I have upped my meal plan with the best slow cooker cabbage rolls.
Are you intimidated by cabbage? I admit cabbage scares me a little. What I loved about these is this meal did not have a strong cabbage flavor like you would expect. We could barely taste it. Only near the end of the roll, the thicker part of the cabbage, tasted like cabbage.
I have been looking for a few new go to meals to add to my meal plan for my family.
I will definitely be adding this to our meal plan on a monthly basis.
The Best Slow Cooker Cabbage Rolls
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Ingredients for Slow Cooker Cabbage Rolls
1 head of cabbage
1 lbs ground meat
1 medium diced onion
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 eggs
1 29oz can tomato sauce
1 cup uncooked rice
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
A slow cooker just like this one
Directions on how cook slow cooker cabbage rolls
Cut approx 1/4 inch off the bottom of the cabbage head using a good knife like one in this set and place the whole head in boiling water. Then boil about 2 minutes. Peel off the leaves as they soften. This goes pretty quick.
Place remaining head back in the boiling water and repeat until you have at least 8 large cabbage leaves.
(You can freeze cabbage then thaw and skip the boiling part. We just need the leaves soft enough to roll)
In a large bowl, like this one or this one, combine the ground meat, uncooked rice, 1/4 cup tomato sauce, minced garlic, pepper, salt, and diced onion.
Stir in egg and combine well.
Whisk together tomato sauce, paprika and Worcestershire sauce in another bowl.
Place 1/4 cup meat mixture in center of leaf and roll up like a burrito. Do this for all eight rolls.
Pour enough sauce to cover the bottom of your slow cooker.
Place cabbage rolls seam side down in slow cooker, in two layers so they are touching but not over crowded either.
Mix all sauce ingredients together and pour over rolls.
Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours in your slow cooker. Do not lift the lid at all during the cooking process. Be sure the juice is bubbling before you take it out. The rice should be done.
Best Cooking Utensils for Making Cabbage Rolls
Here are a few items I recommend to help you with this recipe:
A good knife set like this one or this one.
I really like these Pyrex mixing bowls or these Pyrex bowl with lids.
These are the measuring spoons and measuring cups I recommend, since they do not contain plastic. This is a set that works great too!
If you don’t have a whisk I highly recommend this whisk set. It works great with the glass bowls mentioned above.
If you like this recipe, please consider rating it with the star rating system and leaving a comment below. I love hearing from you and seeing what recipes you make! Find me on Instagram and tag me @mainlyhomemade and #mainlyhomemade, or you can also find me on Facebook, and Pinterest. Thanks for helping me spread the word about homemade delicious food!
Slow Cooker Cabbage Rolls Make Ahead Meal Idea
Deliciously easy, this Slow Cooker Cabbage Roll recipe cooks up all day. Make dinner with all of the flavor without any fuss!
Ingredients
- 1 head of cabbage
- 1 lbs ground meat
- 1 medium diced onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 eggs
- 1 jar tomato sauce
- 1 cup uncooked rice
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
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Cut approx 1/4 inch off the bottom of the cabbage head and place the whole head in boiling water. Then boil about 2 minutes. Peel off the leaves as they soften. This goes pretty quick.
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Place remaining head back in the boiling water and repeat until you have at least 8 large cabbage leaves.
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(You can freeze cabbage then thaw and skip the boiling part. We just need the leaves soft enough to roll)
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In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, ground pork, uncooked rice, 1/4 cup tomato sauce, garlic, pepper, salt, onion.
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Stir in egg and combine well.
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Whisk together tomato sauce, paprika and Worcestershire sauce in another bowl.
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Place 1/4 cup meat mixture in center of leaf and roll up like a burrito.
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Pour enough sauce to cover the bottom of your slow cooker.
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Place cabbage rolls seam side down in slow cooker, in two layers so they are touching but not over crowded either.
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Mix all sauce ingredients together and pour over rolls.
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Cook on high for four hours or low for 8 hours.
Cabbage Roll Meal Ideas
These were so good. They remind me of slow cooker Italian meatloaf or a slow cooker meatballs recipe. Are you brave enough to give these a try? These are perfect since you don’t have to precook the meat or the rice. You can throw them together pretty quickly to create a meal to fix and forget. Make these on a Sunday for a make ahead meal idea and freeze them to have them ready to eat. This is a great scalable meal for one or a large family. This meal is a terrific meal to cook for a lunch idea for the entire week. Are you looking for more lunch ideas? Visit my lunches for one Pinterest board for more inspiration, or try my slow cooker recipes board for easy slow cooker meals.
