Authentic Polish Stuffed Cabbage Recipes

STUFFED CABBAGE ROLLS (GALUMPKIS)

Steps:

• To make the sauce:
• Coat a 3-quart saucepan with the oil and place over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add the vinegar and sugar; simmer, until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and remove from the heat.
• Place a skillet over medium heat and coat with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Sauté the onion and garlic for about 5 minutes, until soft. Stir in the tomato paste, a splash of wine, parsley, and 1/2 cup of the prepared sweet and sour tomato sauce, mix to incorporate and then take it off the heat. Combine the ground meat in a large mixing bowl. Add the egg, the cooked rice, and the sauteed onion mixture. Toss the filling together with your hands to combine, season with a generous amount of salt and pepper.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Remove the large, damaged outer leaves from the cabbages and set aside. Cut out the cores of the cabbages with a sharp knife and carefully pull off all the rest of the leaves, keeping them whole and as undamaged as possible, (get rid of all the small leaves and use them for coleslaw or whatever.) Blanch the cabbage leaves in the pot of boiling water for 5 minutes, or until pliable. Run the leaves under cool water then lay them out so you can assess just how many blankets you have to wrap up the filling. Next, carefully cut out the center vein from the leaves so they will be easier to roll up. Take the reserved big outer leaves and lay them on the bottom of a casserole pan, let part of the leaves hang out the sides of the pan. This insulation will prevent the cabbage rolls from burning on the bottom when baked. Use all the good looking leaves to make the cabbage rolls. Put about 1/2 cup of the meat filling in the center of the cabbage and starting at what was the stem-end, fold the sides in and roll up the cabbage to enclose the filling. Place the cabbage rolls side by side in rows, seam-side down, in a casserole pan.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Pour the remaining sweet and sour tomato sauce over the cabbage rolls. Fold the hanging leaves over the top to enclose and keep the moisture in. Drizzle the top with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Bake for 1 hour until the meat is cooked.

POLISH STUFFED CABBAGE ROLLS (GOLABKI / GOLUMKIES / GOLUMPKIS)

Steps:

• Cut 12 large leaves off of cabbage head, cover leaves with boiling water, let stand until leaves are limp (2-3 minutes); then drain OR core cabbage head, and boil cabbage until leaves are tender enough to remove easily (10-15 minutes), very carefully remove 12 large leaves (You may have to peel the outer layers first and then return the cabbage to cook and continue peeling the leaves until all are done); then drain.
• Mix beef, pork, rice, egg, milk, seasonings, and vegetables.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Put 1-4 tablespoons (depending on size of leaf) of meat mixture in center of each leaf; tuck in sides and roll to cover meat (I roll any leftover filling into meatballs and cook them with the cabbage rolls).
• Place, seam side down in baking dish.
• Mix tomato sauce with the sugar; pour over rolls.
• Cover and bake for 45-60 minutes.

GOLUMPKI - STUFFED POLISH CABBAGE (GOłąBKI)

Steps:

• Remove the stalk from the bottom of the cabbage head.
• Place the cabbage in a large pot filled with 12 cups of water. Cover and place over high heat.
• Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium. Continue to cook until the cabbage leaves become bright green and pliable, about 3-5 minutes. The leaves should not be limp, they should hold their shape.
• Remove cabbage from water and place on a cutting board until it's cool enough to handle.
• In a large bowl combine ground beef, pork, onion, garlic, grated lemon peel, egg, and rice. Place in refrigerator until ready to use.
• In a medium pot over medium heat add oil. Once simmering, stir in grated onion and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes. Then, add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30-60 seconds. Pour in crushed tomatoes, water, salt, and pepper and increase heat to high. Once bubbling, reduce heat to low and simmer tomatoes for 15 minutes.
• Once the cabbage has cooled, remove the leaves from the cabbage head.
• Using a paring knife, cut the thick stem or membrane from the back of each leaf. Be careful not to cut through the leaf.
• Move oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• You will need a 9x13-inch baking dish and a smaller, 2-quart baking dish for this recipe. Spread ¾ cup of sauce in the bottom of a 9x13-inch dish and ½ cup sauce in the bottom of the 2-quart baking dish.
• Place 2 tablespoons of filling on the bottom half of a cabbage leaf.
• Fold up the bottom part of the cabbage leaf.
• Then, fold in the sides.
• Next, roll forward until the cabbage leaf completely covers the filling. Repeat with remaining cabbage leaves and filling.
• Place the stuffed cabbage leaves into prepared pans in neat rows. Pour the remaining sauce evenly over the cabbage rolls.
• Bake for 50-60 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking.
• Place pans on a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped fresh dill (optional) and serve.

