Simple cabbage rolls. Stuffed cabbage rolls: original recipes and cooking tips

Today we'll talk about how correct prepare cabbage rolls in cabbage leaves stuffed with minced meat.

Homemade cabbage rolls– such a dear to our heart and certainly delicious second course! Our grandmothers and mothers always prepared them for us in childhood. Recipe for making cabbage rolls according to the classic recipe is based on wrapping minced meat in cabbage leaves, although there are many different options for preparing cabbage rolls. But today we are preparing a classic!

Step-by-step recipe for making cabbage rolls with photos

To prepare cabbage rolls we will need the following ingredients:

• White cabbage – 1 large head;
• Minced meat – 1 kg;
• Dry rice – 0.5 cups (250 g volume)
• Onions – 2 large heads;
• Fresh carrots – 1-2 pieces;
• Tomato paste – 2 tablespoons;
• Sour cream 15% fat – 150 grams;
• Dry seasonings - to taste;
• Ground black pepper or a mixture of peppers - to taste;
• Salt - to taste;
• Bay leaf - to taste;
• Fresh herbs (dill, parsley, etc.) - to taste;
• Refined vegetable oil - for frying.

Let's start preparing cabbage rolls:

Step 1. Let's start preparing by preparing the filling for cabbage rolls, namely by preparing minced meat. Prepare minced cabbage rolls from two types of meat - pork + beef in a 1/1 ratio, i.e. take half a kilo of pork and half a kilo of beef.

1. Grind the meat in a meat grinder along with the onion. Take 1/3 of a large onion head.
2. Season the minced meat with salt and pepper to taste.
3. To add the minced meat, you now need to chop the remaining part of the onion very finely, precisely chop it, do not twist it. (Our family likes it when onions fried until golden brown are added to the stuffing for cabbage rolls. If you don’t accept this, then just chop it very finely with a knife).
4. Mix the minced meat well with your hands and don’t just mix, but knead it, so it will be much fluffier. Set the minced meat aside for now.

Step 2. The next step in cooking is to prepare the rice. We will boil the rice until half cooked and rinse. This technique will make the filling more fluffy than if you put unwashed or raw rice. By washing the rice, we will wash away the sticky part that is present in the rice grains.

1. Rice cereals need to be sorted out, rinsed well, placed in a saucepan and filled with water.
2. Place the pan with rice on the stove and cook the rice until half cooked.
3. Drain the undercooked rice into a colander and rinse with water.
4. Leave the rice in a colander to drain the liquid.

Step 3. Let's continue cooking - prepare the cabbage. To do this, you will need a large saucepan that can fit the entire head of cabbage.

1. Place the cabbage in a saucepan and fill it with water so that the vegetable is completely hidden under water. Turn on the stove and let the water boil.
2. After boiling, boil the cabbage in water for about 10 minutes. Remember that our goal is not to cook the cabbage, but only to soften it a little. After this procedure, it will be much easier to separate the cabbage leaves from the stalk.

Step 4. After boiling the cabbage, carefully drain the water and remove the cabbage, placing it in a large colander or on a tray. Let the cabbage head cool and remove any excess liquid.

Step 5. While the water is draining from the cabbage head, let's prepare the filling for the cabbage rolls.

We need to combine minced meat and rice boiled until half cooked. After mixing, taste, if you think necessary, add more salt and pepper.

Stuffing for cabbage rolls made from minced meat and rice

Step 6. Next, you will need to separate the cabbage leaves from the cooled head from the stalk. Each leaf must be carefully separated, so as not to damage the integrity of the leaf, using a knife, cutting off at the base. In this way, disassemble the head of cabbage, cutting off each leaf until the leaves are large enough to wrap the minced meat in. Set the cabbage leaves aside for now.

Step 7 Now let's start preparing cabbage leaves for cabbage rolls. You will need a large cutting board to wrap and stack the cabbage rolls on.

Carefully lay out the cabbage leaf and cut off part of the thickening at the base of the leaf horizontally with a thin, sharp knife. Do this with each leaf.

Step 8 Wrap the cabbage roll filling in cabbage leaves.

1. In order to wrap the cabbage rolls, you need to straighten the cabbage leaf on a cutting board.
2. Place the required amount of meat filling on the sheet at its base.
3. Fold the edges inward on the sides.
4. Then, slightly compacting, roll the sheet into a roll.
5. To prevent it from unwinding, you can pin the edge of the sheet with a toothpick or tie a thread around the cabbage roll, although this is not necessary. There is one more trick! To prevent the cabbage rolls from unrolling, you need to beat the egg and dip the cabbage rolls in it. This technique is used by chefs to prevent cabbage rolls from unraveling when stewing.

Wrap all the leaves in cabbage rolls this way.

Stuffed cabbage rolls are ready for further preparation

Step 9 Fry the cabbage rolls in a frying pan. All cabbage rolls need to be lightly fried before they go to stew.