Half the ingredients on the list do not have measurements in front of them. What sz tomato sauce jar? Garlic powder is not even list as well as the Worcester sauce. What are the measurements?
Thank you so much for pointing that out. I must have missed this in my edits. I have added the correct measurements to make this amazing dish.
Excited to try this, but is one jar of tomato sauce, one 15 ounce can?
You have “Garlic powder is not even list” – proof we all make mistakes from time to time.
Thanks Maggie. I just updated the instructions to reflect just garlic.
Hi Amy.
Quick question.Do you cook the hamburger meat first or just in the crockpot?My gut is telling me in the crock pot…thanks!
Great question Rob. Yes it is all cooked in the crock pot. My favorite kind of meal.
I have this going in my crockpot right now! I have a feeling my husband is going to love it. Thank you for sharing!
So glad to hear this Tiffany. I can’t wait to hear how it was. Please rate the recipe it helps me so much!!
Call I use uncooked minute rice?
No use long grain uncooked rice. I always par boil the rice first for under 5 minutes then add it to the meat. The rice will continue to cook with the sauce.
Thanks for the tip. I would have used minute rice. Haha, this is why I read the comments.
Do you know how I could do this same recipe in a instapot?
Thanks for asking Olivia. Unfortunately I do not own an Instantpot to test this recipe. My only suggestion would be to use the slow cooker feature on your Instantpot.
5 star definitely
Would this work with uncooked quinoa?
Great question Sarah. I have never done this, but I bet it would. If you try it take a picture and post it to my Facebook page or tag me with @mainlyhomemade or #mainlyhomemade. I would love to see it.
I found the meat mixture made far more volume for the 8 cabbage leaves…even when bumping it up to about 1/3 cup, it easily made 12? Did anyone else mention this? Sure looks good in the slow cooker!
Great question Sue. Mine made 10 for this recipe. The original recipe I had said 8, so that is what I put on here. As long as they come out and taste good then it is OK to have more.
When you say ground meat, do you use a mixtire of meat or do you simply use ground beef? Thank you!!
Great question Anna. Ground meat can be ground beef, ground turkey, ground chicken or ground pork. It would depend on any dietary restrictions you may have as to what type of meat you want to use.
An alternative to using cabbage, I use collard greens. Just boil them for a shot while, and trim off the end of the stem and the trim the thick part of the stem. They taste the same, and hold up well.
Great tip Priscilla. Thank you for sharing!
Hello! Does the rice need to be uncooked or cooked when making the filling? Or does it just cook while in the crock pot?
Thanks!
Great question Laila. I use uncooked rice and it turns out just fine. There should be enough moisture in the dish to cook the rice.
Can I ask what you do with the cabbage that’s left from the head?
We usually just cook it and eat it. I like to cut it up and use it in Asian dishes we like to eat.
My family loves it when I add a layer of cut up cabbage to the bottom of the crockpot and then layer the rolls -,then finish with another layer of cabbage. It really makes a hearty dish of comfort food!
Or, cut it up and put it in the crock pot with everything else that is in there. It really adds to the sauce you have in it.
When I make stuffed cabbage in the oven I would put a leaf or two under the row of cabbage rolls and then also on the top over the rolls. I like the extra cabbage to eat with the rolls.
I have this cooking right now. It was so quick and easy to put together and I definitely will make this again. One tip that I use for the cabbage, is after you cut off a quarter inch of the top, you wrap the cabbage completely in very damp paper towels and place it in the microwave for between 12 and 18 minutes depending on the size of your head of cabbage. It’s steams beautifully it comes right off the head. Much easier than boiling water.
That is an excellent tip Barbara. Thank you so much for sharing!
Just checking – she says cut 1/4 ” off bottom and you say 1/4″ off top? Which works better??
The core end.
Cut off the other end and you no longer have a cup in which to wrap the meat mixture.
If wanted to freeze these, can I put them all together and then freeze them, uncooked?
Any freezing tips?
Great question Sue. I have not done this. I would suggest cooking them on low at the 6-8 hour time if you are taking them from the freezer to the slow cooker. If you thaw them, before you cook them, you could use the shorter time of four hours. I don’t see why this wouldn’t work. Please let me know if you try.
