Polish stuffed cabbage rolls are a traditional dish, equally popular as a family dinner idea as well as party food. My easy to make, healthy cabbage rolls in tomato sauce are made using turkey meat and are very uncomplicated.
See also cabbage rolls without rice and vegan cabbage rolls with mushrooms, lentils and rice.
Polish stuffed cabbage rolls ('golabki' in Polish, pronounced 'gowompki') are easy to make and do not require any special skills. If you follow a few simple rules (listed below) your cabbage rolls will be fantastic.
Are Polish stuffed cabbage rolls healthy?
Yes, yes, yes! After all it’s just cabbage, rice and meat and a bit of tomato sauce. If you use fatty meat they are a little less healthy of course, which is why I prefer to use turkey meat. Turkey meat is naturally lean and turkey mince containing 7% of fat is perfect for cabbage rolls (I don’t recommend using extra lean turkey mince).
Other recipes using rice and turkey mince you might like include unstuffed cabbage rolls and turkey and rice stuffed peppers.
Ingredients
This recipe contains a handful of ingredients so is easy to prepare. In addition to the cabbage I used naturally low in fat ground turkey, rice, onion, salt and pepper. Traditional cabbage rolls recipes call for pork and it’s fine to use that instead of turkey in this recipe. Some people also add raw (minced) bacon to the stuffing as well as a little beef.
As for spices I personally think salt and pepper do the job quite well, but, again, you could add parsley, oregano, marjoram or other spices.
The simple tomato sauce consists of stock (use vegetable or chicken), tomato paste and passata. Just combine these and pour over the cabbage rolls before baking them (see Instructions below).
What cabbage to use
Use ordinary white cabbage. I usually go for a medium size cabbage. If your cabbage is too small it might be tricky to stuff the leaves. On the other hand, very large cabbage leaves produce very large cabbage rolls which you might like to do. For me medium is best but the choice is yours.
How to prepare the cabbage
You will need to cut out the tough middle bit of the cabbage (approx. 3 cm deep, see photo below). It will be easier to remove the leaves and they will cook faster. Place your cabbage in a large pot, fill with about 5-6 cm of water, cover and bring to boil. Then simmer for 10 minutes or until the leaves start separating.
Transfer the cabbage onto a plate or cutting board and separate the leaves from the top layer (using 2 forks and a knife). Place the cabbage back in the pot, simmer for a few more minutes and remove a few more leaves.
Repeat this process until you have about 20 leaves. Don’t worry if some of them tear, you’ll be able to use them for lining the bottom of your casserole dish.
Next slice off the thick middle bit from each leaf (the outer part of the leaf, see photo). Your leaves are now ready to be turned into cabbage rolls.
How to prepare the rice
Cook the rice al dente (by using a little less water than normally) with a little salt (¼ teaspoon) before combining with the meat, onions and seasoning. Allow it to cool completely before making the stuffing mixture.
Assembling the recipe
1. Once you've boiled the rice and fried the onion (and cooled both) combine them with the meat, salt and pepper. Stir thoroughly.
2. Form a large oval shaped meatball using the stuffing mixture and place inside a cabbage leaf. Fold in the longer sides and wrap the stuffing in the leaf starting from the thick end of the leaf. Do this as tightly as you can tucking the mixture in with your fingers as you roll.
3. Line the bottom of a large shallow oven dish with leftover cabbage leaves and arrange the cabbage rolls (with the end bit of the cabbage leaf down) on top in a single layer as close together as possible. Then combine the sauce ingredients (stock, passata and tomato puree) and pour over the cabbage rolls.
4. Lastly cover the cabbage rolls with a piece of non-stick baking paper cut to fit your dish (or leftover torn leaves and small leaves if you prefer and if you’ve got any left), then cover with a lid or tin foil and bake for 1.5 hours. Remove from the oven and enjoy!
Expert tips and FAQs
- Use the larger leaves to make your cabbage rolls and reserve the smaller ones for lining the oven dish (and covering the cabbage rolls, if there are any leftover, alternatively use non-stick paper).
