Our recipe for Hungarian Stuffed Cabbage Rolls is an authentic family version, modified by four generations of Hungarian-American cooks.
More about this recipe
We use a simple combination of ingredients that includes a filling made from a blend of ground pork, ground beef and rice, and a thick tomato sauce flavored with chopped cabbage, sauerkraut and a few strips of bacon.
The rolls are then layered with the tomato sauce in a Dutch oven and baked for several hours to allow the rich flavors to develop.
Each generation of our family has adapted this recipe a bit to suit their individual tastes and the availability of ingredients.
While our version of Hungarian stuffed cabbage may not correspond exactly with those of other families or ones you’ll find in Hungarian cookbooks, the flavors remain true to those that my great-grandmother served at her table after emigrating to the U.S. from Hungary more than one hundred years ago.
Four steps to perfectly made cabbage rolls
Forming the cabbage rolls is the only part of this recipe that requires a little practice, but armed with a few easy tips, you’ll get the hang of it quickly.
Once you’ve prepared your cabbage (either by the freezer or steam method outlined in the printable recipe below), separated the leaves, and made your meat mixture, you’re ready to make your rolls.
- To ensure easy rolling, you want to slice off the thickest portion of the center vein of each cabbage leaf (top left photo). To do this, turn each leaf outer side up and insert the point of a paring knife just under the thinnest part of the center vein and slice toward the bottom of the leaf, being careful not to cut all the way through. Reserve the veins to be chopped and added to the cooking pot.
- To add the filling (top right photo), place the trimmed leaf inner side up on a towel. Place 1-1/2 to 2 tablespoons of the meat mixture at the bottom, center of the leaf.
- Roll the cabbage leaf around the filling, using just enough pressure to make a firm roll without splitting the leaf (bottom left photo). Using a paring knife, trim away the extra cabbage on the sides, leaving about 3/4-inch of unfilled cabbage on either side for tucking in. Set aside the trimmings to be chopped and added to the cooking pot.
- Using your thumb and middle finger on either side of the roll, gently tuck the ends of the cabbage into the meat mixture, forming a dimple on each end (bottom right photo). Set the finished rolls aside as you work.
Serving suggestions
To really enjoy the cabbage rolls and their chunky sauce, serve over mashed potatoes or with buttered dinner rolls for dipping.
Also, although not traditionally Hungarian, we find applesauce is a delicious accompaniment to serve on the side.
Stuffed cabbage leftovers
Stuffed cabbage is one of those dishes that develops more flavor as it sits. Leftovers always taste better, so if you plan to serve this to company, consider making the dish a day or so in advance.
Stuffed cabbage freezes well too. Be sure to defrost it completely before reheating and if you find the sauce is a little watery, uncover the casserole for part of the reheating time so it can evaporate.
More Hungarian recipes
While you’re here, you may want to check out some more of our favorite family recipes:
- Easy Chicken Paprikas (Paprikash)
- Hungarian Noodle Dumplings (Nokedli)
- Instant Pot Chicken Paprikas with Egg Noodles
- Hungarian Cabbage Noodles
- Hungarian Summer Squash With Dill
- Hungarian Crêpes: Palacsinta
Hungarian Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
Ingredients
- 2 to 3 medium heads cabbage
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
- 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup uncooked long grain white rice
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1-1/2 to 2 teaspoons salt, see recipe notes
- 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 lbs sauerkraut, rinsed, drained and squeezed dry
- 1 can, 26 to 28 ounce diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 can, 6-ounce tomato paste
- 3 to 4 cups tomato juice, divided
- 4 strips hardwood smoked bacon
Instructions
- There are two different methods for preparing the cabbage leaves for rolling.
- One is to core the cabbage and steam the whole heads until tender. The other is to freeze the raw heads of cabbage in advance.
- The leaves will soften as they defrost, eliminating the need for steaming. The freezer method is much easier, but you do need to plan two days ahead.
Prepare The Cabbage Using The Freezer Method:
- Rinse the heads of cabbage and peel away the 2 outermost leaves and discard them.
- Pat each head dry and wrap them tightly with plastic wrap.
- Place the wrapped heads in a freezer bag and freeze until solid, 12 to 18 hours (depending on your freezer).
- Allow at least 24 hours for the cabbages to defrost in the refrigerator. Be sure to place a shallow pan under them as they release a lot of water as they thaw.
Prepare The Cabbage Using The Steam Method:
- Remove the cores and 2 outermost leaves from each head of cabbage.
