This slow cooker cabbage rolls recipe is one of my very favorites. I've tried the unstuffed version and the oven version, but this is best cooked on low in the slow cooker of Instant Pot. Is there any busy woman out there who doesn't love her slow cooker or Instant Pot? It's like having a kitchen robot, I tell it when I want dinner, toss in the ingredients, and at supper time, an amazing meal is ready. Now if we could do this for the rest of the house…
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I don't know about you, but I hate running from store to store to find the ingredients I want. Trying to find organic non-GMO ingredients can make me go to two different stores and makes me crazy. I love that I can order straight from Amazon, get free shipping, and have it on my door step in two days or less, that's kind of like having a personal shopper. That is my kind of shopping!
Resources for Slow Cooker Cabbage Rolls Recipe
This is a gluten-free and Non-GMO verified soy sauce alternative and we like it better than soy sauce. Once you try it you'll never go back–> Bragg Liquid Amino Soy Sauce Alternative
Apple cider vinegar is a must in our house, but many brands use “caramel coloring”. This is an organic and raw apple cider vinegar with all the health benefits –> Bragg Organic Raw Apple Cider Vinegar
Quinoa is a wonderful gluten free seed that is high in protein and one of our favorite foods. –> Organic Quinoa
No baby sitter needed slow cooker–> Programmable slow cooker
Or better yet, put these in your Instant Pot using the slow cooker function, seriously, the Instant Pot has been one of the best investments I've made on our homestead and I”ll never go without one.
Delicious Slow Cooker Cabbage Rolls
Depending upon how long you're gone for the day and how hot your slow cooker cooks, you might find it over cooks. Because my sweet mother lives up the road, I've often dropped off my slow cooker so she could turn it off for me, but now that I've discovered my beloved Instant Pot (isn't it the coolest thing ever), I won't have to try and fit putting my slow cooker in day care while I'm gone.
My picky seven-year-old will eat these slow cooker cabbage rolls with gusto and it's even better the second day.
Boil a pot of water and add head of cabbage, cook for 2 minutes and drain. (You can freeze cabbage then thaw and skip the boiling part. We just need the leaves soft enough to roll)
Combine rice, egg, liquid, onion, garlic, beef, salt, and seasonings in large bowl. Tip: If you want more veggies, try grated carrots or cauliflower in place of the rice or quinoa. Place 1/4 cup meat mixture in center of leaf and roll, tucking ends. Place cabbage rolls seam side down in slow cooker.
Mix all sauce ingredients together and pour over rolls. Depending upon the size of the cabbage, I sometimes double the sauce if I have more than 10 rolls, or if I want extra sauce to sop up my bread.
Cook cabbage rolls on low 8 hours in slow cooker, or on high for 4 hours if you didn't get it started in time. Now ooh and ahh with your family. It's the perfect mix of sweet and sour. The texture of the cabbage reminds me of pot stickers, another favorite.
I made quite a few changes to this recipe but the first cabbage roll recipe I ever used was this one, and the one this is heavily adapted from. I adapted it for a healthier gluten-free and traditional foods version.
Pioneering Today Slow Cooker Cabbage Rolls Recipe
Ingredients
- 10 cabbage leaves
- 1/2 cup uncooked wild rice quinoa, grated carrots and/or cauliflower)
- 1 egg beaten
- 1/4 cup water or broth
- 1/4 cup minced onion
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 1 lb. lean ground beef
- Sauce If you like lots of sauce, feel free to double this, I’ve done it both ways
- 1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
- 2 Tbs. honey
- 2 Tbs. apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Boil a pot of water and add head of cabbage, cook for 2 minutes and drain. (You can freeze cabbage then thaw and skip the boiling part. We just need the leaves soft enough to roll)
- Combine rice, egg, liquid, onion, garlic, beef, salt, and seasonings in large bowl. Place 1/4 cup meat mixture in center of leaf and roll up like a burrito. Place seam side down in slow cooker.
- Mix all sauce ingredients together and pour over rolls. Cook on low 8 hours in slow cooker.
In Pioneering Today-Faith and Home the Old Fashioned Way, I explain practical and easy methods to cook from scratch, garden, preserve your own food, and see God’s fingerprint in your everyday busy life. Read the first chapter for FREE and bring simple back to your home.
The sauce is especially good when made with homemade tomato sauce and sopped up with some homemade bread made in less than 5 minutes a day.
What's your favorite slow cooker dish?
This recipe is featured on Kelly The Kitchen Hop's Bog, This Chick Cooks Whole Foods Recipe Swap, and Miz Helen's Country Cottage Recipe Swap, and The Prairie Homestead and Traditional Tuesdays.
