These Stuffed Cabbage Rolls are tender and savory, infused with Turkish spices. Filled with your choice of ground meat (or plant-based), toasted pine nuts, bulgar (or rice), and simmered in the most flavorful Turkish tomato Sauce. Vegan-adaptable, gluten-free, and keto-adaptable.
Here is my favorite stuffed cabbage roll recipe, one I make every winter. The fragrant spices will warm you to your bones, drawing inspiration from Turkey and Greece. And in case you are wondering, there are some incredibly beautiful cabbages at the farmers’ markets right now, just longing to be stuffed! The perfect opportunity to splurge. A cozy, comforting dinner recipe that highlights seasonal cabbage, perfect for the colder months.
Why you’ll love this family favorite recipe!
It is so versatile. Use whatever ground meat you prefer (including plant-based ground meat) and feel free to swap out the bulgar wheat for cooked rice, cauliflower rice, or even cooked quinoa. Once they are rolled, they will simmer in the most fragrant Turkish tomato sauce until meltingly tender.
The best part? The whole thing can be assembled ahead of time, or even cooked ahead and reheated – perfect for entertaining. Brian and I have been eating the leftovers for a couple of days now, and it’s one of those dishes we fight over; it just keeps getting better and better.
Cabbage Roll Ingredients
- Savoy Cabbage - An extra-large, round head works best for stuffing, or sub a round napa cabbage, or green cabbage. Savoy cabbage truly presents well here!
- Onion and Garlic - Form the savory base of the sauce.
- Crushed tomatoes - Create a bright, slightly tangy foundation for the sauce. Or sub fresh tomatoes.
- Sweetener (sugar, maple syrup, or honey) - Balances the acidity of the tomatoes.
- Sauce spices (cumin, cinnamon, allspice, and salt) - Add warm, earthy complexity that defines the Turkish flavor profile.
- Broth or stock (chicken or vegetable) - Loosens the sauce and adds savory depth.
- Ground meat – ground lamb (my favorite), ground beef, ground chicken, ground turkey, ground pork, or plant-based meat like Beyond Burger. Provides richness and structure, with lamb offering the most traditional flavor.
- Bulgur wheat (or white rice, or other cooked grain, or cauliflower rice) - Adds texture and helps bind the filling; bulgur is traditional, while substitutions offer flexibility.
- Filling spices (salt, cumin, dried mint, coriander, sumac, chili flakes, cinnamon, and nutmeg) - Create layered warmth with subtle brightness and gentle heat.
- Pine nuts (or slivered almonds) - Add rich, buttery crunch to the tender filling.
- Dried apricots (or barberries, currants, or raisins) - Optional, but add pops of sweetness that beautifully complement the spices.
- Optional Garnishes - Fresh herbs (Italian parsley, dill, or mint) add freshness and color just before serving. Toasted pine nuts or yogurt are also nice.
How to make Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
1. Blanch the cabbage. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the whole head of cabbage, and blanch until tender, about 10-12 minutes. Turn the cabbage regularly. Once tender, remove it and let it cool. This step ensures the leaves are pliable and easy to roll!
Other ways to tenderize cabbage
- BLANCH THE LEAVES: Alternatively, you can peel off the cabbage leaves and blanch the leaves in batches of 3 for 1-2 minutes.
- MICROWAVE: You can also microwave the whole cabbage, covered tightly, in a bowl with 1 cup of water for 8-10 minutes.
- FREEZE: You can also freeze the whole cabbage, then thaw it, which is not really “blanching,” but tenderizes the leaves enough to roll. A longer method, but very simple if planning ahead.
2. Make the Turkish tomato sauce. Bring a large Dutch oven or sauté pan to medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of oil and sauté the onion until tender, about 3-4 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium, add garlic, and sauté 2-3 minutes. Then add the crushed tomatoes, sugar, cumin, cinnamon, allspice, salt, and broth. Stir and bring to a simmer for 2 minutes, then turn off the heat.
3. Cool and separate. After blanching the cabbage, let it cool completely, then use. asharp knife to cut out the thickest part of the vein (usually about 2 inches).
4. Prepare the filling. Add all of the filling ingredients to a large bowl and combine. Instead of bulgar wheat, feel free to substitute cooked rice, cooked farro, cooked quinoa, or even cauliflower rice for a low-carb version. The pine nuts give this lamb filling such a great texture!
5. Stuff and roll. Spoon 1/3 cup of the filling into each of the tender cabbage leaves, then roll them up like a burrito.
Fold the bottom end up first, then the sides.
Place them seam-side down. Repeat until you’ve used up the filling.
6. Assemble. Pour some of the tomato sauce on the bottom of a Dutch oven, casserole dish, or oven-proof braiser or skillet. Arrange the rolls on top, seam side down.
