Stuffed cabbage rolls with meat and rice is a very popular, satisfying and tasty dish, with some variations in ingredients and ingredients, found in the cuisine of many peoples of the world. For example, dolma made from grape leaves immediately comes to mind... Today we will cook the most ordinary cabbage rolls in cabbage leaves, on the stove, in a saucepan.

Although many people love cabbage rolls, they rarely cook this dish and the reason is banal - lack of time or simple reluctance, because the cooking process is quite labor-intensive and time-consuming. In addition, the most important thing that stops it is the need to cook and disassemble the cabbage leaves.

But nowadays, household appliances that are found in every home, for example, a microwave oven, come to the rescue. Today we will steam cabbage leaves using the microwave. Only recently I learned about this method of steaming cabbage leaves, tested it from my own experience and was convinced how easy it is to prepare cabbage rolls now - I prepared a hefty pan and didn’t even notice, just kidding.)))

It is more preferable if you prepare the minced meat yourself, but you can also purchase ready-made store-bought. Use any meat you like best or have on hand - pork, beef, chicken, turkey, etc. or mix several types of meat. But if the meat is too lean, I advise you to add a little lard to the minced meat - then the finished dish will not seem dry.

It will be better if you add herbs, sauces, roasts, those you are used to or completely new ones, to the prepared minced meat and to the broth for stewing cabbage rolls. Here you can experiment a lot, but, of course, within reason. If you don’t want to bother with all this, you can do without any additives, it will be delicious, but I still advise you to make every effort - then the return on the finished dish will be much higher. So, how to cook cabbage rolls recipe with photos step by step...

Ingredients

• meat or prepared minced meat (1 kg)
• white cabbage (medium size)
• rice (150-200 g)
• tomato sauce, or tomato paste or ketchup (100 g)
• sour cream or mayonnaise (2 tbsp)
• bell pepper (1/2 pcs.) - optional
• greenery
• salt pepper
• vegetable oil - for frying

How to cook cabbage rolls

Preparing cabbage

1. Remove and discard the top few cabbage leaves; they usually have some damage after storage. Cut out the stalk and place the cabbage head in the microwave, on a plate that is available in any microwave oven, cut with the stalk facing down. Turn on the microwave at full power for 8-10 minutes. I set it to 10, since my cabbage for cabbage rolls is quite dense, white.

Cooking rice

2. While the cabbage is steaming, rinse and let the rice cook until half cooked, don’t forget to add salt. Boil the rice so that during the process of stewing cabbage rolls, it does not absorb all the juice from the meat, then the filling and the finished dish may turn out dry. After the rice is lightly boiled, drain it through a colander and leave to drain. I rinse the rice in cold water so that it cools down and can be used immediately.

Separating cabbage into leaves

3. Meanwhile, the microwave oven has finished its work; carefully, so as not to get burned, remove the cabbage head using a towel. What we see - as expected - the top leaves of the cabbage have become soft and elastic, easily separated from the cabbage head, if this is not the case for you - put the cabbage head in the microwave for a couple more minutes, so by trial you will find out how much time your microwave requires stove for steaming cabbage and in the future you will stick to this figure. How to cook cabbage rolls recipe with photos.

We remove all the soft cabbage leaves for cabbage rolls; when we notice that the cabbage leaves have become harder, we repeat the procedure with the microwave and cabbage until we remove the required amount. It turns out very convenient - no boiling water and no fear that you can get scalded when you boil a head of cabbage in water, no excess moisture in cabbage leaves and cabbage rolls, cabbage leaves are elastic and flexible, they don’t fall apart, as happens if you overcook cabbage - it’s just wonderful.

By the way, the remaining steamed cabbage should not be thrown away. I cut it up, put it in a bag and put it in the freezer. I use it for cooking other dishes - for cooking borscht, cabbage soup, just for stewing cabbage with anything. How to cook cabbage rolls recipe with photos step by step.

Preparing minced meat for cabbage rolls

4. Rice and cabbage leaves for cabbage rolls are ready, let’s prepare the minced meat. Today I have lean pork, so I add a little lard to the minced meat, about 100 g. Cut the meat and lard for minced meat into small pieces and put it through a meat grinder. Finely chop the greens, dice the bell pepper, and place in the minced meat. Add 1 tbsp tomato sauce and sour cream or mayonnaise, salt and pepper, mix. Add rice, mix very thoroughly, the minced meat is ready. Recipe with photo.

Wrapping cabbage rolls

5. Well, everything is prepared, it’s time to start actually wrapping the cabbage rolls. Cabbage usually has thickenings; they need to be carefully cut off with a knife; if, despite everything, the cabbage leaf for cabbage rolls does not bend well, you can lightly beat it with a hammer. How to cook cabbage rolls recipe with photos step by step.

I make large cabbage rolls, do not cut the cabbage leaves, but wrap the minced meat with rice in cabbage leaves of the sizes that are available. Take a cabbage leaf, put the prepared minced meat and rice on it, depending on the size of the leaf - usually one or two tablespoons of minced meat, wrap the cabbage rolls in an envelope.