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I am definitely trying this! I have been married for nearly 14 years and I have YET to make a good cabbage roll recipe!!! My favorite is a chili recipe made with black beans and ground turkey. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
I do love black beans in my chili too, Becky. I haven’t tried turkey chili, but I do a chicken one. I’ll have to give the other poultry a try. 🙂 Let me know what you think of this recipe.
I just made this today but I didn’t have wild rice, I had quinoa so I used that instead and it turned out delicious. I added a tbs of chicken bullion and since i didn’t have Worcestershire sauce I added 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar. It so easy to make! and delicious.
I bet the apple cider vinegar was nice. I love apple cider vinegar and sneak it into a lot of recipes. lol I’m planning on using quinoa next time I make this, thanks for letting me know it turns out well. So glad you enjoyed it!
Definitely pinning to my Pinterest board! My mom makes the best cabbage rolls in the world, but I might try to give these a shot, since they look delish!
Thanks, Heather! I swear my mom makes the best everything, even when she gives me her recipe, her’s always tastes better. lol
“My mom makes the best cabbage rolls in the world” Recipe please:-)
Oh wow! I’m excited to try this one! Please link this up to Foodie Friday
Hi Melissa,
We just love Cabbage Rolls and I especially love your recipe that can be made in the Slow Cooker. This recipe is going in my recipe box, we will really enjoy it! Hope you are having a great week end and thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
Thanks, Miz Helen. I do like my slow cooker, especially on those busy days when I don’t have time to spend all day in the kitchen, but don’t want to sacrifice taste and a home cooked meal. I hope you enjoy this as much as we do. Thanks for stopping by.
[…] Chocolate Shell – For ice cream, only 2 ingredients, we’ll definitely be making this Slow Cooker Cabbage Rolls Yeast Substitute – interesting 10 New Ways to Cook Quinoa – I love quinoa, I’m […]
Could you assemble these rolls ahead of time and freeze them then place the frozen rolls in the slow cooker in the morning of a really busy day?
Johanna, I don’t see why not. That’s actually a really good idea. Let me know how it works if you try it, and next time I make these I’ll try some frozen and update the post w/ tips if it works well. Thanks!
[…] 1. Pioneering Today-Slow Cooker Cabbage Rolls […]
I’ve got mine in the crockpot now. I’m hoping it’s a BIG hit tonight for dinner. We will have an Artesian Bread that I baked the other night, which turned out AMAZING by the way. Thanks Melissa!!!
Yea! I’m planning on making these this week, too. Hope you guys enjoy. 🙂
Do u cook the meat before stuffing it in the cabbage?
No, you stuff it raw and it cooks inside the cabbage.
Thanks! That was my question too!
Can you use minute Brown rice?
Sara, you can use any rice that you have on hand. Brown instant should work fine.
I can’t eat rice, would this work without rice? It sounds delicious
Would I substitute something else like shredded.carrots maybe?
You could substitute shredded carrots. I think that would be yummy. If you can’t have rice, it should be fine to omit. Hope you enjoy!
Just made these.. They are in the crockpot, my only worry is if they will come apart once I try to scoop them out.. Any tips on getting them out? Lol.. Oh, and the sauce is delicious! Couldn’t resist trying it!
That sauce is awesome, I always take an extra spoonful on my plate. 🙂
The rolls will stay together, the cabbage keeps them held fairly well. I use a large spoon to transfer them to the bowls or plates when eating. If they do come apart, they still taste great. I have made them unstuffed, where I layer the ingredients kind of like lasagna, but I chop up the cabbage, for large events where I need to serve more than 10 people. Love to hear how they turn out!
Thank you so much! They are delicious! And you are right, they stayed together, I was afraid of them falling apart but that didn’t happen. Will save this recipe and make them again very soon!
These are in the crockpot on low right now, but I need to have dinner at 6. Should I increase to high in a little while? Any tips? Or keep cooking on low and have a really late dinner? 😉
Candace, you can put them on high and then bring back to low. My slow cooker actually cooks a little warm even on the low setting. I’d do high for a total of 4 hours and low 6 to 8. Or a combination of approximate. Consider 1 hour on high the equivalent of 2 hours on low.
Marcy, yea!! They’re even better the second day. 🙂
I’m compiling an ebook and was wondering if you would mind if I used some of your recipes/referred to this site/had a link to this site in my book. Feel free to email me at the above address with any questions. Thank you in advance for your consideration. Sincerely, Danielle Moore
Danielle, I sent you an email. 🙂
this sounds so yummy! Do you think these would be ok in the pressure cooker? If so how long?
