Slow Cooker Stuffed Cabbage Rolls (Polish-style Gołąbki)

Savory, spicy-sweet, and deeply satisfying, these Slow Cooker Stuffed Cabbage Rolls (Polish-style Gołąbki) are an easy-to-make meal that delivers old-world comfort in every bite.

Traditional stuffed cabbage rolls (or gołąbki, which means "little pigeons") are the epitome of Polish comfort food. While no two recipes are exactly alike, Polish-style cabbage rolls are generally made of minced or ground meat (usually beef and pork) mixed with chopped onions and rice or barley, which is then rolled in a cabbage leaf, covered with a savory-sweet tomato-based sauce, and cooked until tender. 

Although they do take a little time to prepare, cabbage rolls are very easy to make. They can be prepared well ahead of time, and they make wonderful leftovers, too. 

Jump to:

• The True Story Behind this Recipe
• Cabbage Roll Ingredients
• How to Make Gołąbki in a Slow Cooker
• Substitutions
• Variations
• Storage
• Top Tip: How to Fix a Torn Cabbage Leaf
• More Cozy Slow Cooker Recipes
• What to Serve with Cabbage Rolls
• Stuffed Cabbage Rolls (Polish-style Gołąbki)

The True Story Behind this Recipe

The first time I ever had stuffed cabbage rolls was at my friend Julie’s house. We were seven or eight, and up until that time in my life, I’d done a pretty good job of avoiding cooked cabbage altogether. But there I was, sitting at the dinner table with Julie and her family, staring down at the small, tightly-wrapped packet on my plate and wondering how I could get away with eating just the insides and leaving the slick green wrapper.

I could feel Julie’s mother eyes on me, waiting for me to take a bite. “The inside is meat and rice,” she told me. Then, reading my mind (or more likely, my face), “It’s OK if you don’t eat the cabbage.”

Mrs B was pretty and kind, with a slight, soft Polish accent that made her sound like an angel. She reassured me that it was perfectly fine if I didn’t eat the cabbage; that she wouldn't mind a bit. I think I even remember her saying that one of her children didn’t like it much either. 

But back in those days, manners dictated that when you were a visitor in someone’s home, you ate what was set in front of you. My mom would have never let me hear the end of it if she found out I’d skipped the cabbage. Besides, I would have done anything to make Julie’s mom happy.

I turned my fork on its side and cut off a corner of the cabbage roll, pushing it to the side of the plate before spearing it. Holding the little chunk of cabbage roll in front of my open mouth, I braced myself – ready smile no matter how awful it tasted. 

Don’t make a face. Don’t make a face. Don’t make a face. 

I willed the fork into my mouth and closed my lips around it, my tongue doing involuntary gymnastics as it tried to avoid the slippery triangle of cabbage. Finally, unable to put it off any longer, I bit down to chew.

In that moment, all I wanted to do was to eat that bite of cabbage without gagging. Maybe even push out a polite smile for Mrs B. 

What I got was a wonderful surprise! Instead of being unpleasantly slippery and tasting of old shoe insoles as I had expected, the cabbage I bit into was full of savory-sweet flavor that melted in my mouth. Fused with the meaty inside goodness, it was - Oh my gosh! Delicious! 

I ate my whole cabbage roll that night, and even asked for seconds. Later, as we helped Mrs B clear the table after dinner, I remember feeling warm and full, and something else I didn't fully understand at the time: I felt nourished. 

nourish [nur-ish, nuhr-ish]
To sustain; to cherish; to strengthen.

Cabbage rolls were one of the first new-to-me recipes I deliberately learned to make when I moved out on my own. I don’t remember now where I got the bones for what has evolved into one of my all-time favorite recipes, nor do I know if what I make today bears even a passing resemblance to Mrs B's cabbage rolls. What I do know is, my stuffed cabbage rolls have become a time-tested family tradition, and every time I make them, I think of Julie's mom. 

