The best Polish Cabbage Rolls made with ground beef, rice and tomato soup. These classic homemade rolls are my family’s favorite! Includes directions on how to easily blanch cabbage leaves to prevent tearing.
Classic Cabbage Rolls (aka Gołąbki)
This is my favorite stuffed cabbage rolls recipe because it’s delicious and because it’s a Polish family pass me down recipe. I remember my Mom would always prepare these on Saturday night and my Dad would always sneak his way into the refrigerator, eating 1 or 2 before Sunday dinner.
The key to cabbage rolls is tender cabbage leaves, juicy ground meat inside that doesn’t dry up when cooking, and a tangy sweet tomato sauce on top. My husband and kids declare this one of their Mom’s “top 10 meals” (thank you!) so I think you should try it for yourself!
Want more Polish recipes? Also try my Slow Cooker Kielbasa and Cabbage, Cabbage Soup, Cottage Cheese and Noodles, Fried Cabbage With Sausage, Polish Sausage and Cabbage Soup
and Buttered Rice and Cabbage.
What are Polish cabbage rolls made of?
Classic Polish Cabbage rolls are cabbage leaves that are stuffed with a ground meat mixture – usually ground beef or ground pork, along with white rice filling. Each cabbage leaf is rolled up and placed in a baking dish with a tangy tomato sauce poured on top.
How to Blanch Cabbage
Parboiling cabbage is the easiest way to remove cabbage leaves without tearing them. The process is simple and will result in tender cabbage leaves that are evenly cooked and won’t rip.
- Carefully cut the core from a whole head of cabbage. I do this by cutting a rough square around the bottom, pushing the knife in and out until I can easily pull the core out of the cabbage. Please use a sharp knife for this, and again, be careful!
- Place cabbage (now without core) in a large pot of water – the hole you cut should be at the top.
- Bring to a boil, and boil until cabbage leaves will easily pull off. This takes a little under 15 minutes to do.
- Drain pot with cabbage (I like to run cold water on top of the cabbage so the leaves can easily be pulled off without burning my fingers).
- Now simply remove the cabbage leaves from the head. You’ll see how easily they come off without any tears, perfect for cabbage rolls! I like to keep the large outter leaves for covering the bottom of the baking dish. The best leaves for the rolls start at around 3-4 leaves in.
How to Make Baked Cabbage Rolls
Boil cabbage (with parboling instructions above) and remove 8 leaves for the rolls. Remove a couple additional leaves and place them on the bottom of the baking dish.
In a small bowl, mix tomato soup, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce together. This makes a tangy sweet tomato sauce that everyone loves!
In a large bowl mix together ground beef, cooked rice, chopped onion, egg, salt, pepper and a little bit of the tomato soup mixture that you made in the previous step.
Place the 8 cabbage leaves on a flat surface and fill with all of the ground beef mixture, evenly filling them.
Roll each cabbage roll up, and place a toothpick in each to keep it closed.
Place cabbage rolls in a baking dish.
Pour the remaining of the tomato soup mixture on top of the rolls. I know it looks like alot of sauce, but it cooks down.
Add a couple more cabbage leaves on top of the rolls. This prevents the cabbage rolls from drying up, and keeps them juicy.
Finally, cover with aluminum foil and bake for 90 minutes.
Remove foil, and leaves on top, and serve these cabbage rolls! Trust me, you’re going to love dinner tonight!
Can I make these ahead of time?
Yes, you sure can. As I mentioned above my Mom would basically always make these for the next day. Just prepare the rolls as directed, but don’t cook. When you’re ready to cook them the following day, remove from the refrigerator and place on your counter while the oven preheats. Because they are coming straight from the refrigerator, you might need to add a couple more minutes to the final cook time.
If you really want to cook these completely ahead of time, you can. I would recommend reheating the rolls in the oven before serving, instead of heating up in the microwave.
What can I serve with cabbage rolls?
If you’re looking for side dishes for cabbage rolls try mashed potatoes or dinner rolls.
Can I make cabbage rolls in the crockpot?
Absolutely, try my Slow Cooker Cabbage Roll Casserole, ready in 4 hours.
Can I freeze cabbage rolls?
If there’s any leftover (I doubt it!) you can easily freeze them. Place them in freezer bags, freeze and allow to defrost overnight in the refrigerator when you’re ready to use them.
You can then either heat up in the microwave or bake in the oven (preferred method). The cabbage rolls will still have sauce on them, but if freezing, I recommend adding a little more tomato sauce on top when serving just to refresh.
What to do with leftover cooked cabbage?
There will be some cabbage leaves leftover on the head of cabbage. And since the core is already removed because we parboiled it, I like to simply just chop up all leftover cabbage, place it in a container in the refrigerator and within 2-3 days make Cabbage and Noodles.