Then lather with the remaining tomato sauce.
7. Bake. Cover and bake at 350F for 60-75 minutes. When done, the cabbage should be tender and melting.
8. Garnish. Sprinkle with fresh herbs, black pepper, and toasted pine nuts.
Chef’s Tips
- If using ground turkey or ground chicken, add a teaspoon or two of olive oil to the mixture to prevent dryness.
- If the cabbage leaves fall apart, split, get holes, or are too small, you can layer them.
- Meal prep this dish by making the sauce and the filling ahead of time, and blanch the cabbage and store it in the fridge. Or, you can assemble the dish and refrigerate before baking, or make the entire dish from start to finish, bake, refrigerate, and reheat (covered).
- For a Keto version, leave out the bulgar wheat and use raw “cauliflower rice,” or use the remaining cabbage, finely shredded. Leave out the dried apricots and the sweetener.
Cabbage Roll Serving Suggestions
Serve the Cabbage Rolls over garlic mashed potatoes, or with something creamy like this Turkish Cucumber Salad or Tzatziki. Cauliflower mash would be nice here, too.
Storage and Reheating
Store leftover stuffed cabbage rolls in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, or freeze for up to 3 months. Reheat covered in a 350°F oven, on the stovetop, or in a microwave.
Please remember to rate the recipe and share your adaptations in the comments below. I’m so excited for you to try this one. xoxo
Happy Cooking 🥂
More Cabbage recipes you may like
- Melting Slow-Braised Cabbage
- Easy Cabbage Soup
- Corned Beef and Cabbage Stew
- Brothy Leek, Lamb, and Cabbage Soup
After you try this Cabbage Rolls recipe, let us know how it turns out in the comments below. Your review will help other readers, too! Sign up here to join our community and receive our latest recipes and weekly newsletter! xoxo Sylvia
Tender Stuffed Cabbage Rolls Recipe
- Prep Time: 40
- Cook Time: 75
- Total Time: 1 hour 55 minutes
- Yield: 5-6 1x
- Category: cabbage recipes, dinner idea, lamb recipe, Main, winter dinner
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Turkish
Description
These Stuffed Cabbage Rolls are tender and savory, infused with Turkish spices. Filled with your choice of ground meat (plant-based options too), toasted pine nuts, bulgar or rice, and simmered in the most flavorful Turkish tomato Sauce. Vegan-adaptable, gluten-free, and keto-adaptable.
Ingredients
1 extra large savoy cabbage (or substitute a round napa cabbage or green cabbage)
Turkish Tomato Sauce:
- 1 onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves rough chopped
- 14-ounce can of crushed tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon sugar or alternative sweetener (maple or honey)
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup broth or stock (chicken or veggie)
Filling:
- 1/2 cup Turkish tomato sauce
- 2 finely minced garlic cloves
- 1 lb ground meat (uncooked): ground lamb (my preference) , ground beef, chicken, ground turkey or a plant-based ground meat like Beyond Burger
- 1 cup bulgar wheat (or 1/2 cup raw white long grain rice). See notes.
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried mint (or sub dried oregano or thyme)
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1 teaspoon sumac (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes (aleppo is nice)
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 cup pinenuts (or slivered almonds)
- 1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped (or sub-dried barberries, currants or raisins) ALL OPTIONAL
Garnish: fresh Italian parsley, dill or mint, a few toasted pinenuts, and serve with optional yogurt.
Instructions
- Soak Rice or Bulgar Wheat in a bowl of water for 20 mins, or while you prep.
- Blanch Cabbage: Bring a big pot of salted water to a boil. Add the cabbage and blanch until tender, about 10-12 minutes. Cool. Alternatively you can peel off the cabbage leaves and blanch the leaves in batches for 1-2 minutes. You can also microwave the whole cabbage, covered tightly , in a bowl with 1 cup water for 10 mintues. You can also freeze the whole cabbage, then thaw.
- Preheat oven to 350F
- Make the Turkish Tomato Sauce. In a large saute pan, over med-high heat, saute the onion in 2 tablespoons oil until tender, 3-4 mins. Lower heat to medium, add garlic, saute 2-3 mintues until fragrant. Add crushed tomatoes (and all the juices) sugar, cumin, cinnamon, allspice, salt and broth . Stir, bring to a simmer for 2 minutes, then turn heat off.
- Divide the sauce. Place 1/2 cup of this tomato sauce in the bottom of a greased 9×13-inch baking dish (just enough to lightly coat the bottom) or 11 to 12-inch round braiser. Place another ½ cup of sauce in the bowl with the filling, and save the rest for the top.
