Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

This classic recipe is the ultimate comfort food. The savory filling has pork and beef along with rice baked inside cabbage leaves smothered in tangy tomato sauce. It’s time consuming but worth it! These hearty stuffed cabbage rolls can be made ahead of time and frozen. Just reheat them in the oven when you’re ready to serve them!

Preheat oven to 350°F. Melt butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until golden, about 8 minutes. Stir in rice, ground beef, pork, salt, pepper, parsley flakes, cayenne pepper, and paprika. Toss with vegetable oil to coat.

To make the cabbage leaves, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Remove core and immerse head of cabbage, rib side down, in boiling water. Steam for 3 minutes or until outermost layer of cabbage is translucent and pliable (you may need to steam longer than this depending on the thickness and quality of your leaves).

Use tongs to transfer softened leaf to a clean bowl. Repeat with remaining outermost layers of cabbage until you have 16 pliable leaves. I also like to cut out the hard ridge from each leaf (or at least most of them), as this makes them easier to roll.

Place a cabbage leaf on a cutting board, and spread about 2 tablespoons of meat mixture over center of leaf. Carefully fold sides over filling and, starting at the stem end, roll up tightly. Repeat with remaining cabbage leaves and meat mixture. Place rolled cabbage in a 5-quart Dutch oven. Drizzle reserved tomato sauce over top. محشي ملفوف