These vegan cabbage rolls are stuffed with lentils, grains, and seasonings, and taste similar to Polish golabki.
Last week two people wrote to me on the same day asking for a recipe for vegan cabbage rolls, and since I’d never made them before, I decided to take that as a sign. I’m always on the lookout for dishes that I haven’t yet cooked, and besides, cabbage is one of the few green vegetables in season this time of year. It seemed like cabbage rolls and I were meant to be.
Of course, I didn’t know at the beginning just how much work was involved in stuffing cabbage. I decided right away that the filling would be lentil-based; traditional stuffed cabbage recipes require some kind of ground meat, usually cow or lamb, and I find that a combination of lentils and grain is a good vegetarian replacement. So on Sunday, I cooked my lentils (1 1/4 cup lentils, 3 1/2 cups water, 2 cloves minced garlic, salt and pepper to taste and boil uncovered until tender) and soaked my bulgur wheat (1/3 cup bulgar, 2/3 cup boiling vegetable broth).
Then I noticed that the “whole” cabbage I thought I had in my fridge had, in fact, been partially sacrificed to make last week’s Cabbage Noodle Soup. Since it was too close to dinnertime to run to the store for cabbage and still have time to get dinner on the table, I put the lentils and bulgur into the fridge, asked my Facebook followers to tell me what to make with the contents of my fridge, and threw together a modified Aloo Gobi. Buying and stuffing a cabbage would have to wait until Monday.
When I got home from the grocery store on Monday, with the cabbage and 142 other things my family needs in the average week, I was glad I’d already cooked the lentils and grain. Rolling up the filling in the cabbage leaves turned out to be easier than I expected–cabbage leaves just seem to want to wrap themselves around stuff–but the whole process of making the tomato sauce, boiling the cabbage to get the leaves to come free, and trimming the leaves before stuffing them took longer than I expected.
I could have made the whole process much easier by using canned lentils and jarred tomato sauce, but I think the recipe would have suffered. Of course, if you’re not up for an afternoon of cabbage stuffing adventures, do whatever you can to make this recipe quicker and easier.
Some things are easier to show rather than tell, so in the spirit of “a picture’s worth a thousand words,” here’s 8000 words’ worth of instruction. I’ve made it printable, so just click on the link above it if you’d like to have a copy to keep with the recipe.
Since it was my first time making cabbage rolls, I decided to be conservative and stick to the seasonings in the non-vegetarian recipes I found in cookbooks and online–meaning very little seasoning. As a result, these vegan cabbage rolls are an excellent showcase for the earthiness of the lentils, the sweetness of the roasted tomatoes and raisins, and the, um, cabbaginess of the cabbage. I thought they were delicious as-is, but I’ve added a few seasoning suggestions to the recipe for those of you who like things highly seasoned.
Vegan Cabbage Rolls
Ingredients
SAUCE
- 1 medium onion chopped
- pinch baking soda
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 28-ounce can diced fire-roasted tomatoes*
- 1 16- ounce can diced fire-roasted tomatoes* pureed in blender
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon salt* or to taste
- generous grating black pepper
- 1/4 cup raisins
CABBAGE AND FILLING
- 1 large cabbage
- 3 cups cooked lentils from 1 1/4 cup dry
- 1 cup cooked grain bulgur wheat, kasha, brown rice, quinoa, etc.
- 1 medium onion minced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon paprika smoked or regular
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon salt* or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
Instructions
- Sauce: Heat a large non-stick pan and add the onions and a pinch of baking soda. Cook until the onion softens, about 3-5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for another minute. Add all remaining sauce ingredients except the raisins, reduce heat to low, and cover. Cook for at least 30 minutes as you prepare the cabbage leaves and filling.
- Fill a large deep pan with enough water to cover a cabbage and bring it to a boil. Remove all torn or ragged outer leaves from the cabbage. Use a paring knife to cut at an angle around the core and remove as much of it as you can. Put the cabbage core-end up into the boiling water and cook until the leaves soften and begin to come free of the cabbage; you may use a fork or tongs to loosen leaves if they become stuck, but be careful not to tear them. Remove each leaf and repeat until you have 10-12 whole cabbage leaves. (Iâve also read that you can freeze the cabbage overnight and let it thaw the next day; the leaves will be softened the same as after boiling. I havenât tried this, though.)
- Place the leaves and the remaining cabbage head in a strainer and rinse under cold water. Finely shred the cabbage remaining on the head and add it to the sauce along with the raisins. Keep the sauce covered and continue to cook on very low.
- In a medium bowl, mix the lentils and all remaining ingredients, adding salt and pepper to taste. Dry each cabbage leaf gently and trim the thick rib near the stem end of each leaf.