I really hope you love this cabbage roll recipe as much as my entire family does! Enjoy!
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Polish Cabbage Rolls (baked in the oven)
PrintIngredients
- 1 head cabbage
- 2/3 cup water
- 1/3 cup uncooked white rice
- (2) 10.75 oz cans tomato soup
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/4 cup onion finely chopped
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Using a knife, carefully cut out the core out of the cabbage. Add cabbage (without core now) to a large pot of salted water. Bring to a boil, and cook for 12-14 minutes, or until leaves gently peel off the head of cabbage. Remove 8 leaves for the rolls, and multiple other leaves for the bottom and top of the baking dish.
- Using leftover cabbages leaves, cover the bottom of a 11×8 baking dish.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Add water to a medium-sized saucepan, bring to a boil. Add rice, stir, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
- In a small bowl, mix 2 cans of tomato soup, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce together.
- In a large bowl add ground beef, cooked rice, chopped onion, egg, salt, pepper and 1/4 cup of tomato soup mixture. Mix to fully combine.
- Place 8 cabbage leaves out on a clean surface. Add ground beef mixture into the middle of each one, using all the ground beef mixture until it's gone. Roll them up and place a toothpick into each one to hold together. Place rolls into the baking dish on top of cabbage leaves.
- Pour remaining tomato soup mixture on top of the cabbage rolls. Cover with a few extra cabbage leaves on top. Cover with aluminum foil.
- Bake for 90 minutes, or until ground beef is fully cooked. Serve and enjoy!
Larine K says
This was a hit with my husband, son, and 6 and 2 year old grandkids. (Alas, I didn’t get to try it). Boiling the whole cabbage then pulling off the leaves worked like a charm. The only change I made was to add extra Worcestershire and brown sugar to the tomato soup.
Judy Wilson says
These are soooooooooo good! I made them a few weeks ago and froze the leftovers.
Nancy L Ellis says
My granddaughter is allergic to eggs. Is there any way to make this recipe without an egg?
Pamela Reed says
Sure, I think you could just stuff them as is, but add a little bit of extra liquid (water or beef broth) if you need the filling to stick together more. Enjoy!
Rita says
Question, do I mix the rice with raw meat verses cooked?
Pamela Reed says
Yes, raw. The ground beef cooks while in the oven.
Rayne says
I will come back and rate after I have made this recipe. First off, thank you for sharing this recipe.
My auntie always used to make her cabbage rolls with tomato soup, and I used to just devour them! She never seemed to make enough! But I tried making them that way a few months ago, and while they were ok…..the tomato soup sauce was way TOO tangy for my liking. Is there a way to cut back a bit on the tang? Would it hurt to dilute the soup a bit with water? I don’t remember my aunties cabbage rolls being quite so tangy. TIA for any advice.
Catherine D'Urso says
Fantastic!! I made it with half hot Italian sausage & half venison. I make and freeze tomato soup in muffin tin cubes for winter use, so this is what I used for the soup. It was so good, I’m making it again tonight! 😆
Mallori says
My kids all ate it- WIN!
I made this tonight and it was really good- but I was totally one of those people who annoy me who give a recipe 5 stars but change it… so sorry in advance!
I doubled the recipe and used 1 lb hamburger and 1 or sausage- so when I doubled it I only did 1.5x the salt bc the sausage has salt.
I also did the cabbage a little different- I cored it and put it in the water but every 5 min I pulled it out and peeled off the 5 or 6 cooked leaves then put it back in. I did this about 4 times- it was a little messier with extra water but worked for me 🙂
I also tried adding a can of diced tomatoes to the sauce- don’t do that- it makes it too soupy.
My kids who are 11, 10, 8 and 5 all enjoyed this so I’ll definitely be making it again!
Tiffany Day says
Made this twice already…so good!
Stephanie says
Can you use cauliflower rice
Pamela Reed says
Hey Stephanie, I don’t, but from my research it seems you can definitely use cauliflower rice instead of regular white rice for a low carb option. I would probably use about 1 cup cauliflower rice. Hope this helps!
Annie says
I made this tonight – the only change to the recipe was that I used half ground pork and half ground beef. Yum! Takes me back to my childhood, thanks for the recipe!
Pamela Reed says
Yum – that sounds delicious! So happy to bring that childhood nostalgia back to you!
Amy says
Hi Farm Girl!!
I made your recipe for cabbage rolls tonight. I did everything you said except I used one can of tomato soup and a small can of tomato sauce. Sooo delicious!! My hubby loved it too!! Thanks so mch!!