GOłąBKI (POLISH STUFFED CABBAGE)

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Fill a large pot with water, bring to a boil, and salt it .
• With the help of a sharp paring knife, remove the core from the cabbage by cutting around it. Remove and discard it.
• Carefully place the whole head of cabbage in the boiling water.
• Cover the pot and cook the head of cabbage for 3 minutes, or until softened enough to pull off individual leaves. You'll need 18 leaves in total.
• When leaves are cool enough to handle, use a paring knife to cut away the thick center stem from each leaf. Be careful not to cut all the way through.
• After retrieving 18 leaves, chop the remaining cabbage and place it in the bottom of a casserole dish with a lid or a Dutch oven .
• Heat up a large skillet, melt the butter, and add the chopped onion. Cook until tender and remove from the heat to let them cool off.
• Mix the cooled onion with the beef, pork, cooked rice, garlic, salt, and black pepper until well combined. Don't overmix or the meat will become tough.
• Flatten a cabbage leaf on a cutting board or work surface and place about 1/2 cup of the meat filling.
• Flip the right side of the leaf to the middle, then flip the left side.
• Flip the bottom of the leaf to obtain an envelope-shaped figure. The unstuffed part of the leaf will be triangular in shape.
• Tuck the leaf away from you to encase the meat and make a neat little roll.
• Repeat the process with all the leaves.
• Heat the oven to 350 F.
• Place the cabbage rolls, seam down, on top of the chopped cabbage in the casserole dish or Dutch oven. Season each layer with salt and pepper.
• Pour the beef stock over the rolls, cover, and place in the oven.
• Bake for 1 hour or until cabbage is tender and meat is cooked.
• Serve with a drizzle of sour cream , or alternatively, mix the pan juices with the sour cream and ladle it over the cabbage rolls. Enjoy.

AUTHENTIC POLISH GOLUMPKI RECIPE - STUFFED CABBAGE ROLLS THAT TASTE LIKE POLAND!

Steps:

• Cook the rice in half the time stated on the packaging. It should be middle-hard (semi-cooked).
• Wash the cabbage and remove the outer leaves.
• Remove the core and put the cabbage inside the boiling hot salty water.
• Depending on the type of cabbage, boil for 1-10 minutes, until the leaves are softer and flexible enough to form gołąbki.
• Drain and cool down the cabbage. Leave the water from the cabbage, you will need it later.
• Separate the leaves- you will use each leave to form gołąbek.
• Peel and chop the onions. Fry them with minced meat and a bit of oil or butter. Keep in mind that frying meat is not necessary! You can add raw meat to the filling.
• Mix rice, onions, and meat together. Season with salt and pepper. If the filling is too dry, add melted butter or broth to make sure it's easy to wrap in the cabbage leaves.
• Place the raw, outer cabbage leaves on the bottom of the heat-resistant dish.
• Start forming gołąbki: take each leave, put the meat-rice filling inside, and wrap it carefully. See this video if you don't know how to do it.
• Place gołąbki in the heat-resistant dish. They should tightly cling to each other.
• Pour the cabbage water into the heat-resistant dish. They should cover 1/5-2/3 of the dish (not more than half of the dish!).
• Cover the dish with the lid.
• Place in the oven heated to 356°F (180°C). Cook for 1-1,5h (until they are soft). After 40 minutes check if there is enough water in the dish. If not, add some more to make sure gołąbki won't burn.
• TOMATO SAUCE- peel and dice the tomatoes and boil them with a bit of water. Fry the minced garlic and onion on oil. When they are soft, add to the tomatoes and blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
• MUSHROOM SAUCE- peel and dice onions and mushrooms. Fry them on butter with minced garlic for 5-10 minutes. Add broth or water, cover the dish with a lid and simmer until soft (10-15 minutes). Mix the flour with sour cream, add 2 tbsps of mushroom sauce. Slowly pour the flour-cream mix to the sauce. Season with salt and pepper.