Gina, a pressure cooker? I don’t think so. The magic happens when it’s cooked slowly over a long period of time as the flavors have a chance to really mingle. I love my pressure cooker, but not for this recipe.
Wild rice is not really rice. It is a grain and not in the rice Genus. When purchasing brown rice check the area of origin. Any rice from the south of the US I likely to have a high arsenic content and insecticide residue, due to the fact many rice producers in the south are using areas previously used to grow tobacco. Even the organic brands contain the residuals from the tobacco plants in the soil. Costco’s brand is organic but high in arsenic and pesticides.
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2012/11/arsenic-in-your-food/index.htm
Ack! my rolls are all rolled up and ready to go and I just realized I forgot the milk in the meat mixture!! I hope they’ll be ok!! Any thoughts or suggestions?
Thanks,
*Raven
They should be fine. Don’t worry about it. Love to hear what you think of them!
Raven, you should be fine without milk (think of the filling as meatloaf) if anything they may be a little dry, but you’ll have that wonderful sauce to balance it out!
My grandmother, an old (97) Polish woman, has been making hers in the slow cooker (not crock pot) for more than 25 years, they are delicious! We always just used uncooked white rice. I think minute rice will cook too fast, making filling dry.
In Poland we call this dish golabki (guh-woomp-kee)
I love the idea of adding brown sugar to sauce! Can’t wait to try your recipe!
Thank you for sharing, Melissa!
Tammy, excellent advice! I like to use my Dutch oven for slow cooking when I’m home, but the crockpot is my saving grace when I’m not here to tend it. Excellent tip on not using minute rice. Love the Polish translation. Hope to hear how it turns out for you. 🙂 Thanks!
Not only did they turn out just fine without the milk, they were DELICIOUS. Big hit in my home. Thank you very much. Also, I put them into WeightWatchers and they came up as 4 points per roll. That’s awesome! Thanks again.
Yea!! Love to hear it. So we know it will work for folks who need to be dairy free. 🙂
These were amazing. My Grandma use to make these and it brought back so many memories eating these. Thank you so much for Sharing!
You’re welcome, Shelley. I’m so glad you enjoyed them. And my favorite recipes are ones that remind me of loved ones. 🙂
My daughter just forwarded me this recipe. She made it this week for the first time and loved it! Think I could make it with green peppers (like stuffed peppers)? I don’t like cooked cabbage. Also, do you ever double the sauce so you have lots/extra? Thanks!
Sue, I think it would be great to try it with green peppers. And you can definitely double the sauce. In my opinion, you can never have too much sauce. 🙂 Let me know how it turns out with the peppers.
I made these today and I used brown rice..the flavor was excellent, but my rice didn’t cook all the way (still a tad crunchy!) even after cooking on low for 8 hours (and assembling them the night before). Any tips?
Kara, I haven’t used brown rice, just white and now wild. You could cook the rice before hand or increase the cook time, but I think pre-cooking the rice would be best.
Thanks..I was thinking of cooking it halfway through before adding it to see if that helped. I don’t want to give up on the brown rice because of the health benefits, but crunchy rice isn’t all that appetizing 🙂 But like I said, it tasted REALLY good despite the rice! Also, I used a round crock pot (not my oblong one) and the rice in the ones on the bottom was cooked a bit more than the ones towards the top that were not submerged in liquid. I might try using the oblong crock pot next time to see if it helps to not have them stacked so high. Thank you for a great recipe!
Kara,
I think using the oblong crockpot and pre-cooking the rice should solve the problem. So glad you enjoyed the recipe. 🙂
I made this for dinner last night. This is the best cabbage rolls I’ve ever made. My family loved them. Even my 5 year old who isn’t a cabbage fan had 2 of them.
Next time I plan on doubling the recipe. We didn’t have any leftovers.
Rebecca, I’m so happy to hear that! I always think the same thing, it never makes enough. I’ve got my eye on another crockpot so I can cook two batches at once. 🙂
I made this for dinner tonight and my hubby and I both LOVED IT! I used pre cooked brown rice and added the extra cabbage leaves just to the top of the cabbage rolls, it’s so YUMMY! THANK YOU!
Monica,
I’m so glad you enjoyed it. 🙂 There’s nothing like sitting down to a good home-cooked meal.
Have you ever doubled it? I have a large slow cooker, was wondering if they would turn out ok
Jamie, I haven’t doubled it as this recipe fills my slow cooker up. But if you’re slow cooker is large, I think it would be fine. Let me know how it works if you double it.
