Some days I feel like I should be a spokeswoman for Pressure Cooking Today! I love everything on that website. When I was at Chad and Nicole’s, Nicole and I wanted to make cabbage rolls but Chad threatened us with having to sleep with the dog if we cooked cabbage rolls. I kept telling him . . unwrap the cabbage, eat the filling and you’ll never know cabbage was involved but I think he remembers all the times growing up when I said: just eat it . . you’ll never taste . . whatever it is he was sure would kill him. He always swore he could taste the onion, or the celery, or the mush room.
So, no cabbage rolls were made last week but I made them yesterday in my kitchen. All I have to say is: Chad has no idea what he’s missing!
Cabbage Rolls
They were seriously delicious . . so delicious that I wouldn’t mind having them again tonight!
Let’s first talk about the pot. I used the Instant Pot electric pressure cooker. I really love that pot and I highly recommend it. But, if you don’t have one and don’t want one, you can make this recipe and simply bake the cabbage rolls.
My entire life I’ve made and loved cabbage rolls but I have never known how to successfully get the cabbage leaves off the head, get them soft enough to roll up without cracking or being too soft. It’s probably something so basic that everyone but me knew how to do it! The instructions in the recipe produced perfectly cooked, not hard, not too soft . . . cabbage leaves. I’ll use this method over and over again for the rest of my cooking years!
For the cabbage rolls, I followed the recipe except:
- My favorite cabbage roll recipe calls for crushed ginger snaps in the filling so I added some grated ginger to the filling.
- For us, the filling and the sauce would have been way too bland so I used plenty of Slap Ya Mama, plus a bit extra salt and black pepper.
Cabbage Rolls
Knowing that I would be making several meals for the freezer, I put two scoops (overflowing tablespoons) in some rolls for me, and three scoops in some rolls for Vince.
Cabbage Rolls
I ended up with 21 cabbage rolls so I put three per container – 2 for Vince and 1 for me. Six dishes for the freezer and dinner last night.
Freezer Meals
This is a recipe I’ll be making often!
Dottie N. says
LOVE cabbage rolls and yours look absolutely DELICIOUS!!!
Tracy says
These do look good. I have two purple cabbages in my fridge this week, do you think I could use them? I just finished making a pork shoulder in the Instapot today, slow cooker mode. It smelled so good all day, I can’t wait to eat it tonight.
Tammie Stephens says
Judy, I broke down and did it. The electric pressure cooker came in yesterday and I’ve cooked green beans with potatoes last night and French onion soup tonight. WOW is all I can say. I’ve owned a stove top for years and enjoyed the food out of it but HATED the “adjustment” I had to make when it came to pressure and then you have to turn down but not to far but enough to…. Well you know. For me it made me want to use it more but I’ve burn a couple, what would have been great meals, because I didn’t get it just right. ANYWAY… Thanks to you I have fallen in love with the “auto everything” on my new dream machine and have planned my menu for this week all based off using it everyday. I don’t like clutter on my counter top but this wonderful creation gets some prime real estate. THANK YOU AGAIN FOR ALL YOUR SHARING!!!
Diana G says
Just went to the Pressure cooker today site.. OMgoodness I may have to think about investing in one. Thanks for sharing !!!
Val says
I make cabbage rolls all the time and usually use a Savoy cabbage if I can get one, but the leaf removal is the same for both. I freeze the cabbage first and when it’s thawed the leaves come off easily and are limp enough to roll easily as well especially if I cut the spine thinner.
I enjoy your blog very much.
Janet Miller says
Hi Judy,
I have a Russian Grandmother (big cabbage eaters) who taught me to freeze the whole cabbage at least one day, then defrost it for cooking. The whole head just softens enough to work with, without cooking it first. This saves a lot of time. Also, a pinch of baking soda in the pot (when all the stuffed cabbages are cooking) neutralizes everything, so no one gets gas from it. We all can sleep in the same house comfortably!
Janet
Sherrill says
I LOVE cabbage rolls and ate them often as a kid. My paternal grandma made them and that’s where my mom got the recipe. Grandma called them coosa (I looked it up before but don’t remember ethnicity of that). They are YUMMY and never thought about freezing. Might hafta do that since it’s just me.