Purple Cabbage Rolls

Cabbage rolls are not a food I was accustomed to growing up. These were delicious and the red cabbage makes it really pretty. It’s not everyday that you get to eat purple foods. Cabbage rolls have a great flavour with the mix of spices added along with the acidity and sweetness from the tomatoes. This is a great comfort food that you can make in advance and cook whenever you are ready.

The most difficult thing about this recipe is getting all the cabbage leaves separated while still intact.

Ingredients:

• Sauce
• 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
• 8 ounce can tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• ¼ cup water
• For the Filling
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped fine
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dill
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 cup cooked rice
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup of the sauce that has been mixed together
• 1 head red cabbage

Substitutions for Cabbage Rolls:

• Meat: You can substitute the ground beef for ground chicken, ground turkey or even an imitation meat.
• Cabbage: Green cabbage works well for this recipe too.
• Tomato Sauce: You can use homemade tomato sauce in this recipe and even dice up fresh tomatoes to avoid using canned products.
• Vegetarian Option: You can replace the meat with an extra cup of rice, or cook some mixed veggies and add that to your rice mixture.

Tips & Tricks:

• Cabbage: Pick a nice big head of cabbage and remove the core with a knife. Once cored add the cabbage to a pot of boiling water. After 30 seconds to a minute you should be able to pull off the first couple layers. Do not over cook the cabbage pieces in an attempt to make them softer. They will not keep their shape when folding into the rolls. The inner layers of the cabbage have a tendency to be thicker, they will not fold well.
• Rolling the Cabbage: Don’t overfill the cabbage rolls or you will find the filling coming out. If your rolls don’t look perfect thats fine nobody will see the seam when you bake them.
• Make Ahead: You can make these and store them for 8 hours in your fridge before cooking.
• Storage: You can freeze the whole batch of cabbage rolls before cooking or after what ever is easiest for you. I personally like to cook them from frozen if i am making them in advance.

Purple Cabbage Rolls

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Course: DinnerCuisine: EuropeanDifficulty: Medium

Cook Mode

Keep the screen of your device on

Servings

5

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

1

hour 

30

minutes

Calories

400

kcal

Total time

2

hours 

Cabbage rolls have a great flavour with the mix of spices added along with the acidity and sweetness from the tomatoes. This is a great comfort food that you can make in advance and cook whenever you are ready.

Ingredients

• Sauce

• 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes

• 8 ounce can tomato sauce

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

• 1 tablespoon white vinegar

• ¼ cup water

• For the Filling

• 1 pound ground beef

• 1/2 cup onion, chopped fine

• 1 tablespoon dried parsley

• 1 teaspoon oregano

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

• 1/2 teaspoon dill

• 2 teaspoons minced garlic

• 1 cup cooked rice

• 1 egg

• 1/4 cup the sauce that has been mixed together

• 1 head red cabbage

Directions

• Prepare the cabbage leaves by cutting off ¼ inch from the bottom of the cabbage head. Place the whole cabbage head into a big pot of boiling water and boil for two minutes. Using long tongs gently peel off the outer cabbage leaves from the cabbage head inside the pot. Using the tongs you can roll the cabbage head around in the hot water and gently lift the leaves. After several layers have been removed you may have to use a knife to disconnect the leaf next to the core. Set aside the removed leaves to cool while you prepare the sauce and filling.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• In a medium bowl mix all of the sauce ingredients together.
• Add a thin layer of the sauce to the bottom of 9×13 baking dish.
• Save ¼ cup of sauce for your meat filling in a dish to the side.
• Brown the ground beef cooking along with the onions, parsley, oregano, salt, pepper and dill over medium heat until no pink remains and onions are translucent.
• Add in the garlic and cook another minute.
• Turn off the heat and add the cooked rice, ¼ cup mixed tomato sauce and egg. Mix quickly until fully combined. Set aside.
• Remove the thick stem of the cabbage leaves (cutting a V at the bottom of each leaf to notch out the thick part and this also helps it lay flatter)
• Lay the leaf flat and place ⅓ cup of filling toward the middle bottom of the leaf. Fold burrito style by folding in the sides onto the filling and rolling the leaf up. If your leaves have torn that’s okay, just fold the torn side in first and cover it up with the other side before rolling.
• Place the roll seam side down in the prepared baking dish. Repeat the process until all the leaves are filled and dish is filled. This made roughly 10- 12 rolls depending on how generous you are with filling.
• Pour the remaining sauce over the rolls and cover tightly with foil. Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
• Let cabbage rolls sit for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

Notes

• Serving Size: 1, Calories 400, Total Fat 7.2g (9% Daily Value), Saturated Fat 2.6g (13% Daily Value), Cholesterol 114mg (38% Daily Value), Sodium 809mg (35% Daily Value), Carbohydrate 49g (18% Daily Value), Dietary Fiber 6.2g (6% Daily Value), Sugars 12.8g, Protein 34.7g

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