I was wondering if anybody had used quinoa instead of rice? I’d cook the quinoa first I think though. I was also going to ask if anybody had problems with the rice not cooking? I’ve always made cabbage rolls with cooked rice and beef, but I may give this a try, I’ll make a lot more than 10 though! Double up on the sauce mixture.
Sharla, quinoa cooks up wonderfully in this recipe. I use it more often than rice now and I don’t pre-cook it.
This is so yummy! I made a batch yesterday and plan to make another tonight to take down to my family who lives out of town. Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
Pleased to hear, Vicki! I love it when family members bring dishes when they visit. 🙂
Love your site, just found it. Did you ever try freezing in advance? Also, should the rice be cooked? I am assuming no, since the meat isn’t. Thank you!
Stephanie, welcome! Glad you stumbled upon the site. 🙂 I haven’t froze them in advance, but I think they’d lend themselves nicely. I don’t cook the rice before hand and never had an issue.
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I have been missing my grandma’s cabbage rolls for a very long time but she was never able to pass along a workable recipe. I made these earlier this week and my mom and I were practically in tears (the good kind) while eating these. I could tell as they were cooking that they smelled right. I would get home from school and that’s exactly how the house would smell…amazing. When I tasted the first bite it was just like hers. I’m so excited that my kids won’t miss out on these now.
Katie,
Thank you so much for sharing your story. Recipes are a beautiful thing in that they hold so many memories, they tie us to the people who prepared them, even after they’re gone. I’m honored that this recipe did that for you.
Can I cook this in the oven? If so what temp. and for how long? Thank you!
I haven’t done it that way, but here’s an article that tells you how to convert the times to an oven. http://www.ehow.com/how_4926523_convert-cooker-times-oven-time.html
I want to make this for dinner tonight for some friends. One of my friends is allergic to eggs though. Would it still come out right if I leave out the egg?
The eggs help bind it, kind of like meatloaf. You could try it without, it might not stick together quite as well, but I don’t think it would ruin it.
I’m really excited to make this for dinner! How many rolls would be considered a serving? Do you know the calorie count per serving?
Katie, I consider two rolls to be a serving for an adult. One is just not enough. Calorie count will depend on how lean your beef is, but I’m guessing around 120 calories per roll.
Holy Cabbage Head, Batman! These were wonderful! How nice to come home on a Monday night and have dinner ready and waiting. I haven’t had cabbage rolls in years, but you can bet I’ll be having these again soon!
Suzanne, you made me giggle. I love these, too. And shouldn’t the slow cooker go down as the best kitchen appliance ever?! So glad you enjoyed these.
Can you use quinoa instead of wild rice? Or would it cook differently?
Alyssa, I haven’t cooked with quinoa (it’s on my to do list), in this recipe, but another reader used it and said it worked great!
I found this on Pinterest yesterday and immediately went to the shops to get some ingredients. I made it in the afternoon for my family and added a few other ingredients. We all loved it. Highly recommended. Great instructions. Thanks for sharing :):):)
I prepped this yesterday and made it throughout today. I did change the meat to ground turkey, but you couldn’t even tell. My family loved it and I’m looking forward to making it again (soon!). Thank you for this delicious recipe! : )
[…] Slow Cooker Cabbage Rolls ** […]
I’m making your stuffed cabbage recipe on Sunday and was wondering if I can make the cabbage rolls and sauce the night before refrigerate them and put in the crockpot the next day.
I don’t see why not. I think they’d be fine. 🙂
Thanks Melissa.
Stuffed cabbage was a hit. Thanks Melissa for posting the recipe.
This was excellent!!! Very yummy! Next time though I will be doubling the sauce. Fantastic!
I cannot wait to try this! Have you ever used it with ground turkey or ground chicken rather than beef? I don’t eat red meat. What about substituting the cabbage with collard greens?
Shannon, I’ve never cooked with collard greens so I’m not sure how that would be. You can sub in ground turkey and chicken just fine. 🙂
Would love to know if this could be veganized. 🙂 My little man is allergic to eggs and we don’t eat meat. Any thoughts on the changes needed?
Kristin, sorry, I’m not sure what you could use in place of the hamburger.
Has anyone tried using barley instead of rice. AMAZING!! I wanted to try something different, and i’m glad I did.
To give an extra flavor lay 3/4 stripes of bacon on the bottom of the crockpot and a couple on the top. Try it, you’ll like it!