Cabbage Roll Ingredients

• Cabbage: Use standard green cabbage. You can also use Savoy cabbage.
• Ground meat: Traditionally, stuffed cabbage rolls are made with a combination of ground beef and pork, or just ground beef. However, Mr B and I have made a shift away from ground beef in the past few years, and often substitute ground turkey in recipes that call for it. (The cabbage rolls pictured here were all made with ground turkey.)
• Rice: The cooking times for this recipe are based on using white basmati rice.
• Tabasco: Use Tabasco or any similar mild hot sauce.
• Onion: We suggest using a yellow or sweet onion
• Egg
• Oregano
• Garlic powder
• Salt
• Pepper
• Ground ginger
• Lemon juice & zest: Use fresh!
• Sugar: Use plain white sugar. The amount of sugar needed depends both on the amount of sugar in the tomato sauce you use and your personal preferences.
• Canned tomato sauce: We like using tomato sauce with garlic and onions.
• Flour: (We suggest using Wondra: it doesn't get clumpy)

See recipe card for quantities.

How to Make Gołąbki in a Slow Cooker

There are other ways to cook cabbage rolls (e.g., baking, InstaPot, etc.) but using a slow cooker is by far my favorite method. 

Prepare Cabbage Leaves

For this recipe, you need to use large, whole green cabbage leaves.

Cabbage leaves are relatively inflexible and will crack and tear if you try to peel them off the cabbage head like lettuce. Preparing the cabbage leaves is easy, but it does take a little time and care. 

How to Soften & Remove Cabbage Leaves Without Tearing Them

There are a couple of way to soften them cabbage leaves. My preferred method of removing the cabbage leaves from the head is to blanch them in boiling water.

1. Fill a large stockpot two-thirds full of water and bring to a boil over high heat.
2. Using a paring knife, remove the cabbage's core.
3. Using large, sturdy tongs, carefully lower the cabbage into the pot, core side down.
4. Boil for a few minutes. Use tongs to check leaves at core. You will see when they begin to soften and loosen. 
5. Use tongs to remove the cabbage from the water to a large plate or cutting board. Check the leaves: the outside layers should peel away from the cabbage easily.
6. Peel away leaves that come off easily.
7. Return the cabbage and repeat the process; adding the cabbage to the water and then removing it to peel away more leaves. (You may need to cut the core deeper as well.)
8. Be gentle as you do not want to rip the leaves. This can take anywhere from 5-15 minutes, depending on the size of your cabbage head.
9. Continue repeating the process until you have removed all of the cabbage leaves (or until they become too small to use for rolling). 
10. When you have removed all the cabbage leaves you want for rolling, return the individual leaves to the boiling water for one minute, until they are tender and flexible. Set aside.
11. Pull or chop any remaining cabbage leaves from head. You will use these to line the slow cooker. 

Alternate Method: You can also soften the leaves by freezing a whole, cored cabbage head the day before, and then allowing it to defrost before carefully peeling the leaves away. 

Thin the Stem End of Cabbage Leaves for Easy Rolling

This step is totally optional, but I like to use a paring knife to thin the stem end just a bit before I assemble the cabbage rolls. It makes rolling them a little easier, and the rolls turn out more uniform. 

You only need to do this step for leaves that you plan to use to make the rolls. You do not need to thin the stems of the leaves you use to line the slow cooker. 

Make Sauce & Filling

Sauce

The sauce for Polish cabbage rolls is traditionally slightly sweet (along the lines of canned tomato soup). Sweetness levels are subjective, however, so adjust the sugar level in the sauce to your own tastes.

When making the sauce, whisk together tomato sauce, lemon juice, flour, ground ginger, and Tabasco sauce.

Add half the suggested sugar and taste it. The sauce will taste "raw," but you will be able to get a general idea about how sweet it is. If it isn't sweet enough, add more sugar a little at a time. (Note that sweetness will intensify as the sauce cooks.)

Set prepared sauce aside.

If you enjoy a lot of sauce with your cabbage rolls, you may want to double the sauce amounts.

Filling

Rinse the rice in cold water until the water runs clear. Drain in a wire sieve or colander.

In a medium bowl, mix ground meat, rinsed rice, salt, pepper, garlic powder, ground ginger, oregano, chopped onion, and egg until thoroughly combine. 

