I went to the farmers market today and saw these beautiful heads of cabbage. The first thing I thought of was stuffed cabbage rolls, or in my house, we call it “golumpki”. I can never make this dish too often for my husband. Coming from a strong Polish background, this is how his grandmother would make it. All the Polish households that I know cook golumpki in a tomato sauce using cans of condensed tomato soup. As much as I’d like to make a homemade sauce from scratch, tomato soup gives it that smooth and creamy sauce that does not have all the acidity of a regular tomato sauce. Besides, this is the classic recipe, why mess with what the grandmas have already perfected.
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I give the manufacturing process of this recipe one to two hours to assemble. But all of this can be done ahead of time (even a day ahead and kept in the refrigerator until ready to cook). I started by getting a large pot of salted water boiling on the stove. While that is heating up I washed the cabbage head to remove any dirt and removed the core. Using two large slotted spoons, I carefully lowered the whole cabbage head into the boiling water. Please be careful to not drop into the water and splash on yourself!
As this boils the outer leaves of the cabbage start to loosen and release. I peel these off after they have softened (about 2-3 minutes for each leaf). Using tongs and a slotted spoon carefully drain these and collect in a large metal bowl for later. You may need to hold the cabbage head with a fork while using a sharp knife around the core to release the leaves as you go.
Drop Cabbage in Boiling Water 
Remove Leaves as they loosen
Once you’ve gotten 15-20 of the largest leaves from the head, you can pull out the remaining cabbage, and shred this for a base for the cabbage rolls. Meanwhile, cut out the thickest part of the ribs on each leaf in a V, and chop these up finely to add to the filling.
The filling can be made ahead of time and cooled. I brown the ground beef in a skillet, and add the chopped onion, along with the chopped cabbage ribs. Add salt and pepper and then stir in the cooked rice. Once this mixture has been cooled down, I add the beaten eggs to the mixture for a binder. Then it is time to assemble.
Fill the base of each cabbage leaf with 1-2 heaping tablespoons of the meat and rice mixture, depending upon the size of the leaf. Fold in the sides and roll up like a burrito.
Line the bottom of the slow cooker or a casserole dish with the remaining chopped cabbage. You can also use sauerkraut, which is excellent! Place the stuffed cabbage rolls over the cabbage and arrange tightly around the bottom of the slow cooker. Top with remaining chopped cabbage or sauerkraut, and pour over the tomato soup mixture.
Put the lid on the slow cooker and cook for 4 or 6 hours setting, or if using a casserole dish place in an oven for 60-90 minutes at 375F or until bubbling and hot. This same dish can be cooked on a stove for about an hour and a half in a dutch oven. Make sure to keep checking that you have enough liquid in the pot and add more as you need to make sure it does not cook down.
This stuffed cabbage roll recipe is a full meal by itself. It is a great one-pot meal for busy families, as it can be made ahead of time and put on the slow cooker for dinner time. It is also a great meal for when everyone is eating at different times…it keeps warm in the slow cooker to accommodate the different schedules that are so common in a household like mine. Serve with Polish rye bread and butter.
Stuffed Cabbage Rolls – Polish Golumpki
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 head cabbage about 4-5 lbs
- 1 onion chopped in fine dice
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 1-1/2 cups cooked rice
- 1-1/2 to 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 2 cans condensed tomato soup
- 2 cans water
- 2 lg eggs
Instructions
- Wash and remove core from the cabbage. Place whole cabbage head in a pot of boiling salted water. Cook until outer leaves become softened and easily removed. Keeping the leaves whole, remove them one at a time as they cook and place them in a large metal bowl to drain and cool.
- When you have 15-20 large leaves, remove the remaining head and chop to use as a base for the cabbage rolls. Cut out the thick center stem on each leaf making a V-cut on each side and remove. Chop up the stems to be added to the filling mixture later. Set aside.
- Heat a skillet over medium high heat and brown the ground beef. Add onion and cook 2-3 minutes until translucent. Add the chopped cabbage stems (about 1/2 cup). Add salt and pepper, and cooked rice and combine. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Add 2 beaten eggs and mix well. Set aside to cool.
- Place a 1-2 heaping tablespoons of filling on the base of each cooked cabbage leaf. Roll like a burrito folding in sides. Arrange these on top of cut cabbage in the slow cooker, or in a casserole dish.
- Mix 2 cans of tomato soup with 2 cans of water. Pour over the stuffed cabbage rolls making sure there is plenty of liquid covering the rolls.
- Set slow cooker for 4 hours for fast cooking, or 6-8 hours for slower cooking. If using a casserole dish, place in 350 F oven for 1 to 1-1/2 hours or until hot and bubbling on sides. Watch liquid to make sure it is covering the cabbage rolls.
- Serve cabbage rolls with the tomato sauce to cover.