Nancy, thanks for the tip. Because bacon makes everything better, right? 🙂
Thank you we loved them. They reminded me of the ones my Grandma use to make.
A true compliment, I’m so glad you enjoyed them.
I can’t have sugar or any sugar substitute (honey, agave, life is awful lol =D), any advice on what to do about the brown sugar? Anyone have any good substitute for it? Or could I just leave it out?
You could just leave it out. It shouldn’t affect the flavor of the overall dish a whole lot.
I have made these twice now and LOVE them. I did ground turkey the first time and then beef. So good! I am so glad this recipe made it to pinterest 🙂 Thank you!
Angela, you’re so welcome. I haven’t tried them with ground turkey, but I’ll have to give that a go. Thanks!
[…] Slightly adapted from Pioneering Today […]
These were fabulous and so easy. Put it all together this morning before work and they were ready when I got home. Will definitely do this one again.
Yum! I’ve been looking for a cabbage roll recipe. This would be great since its in the crockpot. Thanks
I’m curious if you serve these with any side dishes or just by themselves?
Usually I serve them with garlic bread or a dinner roll. Beings the cabbage is the vegetable, the meat a protein, and the rice a carbohydrate, I generally consider them a full meal. But, I’ve also served green beans on the side and that pairs nicely, too.
Use instant rice!!! I used regular and it cooked for 8 hrs, rice is hard as a rock, otherwise awesome flavor
Rachel,
I think it might have to do with the different temperatures of slow cookers, because I use wild rice and never have a problem, but my slow cooker tends to cook on the hot side. Glad you enjoyed it other than the crunchy rice.
Hello! I’m in love with this recipe but was wondering if I’d be able to cook it in the oven?
You should be able to cook it in the oven, try it on a low temp, like 250 and check it at 4 hours.
[…] Today i used Melissa K. Norris’s recipe to make Crock-Pot Cabbage Rolls Here’s her website https://melissaknorris.com/2012/04/18/pioneering-today-slow-cooker-cabbage-rolls-recipe/. […]
I have celiac and can’t have Worcestershire sauce. I was wondering if you had a flavor substitute in mind that would help keep them from being bland without it
Hmmm, forgive my not knowing the extent of what celiacs can have, but would you be able to toss in a dash of soy sauce? Or maybe a splash of liquid smoke? If you have to leave it out, I don’t think it will alter the flavor a huge amount.
[…] rolls but have never attempted them myself. I was looking for a slow cooker recipe and came across this one. While I liked the flavor, I wish that I had more sauce. I recommend doubling the sauce recipe if […]
What a great recipe!!! The meat measurements were perfect. I just put the rolls in the crockpot. It was very simple too! 🙂
I made this and it was absolutelyyyyyyy delicious. i just started a blog and if you don’t mind, i would love to post this on my blog. i will use the pictures that i took myself and credit you for the recipe. i will even send you a link when i’m done 🙂
Olga,
So glad you enjoyed the recipe. It’s a favorite at our home as well. Google Search Engines punish pages that have the same content, so what if you showed your pictures on your post, your wording on assembling and what you thought of the recipe, and then provide a link to this page for the full recipe? And I’d love to see your post when you get it up and finished. Thank you!
Thanks again Melissa… check it out
http://mamaoshaven.wordpress.com/2013/12/23/crock-pot-cabbage-rolls/
[…] Slow Cooker Cabbage Rolls – Melissa K. Norris […]
[…] Slow Cooker Cabbage Rolls – Melissa K. Norris […]
[…] i used Melissa K. Norris’s recipe to make Crock-Pot Cabbage […]
I never leave comments or feedback on the recipes I use, but I am trying to start doing that! I am a stay at home mom and I cook a home cooked meal nightly, and 90% of my recipes over the last year have come from blogs that Pinterest has lead me too. (The link is actually broken for some reason on my pin to this recipe all of the sudden, thank God I remembered the name of your site!)
Anyway I ALWAYS read the comments on a recipe that I have never made before, and to be honest if the recipe has no comments, or bad reviews, and I dont have experience with that recipe, I normally wont make it. The comments have helped me notice errors in the measurments that the blogger wasnt aware of, and also suggestions to make it better. So my point is comments are important and I am really going to start commenting!
Now these cabbage rolls I have been making for about a year now when I first found them on Pinterest. I have always made an old family recipe of “unstuffed stuffed cabbage” but I never really messed around with cabbage rolls because as dumb as this sounds; I never knew boiling or freezing the cabbage made it easy to roll. I always had issues rolling them up and the cabbage leaves ripping. So absolutely do NOT skip the boiling step! And the bigger the head of cabbage you may have to boil longer than 2 min. The batch I just made, I had to boil the head for over 5 minutes and even after it was still cold on the inside layers.
