We all really enjoyed these! My kother-in-law gave me a great tip to make this recipe easier: Put you cabbage head in the freezer, and freeze completely. When you take it out and it thaws, the leaves will be wilted and very easy to work with, eliminating the process of boiling the cabbage---one less step!
5 stars (if you follow other reviewers' advice). I am so glad I read the other reviews, because they turned out perfectly! I, too, steamed the entire head of cabbage first, added some garlic powder to the beef mixture (I used 1/8 tsp - perfect!), doubled the sauce (a must!), and baked at 350 (covered with foil) for an hour, instead of using the slow cooker. The only things I would change include using 3/4 tsp. pepper (1 1/4 tsp. was too spicy), and increase the onion to 1/2 cup for more flavor (which I did, and it was great!). I measured exactly 1/4 cup for each roll, and I ended up with 10 rolls. If you are pressed for time, you can substitute 1 Tbl. dried minced onion for the fresh onion. The second time I made this, I sprinkled some salt on the rolls before adding the sauce, and that helped give it more flavor. One more note: be SURE and use VERY lean beef - you don't cook the meat before rolling it into the cabbage leaves, so there will be no way to drain off the fat. Thanks for the recipe!
This recipe is really just okay, but could be tweaked to make it better.
The sauce recipe needs to be quadrupled, because even a double batch leaves the rolls pretty dry. I would also add a little tomato sauce to the ground beef mixture, and a little garlic and maybe a little mustard powder.
Also, you should know that the easiest way to prepare your cabbage is to core the head, and steam the entire thing. If you try to peel the unsteamed leaves, you are going to tear them.
my 5 star rating is for this recipe as written. I would give this 10 stars with my changes as it can be totally out of this world awesome with the alterations! I've been taught (by several Polish ancestors) to use half ground beef and half ground pork for tender, flavorful golumbki. I cooked the rice in water with 2 beef bouillion cubes added to it. (don't add extra salt to the meat mixture though.) To the meat, I added 1/2 tsp. garlic powder. The pepper may seem like a lot but makes this dish sing! (well, it made my family sing...) I tripled this recipe with great success. If you're going through the trouble of making golumbki, make enough to freeze another meal or for a family gathering. THANK YOU for asking us to boil the cabbage leaves rather than freeze them. (Tripling this took 2 heads of cabbage and made about 48 rolls.) It makes all the difference between tender edible cabbage leaves or rubbery ones to boil the cabbage leaves. My family has always taken rinsed, squeezed out sour kraut to lay over the prepared cabbage rolls. Pour the tomato sauce mixture over all this and top with (uncooked) bacon slices. No, this is not for the faint of heart fat free consumers, but for the people who want traditional cabbbage rolls (golumbki) that they and their kids will gobble up and ask for more! One more thing, this dish freezes well, so made in large quantities is nothing to fear.
THEY WERE AWESOME, I THINK THE BEST I EVER MADE. I FOLLOWED MOST OF THE REVIEWS, AND MADE MY OWN ADJUSTMENTS. I DOUBLED THE RECIPE ADDED 4 CLOVES OF GARLIC AND USED A COUPLE OF SHALLOTS INSTEAD OF THE ONION. THE SAUCE I MADE WAS 1 28 OZ CAN OF DICED TOMATOES AND 1 28 OZ CAN OF CRUSHED TOMATOES, WITH 3 TBSP OF BROWN SUGAR, 3 TBSP OF LEMON JUICE AND 1 TSP OF WORCESTERSHIRE. I COOKED SOME IN MY CROCK POT AND SOME IN THE OVEN. THE ONES FROM THE OVEN TURNED OUT THE BEST. THIS RECIPE IS A DEFINTE KEEPER.
These were great...just like I remember my Mom making. I did double the sauce and baked them in a 9x13 casserole dish for 1 hour at 350 deg instead of using the crockpot.
This recipe is excellent, I looked at the reviews and other recipes and made a few alterations; my family loved them. I quadrupled the sauce recipe. And I used 1# of hamburger and 1# of spicey italian sausage. I ended up with 2 casseroles (one for the freezer). Also, I steamed one head of lettuce and it went to long and ended up a mushy mess. I found a video on the internet with a different technique for the cabbage leaves and I'll never do it another way. Get a very large pot of water and bring up to a small boil; as you're waiting for the water to boil core the cabbage head with a fairly wide margin at the top and take off the outer leaves that are dirty. Once the water is hot, place the cabbage head into the boiling water. After about a minute or so, the outside leaves will start to separate from the head; approx every 45 seconds a leaf or two will separate. As they separate remove them from the water into a pie tin or bowl. This is fail proof and the leaves are the perfect softness to roll with ease.
I doubled the sauce also, and it was super. The batch I made produced more than 12 rolls (I guess European cabbages are smaller?) but it was still delicious.
Something I'll try next time is chopping the remainder of the cabbage and placing that in the bottom of the pan, rolls atop it, to allow for people who really love their cabbage. The juices make everything taste fabulous.
i was shocked! being of ukranian descent and having married into polish heritage, i'd had 'piggies' as many times as i've had haluski but had no idea they were so simple! started them yesterday AM before we cleaned our basement and by the time we needed a break they were done! my husband LOVED them (and that's saying something) and my 3 y.o wolfed his down, eating even the cabbage! this one has earned its place in my recipe basket!
