Grammy’s Cabbage Rolls, are made in a most traditional way. The are a mix of rice, onions and ground beef wrapped up in a leaf of cabbage, then baked in a tomato sauce.
What is different about Grammy’s Cabbage Rolls, is that if you follow her wrapping method, these cabbage rolls will hold together without a toothpick.
They stay moist sandwiched between the outer cabbage leaves when they are baking.
Both delicious and amazing!
Grammy’s Cabbage Rolls
Print recipe| Serves | Makes 24 - 30 medium sized rolls or 12 - 16 large rolls |
| Inspiration | Grammy's Recipe |
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked basmati (or your favourite) rice (see Easy Steamed Rice recipe)
- 1 Medium sized fresh cabbage
- 1 Medium to large onion (small dice)
- 1 Lb (454 gm) lean ground beef
- 1 Tsp salt
- 1/4 Tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 1.36 L tin (approx 6 cups) low sodium tomato juice
- 1 10 oz (284 ml) tin condensed tomato soup
Directions
| Cook the rice. If using my Easy Rice recipe, prepare the cabbage while the rice is steaming. | |
|
Cut the end core out of the cabbage. Place it in an empty pot that is twice it's height and fill the pot so that the water just covers the cabbage. Remove the cabbage and put the water on to boil. Once it is boiling, add the cabbage and cook about 8 minutes. Then turn the burner off and let the cabbage sit in the water an extra 10 - 15 minutes.  | |
| While the cabbage is in the water, dice the onion (I use a mandolin on smallest cut) and cook the onion in a little olive oil until the onion is translucent. Set it aside. | |
| In a large bowl, add the cooked rice, the cooked onion, the salt, the nutmeg and the uncooked ground beef. Mix them well together. | |
| Rinse the cabbage with cold water and the leaves will separate easily. do not cut the heavy vein in the leaf, just shave it down with a paring knife to make it the same thickness as the rest of the leaf. | |
|
Open the leaf and put a reasonable amount of rice mixture (it will depend on the size of the leaf) on the leaf, near the bottom of the vein.  | |
|
Roll from the vein side and fold over on one side and then roll it up tight. The push the cabbage leaf from the open side into the roll. It will hold without a toothpick.  | |
|
Do not discard the old heavy leaves from the outside. Put them in the bottom of the pan where you will bake the cabbage rolls You can use a glass lasagna sized pan or a roasting pan that has a tight fitting lid. Then arrange your cabbage rolls on top.  | |
|
Mix the tomato juice and condensed soup together. Pour enough over each pan of cabbage rolls to cover the rolls.  | |
| Then top the rolls with another of the heavy leaves from the outside of the cabbage. By cushioning the rolls between the heavy leaves, the rolls can cook slowly and will not get browned on the top or bottom. | |
|
Put a tight cover over the rolls or cover with foil. Bake at least 2 hours in a 325 deg F oven.  | |
| Grammy's Cabbage Rolls can be frozen when fully cooked and then just reheated when ready to use. They are nice on their own or with a dollop of sour cream | |
Easy Steamed Rice
| Serves | 2 |
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup uncooked rice (makes 1 cup of cooked rice)
- 1/2 Tsp salt
- 3 - 4 Cups of water or chicken, beef or vegetable broth
Directions
| Bring the water and salt to a rolling boil. Add the rice and stir it to prevent it from sticking to the bottom. Cook the rice in the boiling water for 10 minutes. | |
|
Drain the rice into a strainer and then fill the bottom of the saucepan that you just used with about 2 - 3 inches of water. Place the strainer on the saucepan (ensure that the rice is not sitting in water. Cover the strainer and bring the water to a boil (steaming the rice). Cook for at least 20 minutes, but can continue to steam it until it is ready to be eaten. To increase the number of servings, just add more rice to the boiling water and follow the other steps.  | |
| Variation 1 | |
| I will often cook some onions and mushrooms in a small frying pan and add them to to the cooked rice before serving. Sometimes I just add a tablespoon of butter to the rice and stir it in. | |
| Variation 2 | |
| If you would like to cook brown rice, increase the initial cook time in the water from 10 to 14 minutes and then steam it until it is tender. | |
| Variation 3 | |
| Cook the rice in chicken, beef or vegetable broth instead of water for the first 10 minutes and then steam over water as described above. | |