Anyway this recipe is fantastic! Stuffeed/unstuffed cabbage recipes are always a hit in my house number one because the ingredients are inexpensive, and aside from the cabbage I usually have it all on hand. Number two anything in the crock is great because I can make it in the morning and not have to worry about dinner till dinner time. Three- its a healthy low carb dish and for junky eaters like my husband its a good opportunity to stick some nutrition in their diet!
I have used both ground turkey and ground beef and both work.
I also ALWAYS double the sauce no matter what because the sauce really is amazing and its what makes this the best cabbage dish I have ever tried.
Ever since finding this my family always prefers this over our old unstuffed version. Just make sure you allow yourself enough time to prepare them, with still being able to let them cook for 8 hours. With boiling the cabbage head and then assembling the rolls it usually takes me about 30 minutes to get in the crock pot. Cant wait for 6 o clock to roll around tonight!
Gina,
Thanks for your comment and tips! If you ever come across a super good deal on cabbage, just toss a whole head in the freezer. Once it thaws, it’s pliable enough to roll without boiling. 🙂 So glad you and your family are enjoying it!
This was my first ever cabbage roll recipe. 😀 And my first ever blog comment to boot.
I remixed it a little, I hope you’ll forgive me. I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian so I changed it up. The mods I used:
-I used 1 pkg Morningstar Suasage Links (8oz) and 8oz (2/3 pkg) Morningstar Griller Crumbles Meal Starter (to equal 1 lb of textured vegetable protein)
-I sautéed the soy meat in butter with the garlic and onion before assembly
-Salt and pepper to taste
-I froze most of the rolls after assembly, worked very well
-I used Ragu Garlic, Onion and Tomato Sauce (bottled sauce vs. canned tastes better to me, and Ragu starts out on the sweet side anyway)
-I used Safeway brand pre-cooked Quinoa, Brown and Wild Rice mix (I wanted that exact combination before I went shopping and I was *starving*, clearly Heaven sent :D)
-I used home-made vegetarian Worchestwrshire sauce (Martha Stewart recipe)
-Should have gotten 2 cabbages
All in all, it turned out fantastic. :d
I’m trying it out for potluck next week! Thank you for the inspiration!
😀
Also, these mods meant that crock pot cook time was reduced to 2 hours to Mary the flavors.
One last note: Morningstar products are seasoned pretty well, so require very little to be added.
Morningstar products are NOT organic.
(I’m transitioning)
Thanks for sharing, Joy! I’m so glad they worked well for you and thanks for sharing your modifications for others.
Amazing delicious cabbage rolls, best ever!!!! Hubby & kids absolutely loved them. As always I double the recipe & use a lot more minced garlic cloves than on the recipe. Sauce to roll ratio is perfect, slow cooked them a little longer since I started on high due to time & we like the cabbage cooked very well. Definitely making this again!!
Best cabbage rolls I’ve made in years. I made one batch with wild rice and one batch with quinoa. The quinoa version tasted amazing and seemed to pick up a bit more of the spice/flavour. Wonderful recipe!
Hey, everyone. Mashed potatoes is the way to go with the stuffed cabbage. It’s a Ukrainian tradition.
[…] Recipe adapted from Melissa K Norris […]
[…] sauce? Add some seasonings and it would make the perfect topping for cabbage rolls like the ones in this post! Looking for another tasty dish that could be served both hot and cold? How about some chicken […]
[…] Looking for ideas on how to use your fresh tomato sauce? Add some seasonings and it would make the perfect topping for cabbage rolls like the ones in this post! […]
I made your cabbage roll recipe last night. We had an impromptu dinner party on our deck and everyone loved them. I have just begun the process of going dairy free. I subbed broth for the milk and didn’t notice a difference. The meat was tender, the rice was fluffy, cabbage leaves intact. I bought a huge head of cabbage at my local farmers’ market. I just removed the outer leaves and boiled those. The remaining part of the cabbage is still pretty large so I’ll shred it for fish tacos. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
So glad you enjoyed the recipe and thanks for the tip on using broth for subbing out the milk.
[…] Looking for ideas on how to use your fresh tomato sauce? Add some seasonings and it would make the perfect topping for cabbage rolls like the ones in this post! […]
[…] Cabbage. Oh, cabbage, I love you stuffed and rolled, shredded in a slaw, and fried in butter with some sausage. Cabbage is one you should plant using […]
Can I use ground turkey or is there not enough fat in it?