Thanks,
Any freezing tips?
CN you use minute rice?
Great question Mary. I have not tried minute rice, but I would think it might be a little more sticky and mushy if you did. If you try this please let me know. Using regular rice allows the rice to soak up the flavors as it cooks and stays firm.
My mother is Polish and has made these “piggies” my whole life. Similar to yours. Doesn’t mix sauce into the raw meat mixture. The meat will be moist and delicious from the sauce in the pot. To answer a couple questions for you: minute rice works very well and does not get mushy.
The cooked cabbage rolls do not freeze well. The cabbage turns to mush when thawed. We’ve always done them in a 6-8 qt pot on the stove. But I look forward to your idea of using the crock pot.
My sister and I have frozen cabbage rolls without any problem. The cabbage was softer but not mushy,
This was so good! I have 4 young kids and they all loved it too! I am putting it into my regular meal rotation.
Yay!! I am so glad you like this meal Brea. It is so good. Please share with all your friends.
Oh my goodness! This recipe just took me back 40 years to my grandma’s table. I miss her so much. I have thought about her and this dish countless times over the years… I wish you could have seen my face when this came across my phone! 🥰 I will definitely be trying it. I’m certain it won’t be as good as Mamaw’s (only because she’s not making it) but I can’t wait to eat this again! Thank you for sharing. You just never know when something you say or do (even a simple recipe) will impact someone’s life. 😊
Just stumbled onto this and it’s cooking now! We typically make this without a red sauce and small potatoes (not rice) as one of our March family dinners celebrating our Irish history, but I’ve alway struggled breaking the cabbage. My elders aren’t around and I’ve had to figure out most of my childhood meals by winging it. However this was so simple that my kids cut the cabbage spines while I rolled! We followed this exactly and we are all excited to try it tonight, “Thank you” for posting this and Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
This warms my heart Collins Family! Thank you so much for trying and sharing this recipe. I am sure your potato version is just as good.
Do you think I could use cauliflower rice?
Great question Anastasia! Yes you can. We have used cauliflower rice before and it turned out great.
So the recipe has garlic cloves in it, but the recipe doesn’t say when to add them. 🤷🏻♀️ Just wondering if I use them or just use garlic powder?
Thanks for your question Krista. You put the garlic in meat mixture. You are more than welcome to use garlic powder if that is what you have.
Hi there! I’ve made your recipe before and it is delicious! Is this able to be cooked in the oven?
Great question Valerie. Yes it can be cooked in the oven at 350 degrees covered for one hour.
I’m Polish. We cook them in the oven, but we cover them with cabbage leaves. We take a few off the cabbage first. You can break the leaves up to make sure all the cabbage rolls are covered. When those leaves are burnt they are done. About 1 1/2 hours
I made these today for my family and everyone loved them. I used more meat than the recipe calls for so I tweaked everything else and they turned out fantastic. I did 3 layers of cabbage rolls and had no issues with cooking time or doneness. Love when I get to use my slow cooker and this was definitely a winner. Perfect cabbage rolls. 😊 Thanks!
That sounds Great Nicole. I am so glad you and your family liked them.
So how much sauce? I’m ready to try this recipe tomorrow.
1 – 29oz can tomato sauce
I use tomato juice
Which is better. Cooking on Hi or Low
Whenever using the slow cooker, I always like to cook on low because it usually has the best flavor.
How many ounce of tomato sauce?
Thanks
1 29oz can tomato sauce
Reading the recipe it said to combine the ground beef and the ground pork. I don’t see the ground pork listed. How much ground pork for this recipe?
You may use one pound of ground meat of your choice.
Can I use brown rice? Also, growing up my grandma would make these, we called them “pigs in a blanket”
I’m doing WW and brown rice is on my free point foods. Wonder how it would work?
Yes you can use brown rice Caprice. That is a great substitution.
It says ground beef and ground pork in the recipe but at the top it just says 1 lb ground meat. Is that half a pound of each or can I just use one or the other? Thank you! I’m looking forward to trying this tomorrow.
Just use one pound of any ground meat you wish.
My rice did not cook and I followed these directions but cooked on High for 4 hours. Do you think it should be Low-8 or some moisture of either the tomato sauce of broth added before rolling in the cabbage?
