I’m not sure where I found this recipe, but I’ve been using it for more than 20 years. It is great in slow cookers.
This is the typical filling cabbage recipe, which always gets me compliments. It is best to bake the recipe using an oven, rather than cooking it on the stove. I cover my pan with larger leaves of cabbage. I also wrap the cabbage rolls with more leaves. So the actual cabbage rolls are kept wet and do not get burned. I parboil my cabbage and cut some leaves off at a time while they cook. I also add half to 3/4 cups tomato juice in my meat. This is something that my Polish mother used to do.
I do make a different sauce. After all the hard work making my own cabbage rolls I have trouble to add tomato soup the top. For 1 pound of meat I mix 8oz. bottle of tomato sauce 1 Tablespoon brown sugar 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce. I mix it all well and sprinkle over cabbage rolls.
Sometimes, I will make a double batch of sauce when I’m looking for a large amount. I usually serve it alongside noodles. it’s good to have enough sauce to drizzle over the noodles.
Ingredients
Cabbage Rolls
- 1 large head of green cabbage, approximately 2 to 2 1/4 pounds.
- 2 pounds of ground beef
- 2 eggs (not needed, you can just leave them out)
- One medium onion either grated or minced
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 teaspoons of salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper 1 teaspoon black
- 1/2 cup of raw, long-grain white rice
Tomato Sauce
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable or butter
- 1 clove of garlic finely chopped
- 1 medium onion, chopped (medium dice)
- 2 15-ounce cans of tomato sauce or one 32-ounce can of whole tomatoes, processed through a processor along with juice until smooth.
- the juice from one of those lemons
- 1/3 – 3/4 cups light dark brown sugar (depending on the sweetness you like and unless you like it totally sweet. If so, you can just add one tablespoon of brown sugar, and the juice of a half lemon)
- Salt and pepper as desired
- Half cup gold raisins (optional)
- Parsley chopped for garnish