- Add 2 to 3 inches of water to a large pot fitted with a steaming rack.
- Bring the water to a boil and place a head (or two if the pot is large enough) of cabbage in the pot.
- Cover and steam for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the leaves are tender and pliable enough to separate and roll. It may be helpful to remove the cabbage midway through the cooking time, remove a few of the most tender outer leaves and return the head to the pot to finish cooking.
Trim the cabbage leaves:
- Continue preparing the cabbage leaves for rolling by removing them from the heads, layer by layer. Set the leaves aside, blotting any excess moisture with a kitchen towel as you work.
- Depending on the diameter of your cabbages, you will need between 30 and 40 leaves to accommodate the quantity of meat in this recipe. Reserve the remaining cabbage for chopping.
- To ensure easy rolling, you want to slice off the thickest portion of the center vein of each cabbage leaf (see photo above).
- To do this, turn each leaf outer side up and insert the point of a paring knife just under the thinnest part of the center vein and slice toward the bottom of the leaf, being careful not to cut all the way through. Reserve the veins to be chopped and added to the cooking pot.
Prepare the filling:
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until soft and translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the uncooked rice and stir until nicely coated with oil. Continue cooking, stirring continually, for about 2 minutes, then add the garlic.
- Continue to sauté until the rice is lightly toasted and golden in color, 3 to 4 minutes more. Be sure to stir continuously to prevent the garlic from browning. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool for about 10 minutes.
- Place the pork and beef in a large bowl. Add the salt, pepper, and the cooled onion-rice mixture. Using your hands, combine thoroughly, making sure that the seasonings and rice are evenly distributed throughout the meat.
Make the cabbage rolls:
- To roll the cabbage, place a leaf, inner side up on a towel. Place 1-1/2 to 2 tablespoons of the meat mixture at the bottom, center of the leaf (see photo above).
- Roll the cabbage leaf around the filling, using just enough pressure to make a firm roll without splitting the leaf (see photo above). Using a paring knife, trim away the extra cabbage on the sides, leaving about 3/4-inch of unfilled cabbage on either side for tucking in. Set aside the trimmings to be chopped and added to the cooking pot.
- Using your thumb and middle finger on either side of the roll, gently tuck the ends of the cabbage into the meat mixture, forming a dimple on each end (see photo above). Set the finished rolls aside as you work.
Prepare the sauce:
- Once you’ve used up all of the meat, take what’s left of the cabbages along with the trimmed veins and ends, chop them roughly and place them in a very large bowl.
- Add the sauerkraut and, using your hands, mix well.
- Add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste and 1 cup of the tomato juice. Combine thoroughly.
Bake the cabbage rolls:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat a large pot or Dutch oven (7 to 8 quart – see notes) with nonstick spray. Place a 3/4-inch thick layer of the chopped cabbage-sauerkraut-tomato mixture in the bottom. Layer some cabbage rolls on top, keeping them 1/2-inch or so from the sides of the pot. It’s fine for them to be close together.
- Add another, thinner layer of chopped cabbage, then more cabbage rolls, repeating as needed, finishing with a layer of chopped cabbage.
- Pour 2 more cups of tomato juice evenly over the rolls and around the edges of the pot, making sure all the rolls are moistened. It is not necessary for the rolls or chopped cabbage to be submerged in liquid.
- Lay the bacon strips over the top and cover tightly. Bake for 2 hours, checking midway through the cooking time to see if more tomato juice is needed to keep the rolls moist.
- After 2 hours, test for doneness by cutting one of the cabbage rolls in half and tasting to see if the rice is tender. If not, return the pot to the oven for an additional 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Notes
About the Seasoning
You’ll note that the only seasoning listed in our instructions is added to the meat-rice mixture. The diced tomatoes and tomato juice contain quite a bit of salt as does the bacon that’s layered on top, so resist the urge to add more than we call for. A few extra grinds of black pepper can’t hurt though.What to Use for Cooking Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
We cook our stuffed cabbage in a 7-1/2 quart Dutch oven, but any large pot or casserole will do. The important thing is to cover it tightly, so if you don’t have a tight-fitting lid, use heavy-duty aluminum foil and be certain to check for excessive evaporation.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Special Note: Recipes such as this vary from family to family and region to region, and they continue to evolve as they are passed down through the generations, often depending on changes in personal tastes, access to ingredients and sometimes even dietary restrictions. We welcome comments about recipe variations and family traditions, but please be polite and respectful.