MOM'S CLASSIC STUFFED CABBAGE ROLLS

Steps:

• Remove core from cabbage. Place whole head in a large pot filled with boiling, salted water. Cover and cook 3 minutes, or until softened enough to pull off individual leaves. If the leaves do not pull off easily, return the cabbage to the pot to boil a minute or two more. When the leaves are cool enough, use a paring knife to cut away the thick center stem from each leaf, without cutting all the way through.
• In a large bowl, add in the ground beef, pork, rice, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, eggs, ketchup, tomato paste, and parsley. Mix gently to combine. Add in 2/3rd of a can of tomato soup (almost 3/4 of a cup) and mix.
• To stuff the leaves lay down a single large leaf with the cut edge facing you (where the stem was) and place about a 1/2 cup of the meat mixture in the lower third of the leave. If the leaf is huge add more, if smaller add less meat. Fold the sides of the leaf over the meat and roll the cabbage up (like rolling a burrito). Repeat until all of the leaves are stuffed. If you have extra meat just roll it up as meatballs and place it in the baking pan with the stuffed cabbage.
• Preheat oven to 350F, rack in the center.
• In a large deep dish (4" at least) baking pan (or two 9×13" glass pans), spread out the remaining soup from the open can on the bottom of the pan. Open up a 2nd can and pour out 1/2 of it and spread out until the bottom of the pan in covered in a light coating.
• Place a single layer of stuffed cabbages on the bottom of your pan. Add the remaining half of the 2nd can of tomato soup. If you have leaves that are too small to stuff or are badly torn, add them on top of the soup.
• Add the 2nd layer of stuffed cabbage (you must make sure you have a 1/2" gap at the top of your pan and stuffed cabbage. It cannot go over the top of the pan. Top with the remaining can of tomato soup and spread out evenly.
• Spray the underneath of a large piece of foil. Place foil side down on the pan and close tightly around the dish. Place the pan on a larger cookie sheet to catch any spillovers.
• Bake for 3 - 4 hours or until the cabbage is tender when pierced with a knife. (I start to check mine after 2 hours 45 minutes).
• Remove from the oven, uncover and allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving.

POLISH STUFFED CABBAGE

Steps:

• You should try to find the largest head of cabbage possible. The larger the head the more leaves large enough to stuff.
• Put a large pot of water on to boil.
• When it comes to a boil place cored cabbage in it to soften leaves.
• Mix together beef, pork, rice, egg, onion, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
• Peel off outer layers of cabbage when they are flexible. Cut out hard vein if needed.
• Lay leaves out flat put a portion of the meat mixture on the stem side of the leaf.
• fold leaf over the meat and fold in sides of leaf. Then roll up to the end. Make sure that you do not put so much meat that you can not roll it up.
• Place that roll into a deep oven safe dish or preferably a roaster with lid. Repeat until you have filled all the leaves large enough to stuff or you run out of meat filling.
• Mix together the tomato soup, tomato juice, and diced tomatoes.
• Pour the tomato sauce mixture on top of the rolls.
• Cover with foil or with roaster lid if available and bake for at least 90 minutes in a 350 degree oven. The longer and slower you cook these the better they are.
• Note: The cabbage rolls may be filled and rolled then frozen for later use. Thaw the rolls then continue on with the recipe.
• Note: This can also be made without the work of the traditional rolls. Make meatballs of the desired size, shred the cabbage and place in a layer on the bottom of the pan and then on the top of the meatballs before pouring the sauce over.
• Note: You may add sauerkraut to this recipe if you like. Just place it in a layer either under or over the cabbage rolls. This may be considered traditional but it is not how my family likes it.

POLISH STUFFED CABBAGE

Steps:

• Place the head of cabbage in a large pot over high heat and add water to cover. Boil cabbage for 15 minutes, or until it is pliable and soft. Drain and allow to cool completely. Remove the hard outer vein from the leaves.
• In a separate large bowl, combine the beef, rice, garlic powder and the egg, mixing well. Place a small amount, about the size of your palm, into the center of a cabbage leaf and fold leaf over, tucking in the sides of the leaf to keep meat mixture inside.
• Pile up the filled leaves in a large pot, putting the larger leaves on the bottom. Add the tomato juice, vinegar and sugar and enough water to cover. Simmer over medium low heat for about 60 minutes. (Note: Keep an eye on them, making sure the bottom of leaves do not burn.)