- Wrap the stuffing in the leaves as tightly as possible and place the cabbage rolls one by one in your dish very close together. The end bit of every cabbage roll should be facing downwards.
- You can prepare the ingredients in advance. You can cook the cabbage and prepare the leaves ahead and once cooled completely, cover and refrigerate. Remove from the fridge 30 minutes before making the cabbage rolls to bring them up to room temperature. You can also cook the rice ahead and, once cooled, refrigerate until you are ready to make the recipe.
- How to serve cabbage rolls: Traditionally Polish cabbage rolls are served with mashed potatoes, but you can also serve them as they are without any sides.
- Freeze in a single layer in batches in an airtight container. Defrost in the fridge overnight and reheat in the microwave.
Alternative ways of cooking Polish cabbage rolls
As with all traditional recipes (those that have been around for a long time) there is more than one way of making them. You could use a deep pot and arrange the cabbage rolls in layers. You could also cook them on top of the stove, but this method is trickier as the cabbage might stick to the pot and burn.
Polish cabbage rolls can also be made without the tomato sauce. For example my aunt uses only water (and seasons her cabbage rolls really well).
Or you could cook them in water and make a quick tomato sauce and add it towards the end of cooking. (Use the sauce from the cabbage rolls, combine with some tomato puree and a teaspoon of flour dissolved in a little water. Pour over the cabbage rolls and cook uncovered for the final 15 minutes).
I cooked these cabbage rolls in a simple tomato sauce so they have lovely tangy notes running through them. In my opinion tomatoes complement the sweetness of the cabbage extremely well.
I tried to cover all aspects of making cabbage rolls, but if you still have questions please get in touch!
You might also like
- Sauerkraut Cabbage Rolls (Vegetarian)
- Polish Potato and Cheese Pierogi (Ruskie) Recipe
- Polish Potato Dumplings (Kopytka) with Mushroom Sauce
- My Mum's Polish Potato Salad (Jarzynowa)
- Polish Meat Jelly
Check out also this collection of 13 healthy, easy one pot chicken recipes!
Keep in touch!
How have your cabbage rolls turned out for you? Let me know in the comments below, thanks!
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Recipe
Polish Stuffed Cabbage Rolls (Golabki) in Tomato Sauce
Equipment
- Large shallow casserole dish with lid
Ingredients
- 1 medium/large white cabbage
- 1⅓ pounds (600 g) ground meat pork or turkey, 8-10% fat
- ¾ cup (150 g) rice
- 1¼ cups (300 ml) water for boiling the rice
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons vegetable/olive oil
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt plus plenty of pepper
For the tomato sauce
- 1½ cups (360 ml) chicken/vegetable stock hot
- 3 tablespoons tomato passata
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
Instructions
- Prepare the cabbage by cutting out the tough middle bit (see photo above). Place the cabbage in a large pot filled with about 5-6 cm of water (cut end down), cover and bring to boil. Lower the heat and simmer gently for about 10 minutes, covered, until the outer leaves start separating. Remove the cabbage from the pot (use 2 forks and a knife to help the leaves separate) and carefully place the loose leaves on a plate one by one. Put the cabbage back in the pot, continue simmering, then remove a few more leaves. Repeat this process until you’ve got about 20 leaves.
- Whilst the cabbage is simmering rinse the rice thoroughly, combine with 1 and ¼ cup of lightly salted water, cover and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, covered, until all the water has been absorbed. Place in a large bowl and set aside to cool completely.
- In a frying pan heat the oil, add the onion and cook over a low heat for about 5-6 minutes until softened and golden. Combine with the rice and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F/180 C/160 fan/gas mark 4. Line a large casserole dish with cabbage leaves (either small or v. large outer leaves which are tough) and set aside.
- Using a sharp knife slice off the thick bit running along the length of the cabbage leaf on the outside (see photo). Be careful not to split the leaf. Do this for each leaf.