1. To do this, put the frying pan on the fire, pour in vegetable oil.
2. As soon as the oil is hot, place the cabbage rolls seam side down and fry on both sides for 5 minutes on each side.

Step 10 Place the cabbage rolls in a saucepan or cast iron pot. Line the bottom of the container in which the cabbage rolls will be stewed with a layer of cabbage leaves. If there are any unsorted leaves left from our head of cabbage, then use them. After the “pillow” of leaves is ready, start laying out the cabbage rolls.

Step 11 We are preparing the sauce in which the cabbage rolls will be stewed. To prepare the filling for cabbage rolls, we will need the remaining onion, carrots, tomato paste, sour cream, salt, pepper, and seasonings.

Onion. Peel the onion, rinse with cold water and cut into medium-sized cubes. It is not necessary to chop it too much; the onion will still be extinguished during cooking.

Carrot. Wash the carrots, peel them, rinse them again with water and cut them into cubes or strips. You can grate it on a coarse grater.

Sauté onions and carrots. Take a deep frying pan. In this frying pan, fry the chopped onion until transparent, then add the grated or chopped carrots and sauté for another three minutes, stirring constantly.

Add tomato paste. Reduce heat to medium and add tomato paste to the onions and carrots, stir and simmer for another three minutes.

Add sour cream. Next, dilute the sour cream with water and pour it into the frying pan with the tomato frying, stir. (There should be enough water so that there is enough sauce to cover the cabbage rolls when stewing). Let the filling boil and add salt, pepper, and seasonings to taste. Remove the pan from the stove and turn up the heat to high.

Step 12 Pour the cabbage rolls with tomato-sour cream sauce. Place a container with cabbage rolls on a preheated stove, pour the sauce we prepared over the cabbage rolls. Once the cabbage rolls are in the sauce and on the stove, close them with a lid and wait until the filling begins to boil; once it boils, reduce the heat to low and simmer over low heat for at least an hour.

Before the end of stewing, add a bay leaf to the cabbage rolls about ten minutes, and after turning off the stove it’s time to add finely chopped fresh herbs.

After turning off the stove, do not remove the container with cabbage rolls; let them simmer on a warm stove until it cools down.

Cabbage rolls with meat filling ready, they can be served as an independent dish. They are served with sour cream and herbs. You can also serve cabbage rolls with a side dish, for example, mashed potatoes or boiled rice.

If you used a thread to give the cabbage rolls integrity, do not forget to release the cabbage rolls from it when serving. Just cut the thread with scissors and then serve.

Eat cabbage rolls for your health! Bon appetit!

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The classic dish is prepared from white, Chinese or Savoy cabbage. Less commonly used are young leaves of beets or grapes.

The five most commonly used ingredients in one-pot cabbage roll recipes are:

The traditional filling for cabbage rolls consists of minced meat, boiled rice and sautéed vegetables. It is seasoned with ground pepper, meat spices, thyme, and Provençal herbs. Garlic and hot pepper are added for taste. On fasting days, the filling is prepared from boiled cereals, mushrooms, vegetables and seafood.

The sauce for the dish is prepared from sour cream, tomato paste, ketchup and grated tomatoes. Sometimes soy sauce, chopped vegetables, and herbs are added to it.

The tasty dish is prepared all year round, but it is especially tasty from fresh young vegetables.

Five of the lowest calorie cabbage rolls recipes in a pan:

1. Ground meat is prepared from pork, beef, chicken or turkey. If desired, products can be combined in different proportions. To make the filling tender, add 50-100 ml of water and knead well with your hands. After this, the minced meat is mixed with sautéed vegetables, salt and spices.
2. To prepare cabbage rolls, use round or long rice. The cereal is dipped into boiling water, the heat is reduced and cooked for 8-10 minutes. After this, it is washed under running water and combined with minced meat.
3. Boil cabbage leaves in boiling water until soft. The workpieces are cooled and then cut into pieces of the required size.
4. The minced meat is spread on cabbage leaves, and the cabbage rolls are rolled into envelopes or rolls.
5. Grease the bottom of the pan with vegetable oil and pour in 100 ml of water. Stuffed cabbage rolls are laid out in layers and filled with sauce.
6. Bring the broth to a boil, then reduce the heat. The dish is cooked for 40-60 minutes.

The treat is placed on plates and served with your favorite sauce.

To save time, housewives prepare semi-finished products in advance. Stuffed cabbage rolls are placed in freezer bags and placed in the freezer. The preparations are taken out as needed and stewed in a saucepan with sauce.

Stuffed cabbage rolls are a traditional Eastern European dish, ideal for both a regular family dinner and a chic holiday table. It is made from cabbage or grape leaves, in which a wide variety of fillings are wrapped. But their most common option turned out to be cabbage rolls with meat and rice, complemented by white vegetables.

In order for the dish to turn out tasty and appetizing in appearance, you should be especially careful when selecting products for it. This is especially true for cabbage.

A miniature head of cabbage is ideal for cabbage rolls, the leaves of which are not too tightly adjacent to each other.

