250ml/1 cup sour cream or creme fraiche (full fat )
500ml/2 cups canned crushed tomatoes (or passata)
salt and pepper
Categories
Main
Cuisine
Russian
Steps
Freeze the cabbages 3 days before you need it. The night before defrost cabbage and keep them in the fridge until you are ready.
Cook rice in plenty water the same way you would pasta until al dente for approximately 5 minutes after the water boils. It shouldn't be too soft. Drain and set aside.
In a frying pan heat olive oil and cook onions over low heat for 7-10 minutes until tender.
Grate carrots. In a large bowl combine beef, pork, parsley, onions, carrots, rice, salt and pepper.
In a medium bowl whisk together stock, crushed tomatoes and creme fraiche, salt and pepper. Set aside.
Place your head of cabbage on a cutting board, cut off the bottom and pull the leaves away from the stalk. Repeat with the second head of cabbage.
Preheat your oven to 350F/180C.
Clear your work space, so all ingredients are within reach. Take a cabbage leaf and cut the rib down, so it's not too thick. Put 2 tbsp of filling at the bottom of the wide part of a leaf (see picture above) and roll it like a burrito, tucking sides in. Your cabbage rolls will vary in size slightly depending on the size of cabbage leaves. You will have approximately 30-32 cabbage rolls.
Pour a cup of the sauce on the bottom of your cast iron casserole or any other heavy bottom casserole dish and start stacking your cabbage rolls. Half way through add a couple of bay leaves and 1/3 of the sauce and continue stacking until all cabbage rolls are gone.
Pour the remaining sauce over cabbage rolls, cover with a lid and bake in the oven for 1 hour. Then take the lid off and bake for 30 more minutes. Serve with additional sour cream or creme fraiche and fresh herbs like dill and parsley.
Nutitrion
Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 429 kcal
Carbohydrates: 27 g
Protein: 21 g
Fat: 27 g
Saturated Fat: 11 g
Cholesterol: 79 mg
Sodium: 686 mg
Sugar: 10 g
Reviews
Jenna Novic on 2026-03-02 (5 stars): Oh man it was delicious! I only had one head of cabbage in the fridge so the other half went uncooked in the freezer for next time! I may need to add a bit more seasoning as the venison and pork are such a lean wild meat. I followed your instructions to a T so I'll play around with it next time! Wonderful easy recipe!
Jenna Novic on 2026-02-26 (5 stars): Hey Julia, have you ever tried using venison instead of beef? I just killed an Ossabaw Island pig and I think I'll try wild pork and venison. I'll let you know how it turns out....I've been meaning to make this with venison for a long time.
Deb on 2026-02-11 (5 stars): This recipe is so good! Our family makes the Polish version with tomato soup as the base for the sauce. Since it was my first time making this version, I subbed out the tomatoes for the tomato soup, but still added the chicken stock and sour cream. The flavor was so much better than just using the soup diluted with water. Followed the rest of the recipe as written. Hubby liked these better than his Polish Mama’s! Thank you for a keeper recipe!
Deb on 2026-02-04 (4 stars): Would it be ok to cook these in a slow cooker/crock pot?
Carolyn Santoli on 2025-11-12 (5 stars): this was delicious. Thanks so much for sharing
Monica on 2025-11-10 (5 stars): Delicious! I added garlic to the meat mixture and cooked the carrots in some butter with garlic and tomato paste. I also doubled the sauce, which I was very happy about because it was so yummy! I used my pressure cooker to help with the cabbage….super easy to do. Thank you for sharing this recipe, it will be a new favorite in my house.
Paula on 2025-11-09 (4 stars): Stuffed with seasoned or season vegetables? Think you meant season as in the seasons vegetables and not seasoning. Also boiling is easy fete removing the core if you use tongs to remove the individual leaves. Who has space in their freezers for two large heads of cabbage?