Form Cabbage Rolls

Basically, cabbage rolls are rolled exactly like a burrito, with one important difference: you need to leave room in cabbage roll for the rice to expand as it cooks. For this reason, do not roll them too tightly.

• A - Place about ⅓ cup filling on the stem end of a single cabbage leaf. 
• B - Roll the stem end up over the filling.
• C - Fold both sides into the middle.
• D - Complete rolling, with the final flap end resting down.

Fill Slow Cooker & Cook

Line the bottom of the slow cooker with leftover cabbage leaves, and then place the prepared cabbage rolls on top of the loose cabbage leaves. 

Do not crowd the cabbage rolls. Rolls will expand as the rice cooks inside them. Stack them in two layers if necessary.

Use any remaining cabbage leaves or chopped cabbage to fill in any spaces around rolls.

Pour the prepared sauce evenly over the rolls in the slow cooker.

Cover and cook on LOW for 5 hours; until the internal temperature reaches 160°F | 71°C.

Substitutions

Sauce: You can substitute two cans of Campbell's Tomato Soup for the sauce. Do not add any water or milk to it. Just whisk in the ginger and Tabasco, and you're done.

Ground meat: Whatever ground meat you choose to use in your cabbage rolls, it is critical to this recipe that it has enough fat in it. For best results, choose ground meat that is between 80% and 92% lean. If you use ground meat that is too lean, your cabbage rolls will turn out very dry. 

• For this recipe, you can use ground beef, ground turkey, or a 50/50 combination of beef/turkey, beef/pork, or turkey/pork. 
• Use ground meat that is 80% to 92% lean. 
• DO NOT use ground chicken for this recipe: it too lean. 

In my opinion, 85-87% lean is optimal. This results in a moist, tender cabbage roll, with no apparent residual fat. 

Rice: You can use long-grain white rice, but you may need to increased the cooking time. Do not use brown rice.

Oregano: Substitute 1 tablespoon fresh chopped oregano for each teaspoon dried.

Variations

Spiciness Level: You can adjust the heat of the sauce by changing the amount of Tabasco you use. 

• ¼ teaspoon = Very Mild (Barely noticeable)
• ½ teaspoon = Mild to Medium (A little spicy, but not hot.) 
• 1 teaspoon or more = Nicely Spicy (Don't get carried away: you don't want to cover up the other, more subtle flavors.) 

Sweetness Level: The amount of sugar needed depends both on the amount of sugar in the tomato sauce you use and your personal preferences. I like my cabbage roll sauce to have a decidedly sweet note; however, if you prefer yours less so, adjust the sugar accordingly.

For a single batch of sauce

• 3 tablespoons = Slightly sweet (About the same sweetness level as canned tomato soup)
• 4 tablespoons = Medium sweet
• 5 tablespoons = Quite Sweet

For a double batch of sauce

• ¼ cup = Slightly sweet
• ⅓ cup = Medium sweet
• ½ cup = Quite Sweet

DO NOT omit the sugar entirely; you need to use enough to offset the tomato sauce's acidity. 

Mr B doesn't like them as sweet as I do, and we have agreed that ⅓ cup sugar (for a double batch) is a perfect compromise. 

Storage

Cover and refrigerate cooked cabbage rolls within two hours of cooking and use within 3-4 days. Cooked cabbage rolls can also be frozen in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to a year.

Top Tip: How to Fix a Torn Cabbage Leaf

Inevitably, you are going to have a few torn leaves. If one of the leaves you are using for a roll is torn, use a piece of another leaf to cover the hole from the inside of the roll. Once the cabbage is formed, the counter-pressure from the filling will secure it.

When your slow cooker cabbage rolls are cooked, you will never know the tear was even there!

More Cozy Slow Cooker Recipes

Craving cabbage rolls but don't have the time? Try our quick and easy Cabbage Roll Soup recipe!

What to Serve with Cabbage Rolls

Cabbage rolls go especially well with potatoes: fluffy mashed potatoes, oven-roasted potatoes, and potato pancakes are all good choices for sides. They also pair well with spaetzle, rye bread, pilaf, and roasted carrots.

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