Regardless of the recipe chosen, it is very important to properly prepare the cabbage for further formation of cabbage rolls.

To do this:

• The stalk is separated from the head of cabbage (carefully using a sharp knife);
• The vegetable is immersed in boiling water and after five minutes removed from the heat along with the pan;
• Keep the cabbage in a container with water until it cools completely;
• The head of cabbage is disassembled into individual leaves.

If the petioles of the leaves turn out to be too hard and thick, they need to be crushed thoroughly. The easiest way to do this is with a meat hammer.

A variety of spices are an essential component of this dish. For example, dried oregano, bay leaf, basil and ground black pepper. This list can be changed and supplemented to suit your own taste.

Minced meat is an important part of cabbage rolls. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare it tasty and correctly. There are two main options for the meat component for the filling.

The first one is made from chicken fillet. It is also worth taking a small amount of skin for the minced meat so that it does not turn out too bland. But you should not add salt and spices to this product. The fillet along with the skin is twisted through a meat grinder or crushed with a blender. You can also add 1 small white onion to the mixture. For 6 chicken fillets, 2 skins will be enough.

The second option is prepared from pork and beef in equal quantities. It is best to choose the flesh from the shoulders, sirloin, brisket and neck. If very fatty pork is used to prepare minced meat, then beef, on the contrary, can be lean. You should not add onions to this version of minced cabbage rolls with rice when chopping.

Stuffed cabbage rolls with meat and rice - a classic recipe

The classic recipe is the simplest and most accessible. It will appeal to both children and adults. The main thing is not to skimp on your favorite spices. In addition to seasonings in the form of ground black pepper and bay leaf, the following ingredients are added to the dish: 1.5 kg. cabbage, 1 kg. minced meat, 2 pcs. onions and carrots, 1 chicken egg, 3 tbsp. spoons of tomato paste or ketchup without additives, 200 gr. fat sour cream.

As for spices, the easiest way is to buy a ready-made mixture “For cabbage rolls” or find the ideal combinations for yourself through experimentation.

Step-by-step preparation steps:

1. Rice is boiled until half cooked in unsalted water.
2. Carrots and onions are finely chopped and fried until golden brown in any vegetable oil.
3. Semi-cooked chilled rice is mixed with vegetables, minced meat, raw egg, salt and spices.
4. The filling is laid out on a pre-prepared cabbage leaf, after which the latter is folded into a neat envelope.
5. All that remains is to take care of the sauce: sour cream is diluted with water and mixed with tomato paste, seasoned with spices, after which bay leaves are added.
6. The mixture is boiled for 5-7 minutes, then it is poured into a pan, into which the cabbage rolls are also carefully placed. The cabbage envelopes should be completely covered with sauce.

Cooking time for cabbage rolls may vary depending on the type of cabbage. But on average, the dish requires simmering from 40 to 90 minutes. It should be served after sprinkling it with finely chopped fresh herbs.

Stuffed cabbage rolls recipe in the oven

Few housewives know that cabbage rolls can also be cooked in the oven. This method turns out to be faster, and, in addition, allows the products to retain their maximum benefits, rich taste and reduce calorie content. Baking cabbage rolls should be chosen if the dish is planned to be served at the holiday table. Minced chicken meat (1 kg.) is perfect for this version of the popular discussed treat. In addition to it, you will need to prepare 1 medium head of cabbage, 300 gr. champignons, a couple of onions and the same amount of carrots, 300 gr. rice, 2 eggs, 500 ml. heavy cream (at least 20%), 3-4 cloves of garlic (can be replaced with a granulated product), 2 tbsp. tomato paste, spices, salt.

1. Rice is boiled in plenty of water until tender.
2. In a frying pan, thoroughly fry chopped white onion, garlic, carrots and chopped champignons in any vegetable oil with spices.
3. When all the ingredients are prepared, you can add vegetables, meat and mushrooms to the rice, salt and pepper them, and then put the cabbage roll filling on a cabbage leaf, folding it into an envelope.
4. All that remains is to carefully place the future treat on a deep baking sheet thoroughly greased with oil or fat or in any convenient form. They are topped with a mixture of heavy cream and tomato paste. If granulated garlic is used, then you can add it to the dish at this stage.

Stuffed cabbage rolls are cooked in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for at least 40 minutes. You can serve them to the table after garnishing them with herbs, as well as slices of fresh or canned vegetables (tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet bell peppers).

Stuffed cabbage rolls with meat and rice in a slow cooker

This recipe will allow every housewife to significantly save time spent in the kitchen. A woman will be able to safely do other things without worrying about whether the dish placed on the fire is burning. In addition, cabbage rolls in a slow cooker always turn out very soft and tender. To prepare them you need to take 1 head of cabbage, 500 g. minced meat, 250 gr. white rice, 1 carrot, 3-4 garlic cloves, 100 gr. sour cream and 50 gr. tomato paste.