- Combine the rice and onion mixture (once cooled) with the meat, about 1 teaspoon of fine sea salt, add plenty of pepper and stir thoroughly.
- Make a good size oval shaped meatball and place in the leaf. To make a cabbage roll fold in the longer sides, then wrap the filling starting with the thick end of the leaf. Press the mixture in with your fingers as you are rolling and roll as tightly as possible. Place the cabbage rolls one by one in the casserole dish so they are nice and snug, very close together.
- Make the sauce by combining the hot stock with the passata and tomato paste and stirring thoroughly. Pour this mixture over the cabbage rolls. Cover with a sheet of non-stick paper cut to fit the shape of your dish (or small leaves if there are any left), then cover with a lid or tin foil and bake in the centre of the oven for 1.5 hours. Remove from the oven and enjoy!
Notes
- Use the larger leaves to make your cabbage rolls and reserve the smaller or torn ones for lining the oven dish (and covering the cabbage rolls, if there are any leftover, alternatively use non-stick paper).
- Wrap the stuffing in the leaves as tightly as possible and place the cabbage rolls one by one in your dish very close together. The end bit of every cabbage roll should be facing downwards.
- You can prepare the ingredients in advance. You can cook the cabbage and prepare the leaves ahead and once cooled completely, cover and refrigerate. Remove from the fridge 30 minutes before making the cabbage rolls to bring them up to room temperature. You can also cook the rice ahead and, once cooled, refrigerate until you are ready to make the recipe. Alternatively make the cabbage rolls, refrigerate overnight, covered, then cook the next day (add the tomato sauce just before placing the dish in the oven).
- How to serve cabbage rolls: Traditionally Polish cabbage rolls are served with mashed potatoes, but you can also serve them as they are without any sides.
- Freeze in a single layer in batches in an airtight container. Defrost in the fridge overnight and reheat in the microwave.
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is automatically generated and should be considered as an estimate.
**A note about baking: If using a fan-assisted oven refer to your appliance's instructions and adjust the temperature accordingly.
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berty says
My family has enjoyed this recipe (almost) for generations. Our only adaptation is to sprinkle a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar over the assembled sauced pierogi, a thinly sliced onion and three to four strips of bacon.
Try it! Just a nice extra.
Katherine says
Thank you for this recipe Monika! 🙏
I also grew up with a strong Polish food influence, here in Queensland.
I wanted to make cabbage rolls for the first time by myself and these turned out brilliantly and so authentic!
Your recipe notes and illustrations are awesome - gave me the confidence to get it right the first time.
I cant wait to cook them again! Brought back great memories.😍
Monika says
I am so glad these turned out well but also that they brought back good memories, which is fantastic:)
Helen Kennedy says
My mother was a goralka and made golabki using minced bacon and adding some saurkraut to the filling as she used water to cook them, on the stove top with slices of the cabbage core and coarse leaves at the bottom of the pot to prevent burning. She said that pearl barley was sometimes used in her family, but it is a lot slower to cook.
Monika says
There are so many variations of cabbage rolls depending on the region. Sauerkraut as well as bacon are ideal ingredients to add to golabki so I am sure your mum's were delicious:)
Cassandra says
Can these be made ahead and refrigerated until the day of, then baked? Im not sure i would have time to do the rolling and that the day of (planning to take to a potluck lunch)
Monika says
Yes, they can! You can make the cabbage rolls one day in advance. BUT add the tomato sauce just before putting the dish in the oven. Thank you for asking this, I'll add this make-ahead option into the recipe card:) It's best to serve these straight from the oven, so I don't recommend making this dish ahead and then reheating.
Betty says
Delicious little packages.
Made these for my son and daughter when they were very young, didn’t know that it was a Polish dish.
Monika says
Strangely my own kids only started enjoying cabbage rolls when they were older!
Eleanor says
Just wondering what type of rice you use? It looks like basmati. We always used long grain, but this looks like an interesting alternative.
Monika says
Any long grain rice is fine to use, including basmati.