- Put a cabbage leaf on your work surface with the concave side up, like a cup, and the stem end toward you. Place about 1/3 cup of the lentil mixture near the stem end (a little more for large leaves, less for smaller ones) and mold it into an oblong shape. Fold the stem up over the filling and then fold each of the sides toward the middle. Roll the filling up the rest of the leaf. You should have a nice, tight package. Place it on a plate and repeat with remaining leaves. (If you have some filling left over, it makes a delicious salad.)
- Spread about half of the tomato sauce in the bottom of a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot. Place each cabbage roll, seam-side down, on top of the sauce in a single layer. (Itâs okay if itâs a snug fit.) Spread the remaining sauce over the rolls. Cover and cook on your lowest heat setting until the cabbage is tender, about 45-60 minutes, being careful not to burn the bottom.
- To serve, place two cabbage rolls on a plate and cover with sauce.
Notes
Nutritional info is approximate.
More Vegetarian Cabbage Rolls
Golabkis (Stuffed Cabbage Rolls) guest blog by Vegan Yack Attack
Cabbage Rolls from Vegan Dad
Vegan Cabbage Rolls by Girl Makes Food
…and check out my Collards Stuffed with Red Beans and Rice for another green option
Please Pin and Share!
bikeandhikenc
February 25, 2013 at 1:36 pmMade this on Sunday and it turned out great. I had a bit more cabbage than I thought left so my sauce had lots of cabbage in it but is turned out delicious. I baked it in the oven covered at 350 for 45 minutes and served with corn on the cob. We were stuffed and will have enough for another night.
Trish
March 16, 2013 at 9:51 amNice pictures! Really makes a brilliant post. Like your bare-bones recipe with suggestions for spicing it up. And especially appreciate the vegan focus. Everyone needs some vegan in their repertoire, just to get up close and personal with vegetables, and recognizing what “vegan” means–not something out of the ordinary, but simple and straightforward, and oftentimes food we already have in our menu.
robin
March 21, 2013 at 9:05 pmdelicious and I cooked them in the oven
Egads
April 2, 2013 at 5:20 pmSold! Soaking barley tonight, making these tomorrow. Thank you for the recipe & instructions.
lovemyfamily
April 5, 2013 at 10:08 amThis was pretty good. My cabbage rolls didn’t look nearly as nice as yours, my husband was pretty impressed though. I also took all the cabbage leaves that were too small and chopped them up and added them to some of the extra lentil mixture and covered it in sauce; I put that in the freezer for a later date.
Anon & invis
May 28, 2013 at 9:53 pmGreat idea
Nisha
April 19, 2013 at 11:38 pmYour step-by-step pictures are very good and clear. I made these rolls today. First I thought boiling the cabbage would make it tender, why bother trimming the thick center ribs? But then realized it IS important for cabbage to roll properly.
Thanks for sharing!
Evelyn
April 28, 2013 at 7:42 amIf you don’t mind using a microwave, the cabbage preparation is amazingly simple. It works better if the cabbage is at room temperature, and best if you buy the cabbage from a farmers market the day you make it, but you can adjust. Just core the cabbage, rinse it, and put it in a bowl large enough to cover most of it, then put plastic wrap on top, leaving an open edge, where the plastic doesn’t cover the whole bowl but does cover the top of the cabbage. Put this in your microwave for 10 minutes and voila! You can easily peel the leaves when you are done. Peel as many as you can and if the leaves are less done toward the center, repeat with the remaining cabbage if you need more leaves.
Anon & invis
May 28, 2013 at 9:48 pmI don’t really have a question but I was looking for a cabbage roll recipe on a lark. I habitually pull the meat out of recipes and substitute this or that so I was really pleased when I saw lentils as an ingredient. One reason is I am overdue to serve them. Lol. I plan to make this recipe with lentils and rice not bulgar this time. I also love buLgar. I sincerely appreciate all the effort you put into this I am very much looking forward to trying it.
thank you again.
anonymous and invisible
Terra Kelly
June 1, 2013 at 1:48 pmFirst off this is a great recipe! I have made cabbage rolls many times before, but always with bacon. Today is the first day of making vegan cabbage rolls.
Tip: another way of getting the cabbage soft enough to roll properly is placing the cabbage in the freezer for at least two weeks… but now that I think of it, I do not know how the vitamins and minerals in cabbage reacts to being frozen.
Mollie
August 3, 2019 at 10:10 pmI have been making stuffed cabbage for years, freezing the cabbage ahead rather that boiling it. I find that cutting out the core first and freezing it for 2 – 3 days is sufficient to make it pliable and easy to roll.
Ashley
July 8, 2013 at 11:22 amI loosely based my lunch of this recipe today đ It turned out delicious! I used a canned pasta sauce instead of making my own (Didn’t even have tomatoes in the house!) And I used black quinoa in the stuffing and also added kidney beans. It was soo good!