1. Water is poured into the bowl of the device, salt is added, and then rice. In the “Steaming” mode, you need to set the time 2 times shorter than the standard one so that the cereal is half-cooked.
2. After rice, the container is rinsed, grated carrots and chopped garlic are placed in it. In the “Frying” mode, vegetables are cooked until soft.
3. Now the carrots, garlic, rice and minced meat are thoroughly mixed, tomato paste, salt and spices are added to them. The filling is placed on prepared cabbage leaves, which need to be rolled into envelopes.

It is in the frying pan that housewives most often cook cabbage rolls. To add originality to this dish, it is worth complementing it with an unusual filling of homemade sour cream (200 g) and flour (2 tbsp). In addition to these ingredients, you will need to take the following: 1 kg. white cabbage, 400 gr. minced meat, 100 gr. white rice, onions and carrots in equal quantities (2 pieces each), spices, salt, oil.

1. Rice is boiled until half cooked in salted water.
2. Chopped carrots and onions are fried in vegetable oil (you can even take olive or walnut oil).
3. The prepared ingredients are mixed with raw minced meat, and the filling is wrapped in cabbage leaves.
4. Stuffed cabbage rolls are fried in a frying pan on both sides until golden brown.
5. Now similar actions are performed with flour. It is fried until golden brown and filled with sour cream and water.
6. As soon as the filling thickens, put cabbage rolls in it and leave on low heat for about 20 minutes.

As noted above, thick homemade sour cream is best suited for this recipe. Then the dish will turn out especially satisfying and tasty.

Almost every cuisine in the world has its own version of the recipe, which involves rolling minced meat into cabbage or grape leaves and simmering it in a sauce. Despite the fact that the technology for preparing cabbage rolls is similar among different nations, the result depends on the taste preferences of each individual cook.

Cooking cabbage rolls with minced meat

There are many variations in preparing the dish: cooks use white cabbage, Chinese cabbage, and Savoy cabbage for this purpose; they add various cereals, mushrooms, vegetables and even fish to the filling; they prepare the dish in the oven, slow cooker, microwave, saucepan, or frying pan. To start experimenting with recipes, it is first recommended to prepare classic cabbage rolls with minced meat - with rice and meat on the stove. In this case, the gravy can be tomato sauce with the addition of your favorite spices.

How to cook lazy cabbage rolls with minced meat and cabbage

This variation of the dish is good because it takes a minimum of time, since the cook does not have to tinker with each roll, but prepare a homogeneous mass. First, the rice is boiled, and the cabbage is boiled separately. The meat is ground into minced meat, which is mixed with prepared rice porridge, spices and chopped cabbage leaves. The mass is thoroughly mixed, then cutlets are formed from it, which are fried in oil. After this, lazy cabbage rolls with cabbage and minced meat are stewed in a saucepan until cooked. Before serving, top the dish with tomato sauce or sour cream.

Stuffed cabbage rolls with Chinese cabbage and minced meat

Recipe 1: Stuffed cabbage rolls - classic Russian recipe

Who doesn't like cabbage rolls in our country? There probably isn’t a single family that doesn’t cook these delicious envelopes filled with minced meat.

Ingredients: minced meat (500 grams), onions (2 pcs. for minced meat and 2 pcs. for gravy), rice (1-1.5 cups), water (1 cup), salt, pepper, head of cabbage.
Sauce: sour cream (500 grams), tomato sauce (3-4 spoons), onion, vegetable oil, carrots (1 pc), water, pepper, salt.

Cooking method

Boil the rice in salted water and drain the water. Cool and mix with minced meat, luom, salt and pepper.
Let's prepare the cabbage - cut the stalk deep into the head, lower it into boiling water for a few minutes. Separate the softened leaves and form the basis for the cabbage roll. Young early cabbage just needs to be dipped in boiling water - the leaves will simply scatter on their own.

Winter varieties will have to be boiled a little, removing the leaves gradually. You can also warm up the cabbage in the microwave - just place the cabbage for a minute and also gradually remove the leaves. An alternative is to bake it in foil in the oven, but in this case the upper parts will fry a little, and the workpiece will acquire a specific smell. If your cabbage was frozen, no heat treatment is required.

Place the filling on the prepared sheets and wrap it in the form of an envelope, starting from the thick edge. Place everything tightly in a saucepan, add a small amount of water and put on fire.

Sauce: Sauté onions and carrots in oil in a frying pan, add tomato sauce and a little water. Pour the sauce over the cabbage rolls about 20 minutes before the end of cooking. Serve with sour cream and herbs.

Recipe 2: Stuffed cabbage rolls with buckwheat and minced chicken

It turns out very interesting, be sure to try it. In this case, it is better to first fry the cabbage rolls in vegetable oil and then simmer in sour cream. With minced chicken the dish will be softer or more tender, but you can also cook it with beef.

Ingredients: minced chicken (500 grams), salt, pepper, onion, sour cream (1 cup), bay leaf, vegetable oil, medium head of cabbage.

