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Lahanodolmades is a stuffed cabbage rolls recipe that you are going to love. It’s the ultimate comfort food. These cabbage rolls are stuffed with a beef and rice mix and served with a lemony sauce that just adds such a unique (and perfect) flavor.
Why You’ll Love Stuffed Cabbage Rolls Recipe
- Holiday-Friendly: This recipe is totally great for every day and also for a holiday dish. Serve it as a side, bring it to a potluck, or serve it as the main course, it’s so good
- Healthy: This stuffed cabbage rolls recipe is full of wholesome, simple ingredients, making it protein-packed and healthy
- Quick Prep: Prep these cabbage rolls in only 20 minutes
Ingredients
Cabbage: Cabbage helps raise levels of beta-carotene, lutein, and other heart-healthy antioxidants. It also can help ease inflammation and help prevent heart disease. It’s so easy to add to stir fry, soups, stews, salads, or delicious cabbage rolls like this.
Maria Koutsogiannia
Maria is the creator of FoodByMaria and your go-to Greek food expert for cozy, flavor-packed recipes. Inspired by her Mediterranean roots, she brings traditional Greek flavors, feel-good ingredients, and a whole lot of joy to everyday cooking.
Ground Beef: Beef is a high-quality protein full of vitamins and minerals. It can help improve muscle growth and even exercise performance. Another benefit is it’s a great source of iron. If you’re not into red meat, you could totally swap this for whatever ground meat you prefer.
How to Make Stuffed Cabbage Rolls Recipe
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (fill the pot about halfway). Remove the stem/core from the bottom of the cabbage, you want to remove a few inches of it so there will be a bit of a hole. Once the water is boiling, add the cabbage with the cored part facing down. Boil for about 10-15 minutes and then flip the cabbage around. Boil the cabbage until tender and the leaves start to become somewhat transparent. Start to remove the leaves from the cabbage as they will start to detach naturally as they cook. As you remove the leaves set aside in a colander until you have 22 leaves.
- Make the filling: Combine the ground beef, rice, diced onion, salt, pepper, olive oil, and fresh minced dill and mix to fully combine.
- Prepare the large pot: Set aside 3-4 cabbage leaves. Layer a handful of fresh dill or lemon on the bottom of the pot and then layer the 3-4 cabbage leaves over those, overlapping them to cover most of the bottom of the pot.
- Fill the cabbage leaves: Lay a cooked cabbage leaf flat on your work surface. If there is a thick part of the cabbage stem, trim that piece off and sort of fold the leaf inwards and over so there is no empty space. Place 2 tbsp of filling in the leaf and then fold the left and right sides together and then roll up to complete a roll. Repeat until all of the fillings are used and place the cabbage rolls one by one into the pot beside each other, tucking them in tightly beside each other.
- Cook the cabbage rolls: Once all of the cabbage rolls have been placed in the pot (if you need to make two layers of rolls that’s no problem) place a small/medium plate on top of the cabbage rolls, making sure the plate covers only about 2/3-3/4 of the diameter of the pot. Pour water into the pot, filling about halfway up the side. Bring to a boil over high heat and then turn to medium-low to keep at a simmer. Cook for 60-90 minutes, making sure to check the water level every 20 minutes to ensure it doesn’t get too low. If needed, add water to keep the level around the halfway mark.
- When the cabbage rolls are done, remove them from the heat and move the cabbage rolls to a serving tray. Remove 1 1/2 cups of the water from the pot to make the lemon sauce or you can also use chicken broth.
- Make the lemon sauce: using a blender blend together the cabbage water or chicken broth along with lemon juice, 1 tbsp cornstarch, and 2 eggs. Transfer to a small pot over medium heat, stirring often, and let it thicken as the sauce cooks – about 3-4 minutes. Season with 1/2-1 tsp salt. Remove from the heat.
- Serve the cabbage rolls and allow people to spoon over the amount of lemon sauce they would like. Top with more fresh dill if desired and cracked black pepper.
Tips and Tricks
- Don’t Over Stuff: You want to make sure your cabbage rolls will not fall apart or any of your stuffing will fall through any gaps. On the other hand, don’t wrap them too tightly as the rice will expand as it cooks, and if you wrap them too tight, they are at risk of falling apart as they cook.
- Prepare Your Cabbage: Boil the entire head of cabbage, if you’re using a green cabbage with a firm and compact head, remove the core and stem. As you remove the leaves after boiling, if you find that the leaves in the center aren’t soft enough, continue to boil again until they are.
Substitutions
- Meat: You can substitute the ground beef for any ground meat – ground lamb, turkey, chicken, pork, or a mix
- Cabbage: You can use red cabbage if that’s all you can find
- Veggies: Feel free to cater this recipe the way you like. You can add carrots and celery in with the onion, or any other veggie you prefer
Best served with
How to Store Leftovers
Fridge: Put leftover cabbage rolls in an airtight container when they have cooled, and eat within 3-4 days.
Freezer: Cook the rolls according to the recipe and allow them to cool. Leave the sauce off the rolls you want to freeze. Put the rolls in an airtight container and keep them for up to 3 months in the freezer. When you’re ready to eat, let them thaw, and cook in the oven until heated through. It’s best you make the lemon sauce fresh before you serve them vs. freezing it.
Common Questions
Why is the cabbage on my cabbage rolls tough?
It’s likely because you did not cook them long enough. Continue cooking until the desired consistency is reached.
How do you remove the core of a cabbage?
Cut off the stem at the bottom, slice the cabbage in half, top to bottom, and make another slice to quarter the cabbage. Now cut the core out of each piece – essentially it’ll be like a triangular piece you cut out.