Adrian Ackroyd says
As a child used to be taken by my father to a nearby polish restaurant on our visits to the science museum in London - they used chives and a light sprinkle of caraway in the sauce. To die for - always insisted we go there for lunch and nowhere else! No KFC or McD for me!
Monika says
Glad this recipe brought back good memories for you!
Karen Tompkins says
I have a very similar recipe but I use minute rice and add a half teaspoon of garlic powder and 2 teaspoons garlic salt to the sauce is which is 42oz V8 juice 2 cups beef stock and a small can of tomato paste. Add about a quarter of the sauce to the meat/rice mixture, and the rest get poured over and bake.
Monika says
Thanks for sharing this Karen! Even though garlic is not commonly used in traditional Polish cabbage rolls I think it's a great idea to add it. I am sure it's delicious:)
Camille Miranti says
I have heard some recipes call for the cabbage rolls to be sautéed/quick fry?
Is that before cooking with the “sauce” in the oven?
Please advise
CM
Monika says
You could quick fry ready cabbage rolls just to reheat them (or reheat them in the microwave), that's the only time I would personally use this method. If you make this particular recipe your cabbage rolls will be soft and you won't need to do sautee them in addition to cooking in the sauce. Not sure if that answered your question.
anna conway says
Hi my dad taught me to cook few polish sinature dishes.....i hadent got enough minced beef so chopped up checken to boost meat
Jim Bulebosh says
I make mine using ground beef,instant rice, diced onion, egg, garlic,salt,pepper. Mix together .Instead of Tomato Soup I use Tomato Puree. After I put them in a roaster pan I pour the Puree over the halupki and add water too. Then I put sauerkraut over the too. I add a can of beer. If you want the recipe email me at [email protected].
Monika says
Sounds delicious, I especially like the addition of the sauerkraut. Thanks for sharing this:)
Gaye Rainier says
My mum used use acetic acid
sophie holland says
heya I plan to make this tomorrow at some point n I was wondering about the soup/saurce and if I could put my own twist on it.
As I'm making a Mediterranean White Bean Soup tonight n was wondering if it would be a good idea to use that for the sauce? And if so, would I put it in with cabbage roll straight away or a tad later due the soup already being cooked?
Thanks in advance
Monika says
Using soup is probably not the best idea as it might produce too much liquid so I wouldn't advise it.
Elaine says
My Polish grandmother made hers with short grain white rice (and sometimes buckwheat), grated onion and a bit of ground bacon. They were baked with water and butter. If I attempted to serve cabbage rolls with meat in them and tomato sauce they’d languish in the serving dish til I gave them away. Our cabbage rolls are served as a side dish, not a main course. My grandparents homesteaded in a Ukrainian area in north central Alberta and nobody put meat in their cabbage rolls and they were beautiful tiny little rolls not overburdened by too much cabbage. Some of the ladies would bake theirs in tomato juice, but not many!
Monika says
Thank you for sharing your story! Your grandmother's cabbage rolls sound delicious. There are a million ways of making cabbage rolls but most of them contain rice and meat (this is how people in Poland, my family included, tend to make them) which is why I also made my recipe with rice and meat. Some people even make cabbage rolls with meat only.
Helen Kennedy says
My mother's golabki had more rice than meat in them and she used minced bacon as the only meat. She also put in chopped saurkraut as golabki can be bland. She would cook them on the stove top in a big pan and used the chopped up cabbage stalk ad leaf veins to line the bottom of the pot. I don't remember her cooking them for as long as you do, though. A few years ago in Poland my cousin showed me her recipe, which was more like yours, using minced pork. Again, she used a pot on the stove top and cooked for just an hour or so. We ate them with either fried bacon and onion or just plain.
Monika says
There are so many ways to make cabbage rolls I am not surprised your mum made them differently to my recipe (your mother's recipe sounds delicious by the way).