Cooking method

Boil buckwheat for 5 minutes. Drain the water and place in a colander. Mix with minced chicken and onions fried in vegetable oil, salt and pepper.

We disassemble the cabbage into leaves; if necessary, scald it first. Place the filling in the middle of the cabbage leaf and roll it up into an envelope. Fry the envelopes in vegetable oil, put them in a deep pan and add water and sour cream. Salt, season with peppers and add bay leaf. Simmer for about 40 minutes.

Recipe 3: Dolma (stuffed cabbage rolls with grape leaves)

Real dolma is only lamb. However, we are our own chefs because we can replace products at our own discretion. In general, those who do not accept lamb can use beef with the same success.

Ingredients: fresh or pickled grape leaves (250 grams), minced beef or lamb (300 grams), vegetable oil (70 grams), onions (2 pcs.), short-grain rice (small glass), dill, mint, salt, pepper.

Cooking method

Wash the leaves in cold water. Soak the pickled leaves in water for an hour and then dry. Heat vegetable oil in a saucepan to fry the onions. Let it sit for a while under the lid. Add rice, spices, salt and pepper to the onion. Dolma differs from cabbage rolls in its smaller size. The blueberries turn out small and neat, make sure that the leaves do not unfurl.

Place the pan with dolma on the fire, sprinkle with vegetable oil, and cover with a plate. Cook over low heat for 45 minutes. Serve with sour cream, mayonnaise or sauce. The ideal oriental sauce is natural yogurt mixed with chopped garlic. Instead, you can use kefir, yogurt, matsoni. Fermented milk sauce makes dolma an even lighter dish.

Recipe 4: Dietary cabbage rolls for fasting

If you are on a salt-free diet and want to diversify your diet, try cooking with curry and ginger - they help burn fat.

Ingredients: beef (300 grams), white cabbage (150 grams), celery, carrots, chicken egg (2 pcs.), curry, lemon juice (1 teaspoon), olive oil. For the gravy: kefir (100 grams), ground ginger (half a teaspoon).

Cooking method

Grind cabbage, carrots and celery in a blender. Mix and add to the minced meat along with the eggs and curry. We form the cabbage rolls: put the filling in the center of the prepared cabbage leaves and wrap them in tight envelopes. Coat the bottom of the pan with olive oil and place the cabbage rolls tightly. For the gravy, mix kefir and ginger and pour on top. Bake in the oven at a temperature of 220-260 degrees.

Recipe 5: Stuffed cabbage rolls with mushrooms

Another recipe for a lean diet. You can take honey mushrooms, porcini mushrooms, but also champignons with rice as a filling for cabbage leaves - a wonderful combination. It's tasty, healthy, easy.

Ingredients: cabbage (10 steamed leaves), rice (4 tablespoons), champignons (200 grams), onion (1 piece), tomato paste, salt, vegetable oil.

Cooking method

Boil the leaves until semi-soft in salted water. Boil the rice until it remains crumbly, and cook the mushrooms separately. Chop the onion and fry it in a frying pan. Add mushrooms and combine with rice. Add a little salt. Wrap the finished filling in cabbage leaves and transfer to a saucepan. Simmer for 40 minutes, add tomato paste and spices. Serve with herbs and sour cream.

Stuffed cabbage rolls are prepared using a certain technology, but different sauces can be used.

For example:
- sour cream with chopped herbs and garlic passed through a garlic press;
- kefir with herbs and salt;
- mix mayonnaise with onions in a blender. Add a bunch of parsley and pickled cucumber, lemon juice.

Stuffed cabbage rolls are considered a traditional Ukrainian dish, although their analogues can be found in almost any national cuisine. There is historical evidence proving that cabbage leaves were used as a “wrapper” for minced meat as far back as Ancient Greece. Since then, the recipe has not changed much: it is still the same white cabbage, the same minced meat and the same stewing technology.

Today you can find a lot of options for preparing cabbage rolls - using Savoy and Chinese cabbage, with mushrooms and buckwheat, in the oven and with pre-frying in a frying pan. To move to the “advanced” level and allow yourself culinary experiments, it’s worth figuring out how to cook cabbage rolls in the classic version. And the classic version is cabbage rolls with meat and rice in cabbage.

On this page you will read about:

To make it easier to understand, here is a step-by-step recipe for cabbage rolls with photos.

Ingredients

To prepare cabbage rolls you will need:

• 2 medium sized cabbages;
• 1 kg of meat (pork, beef, chicken or a combination of them);
• 1 cup rice;
• 2-3 medium sized carrots;
• 2 large onions;
• vegetable oil for frying vegetables;
• salt, pepper to taste;
• 3 tbsp. l. tomato paste;
• sour cream for serving

How to cook cabbage rolls with meat and rice

Choosing cabbage for cabbage rolls– the task is not the easiest. The head of cabbage should be dense, but not hard, otherwise you will not be able to separate the leaves from each other. The size is medium, from a small head you will get a minimum amount of cabbage rolls, large heads of cabbage are also not suitable, from them you can make cabbage rolls the size of a sole.

