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These rice and beef cabbage rolls (aka holubtsi) are a favourite Ukrainian dish. Saucy and tender, make sure you serve them alongside several beet leaf buns.
How I like ‘em.
Cabbage rolls come in so many shapes and sizes. There is no wrong or right way to make cabbage rolls. So here I am to present you with my favourite style. I like loosely packed, rice heavy, tender cabbage rolls with lots of sauce. And that sauce is just begging to be soaked up with several Beet Leaf Buns. This easy-going style of cabbage roll means they are pretty simple to make and they definitely don’t have to look perfect. Like I said above, they’re going to be smothered in a savoury tomato sauce anyway so you’re good to go.
More Recipes Please.
Serve these cabbage rolls alongside any (or all) of my other delish Ukrainian recipes:
Cottage Cheese & Dill Perogies
Are you drooling yet?
Check out the recipe video below for a tutorial on how to make these rice & beef cabbage rolls (holubtsi).
Rice & Beef Cabbage Rolls (Holubtsi)
Ingredients
- 1 head regular or savoy cabbage core removed, frozen and thawed
Filling
- 2 strips bacon diced
- 1 small onion finely diced
- ½ lb ground beef
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 cups cooked rice
- 2 eggs whisked
- sea salt and pepper to taste
Sauce
- 2 large (28 oz) cans whole tomatoes in sauce
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Prepare the cabbage in advance: using a sharp knife, carefully core the cabbage and discard. Place the cabbage in a large freezer bag and freeze overnight. The morning you want to make cabbage rolls, take the cabbage out of the freezer and let thaw at room temperature. This will wilt the cabbage leaves without having to boil the head of cabbage.
- To make the filling: heat a medium skillet over medium heat.
- When the skillet is hot, add the diced bacon and sauté until it is just starting to brown then add the onion and sauté until the onion and bacon are golden, about 15 minutes.
- Add the ground beef and sauté until cooked through, about 10 minutes.
- Add the garlic and sauté for a minute or so and then remove the skillet from heat.
- In a large bowl, add your cooked rice, meat mixture, eggs and sea salt and pepper to taste. Mix together until fully incorporated. Set aside in the fridge to cool, at least 1 hour or overnight.
- To make the sauce: in a large bowl combine the tomatoes, onion powder, garlic powder and sea salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
- Remove the leaves from the thawed head of cabbage. The large leaves will have a thick stem that isn’t very pleasant to eat. Remove the stem with a knife. You will need 12 large leaves or 24 small leaves.
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Make the cabbage rolls: start by covering the bottom of a 9×13” baking dish with half of the sauce. Set aside the other half of the sauce for topping the cabbage rolls.
- Lay one large cabbage leaf or 2 small overlapping cabbage leaves on the counter. Scoop about 1/4 cup of the filling onto the leaf and roll the leaf up over the filling. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Place the roll in the baking dish. Repeat with remaining leaves until your filling is used up. You should have about 12 cabbage rolls.
- Spoon the rest of the sauce on top of the cabbage rolls.
- Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 1 hour, then remove foil and bake a further 30 minutes.
- Serve alongside all your other Ukrainian favourites.