Kevin,
Ground turkey should work just fine!
Hello. This sounds amazing! Can I sub the milk for flax or almond milk?
Sabrina,
That should work fine. Any liquid will add moisture and help the meat stick together, so both of those should be good.
Has anyone tried making ahead and freezing yet?
[…] in a delicious sauce and stuffed full of beef and rice goodness, these cabbage rolls are a wonderfully filling addition to any […]
[…] Your time will be taken up healing from birth and taking care of your precious newborn. If you haven’t showered yet and suddenly realize that supper should be ready in 20 minutes, it’s all too easy to panic. Put together your favorite slow cooker and freezer meals before you have the baby so you’ve got something to fall back on. Here’s our favorite slow cooker cabbage rolls. […]
[…] Slow Cooker Cabbage Rolls from Melissa K. Norris […]
So delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you very much for this recipe my family and picky eaters loved it!!
[…] – Lazy Cabbage Rolls – Apfelrotkohl (Red Cabbage with Apples) Recipe – Crockpot Sauerkraut and Kielbasa – Slow Cooker Cabbage Rolls […]
I don’t have time to do the crockpot. Can I cook these in the oven? If so, at what temp. and how long do you think I should cook them for? This is my first time making Stuffed Cabbage and this recipe sounds so delish, I just couldn’t pass up trying it out on my family 🙂
Thanks!
Angela,
You can bake them in the oven, I’d do 350 degrees Farenheit for 2 hours or at least 1 and 1/2. The longer will help develop the flavor. You might want to precook the quinoa or rice using the oven.
Oh, good, thank you 🙂 Can’t wait to see how they come out!!
Hope you love them as much as we do. P.S. They’re always even better the second day. 🙂
I find that if I use cooked rice instead of uncooked, I don’t have to add as much broth or water and I also dont’t have to cook it that long. Usually just pop it into the oven for 2 to 3 hours to get it really soft.
So you mix the rice and the meat together in a bowl? Is the meat uncooked also or just the rice?
Yes, it’s all raw, Kaysha.
I can’t cook with raw ground beef in a recipe; too much grease for my liking. Will it work just as good if the beef is precooked? We like cabbage and I would like to try a new recipe with it. Thank you for sharing.
Shirley,
We raise our own beef so it’s lean by nature, but you could totally use precooked beef!
You can use chia seeds as an egg sub..http://www.foodrenegade.com/how-make-egg-substitute-chia-seeds/ making this today with turkey and quinoa. Stoked.
Hope this is as good as it smells. My daughter is coming to eat. Hope she likes these cabbage rolls.
Do you have the old recipe laying around anywhere? We loved these and I came here from my pin only to see that the recipe has changed since I last made it. I have the filling pretty set up I’m not entirely sure how much brown sugar to use in the sauce. I’m trying to send my stepdaughter off to college next year with some of her favorite recipes so I need exact amounts.
Thanks!
Joy, You can swap out the honey for the same amount of brown sugar, so 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar. 🙂
This looks delicious, though the red sauce seems a bit heavy – do you have an alternative like maybe a light lemon sauce (or something comparable) that isn’t cream-heavy?
I’d also even like to try a crispy cabbage exterior! Looking forward to testing this out!
I’m not sure how the red sauce is heavy when there’s no fat or cream in it? You can omit the honey and use stevia or no sweetener if you want but it’s pretty light as is.
?The cabbage rolls are so delicious and were fast and easy to make.. I would serve them for company.
I would like to leave out the egg and beef to make these vegan. Do you know what I could substitute?
You could try a mix of shredded vegetables, the egg is a binder to help hold it together, as we’re not vegan I don’t have a substitute for that one.
Do you have instructions for cooking in the Instant Pot? Cooking time and natural pressure release or quick release? Thanks!
Rice isnt cooked after 4 hrs high?
If you have an Instant Pot wouldn’t it be just as easy to steam cabbage in that?
I score the cabbage core for easy removal but leaves always falling apart, tearing.how long cook cabbage
If the leaves are falling apart you’re probably boiling it too long. I do 2 minutes
Melissa, I have a clarification question. The 1/2 cup of wild rice, quinoa, shredded carrot or cauliflower; is that 1/2 cup of the mixture or 1/2 cup of each of those ingredients?
Thanks
Just 1/2 cup of one of those ingredients. Either 1/2 cup wild rice or 1/2 cup quinoa or a 1/2 cup of the vegetable added to the other ingredients.
