Golabki (Polish Stuffed Cabbage Rolls)

About This Recipe

Golabki is a real, traditional Polish dish, known as Polish Stuffed Cabbage Rolls. Tender cabbage leaves rolled around seasoned ground meat and rice, simmered in a tomato-based sauce until soft.\n\nGolabki, meaning 'little pigeons' due to their shape, are a dish shared across much of Central and Eastern Europe, with the Polish version typically favoring a tomato-based sauce and a pork-and-rice filling passed down through generations of home cooks.\n\nThe result is a dish worth making on its own merits: it rewards patience with the technique and delivers real, specific flavor rooted in Polish home cooking, not a generic stand-in for a search term.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 1large head green cabbage
• 500 gground pork or a pork-beef mix
• 150 gcooked white rice
• 1yellow onion(finely diced, divided)
• 1egg
• 1 tspfine sea salt
• 0.5 tspblack pepper
• 1 tspsweet paprika
• 500 mltomato passata or crushed tomatoes
• 300 mlchicken or vegetable stock
• 2 tbspbutter
• 2 tbspall-purpose flour

Instructions

1. 1

   Prep the cabbage

   Core the cabbage and blanch the whole head in boiling water for 3 to 4 minutes to soften the leaves; carefully peel off 12 large leaves, trimming the thick center rib.

2. 2

   Make the filling

   Combine ground meat, cooked rice, half the diced onion, egg, salt, pepper and paprika.

3. 3

   Roll the cabbage

   Place a spoonful of filling on each leaf, fold in the sides, and roll tightly into a bundle.

4. 4

   Build the sauce

   Sauté the remaining onion in butter, stir in flour, then add tomato passata and stock, simmering for 5 minutes.

5. 5

   Simmer the rolls

   Arrange the cabbage rolls seam-side down in the sauce, cover, and simmer gently for 45 minutes until the meat is cooked through and the cabbage is tender.

6. 6

   Serve

   Serve the rolls hot, spooning the tomato sauce generously over the top.

Variations

• •

  A vegetarian version uses mushrooms, rice and lentils instead of meat.

• •

  Some households add a splash of cream to the tomato sauce for extra richness.

• •

  Use savoy cabbage for a more tender, less fibrous leaf if available.

Storage

Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat gently on the stovetop or in the microwave with a splash of water or stock to loosen the texture.

Frequently Asked Questions