At markets in vegetable aisles they sometimes sell cabbage leaves by weight - just suitable for making cabbage rolls from them. Very convenient. Alas, such a miracle does not happen very often, so there is only one way out: decide on suitable heads of cabbage and work with what you have.

Cabbage leaves for cabbage rolls

So, choose cabbage, wash the head of cabbage, and remove the top hard leaves.

Boil water in a large saucepan. Prick a head of cabbage with a large fork and place it in boiling water for 3-5 minutes. Choose the time yourself - the top sheets should become soft, but under no circumstances should they fall apart.

Remove the head of cabbage from the water and remove the top few leaves. As soon as you feel that the leaves are not “moving” freely, stop, otherwise you will simply tear them.

If necessary, trim off the thick areas that are located at the base of the cabbage leaf.

We repeat the procedure for the next layer of leaves and the next head of cabbage - we do this until we can remove even, medium-sized leaves.

Minced meat for classic cabbage rolls

Meat for cabbage rolls wash, trim off excess fat and films.

Grind in a meat grinder. To save time, you can buy ready-made minced meat if you practice preparing homemade dishes from store-bought semi-finished products.

Boil the rice until half cooked. If you take fully cooked rice, after stewing it will turn into a porridge-like mass. Uncooked rice will “take away” the maximum juice from the meat, as a result of which it will become dry and tough.

Place rice in a bowl with minced meat.
It is worth understanding that the amount “1 glass” indicated in the list of ingredients for preparing cabbage rolls is quite arbitrary. You can take a little more or a little less rice depending on what filling you like in your cabbage rolls. With these proportions, there will be more cereals and carrots with onions than meat, and the dish will turn out to be more vegetable than meat. If you prefer a more substantial, “brutal” version of cabbage rolls, you can reduce the amount of rice or increase the amount of minced meat.

Peel the carrots and grate them.
Carrots add juiciness to cabbage rolls, so do not reduce their quantity. However, it will provide the filling with some sweetness - if this flavor note seems unnecessary to you, use less carrots.

Peel the onion and cut into small cubes.
Half rings or even rings are also quite appropriate. The main thing is that the appearance of the filling does not interfere with your aesthetic perception of the food.

Pour a small amount of vegetable oil into a heated frying pan, Fry the carrots until soft.

Place it in a bowl with the minced meat and rice.

In the same frying pan, fry the onion in oil– until slightly translucent and soft.
Place in a bowl, don’t forget about salt and pepper.

Mix well the stuffing for cabbage rolls, consisting of minced meat, rice, carrots and onions.. You can also add some fresh herbs, your favorite dry herbs, appropriate seasonings and spices.

Modeling cabbage rolls

We place the boiled and prepared cabbage leaf with the base facing us, put a small amount of minced meat inside.

We roll it up into a tube and hide the edges inside.

Ready. Beautiful?

Cooking cabbage rolls in a saucepan

Place the cabbage rolls in a large saucepan with a thick bottom, trying to place them as tightly as possible. Another rule is that they must be placed seam side down.

We dilute the tomato paste in 2-3 glasses of water, pour in the cabbage rolls. The water should not reach the top layer of cabbage rolls by about 2 fingers. In addition, you can add a little ketchup, plum jam, sour cream or unsweetened yogurt to the same sauce. Some housewives stew cabbage rolls by frying them in a pan with carrots and onions.

Place on the stove, bring to a boil and, reducing the heat to low, simmer for at least 45-60 minutes. The cabbage should eventually become completely soft and the filling should be ready.

Serve with sour cream or any sauce based on it. Bon appetit!

And more about cooking cabbage rolls

Stuffed cabbage rolls can very well become a work of art if you approach their preparation with soul. When mixing ingredients for minced meat, try to put maximum diligence into this simple process - and, oddly enough, then the filling will be especially tasty. When rolling cabbage, make sure that everything is smooth and neat - and then the appearance will bring special visual satisfaction, which will directly enhance the pleasure received from the cabbage rolls themselves. Serve food on beautiful dishes - and the simplest dish will become festive.

By the way, in the western regions of Ukraine, this simple dish is still used to test a girl’s readiness for family life: it is believed that if a young woman does not know how to make cabbage rolls the size of her little finger, if she cannot quickly prepare a huge tub of meat wrapped in cabbage leaves minced meat, if her cabbage rolls unfold during the stewing process or, even worse, fall apart, she will not see a good groom like snowdrops in January. Cook with pleasure, and may your cabbage rolls always be perfectly delicious!