I don’t see instruction for the I.P., only “Or better yet, put these in your Instant Pot using the slow cooker function”. No time, no specific method or anything. Could use these instruction in order to make this recipe in the I.P.!
I did mine for 18 minutes on manual high pressure setting then had it go to keep warm until we were ready to eat. 🙂 I put them in just like I would the slow cooker.
Hi Melissa,
I think that there are as many cabbage roll recipes as there are cooks who make them. LOL
My mom made her cabbage rolls for more than half a century & her cabbage rolls had a definite southwestern flavor. The entire family loved them & never turned their noses up to her version.
Here’s her ‘recipe’: (there are no exact measurements because it all depended on how much meat you used) Also, this stuffing is equally good stuffed into yellow crookneck squash. You cut the neck off at the widest part of the shoulder, hollow it out, dice the squash guts & put it in the stuffing mix. Stuff the squash sparingly so it won’t split, then reattach the neck with toothpicks. To cook, follow the instructions below, same as for cabbage rolls.
Ingredients:
Pork, raw, finely diced (can be pork chops, pork steak, pork shoulder or whatever is available
Cabbage, whole head, cored & parboiled to soften the leaves
Tomatoes, firm & juicy, finely diced
White rice, raw/uncooked
Onion, a sweet variety like Walla Walla sweet or 1015 sweet, finely diced
Jalapeños, fresh & finely diced (she didn’t bother to remove the seeds), to taste
Garlic, finely minced, lots!
Black pepper, freshly ground, fairly course grind, lots!
Salt, to taste
That’s it for the ingredients! She never served them with a sauce because she wanted you to be able to taste all the ingredients.
She always parboiled the whole cabbage, then started stripping the leaves off & trimming the large veins off to make it easier to roll the leaves. Any leaves that tore were set aside to use a little later in the cooking process.
She mixed all the other ingredients in a large bowl with her hands. If the stuffing seemed a little dry she’d add some tomato juice. If she didn’t have fresh tomatoes she’d use canned Rotel tomatoes or some other brand of diced canned tomatoes. If she didn’t have that, she’d use a jar of Pace Picante sauce.
Then she stuffed & rolled the cabbage leaves sparingly because the rice expands as it cooks.
Next, she took a large stock pot & covered the bottom with some of the torn cabbage leaves. She placed a single layer of cabbage rolls in the pot, covered that layer with torn cabbage leaves, then added more layers, with torn cabbage leaves in between each layer. She usually cooked no fewer than 30 cabbage rolls at a time & often 50 or more.
Next, she covered the cabbage rolls with the last of the torn cabbage leaves & placed a heavy stoneware plate on top to keep them submerged. She poured in all the water she used to parboil the cabbage & added more water if necessary to cover the contents completely, usually with about 1 inch of water above the plate. While the cabbage rolls were cooking she added more boiling hot water if the water level fell too low.
Then she boiled the whole shebang for about 45 minutes. After that time, she’d pull out one cabbage roll from the middle of the pot & check to see if the rice & the pork was fully cooked.
Then she drained the remaining water & served the cabbage rolls hot. Most people ate her cabbage rolls with a sprinkle of hot pepper vinegar or a big dollop of Pace picante sauce on top.
Yes, my mom’s version is pretty labor intensive. I think that’s why she always made them in such large batches.
Hi Melissa:
Do you have the instructions for this dish for the instant pot?
Thanks
I just use the slow cooker function on my Instant Pot and cook them on slow for 8 hours or high for about 5 hours.
I love cabbage rolls and will have to try this! Can you really freeze cabbage? I have never heard of that before?
Thanks for the Keto plug! I skip most recipes, because we are Keto and most sites are not. You made my day happy… something new to try that’s isn’t eggs or chicken related.
You’re welcome! I do have a few different keto recipes on the site, here’s another one https://melissaknorris.com/healthy-chicken-broccoli-casserole/
Hi Melissa,
These look fantastic! I don’t see the recipe for the sauce though – it just says “sauce” in the ingredient list. Is there another post for that or by sauce do you just mean everything else in the recipe that’s not meat, rice, or veggies? Looking forward to trying this recipe! Thanks!
Hey Krista,
It’s straight tomato sauce. I share how I make/can mine here https://melissaknorris.com/make-can-tomato-sauce-waterbath-pressure-canning/
Your post mentions Bragg’s Aminos under resources for this recipe, but I don’t see that as one of the ingredients. Is it supposed to be included?
You can use it in place of the Worcestershire sauce
I have Chicken Breast so I will defiantly try this with Quiana. It really looks
delicious will try tomorrow.
If using quinoa do you precook it?