I am so sorry to hear this Dee. When cooking in the slow cooker be sure to never lift the lid until the 4 hours are up. Lifting the lid releases heat as well as steam. Both are needed in order to cook the rice. You could try more liquid, but the most important is to never lift the lid.
Most people don’t wash their rice before using in any dish. This will help with that problem and remove the outer layer of starch. Learned this from an ex’s mom who is Japanese
Great advice Angela. Honestly I just learned about this trick recently. Thanks for sharing. -Amy
Amy, I have to thank you for this post and bringing me back to childhood memories in my Mama’s kitchen. I am now in my 70s and it has been more than a few years since I have had Mama’s “cabbage balls”. Your recipe sounds pretty much the same as hers, except she cooked them on top of the stove in a huge stock pot (for a family of 7, maybe 16 or 18 qt(?). The recipe was from her Mama and her Grandma. Most Mondays she would fix them, because this was her “wash” day. She’d get up before daylight and start mixing the meat and rolling the cabbage and placing them in the big pot until it was full. Then she would add water until it was half way up the inside of the pot and cook it covered on low most of the day. (If there were crock pots back then, she was unaware.) Then she’d roll out our wringer washer and hook it up to the kitchen sink and commence to washing. Kids job were to hang the clothes up on the outside clotheslines and when dry, take them down and fold them and put them away or prepare them to be ironed the next day. For the sauce, she cooked it separate (tomato sauce and a stick of margarine). Years later she ‘modernized’ her sauce when Ragu came out with jarred spaghetti sauce (warm it up and spoon it on). Our hard work ended with plates full of cabbage balls, along with saltine crackers and sweet tea. On a really good day we were surprised with a yellow cake frosted with brown sugar fudge frosting. Amy, thanks again for bringing back some really sweet memories.
This just warms my heart. Thank you so much for sharing this story. It is wonderful to think of a recipe being able to bring back all these memories.
Fry leftover cabbage with onion and bacon
If I made this in the oven. How long and what temperature setting would you recommend?
I’ve always wanted to make cabbage rolls and this recipe is just easy and perfection! I look forward to making this in the future again:)
Hi do u put any water in with
Thanks for your question Shirley. No you do not add any water. The tomato sauce is your “juice” for this recipe. -Amy
How many cabbage leaves do u u use to wrap the hamburger
I learned how to make these from my Polish Grandmother. After boiling the leaves “and after they cool down” take a pairing knife and shave off the thicker part of the cabbage vein, it makes a huge difference. You should try it
My heritage includes German and Austrian. We call these rolls Galuskas and when I make them, I use a large roasting pan, lined with lots of saurkraut. I also use both l or 2 lbs of ground pork and ground beef and a lb. or two of bacon, diced. I always use regular uncooked rice, in the ground meat only. I keep them refrigerated for the first week and then divide them up into 12 to l8 rolls, covered in the saurkraut and freeze them. They are one of those meals that taste better and better as they sit. They do freeze very well and for several months as well. Galuskas are one of those meals that we serve with baked potatoes. There is no need for another vegetable since you already have the cabbage.
Since I make such a large amount, it is generally a half day process before roasting them.
I keep the refrigerated COOKED rolls for one week! Never keep the uncooked rolls refrigerated for more than overnight at the most.
Hi! I’m assuming you freeze these after prepared, before cooking, without sauce? I’ve made them plenty of times, but never froze. I don’t want soggy cabbage, thanks!!
Yes do you freeze these before cooking so you can add them to the crock pot the day you want them?
Yes you could freeze them up to a month then place in the crock pot to cook.
Can u make the cabbage rolls the day before and cook them the day u are going to use them?
Great Question Barbara. Yes you can prepare the cabbage rolls the day before and place them in the fridge. I would add an hour or so for the cooking time, just to make sure they are done. If the sauce is bubbling that is a good indication they are done. -Amy
This recipe looks easy and amazing.
However, 4 servings will not be enough for my family, plus leftovers always a plus. Do you think this recipe can be doubled?
Thanks for all your hard work.
Great question. This recipe can easily be doubled. The only issue would be, is your slow cooker big enough? I am so glad you enjoy this recipe.
Best cabbage rolls I’ve EVER made! Definitely my go to from now on!
I have tons of sauce left over. I was thinking of freezing it in ice cube trays for other uses. Any suggestions?
That sounds like a great idea.