How to cook cabbage rolls: 10 culinary tips

Late autumn and early winter is the time to get busy preparing a delicious, although not the simplest dish, cabbage rolls. It is at this time that the most suitable cabbage for cabbage rolls appears on the shelves of our markets and stores, with dense, juicy, but still flexible and not rough leaves. Despite the fact that many people consider preparing cabbage rolls to be unnecessarily time-consuming and effort-consuming, most of us still like the result. And in fact, when properly prepared, cabbage rolls turn out surprisingly tasty, filling and aromatic, possessing at the same time the delicate crunchiness of stewed vegetables and the satisfying fullness of the original Russian porridge with meat. However, the versatility and versatility of cabbage rolls easily allows us to prepare them without meat and without rice, replacing products in accordance with our taste and culinary preferences. Let's try to find out and remember how to cook cabbage rolls today.

Like most other truly popular popular dishes, cabbage rolls can boast a wide variety of cooking recipes. Every home, every family prepares this dish differently. Some consider cabbage rolls to be an everyday dish, while others decorate their holiday menu with homemade cabbage rolls. Traditionally, the filling for cabbage rolls is prepared from rice, boiled until half cooked, minced pork, onions and spices. However, the imagination of culinary specialists will always be cramped within such strict limits. What stuffing for cabbage rolls is not prepared from today? Poultry, meat and even fish, a wide variety of cereals and vegetables, mushrooms and dried fruits, herbs and spices are used. Any of your favorite products, with the right approach, will easily give traditional cabbage rolls a fresh originality of a new taste, or even completely change a familiar dish, decorating it with a new intricate aroma, consistent with your own unique imagination and culinary talent.

Some housewives find preparing cabbage rolls to be an unnecessarily complicated and painstaking task, so much so that they completely refuse to take on it. And completely in vain! The right mood, time planning and knowledge of some culinary tricks and secrets will easily allow you to prepare delicious homemade cabbage rolls and please your loved ones with this wonderful dish.

Today KEDEM.RU “Culinary Eden” has carefully collected and recorded for you the most important tips and interesting recipes that will definitely tell you how to cook cabbage rolls.

1. The taste and appearance of the finished dish will depend on how carefully you choose cabbage for your cabbage rolls. Try to pay attention to the heads of cabbage that are smooth, dense, and free of creases and damage. The best choice for cabbage rolls is not round, but slightly flattened heads of cabbage. It is in these heads of cabbage that the thin surface of the leaf is much larger in area than the rough part with a thick petiole. Pay close attention to the density of the leaves themselves. For cabbage rolls, cabbage with flexible, thin leaves that bend easily but do not break is best. Most often, such cabbage has a greenish tint to the leaves. Cabbage with white, thick leaves that easily break at the slightest bending is not suitable for cabbage rolls, it requires too much time for preparation, and in the finished dish it will be tough and fibrous.

2. In order to disassemble a head of cabbage into individual leaves without damaging them, the cabbage should be properly prepared. First of all, use a sharp knife to cut out the cabbage stalk, trying to capture most of the rough, thick stalks. Then place the head of cabbage in boiling water to which a small amount of vinegar has been added. The acid will preserve the natural structure of the cabbage leaf and protect it from tearing. Cook the cabbage for a few minutes until the top leaves become translucent and begin to separate from the head. Carefully remove the head of cabbage from the boiling water and, being careful not to burn yourself, separate the top boiled leaves. If necessary, return the cabbage to boiling water and repeat the entire process with the remaining leaves. Cool the finished cabbage leaves and, if necessary, beat off the protruding thick parts of the petioles using a culinary hammer.

3. There is an easier, although longer, way to soften the cabbage leaf and disassemble the head of cabbage without damaging it. Using a sharp knife, carefully cut out the cabbage stalk, place the cabbage head in a plastic bag, tie it tightly and put it in the freezer for a couple of days. Once the head of cabbage is completely frozen, remove it from the freezer and defrost it in the bottom compartment of the refrigerator. Cabbage prepared in this way turns out to be very soft, easily disassembled into individual leaves and does not tear at all. You can use any of the methods we have listed for preparing cabbage to your own taste, the result will be equally good.

4. There are many different ways to roll cabbage rolls. Some people simply roll them into a tube without wrapping the ends of the cabbage inside. Someone makes balls out of cabbage leaves, filling them with minced meat like stuffed peppers. Traditionally, cabbage rolls are rolled so that the filling is covered with a cabbage leaf on all sides. Place the prepared cabbage leaf on the board in front of you. Closer to the base of the sheet, place two to three tablespoons of the filling in the form of an oblong sausage half the width of the sheet. Cover the filling with the base of the leaf, then fold in the sides of the leaf, then roll the cabbage roll away from you, twisting it into the remaining long part of the cabbage leaf. Nothing complicated, right?

