Cooked cabbage leaves hold the stuffed cabbage rolls together.
Homemade stuffed cabbage is a delicious, all-in-one meal containing your meat and vegetable in one dish. Stuffed cabbage is enjoyable in cooler weather or for large groups of people. While homemade stuffed cabbage requires a little preparation time, you can make it the night before and cook it the next day in your crock pot or slow cooker. Stuffed cabbage freezes well, too, so you can make extra and have an easy meal ready for another night.
Instructions
1. Place 1/2 cup dried, seasoned bread crumbs in a large mixing bowl. Add 1 large onion, finely chopped, then mix the two ingredients together.
2. Ground meat is the main part of the inside of a stuffed cabbage roll.
Put 1 1/2 lb. ground meat in the mixing bowl with the onion and bread crumbs. Use a mixture of 1 lb. ground beef and 1/2 lb. ground pork or, if you prefer to make lower-calorie, cabbage rolls, use 1 1/2 lb. ground turkey. Just about any type of ground meat can be used to make stuffed cabbage rolls, depending upon what you have on hand or your dietary preferences.
3. Add 1 cup uncooked rice, 2 beaten eggs and 1 1/2 tsp. table salt to the mixing bowl. Stir all the ingredients until mixed well. It might be easier to mix the ingredients with your hands, if preferred, then place the meat mixture in the refrigerator while you cook the cabbage.
4. Cut the core out of the bottom of the head of cabbage. The core is usually the size of your fist or a bit smaller and is very hard. Pierce a large grilling fork through the cabbage leaves lengthwise to keep them from separating while cooking.
5. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place the cabbage in the pot of water with the grill fork sticking out of the top of the cabbage. Boil the leaves for about 4 to 5 minutes.
6. Take the head of cabbage out of the pot of boiling water, and place it on the counter. Carefully remove the outer leaves that have softened from cooking and place them in a large bowl. When you reach leaves that are still a bit hard, place the head of cabbage back in the water and continue to cook for 4 more minutes, repeating this process until all the cabbage leaves are tender.
7. Lay one cabbage leaf at a time on your work surface. Cut a V-shape in the base of the leaf to remove the hard stem portion of the cabbage leaf.
8. Finished cabbage rolls will look similar to the cabbage rolls pictured.
Form a ball of meat larger than a golf ball but smaller than a baseball. Lay the large meat ball near the V-cut end of the cabbage leaf. Roll the cabbage roll once, then fold in both sides of the leaf over the meat before continuing to roll to the end of the leaf.
9. Place unused or ripped cabbage leaves in the bottom of your crock pot. Make a layer of cabbage rolls in the crock pot, then pour 1/4 cup beef bouillon over the cabbage rolls. Continue to add cabbage rolls and beef bouillon until you're 2 inches from the top of the crock pot.
10. Slow cooking is a convenient way to cook a meal without having to be in the kitchen.
Turn your crock pot onto the "Low" heat setting and allow the cabbage rolls to simmer for 4 to 5hours.
Tags: cabbage rolls, cabbage leaves, cabbage leaf, head cabbage, mixing bowl, your crock