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Servings: pieces
Watch the Video
Ingredients
For the filling
- 900 g (or 2lb) lean ground beef
- 1 cup short grain rice
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ¼ cup fresh dill, minced
- 1 handful fresh dill, small handful
For the lemon sauce
- juice from 2 lemons
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ cups water from the pot the cabbage rolls were cooked in or chicken broth
- salt to taste
- **If you like lots of sauce, we recommend doubling the sauce recipe!**
Instructions
Start Cooking- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (fill the pot about halfway). Remove the stem/core from the bottom of the cabbage, you want to remove a few inches of it so there will be a bit of a hole. Once the water is boiling, add the cabbage with the cored part facing down. Boil for about 10-15 minutes and then flip the cabbage around. Boil the cabbage until tender and the leaves start to become somewhat transparent. Start to remove the leaves from the cabbage as they will start to detach naturally as they cook. As you remove the leaves set aside in a colander until you have 22 leaves. See note below for alternative freezer method for the cabbage!
- Make the filling: Combine the ground beef, rice, diced onion, salt, pepper, olive oil and fresh minced dill and mix to fully combine.
- Fill the cabbage leaves: Lay a cooked cabbage leaf flat on your work surface. If there is a thick part of the cabbage stem, trim that piece off and sort of fold the leaf inwards and over so there is no empty space. Place 2 tbsp of filling in the leaf and then fold the left and right sides together and then roll up to complete a roll. Repeat until all of the filling is used and place the cabbage rolls one by one into the pot beside eachother, tucking them in tightly beside eachother.
- Prepare the large pot: Set aside 3-4 cabbage leaves. Layer a handful of fresh dill or lemon on the bottom of the pot and then layer the 3-4 cabbage leaves over those, overlapping them to cover most of the bottom of the pot.
- Cook the cabbage rolls: Once all of the cabbage rolls have been placed in the pot (if you need to make two layers of rolls thats no problem) place a small-medium plate on top of the cabbage rolls, making sure the plate covers only about 2/3-3/4 of the diameter of the pot. Pour water into the pot, filling about halfway up the side. Bring to a boil over high heat and then turn to medium-low to keep at a simmer. Cook for 60-90 minutes, making sure to check the water level every 20 minutes to ensure it doesn’t get too low. If needed, add water to keep the level around the halfway mark.
- When the cabbage rolls are done, remove from the heat and move the cabbage rolls to a serving tray. Remove 1 1/2 cups of the water from the pot to make the lemon sauce or you can also use chicken broth.
- Make the lemon sauce: using a blender blend together the cabbage water or chicken broth along with lemon juice, 1 tbsp cornstarch and 2 eggs. Transfer to a small pot over medium heat, stirring often and let it thicken as the sauce cooks – about 3-4 minutes. Season with 1/2-1 tsp salt. Remove from the heat.
- Serve the cabbage rolls and allow people to spoon over the amount of lemon sauce they would like. Top with more fresh dill if desired and cracked black pepper.
Notes
- Instead of boiling the cabbage, you can use our freezer method if desired –
- Place the entire head of cabbage in the freezer for 12-24 hours to fully freeze.
- Remove the cabbage to defrost in the fridge or on the counter for 3-4 hours or until fully defrosted.
- Once the cabbage is fully thawed, easily remove the leaves one by one and set aside in a colander until you have 26 leaves.
- Fridge: Put leftover cabbage rolls in an airtight container when they have cooled, and eat within 3-4 days.
- Freezer: Cook the rolls according to the recipe and allow them to cool. Leave the sauce off the rolls you want to freeze. Put the rolls in an airtight container and keep them for up to 3 months in the freezer. When you’re ready to eat, let them thaw, and cook in the oven until heated through. It’s best you make the lemon sauce fresh before you serve them vs. freezing it.
33 people are discussing this recipe. Join in
This came out terrific except definitely MUCH longer than stated! Still…I will be making this one again 👍🏼👍🏼
I am so sorry about the timing, I think I just do things quicker in the kitchen because I’ve had to test them so many times! I am so glad you loved them though! Thank you!
In the video you add lemon juice and olive oil to the pot, but that’s not listed in the recipe anywhere. How much are you adding?
Hi Ariana! That’s just lemon pieces for aesthetics! You can use lemon at the base to protect them. And we aren’t adding olive oil to the pot, it’s actually just the stock to cook the cabbage rolls, is that what you mean?
It is sooooo good and incredibly easy to make, I was a bit scared of the sauce being over eggy and it is the complete opposite, it is velvety tangy and makes the dish lighter and so much brighter.
Thank you so much hunnie!! You are so sweet!!!
I’m a sucker for anything with tomato sauce but this lemon sauce version of cabbage rolls is so good! The lemon sauce is so light and flavorful! Another new classic to be add for the home cook book.
thank you so much karson!!!
MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE! We call them Yiaprakia. No matter who I serve these to, even someone who hates cabbage, they always have to ask for more! Thank you Maria, as always A+‼️
thank you so much, elaine! This makes me so happy!!!
Do you cook the rice and beef before stuffing the rolls?
No you don’t!
Can you make this as a vegetarian dish? What would you substitute for the lamb?
I would just use or lentil or even vegan ground meat alternative!
This was a nice change for cabbage rolls in our house. The sauce makes the dish feel lighter. Will definitely be making this again.
This makes me so happy, thank you Ellen!
Hello Maria, Thank you for sharing this recipe. How do I check to see if the cabbage rolls are done?
They should be done as directed in the post! Youll know when the beef is tender, cooked throughout and rice is fluffy and perfectly cooked!
I like to serve with plain yougourt as complement sauce
Amazing!!!