5. Let's try to cook traditional Russian cabbage rolls with beef and rice. Prepare in advance and separate the cabbage into separate leaves. Boil one liter of water in a saucepan, add a teaspoon of vegetable oil, salt to taste and add 100 g. rice Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes until half cooked. The rice should be slightly undercooked, with a slight crispiness. Place the finished rice in a colander, let the water drain, and then mix with 500 gr. ground beef, a pinch of black pepper and nutmeg, salt to taste. Knead the filling thoroughly. Wrap three tablespoons of filling in each cabbage leaf. Fry the cabbage rolls in vegetable oil for three minutes on each side, and then transfer to a wide pan. In the remaining oil from frying the cabbage rolls, fry one finely chopped onion and one carrot, cut into thin strips, for five minutes. Then add 1 tbsp to the vegetables. a spoonful of sugar and 200 gr. sour cream. Mix thoroughly and simmer for another two minutes on the lowest heat. Transfer the resulting dressing into a pan with cabbage rolls and simmer everything together under a lid over low heat for 30 minutes. Before serving, sprinkle the cabbage rolls with finely chopped herbs and pour over the dressing in which they were stewed.

6. Do you like spicier and more flavorful dishes? Try making Tatar-style cabbage rolls. Boil, separate into separate leaves and cool one head of cabbage. Prepare the sauce in advance. Finely chop the onion, grate one carrot on a coarse grater. Heat 2 tbsp in a frying pan. spoons of vegetable oil, add onions and carrots and fry until golden brown. When the vegetables are ready, add 300 grams to them. finely chopped tomatoes, 100 ml. sour cream, 100 ml. water, 1 tbsp. a spoonful of tomato paste, 1 teaspoon of dried dill, salt, sugar, black and red pepper to taste. Mix everything, bring to a boil and cook covered over medium heat for 10 minutes. For filling 500 gr. Mix minced lamb with ½ cup boiled rice, two finely chopped onions, salt, black and red pepper to taste. Wrap the filling in cabbage leaves, forming cabbage rolls, dip the cabbage rolls in an egg, lightly beaten with a fork, and fry in butter for three minutes on each side. Place the cabbage rolls in a wide saucepan, add two bay leaves, pour in the sauce and simmer covered over low heat for 35 - 40 minutes.

7. Stuffed cabbage rolls with chicken filling baked in the oven are very tasty. Boil one head of cabbage in advance and separate it into separate leaves. Grind two chicken fillets in a food processor or pass through a meat grinder with a coarse grid. Fry the minced chicken in a frying pan in one tablespoon of vegetable oil for five minutes. Finely chop one onion, one juicy carrot and one large bell pepper. Add the vegetables to the minced chicken, add salt and pepper to taste and simmer everything together, covered, over medium heat for five minutes. Remove the filling from the heat, cool slightly, and then form the cabbage rolls by wrapping three tablespoons of the filling in cabbage leaves. Place the cabbage rolls in a greased baking dish, pour over 100 ml of sauce. cream and 3 tbsp. spoons of thick yogurt or sour cream. Bake in an oven preheated to 180⁰ for 20 minutes. Before serving, sprinkle with finely chopped parsley.

8. Fish lovers will enjoy cabbage rolls with salmon and couscous. Boil, separate into individual leaves and pour ice water over one head of cabbage. Melt 1 tbsp in a frying pan. spoon of butter, add one finely chopped onion and fry until golden brown. Then add 500 gr. salmon fillet, cut into small cubes, and 1 tbsp. spoon of lemon juice. Stir and fry everything together for 10 minutes. Mash the fish with a fork, add 2 tbsp. spoons of couscous, one raw egg, salt and white pepper to taste. Mix thoroughly and form cabbage leaves and fish filling into cabbage rolls. Place the cabbage rolls in a greased baking dish and pour in 100 ml of the mixture. cream and 100 ml. water and bake in an oven preheated to 180⁰ for 30 minutes. Before serving, sprinkle with chopped parsley and pour over the sauce in which the cabbage rolls were baked.

9. Vegetarians will not be left without their cabbage rolls. Boil the cabbage head in advance and separate it into individual leaves. Boil 200 g until half cooked. rice, drain the water. Soak 150 g in cool water for 40 minutes. dried mushrooms. Drain the water and cut the mushrooms into small pieces. Heat 2 tbsp in a frying pan. spoons of vegetable oil, add one finely chopped onion and one carrot, cut into small cubes. Fry for five minutes until golden brown, then add the mushrooms and cook, covered, for another five minutes. Remove from heat and mix with boiled rice. Add salt and black pepper to the filling to taste and mix thoroughly. Roll cabbage rolls from the cabbage and mushroom filling, fry them in vegetable oil for three minutes on each side, then pour in one glass of sour cream and simmer under the lid for another 10 - 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes.

10. Original cabbage rolls prepared in Chinese style will appeal to all lovers of Asian cuisine. K 500 gr. add 3 tbsp minced turkey. spoons of finely chopped green onions, 1 tbsp. a spoonful of chopped cilantro, three chopped cloves of garlic, 1 tbsp. a spoonful of grated fresh ginger, 1 tbsp. a spoonful of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, salt and red pepper to taste. Knead the minced meat thoroughly and leave in a cool place for 30 minutes. Boil one head of Chinese cabbage in lightly salted water for five minutes and disassemble into leaves, removing the thickest protruding parts. Roll the cabbage and minced meat into cabbage rolls and steam for 15 minutes. Serve with sweet chili sauce.

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