Pamela Reed says
Thank you Amy, so happy to hear you liked the rolls! 🙂
Caroline Iorio says
Hi!
Can i freeze this before or after baking?
Pamela Reed says
You sure can! We prefer baking them, letting them cool and then freezing. When we’re picking lots of cabbage in the garden I will make a couple of these to throw in the freezer. Hope this helps!
Caroline Iorio says
Thank you!
Irene Talavera says
Best cabbage rolls ever! This recipe is a keeper. Thank you!
Amanda Hanley says
I am making this recipe right now…I’m just waiting for the 90 minutes to be up and then I will try them and hopefully it will taste amazing…I will let you know how it turns out
Pamela Reed says
Thanks Amanda, hope you enjoy the cabbage rolls! 🙂
crissa says
Thank you for this recipe. Made it this evening. Prep time was way more than 20 minutes though and I forgot to add some of the tomato sauce to the mix. All was well anyway. Really enjoyed it with some fries on the side. Want to add that 1 lb of meat, 1 cup of the rice, and the rest of the ingredients make A LOT of rolls. I wound up with about 20.
Teresa says
Loved the cabbage rolls!!
Judy Wilson says
I love your recipes. Keep them coming!
Pamela says
Thank you Judy! 🙂
Lorraine Runstedler says
Hi Pamela – I am making your delicious Polish Cabbage Rolls again – they have to be the “best” ever – almost done – just waiting for a few more cabbage leaves to get softer – thanks again –
Lorraine Runstedler says
sorry, forgot to give it the five Stars
Pamela says
So happy to hear you liked this recipe Lorraine – thanks so much for commenting and stopping by! 🙂
Cheryl McCoy says
only 2 in my family will eat cabbage, so I found a way to have cabbage rolls without wasting the cabbage. I cook the cabbage almost done, mix the meat just like this recipe says, place cabbage in a deep casserole dish and nestle meatballs in the cabbage, cover all with the sauce. I serve with boiled potatoes.
Teresa says
Do I put water in each can of tomato soup(as label directs) as it says on label ?Then put it in the mix?
Pamela says
Hey Teresa, no, just the tomato soup that’s in the can – don’t add any additional water like the can instructs.
Debra says
Then what do you do with the 2/3 cup water on the ingredients list?
Pamela Reed says
The 2/3 cup of water is the water that the rice gets cooked in.
Debra says
I guess that wasn’t clear in the recipe. I didn’t add it, so it turned out great! I can’t wait to try some of the other Polish recipes.
Roy says
I worked at a restaurant when I was a teen
And we always got fed by the cooks before work.. my favorite was cabbage rolls..the lady who prepared them was authentic polish! I’ve tried freehand to make them but never had success
I’m going to try your recipe
I’ll get back…
Theresa W says
My grandma used to make this but not with tomato sauce it was clear and almost oil and vinegary. Any ideas?
Rachael says
I think she may have made her rolls in Leboanise style. They made a sauce of olive oil and lemon juice or vinegar. I hope this helps.
Jen M says
Do you need to brown the ground beef before adding it to the rice mixture? Or use raw beef?
Pamela says
Hey Jen, you use raw ground beef.
Rose says
I sauté my onions in butter before I put them in the meat and I use pork and no egg.
Ann Cady says
I love this recipe so good I also add chopped potato’s , and chopped pieces of cabbage in meat mixture
Pamela says
Sounds delicious Ann! Thanks for sharing!
Lucy says
If you freeze your cabbage for about a week it eliminates the need to cook it
Sue. says
This is how my mother made cabbage rolls…always used tomato soup. Other recipes made with canned tomatoes or tomato sauce always taste odd to me. My mom also used tomato soup when she made stuffed peppers, adding stick cinnamon while they cooked. Might sound funny, but so good 👌
Ladyflower says
My mom also used tomato soup. But, instead of the Worcestershire and brown sugar, she mixed in sour cream. It is so good!
Judy Wilson says
Do you think I can use Minute Rice for this recipe? Thank you.
Pamela says
Absolutely, just cook it as instructed on the box and then mix in as usual.
Judy Wilson says
Oh my gosh! I have been looking for this recipe for years! I used to make these years ago and lost the recipe. Your mom’s is the exact one that I used! Thank you so much for posting – you made my day!
Pamela says
This makes me so happy to hear Judy! I hope you enjoy the cabbage rolls (many many times!).
Ukrainian Mom says
Do not need a toothpick for cabbage rolls. Fold sides in first , then roll up.
Pamela says
If you’re a expert roller you can definitely skip the toothpick, but I think it helps many (myself included)! 🙂
Kris says
Instead of toothpicks I use uncooked spaghetti or linguini. Works well and no worries of accidentally consuming a toothpick.