Cabbage rolls are one of those comfort foods that are TOTALLY worth the work. This recipe tastes just like I remember from my childhood. Delicious!
Hi Lexie,
You’re right – they are worth the work. Plus, unless you’re feeding a really big crowd, you end up with more than one meal!
Overall. it’s a good recipe. Oregano in the filling or the layering mixture would go a long way to making this dish better.
Hi Stephen,
The addition of oregano is purely a matter of taste, but it is NOT a seasoning used in Hungarian Stuffed Cabbage and I wouldn’t be inclined to add it to the ingredient list.
No oregano here either, but I surely added my Hungarian Paprika! 🙂
I made this recipe the other day and it tasted just like I remember my aunt’s stuffed cabbage did. It’s the first time I ever made it. I used the freezer method for the cabbage and following your directions I was able to make the rolls so they didn’t fall apart. Success!!
Your recipe is spot on – my background is also Hungarian ~ years ago I used the steam method to prepare the cabbage leaves but now use the freezing method ~ another thing to consider is if when you shop you find cabbage the size you find acceptable~just pop it in the freezer and prepare it LATER!
Hi Liz,
You make a good point about buying cabbage at just the right size and freezing it. I usually just buy my cabbages just a few days ahead, but now I’ll pay more attention and pick those perfectly sized heads when I see them. Thanks for sharing.
Lynne,
I left a comment previously which you kindly replied to! Just a follow up on some learnings I have had since then. Indeed – your advice on using caution in adding seasonings is spot on. I decided to get adventurous and add dill, marjoram and – even fresh green pepper slices having seen these suggested in other cabbage roll recipes. Although the taste wasn’t awful – it was definitely not to my preference. The taste tradition which I grew up with is really the essence of simplicity and the wonderful flavor that is developed over a few days of letting the flavors blend. Truly better than any added seasonings! Bottom line – your advice was perfectly accurate!
Hi Sharon,
Thanks for taking the time to share your experience with trying additional seasonings in the cabbage rolls. I agree that less is more when it comes to the flavors in this dish.
A note on the green pepper though: Occasionally when my grandmother was making stuffed cabbage she would make extra of the meat mixture and stuff a few small green peppers with it. She’d put them in a separate small casserole, cover them with a bit of the chopped cabbage/sauerkraut/tomato mixture and bake them alongside the pot of cabbage rolls. They were delicious done that way. I’d forgotten all about that until you mentioned the pepper slices!
I also have a Hungarian background and was taught to add sauerkraut (most of my friends did not) I was also taught to add the dill weed and tomato sauce. This is the closest recipe I have seen to my great grandmothers thanks for sharing
Hi Beth,
Thanks for sharing the notes on adding dill. My family used lots of dill in other dishes, but never stuffed cabbage. I’m going to give it a try!
No garlic in mine but 1/4 to 1/2 c parsley.
It has been a few years since I have made cabbage roll recipe verbally passed down from my great grandmother who was Hungarian. Your recipe helped me to remember proportions but I only had one large head of cabbage so I just made the rolls a little larger. I have not previously sauted the rice with the onion mixture, great idea. Adding the bacon on top is also new for me, they are baking right now so looking forward to trying in a few hours.
Thanks for posting your recipe.
Happy New Year!
Hi Kris,
Hope you enjoyed the stuffed cabbage – Happy New Year to you as well!
I made these cabbage rolls yesterday. They are definitely the best I’ve ever made . I used a jar of pickled cabbage leaves that I rinsed under cold water and I didn’t have tomato juice so I used a 28 oz can of whole tomatoes and about a cup of chicken broth that I put in the blender to mix. Everything else was exactly as the recipe called for. A sure keeper!!!
Hi Maxine,
So glad you enjoyed the recipe. Combining the whole tomatoes and chicken broth was a great idea! Thanks for sharing it.
Your recipe was a great find! And – helped me gain confidence to try variations in the one I use now. So very similar. My grandparents were from what is now Eastern Slovakia but I was always told much of the food they prepared was Hungarian!
On another note – I tried substituting the riced cauliflower for the rice and it worked perfectly.
Thanks for the great recipe!
Hi Sharon,
I’m so glad you found the recipe helpful in creating your own version of the dish. Adding the riced cauliflower is a fantastic idea – thanks so much for sharing it. I will definitely give it a try.
My grandmother was from Hungary, and her cabbage always had tomatoes, and our family never never eats it with sour cream…though that sounds really good! My uncle came over in ’56, and he likes my cabbage, so I think I’m good on authenticity!