Lisa
July 19, 2013 at 4:51 pmThese are delicious and this is a beautiful blog post! Love the step-by-step pictures for the cabbage folding. Thank you.
Josie
July 24, 2013 at 2:38 amThis looks and sounds very delicious! I have been searching for the perfect dish to serve at the potluck my office is having on Friday and I have been having a hard time because I want to make something that is vegan for my boss. I’m not big on potlucks so I never know what to bring and this looked like the perfect dish. But my question is, can I serve these at room temperature? They will be sitting out for a good 3 hours..
Susan Voisin
July 24, 2013 at 7:12 amI think they’re probably better hot, but there’s no reason why you couldn’t serve them at room temperature.
Angie
August 27, 2013 at 1:37 pmHi
I made your cabbage rolls for the first time today, they look and smell delicious !
I am sending some off to university with my daughter so I have put them in a container with the sauce already on them for her. I was hoping to see a comment about whether I could make them and than refrigerate them over night? I am planning on putting them in the oven with the sauce already on them and wondered if I put the sauce on today and than refrigerate over night if they will be mushy?
May be trial by fire.
Thanks for the great recipe đ
Angie
Susan Voisin
August 27, 2013 at 1:56 pmAngie, I think they will be fine refrigerated overnight. I hope your daughter likes them!
Metala Theart
November 14, 2013 at 2:43 pmI get an organic vegbox delivered every week so I never know what ingredients I will have and am always looking for new, exciting vegan recipes to use up my veg!
I brought a tagine back from morocco this summer and got a huge organic cabbage in my vegbox this week, so this recipe was perfect!
Super easy to make and tasted amazing! Looks pretty impressive too, so i will be putting this recipe on my dinner party list đ
I think I may make these as a side dish for Christmas dinner too, as a sort of alternative to sausages in bacon!
Metala
MY FOOD GALLERY: http://www.flickr.com/photos/101375277@N07/sets/72157635646742123/
Lauren
December 1, 2013 at 9:52 amI actually made a mushroom-nut loaf for Thanksgiving, and I’m wondering if I could just crumble up the leftovers and use that as filling. Hmm!
Becky
March 12, 2014 at 8:49 pmThese were delicious!! A bit of work, but definitely worth it.
Aria
March 31, 2014 at 6:34 amHey Susan!
I tried this recipe and wrote a blog post about it in my new series “CopyCat Cooking” on my blog Artandbeautyfreak, you can check it out here: http://artandbeautyfreak.blogspot.dk/2014/03/copycat-cooking-ep-1-vegan-cabbage-rolls.html
Thanks for sharing!
//Aria
sandy60
June 30, 2014 at 1:09 amI think you could also use the filling for a taco. Just put it in a soft taco with tomato, cucumber, onion, lettuce and top with taco sauce.
tropit
August 19, 2014 at 4:19 pmSusan,
You have this one just right. My grandmother was Bohemian and she also made Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with allspice, (or sometimes a dash of ground cloves,) and raisins. She usually sprinkled the final dish with some crushed, caraway seeds. It was so aromatic and delicious! I went on an online quest for perfect vegan cabbage rolls and yours was the only one that included these ingredients. You’ve hit the nail on the head! Thanks!
tropit
August 19, 2014 at 6:37 pmOne more thing…If you cut a V-shaped notch out of the thick, bottom end of the leaf stem first, it will make rolling them up much easier. đ
Graham's Mom
December 3, 2014 at 10:28 amCould this be made in a pressure cooker? (I just bought the Instant Pot.)
Susan Voisin
December 3, 2014 at 10:57 amI think you could do it with the slow cooker setting on the Instant Pot. The IP sometimes has trouble pressure cooking tomato-based sauces, so I worry that it wouldn’t work for this, but the higher temperature slow cooker setting should work or the steam setting might work.
Kathy
February 3, 2015 at 11:02 amSoooooo where was the polenta?
Susan Voisin
February 3, 2015 at 11:06 amWhat polenta?
Anne
September 22, 2015 at 6:35 pmMy husband’s grandmother, who is Polish, swore that the key to cabbage roles is celery salt! She claimed that it took her most of her adult life to figure out what was missing from her recipe compared to the one she grew up with. If you can include salt in your diet, check it out – it’s delicious!
westomoon
January 23, 2017 at 1:20 pmIf you can’t include celery salt, use celery seed.
sherri patterson
October 4, 2015 at 2:23 pmI made this in its great. Nice to see vegan meals to are not hard and actually taste good. Thank you.