Dolores Zajkowski says
As a young woman growing up, my mother, being Polish made cabbage rolls occasionally. She used lean beef,
partially cooked rice, minced onion, parsley and salt and pepper. She added canned tomatoes to the cooking
small amount of cooking water, just enough to cover the stuffed cabbages and cooked them stovetop for about
forty five minutes. She served mashed potatoes and peas and carrots as a side. It was a delicious homey meal.
Monika says
Thank you for sharing your memories Dolores! Sounds like a delicious comforting meal, especially with the sides.
Elaine Phillips says
I haven't made it yet but I can't wait. My mother had a good friend when I was a child and she I did my mother and I to lunch with her and serve cabbage rolls. That was my first taste and I have been searching for a good recipe for a long time. I'm going to give this a try as I am sure they will be delicious. Thank you for the recipe and bringing back good memories.
Monika says
You are welcome, I hope you like this recipe, do let me know how these turn out! Thanks:)
Arlene says
Do you brown the meat before adding it to the cabbage rolls?
Monika says
No I don't.
Richard says
Excellent!! However, to bring a full spectrum of the flavor, please try polish stuffed cabbage with the wild mushroom sauce/gravy . It is SPECTACULAR!
Thank you.
Monika says
Sounds tasty indeed, thanks for the tip:)
Katy Williams says
This very similar to my mother's recipe except she always used ground beef since she didn't eat pork. I come from a Polish family of 7, so hamburger was also cheaper than pork! After mixing the meat with salt and pepper, onion and rice, she would always fry us kids a small burger (like a slider nowadays), to she if it was seasoned correctly. This was part of our lunch, since we were always there at the table, helping her prepare the rolls. She used the inner most part of the cabbage for the bottom of the roaster pan, as she would chop it up. Then use the small and extra large leaves for the top. She would get about 3-4 layers of rolls in that pan! One other thing is she would put sauerkraut on top of each layer, then covered with tomato soup! We kids didn't like the tartness of regular tomato sauce so this was are great substitute. How I miss those "galumpkis" but my sister's and I have carried on her recipe.
Monika says
Thank you for sharing your memories Katy! Your mum was clearly a great and resourceful cook. Adding sauerkraut into the pot sounds like a great idea, must try that. I also don't eat pork which is why I use turkey in many of my meat recipes.
Patti Lounsbury says
Very similar to our family recipe except we use beef occassionally adding pork. And we use Minute Rice and mix it in without cooking it first. Since we cook them in a large pot, or two, on the stovetop they develop a lovely texture and firmness that makes them perfect leftovers. Perfect cold weather food.
Monika says
Thanks for letting me know, Patti! My mum also used a combination of pork and beef in her cabbage rolls, as turkey wasn't popular in Poland when I was growing up. It is very popular now. I absolutely agree with you that cabbage rolls are perfect cold weather food and leftovers taste fantastic too. Thank you for visiting my blog:)
Bernadette Ochtabienski says
Your recipe sounds just like mine, the only thing I use differently is that I add vinegar to the cabbage water to give the veg. A bit of tang. What is your option about this. Thank you.
Monika says
That's interesting, cooked cabbage is quite bland so a bit of vinegar sounds like a good idea. Especially if you are serving these without the tomato sauce. Thanks for letting me know:)
Cat | Curly's Cooking says
These look like such a tasty and healthy meal.
Monika says
Thank you Cat, it really was tasty and healthy too!
Jo Allison / Jo's Kitchen Larder says
Your way of making golabki is very similar to mine (or my mum's rather). I totally agree that salt and pepper is really all you need in your filling and as long as it's seasoned well no herbs are necessary! I must admit I have only ever had golabki with pork but would love to try your turkey mince version so they are going on my list to make!
Corina Blum says
I love caggage rolls and I think I once made them years ago. It's definitely something I should try again!
Jacqui Bellefontaine says
I haven't had stuffed cabbage rolls in years. these look delicious will add to my list to try. Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare.
ps you might just want to adjust your servings though 1216 is a lot of cabbage rolls (lol)
DeeDee says
Looks great Monika!