- Make the filling. In a medium bowl, place the lamb, drained rice or bulgar wheat, garlic, 1/2 cup Turkish tomato sauce, salt, cumin dried mint, coriander, sumac, chili flakes, cinnamon, nutmeg, pine nuts, and dried apricots in a medium bowl and mix with a clean, damp hand, until well combined.
- Assemble the Cabbage Rolls: Place a blanched cabbage leaf on the counter. Cut 2 inches of the thick vein out of the bottom end. ( See photo). Fill with 1/3 cup lamb filling and roll up like a burrito, tucking edges in and place seam side down in the sauced, baking dish. Repeat with all. You should have 10-12 ish. See notes, for breakage.Once the baking dish is filled with the rolls, pour the remaining Tomato sauce over top. Give the pan a good shake.
- BAKE: Cover with parchment, then tightly with foil (or a lid). Bake for 1 1/4 hours. If baking in a saute pan, you could heat this up gently on the stovetop (covered) before placing in the oven and then bake for 1 hour.
- Garnish. Remove from oven, garnish with fresh parsley, mint or dill, and a few pinenuts. Serve with a thick creamy yogurt if you like.
Notes
Rice– White basmati or jasmine rice will soften in the roll, no problem- but if using brown rice, cook it first.
Tip: If using ground turkey or ground chicken, to prevent dryness, add 1-2 teaspoons olive oil to the mixture.
Option to make this in stages. Make the sauce ahead, the filling ahead, or blanch the cabbage ahead, storing it in the fridge. You can assemble ahead or make them from start to finish, bake, refrigerate, and reheat (covered).
If the cabbage leaves fall apart, split, get holes, or are too small, you can layer them, or lay two side by side and roll them into one roll. This is typical once you get to the inner smaller leaves.
For a keto version, leave out the bulgar wheat and replace it with raw “cauliflower rice” or with the remaining cabbage (finely shredded). Leave out the dried apricots and the sweetener.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 rolls
- Calories: 594
- Sugar: 19.6 g
- Sodium: 726 mg
- Fat: 31.9 g
- Saturated Fat: 10.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 58.6 g
- Fiber: 12.5 g
- Protein: 26.2 g
- Cholesterol: 66.3 mg
Commenting again on this- I’ve been making this with half a recipe of tabouli from your site (minus the grain). Perfect match 🫶
Oh yum! Thaks Bowie!
Ok, checking back in after tasting the rolls with Impossible burger. I decided to steal just one before I reheat them for a Hanukkah dinner in a few days. Delicious! Will definitely do this again. I cut the salt by half in the filling, because the impossible burger is already seasoned. I like things highly seasoned, but still I could have cut it back even more. But will be great with latkes and sour cream!
Ok great to hear and good to know about the salt- helpful Bonnie!
I’ve made your recipe before with lamb and loved them. Making a double batch with Impossible burger right now to have with latkes for a vegetarian Hanukkah. Was able to get away using just one large cabbage. Reduced the salt in the filling because the Impossible is already a little seasoned. My mom has been a vegetarian for 35 years and cabbage rolls are one of the things she still misses. So excited to make these for her. Used rice, raisins and pine nuts. Was pleased, and a little surprised to have all the spices including alepo and sumac. I see you mentioned nutmeg in the intro, but did not see it listed in the ingredients? I imagine that would be nice addition. Will try to remember to come back and let you know how it turned out. I have high hopes! Thanks again Sylvia!
Thanks Bonnie- let us know what you think with the Impossible Burger- updated the nutmeg.:)
Wow so tasty and nourishing, perfect for a cold fall night! I’m vegetarian so I replaced the lamb with lentils and browned mushrooms. Don’t skip the pine nuts – they add such a nice texture!
Great to hear and glad you were able to make this plant-based!
I’m very interested in how you did that. My family is always looking to make a recipe vegan for a change. This recipe is one of my favorites and I would love to try it with lentils
Hi Sylvia – this is the first time I wasn’t totally thrilled with one of your recipes. The rolls themselves were delicious, but the Turkish Tomato Sauce was watery and lacked flavour. I used diced tomatoes then pureed them. Would that be the problem?
I’m not sure Julie- it maybe needed to cook down a bit more?
Another outstanding dish my first time ever making cabbage rolls and so Glade I made this one. I used one pound ground turkey and a one pound Italian chicken sausage and za atar season in the filling left the rest the same but made a double batch yummiest. Thanks
So happy you gave this a go Charlie!
Hi I love cabbage rolls and I always order them at a favourite Greek testaurant But there they have an egg and lemon Sauce which I prefer- could you please include that for me.
Thank you
Hi- I’ve actually never had that before but I do like the idea of it. 🙂
What do y’all serve these with? Kale salad sounds good but we literally eat that daily. Something green would be nice but love to hear what worked for you
I like the idea of a salad, salad everyday right? How about the Turkish Cucumber Salad- kind of creamy?
