Cabbage Rolls

Cabbage Roll

This recipe came from my ex-mother-in-law, who was Hungarian. This dish was her classic go-to dish for any festive event and is easily adaptable to be cooked in the crockpot.  These luscious cabbage leaves stuffed with ground beef and rice and smothered in tomato sauce are to die for. I absolutely love them. I make them every so often and freeze what I can’t eat. That way I can pull out a couple, reheat them in the oven or toaster oven, and yum. So good.  

Ingredients

1 large head of cabbage

1 pound ground beef

1/3 cup uncooked regular (not instant) rice

1 medium onion, grated

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon hot pepper flakes

2 teaspoons sugar

1 can (8-ounce size) tomato sauce

1 can (15-ounce size) diced tomatoes, undrained

 

Directions

Pull off the larger outer leaves of the head of cabbage until you have about 12-15 of them. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the cabbage leaves. Cook until they are limp. Drain them and set them aside until they are cool enough to handle.

Combine the ground beef, rice, onion, egg, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Mix well.

Lay one cabbage leaf out on a work surface. Place a small amount of the beef mixture in the middle and carefully fold in the sides, and then roll up from the bottom to form the cabbage roll. Place in the slow cooker and repeat with the remaining cabbage leaves.

Combine the hot pepper flakes, sugar, tomato sauce, and diced tomatoes until well mixed. Pour over the cabbage rolls. (Note: I always have Spicy V8 Juice in the house (cans), and when I want to spice the cabbage rolls a bit, I pour a can of the V8 over the top and let the cabbage rolls simmer in it.)

Cover the crockpot and cook on low for 6 hours or until cooked. Serve the stuffed cabbage rolls with the sauce from the crockpot.

Crock pots/slow cookers all heat differently. There is no standard among manufacturers. Cooking times are suggested guidelines based on my testing. Please adjust cooking times and temps to work with your brand and model of slow cooker.

Elizabeth Kilbride is a Writer and Editor with forty years of experience in writing, with 12 of those years in the online content sphere. Author of 5 books and a Graduate with an Associate of Arts degree in Business Management, a bachelor’s in mass communication and cyber Analysis, a Master’s in Criminology with emphasis on Cybercrime and Identity Theft and is currently studying for her Ph.D. degree in Criminology. Her work portfolio includes coverage of politics, current affairs, elections, history, and true crime. Elizabeth is also a gourmet cook, life coach, and avid artist in her spare time, proficient in watercolor, acrylic, oil, pen and ink, gouache, and pastels. As a political operative who has worked on over 300 campaigns during her career, Elizabeth has turned many life events into books and movie scripts while using history to weave interesting storylines. She also runs 7 blogs ranging from art to life coaching, food, writing, Gardening, and opinion or history pieces each week.

Crockpot Cooking, Kilbride, Potpourri of Frugality, Homemade, Do it yourself