, however use spagetti sauce and make the lazy helupki in the crock pot…putting the meat, cabbage, rice and sauce in layers..Delish!! and Lazy!!
How long did you cook in slow cooker on low or high
Thanks Kaye
I made this but used ground moose instead of turkey. It was really tasty. Thanks for the recipe!
Oh yum. Awesome!!! Happy to hear, Kim.
Easy and delicious. Can be made up quickly for a week night meal and also great for making up ahead of time. A perfect healthy family meal!
Thank you for your wonderful review, Vickie!!!
This is one of the best cabbage roll recipes I’ve ever tasted and so easy! I didn’t use water; I used organic chicken broth. I also didn’t use regular tomato sauce; I used a jar of Classico sauce which gave it a really great flavor. But all in all you can tweet it however you like but Olena gets all the accolades!!! Thank you, Olena for a wonderful healthy and easy recipe!
Haha, those are great choices. It is hard to go wrong here with common sense ingredients and subs. Glad you liked it, Martha!
I love home made cabbage rolls my grandmother and mom used to make. I’ve made them a few times and now that I’ve looked at you recipe I’m craving them again!! I think this will be dinner tonight, but, I’ll going to try making with a vegan ground meat alternative… not sure what will work yet. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Yes, you totally can!!! Have you tried beyond meat burger? I love it!!! Wonder if they have crumbles too!
Great recipe! And I also loved the Instant Pot version!
Awesome! Yes, it is almost identical.
Love this recipe – it’s a good staple in our house. So easy and SO tasty.
That is so amazing to hear! Glad you enjoyed my recipe, Gail!
Hi. I love cabbage in soup. My husband and I do not like rice. So do I cut back on the liquid amount when not using rice? It sounds so Yummy. I want to make this recipe. Thank You.
Yes, just don’t add rice and stock/water.
My husband and I both grew up eating our Grandmother’s cabbage rolls – they each had a different take on them. We made them a few times together until we found this recipe. We haven’t made traditional rolls since, and I have even made this recipe for my entire extended family. Every loved it and it is sooo much easier. I can’t wait to make these this fall as soon as the weather shifts.
All cabbage rolls I tried in my life had different take on them. So happy to hear this recipe is your new family’s favorite. And thanks for taking time to comment.:)