Aleah
February 16, 2016 at 5:55 pmI recently tried this recipe tonight! I am a cabbage roll lover! I’m so happy I found this as I have given up meat for lent! I tried the cabbage in the freezer thing and found it worked great! I will always do it this way. I, however, found it hard to shred the cabbage. Any suggestions? I have never cooked cabbage before and this was my first time so ang suggestions for that would be great! They are currently in the oven @ 350 after reading some tips from various replies on this recipe. Can’t wait to try!
Megan
April 28, 2016 at 8:36 pmOh my, my, my! So yummy!!!
shirley
July 12, 2016 at 12:16 pminstead of boiling water to soften the cabbage leaves you can freeze the head and they come out wilted when defrosted
lisa
September 8, 2016 at 2:57 pmhello!
i found your recipe for stuffed cabbage and i was wondering why you add baking soda to cook the onions?
Susan Voisin
September 8, 2016 at 3:07 pmIt makes them cook faster.
westomoon
January 23, 2017 at 1:18 pmIf you’re all thumbs like me, I’ve discovered you can make a lasagna-style version of stuffed cabbage.
You prep the leaves as usual (some great tips here!), then put a splash of the liquid in the bottom of a covered baking dish, lay down a good layer of cabbage leaves, put in a layer of filling, then cover with another layer of cabbage leaves, pour the liquid over the whole thing, cover, and bake. (If your dish is deep, you can do another layer before you add the liquid.)
I’m definitely going to try C Luker’s shredded-cabbage version, but this approach still requires you to use a knife and fork to cut into bites — something I sometimes want, and not so common in veggie main dishes..
Eileen
January 31, 2017 at 1:40 pmMy mother, who was Ukrainian, made cabbage rolls and stuffed them with whole buckwheat groats mixed with chopped cooked onion and diced fried salt pork. It was a real treat for us! I’m thinking I could recreate them without the salt pork, maybe using a veggie burger of some sort or just leaving it out. She topped them with tomato sauce or soup and put them in the oven for a little bit to cook the flavors together.
Patti
May 5, 2017 at 12:46 pmI’ve never had this dish before, so I decided to try it .
Was delicious. Thank you!
Karen Lamb
September 17, 2017 at 4:23 pmThese look great. I’m curious – why put baking soda in the sauce?
Susan Voisin
September 17, 2017 at 4:28 pmBaking soda speeds up the browning of the onions. It’s a little trick I use, but it’s not required.
saxon wife
October 27, 2017 at 2:27 pmIf you are looking for an easy way to prepare the cabbage for rolling just put the whole head in the freezer for 24
hours. Let it thaw then peel off the leaves. Easy peasy no boiling water required.
Bobbi
March 9, 2018 at 7:59 pmI made these and my husband loved them.He hates raisens in his food so I pureed them in the sauce.He never knew till I told him..This dish is a keeperđ¤
Susan Voisin
March 9, 2018 at 8:50 pmđ
Amanda
September 22, 2018 at 9:18 pmSo delicious. Hearty. Thank you for this great recipe! Perfect meal to start the fall season!
Sandy
November 14, 2018 at 4:17 pmI made them last night and I’ll be making them again! I loved the sauce, it had great flavour and definitely made the cabbage rolls. As you mentioned, the flavors of the stuffing can be added upon. I added Basil, oregano and hot sauce. I found it alittle bland (I guess I didn’t add enough) but with the sauce they were fantastic. I’m going to try adding some of the sauce to the filling to see if it gives it a little more flavor. Great recipe. I give it a 10/10 even though I need to tweek it a bit. Thanks. BTW…love your commentary.
Steven
September 29, 2019 at 7:13 pmMade this a few times now. Thanks for sharing! Love it
Liz
December 15, 2019 at 4:41 pmUgh, I put all the seasonings for the filling in the sauce on accident! Do i just make the filling as usual?
Susan Voisin
December 15, 2019 at 5:10 pmI think I would. If the sauce tastes too strong, you might be able to dilute it with tomato sauce or something.
Emily
July 14, 2020 at 4:01 pmđ
Cris
January 14, 2021 at 1:20 pmSo I have a quick question: I often cook big batches and then freeze them in meal portions for my boyfriend and I to enjoy later. If I make these cabbage rolls, should I stop cooking at a certain point to be able to freeze them and then cook later? I think we’ll probably eat some this weekend, but since it’s just the two of us it’s nice to put some aside for meals on a busy week night when I don’t have time to cook! I’ve never tried freezing cabbage rolls before, so just curious if you have any specific tips. I was thinking if I made the rolls, covered them with sauce and then froze it that way then I can bake them later after thawing. Or, should I bake them, portion it out into trays, and then thaw and reheat later? I’m having a bit of a dilemma!
Susan Voisin
January 14, 2021 at 6:06 pmI would bake them first. I donât have a reason for preferring to do it that way, just instinct that cooked foods will preserve better.