Stuffed cabbage (Golabki) is the ultimate winter comfort food – tender cabbage leaves wrapped around juicy ground beef, veggies, rice and smothered in tangy tomato sauce. It’s a family favorite and makes for a hearty main course that the whole family will love.
If you want your stuffed cabbage to be super tasty and not just a little bit healthy, make sure to use the best possible ingredients – like quality meat, fresh herbs, and flavorful tomato soup (not sauce). You can substitute the tomato soup for tomato sauce, but I’ve found that using tomato soup gives it a more mellow, almost “creamy” texture. Plus, you get the benefit of a lot of extra vegetables in your dish which will provide even more nutrients and fiber.
To make these easy stuffed cabbage rolls, first prepare the filling by mixing the ground meat, veggies and rice. This recipe calls for beef, but chicken, pork or Italian sausage also work well. I used regular white rice, but brown rice, quinoa or bulgur would be delicious too.
Next, prepare the cabbage. Start by filling a large pot with water and bringing it to a boil. Then, cut off the core from a head of cabbage and drop it in the boiling water for 3 to 4 minutes. Once the leaves start to separate and become pliable, immediately remove them with a colander or strainer and transfer them to a bowl of ice water. This will stop the cooking process so the leaves don’t harden up during baking. محشي ملفوف