I searched for lamb and cabbage and found this. The spice combination is appealing. Jane Brody has a recipe for UNstuffed cabbage, as does Beth Hensperger in one of her slow cooker books. Instead of stuffing cabbage leaves, the cabbage is shredded. The meat is prepared as directed, but made into meatballs. Just as good as stuffed, but a lot less work. It can be cooked stovetop or in a slow cooker.
That is a great idea Robert!
I have never made cabbage rolls before, but this recipe looked interesting so I decided to give it a try. These rolls are AMAZING. I used ground pork, rice, and almonds in the filling, and I seriously could have eaten half the pan in one sitting. Even better – during/after cooking the house smelled like the delicious sauce and not like cabbage lol. I appreciated the photos and extra tips about how to roll them; mine stayed together perfectly.
Awesome Nicole- glad you enjoyed this!
WOWZA! Used regular green cabbage, tofu for protein, quinoa for grains, parsley and dill for topping. Absolutely amazing!
Oh how yummy! Love this idea! Did you keep it vegan then?
Yes I did! Next time if I’m in the mood for yogurt style topping I’ll make the silken tofu based sauce, which I also learned from your site. My husband and I just both love tofu so much. 🙂
Ok Great- I love it too!
A really nice recipe which leads to lovely depth and variety of flavour. Really enjouyed making and eating this and will be making it again for sure!
Thank you
Thanks Peter, glad you liked them!
Made a double batch of these cabbage rolls for our Easter dinner this year. They were fantastic. I used 1lb. beef and 1lb. lamb and also used the inner parts of the cabbage head chopped fine in place of the rice and left out the honey. Will definitely make them again.
Good and tasty, and very adaptable to your pantry
Wonderful flavors!! and surprisingly filling.
I provided fresh dill and mint on the table to choose. We tried both and liked equally, and I enjoyed mine with a dollop of the optional yogurt.
Question: I cooked the whole head of cabbage as directed but used only 11 leaves. Any suggestions for using the rest of the head that’s already cooked? Next time I’ll either double the recipe or just blanche the individual leaves needed for the recipe.
That is a good point. I wonder how it would taste chopped up finely and added to the filling- I’ll have to try that next time.
@Sylvia – great recipe I made it today exactly as you said, had a little bit of stuffing left over and put it in a tiny glass baking dish to make something resembling a Kibbeh (Syrian meatloaf) (cooking time for that was only about 40 minutes, which turned out great also. / Thanks!
@ Gina – Just chop it into chunks and make a nice cabbage and bean soup! – You can even freeze it till you are ready to make it! The soups are best with 2 or 3 or 4 different types of beans! No need to follow a specific recipe – just google bean and cabbage soup, see what types of herbs and spices people put in, then use whatever you have that is close! Always good.
thanks Mark!
Not sure it would work here, but with polish / Hungarian cabbage rolls you later bottom of pot with extra leaves to keep from sticking. A leaf on top keep from burning in oven.
I bet that would work great!
Tasty! I used Portuguese kale from a local farm, and had coarse bulgar in the pantry which worked fine.
Really want to try this but I have one question please: If using ground beef, does it need to be cooked or raw? Thank you.
Raw.
I love your recipes, in fact our family requests your lamb burgers weekly! I wondered ~ instead of wrapping the lamb mixture in cabbage could I serve it over Spaghetti squash with the sauce? Would you recommend omitting the grains?
I bet that would taste good- you may need to lower the salt, or salt to taste.
Should I cook the ground lamb before stuffing?
No, leave it raw!
This recipe is so good and the spices remind me of when my
Mom would cook it. I’ve made it several times and will definitely make
this for years to come.
Perfect! Glad it worked for you! 🙌
What size bulgur is required for this recipe? #1, 2, 3, or 4?
I used a medium-sized grain- so 2-3?
These were so delicious Sylvia- thanks for another great lamb recipe!
Deeelicious! I made these for my meal prep and they came out smashing! What amazing flavor. I had extra meat so I rolled traditional balls, browned them in a cast iron pan, and them baked them. OMG! This was just too much deliciousness. This might be my favorite new sauce. Thank you for another amazing recipe!
So happy you gave this a go Michelle!
I am so excited I came across your site. I am book-marking this & other recipes to try. Can’t wait to try them out!!
Oops, meant to ask: Any thoughts about making this in a slow cooker?
You know I think it would work just fine in a slow cooker- but I’m not an expert in this department, so unsure of times.
Can ground beef be used instead of lamb?
Absolutely!
I often combine half ground beef/half ground lamb to reduce the amount of fat.
Perfect!