To prevent the cabbage rolls from falling apart, I wrap it lightly with thread - the most common cotton thread; when you serve it, do not forget to remove it. There is no need to tie the threads - it’s easier to remove them - if you pull, the thread unwinds. Previously, I cooked cabbage rolls without wrapping them - they held up well, of course, but if there were a lot of them, in a large pan, there were times when the cabbage leaves unraveled and everything fell out.

Frying cabbage rolls

6. Next, you should fry the cabbage rolls, I definitely fry them - it will turn out much tastier, the fact is that when the cabbage is fried, it caramelizes, which adds a peculiar pleasant taste and unique aroma. Pour oil into the frying pan, heat it slightly and lay out the cabbage rolls. I advise you not to heat the frying pan, but rather heat it a little with oil - because they splatter a lot during frying.

After placing the cabbage rolls in the frying pan, be sure to close the lid tightly and fry over medium heat until the bottom of the cabbage rolls is browned, about three to four minutes. Then turn off the frying pan, wait until they stop crackling, open the lid - turn it over, cover it - turn on the gas again, fry on the other side. Stuffed cabbage rolls recipe with photos.

Stewing cabbage rolls

7. After frying the cabbage rolls, put them in a convenient deep pan, add salt and pepper to each layer, add tomato sauce and herbs. When everything is fried and put in a pan, add water, but not to the very top of the pan, but so that there is room left, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover the pan with cabbage rolls with a lid and leave to simmer for 40-45 minutes. I advise you to turn over the top cabbage rolls after 20 minutes of stewing so that the cabbage in them is evenly stewed and soft.

How to cook cabbage rolls correctly? Today I offer a classic recipe for preparing cabbage rolls with minced meat and rice in cabbage, and having already mastered it, you can experiment with various options for preparing this dish, of which there are many - they are also prepared from Chinese cabbage, with the addition of mushrooms and buckwheat to the filling, with preliminary frying on frying pan and oven, etc.

How to choose cabbage for cabbage rolls? As for the size, the head of cabbage should not be small, otherwise there will be few cabbage rolls. A large head of cabbage is also not suitable, otherwise the cabbage rolls will turn out to be huge in size. The most optimal is a medium-sized head of cabbage.

Ingredients:

• Medium sized head of cabbage 1 pc.
• Meat 0.5 kg
• Rice 0.5 cups
• Medium sized carrots 1 pc.
• Large onion 1 pc.
• Vegetable oil for frying vegetables
• Tomato paste 1.5 tbsp. or tomato juice (fruit drink) 2 cups
• Salt and pepper - to taste

The first stage is preparing cabbage leaves for cabbage rolls:

There are several methods of preparation, I propose one of them - the most convenient and fastest, in my opinion. Place a large pot of water on the stove (enough to fit a head of cabbage). While the water is boiling, take this very head of cabbage and cut out the stalk - the inner hard part. When the water boils, place it in boiling water with the bottom facing down, turn it over after 3 minutes, and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Place on a wide plate and cool (while it cools, you can make the filling). Disassemble the already cooled head of cabbage into individual leaves with your hands. If necessary, trim off the thick areas that are located at the base of the cabbage leaf.

The second stage is preparing the filling and forming cabbage rolls:

1. Boil the rice until half cooked. Cut the meat into pieces and grind it into a meat grinder; you can also take ready-made minced meat. But if time allows, it’s better, of course, to make minced meat yourself, it always turns out tastier. Place rice in a bowl with minced meat. By the way, I indicated the amount of rice conditionally. If you like more or less of it in the finished dish, please, there are no clear rules here, but I prefer this particular ratio of ingredients.

2. Fry onions and carrots for our filling. You can add carrots to the filling if you wish, but they give the cabbage rolls juiciness and some sweetness, so I highly recommend using them too. So, first grate the carrots and fry over medium heat for several minutes until soft, add to the minced meat with rice. Then fry the chopped onion in the same frying pan until slightly translucent and also add to the ingredients.

3.Combine all ingredients together. Mix well the stuffing for cabbage rolls, consisting of rice, minced meat, carrots and onions. Salt and pepper, add your favorite spices if desired.

4. Now you can begin the most interesting stage - the formation of cabbage rolls. Place the prepared cabbage leaf with the base facing you and place a small amount of minced meat on it. Roll it up into a tube, tucking the edges inward.

5. This is what we get.

I offer you a delicious recipe for the second course (one of my favorites) - cabbage rolls with meat and rice. They can be cooked not only on the stove, but in a slow cooker - in any case, the cabbage rolls will be satisfying and very appetizing.

Not all housewives undertake to cook cabbage rolls, believing that it is a long and difficult task. However, like many step-by-step recipes for second courses, this dish is not particularly complicated in the cooking process - the main thing is to know some secrets. For example, cabbage for cabbage rolls with meat must first be softened - there are several ways (I'll tell you about my favorite).

Ingredients:

(2 kilograms) (1 kg ) (1 glass) (3 pieces ) (2 pieces ) (3 glasses) (1.5 teaspoons) (2 pieces ) (8 pieces ) (3 tablespoons) (4 tablespoons) (1 bunch)

Cooking the dish step by step with photos:

First of all, I’ll tell you about my favorite way of preparing cabbage for cabbage rolls (my Tamara suggested it to me - now I only do it this way). As a rule, housewives boil cabbage leaves to soften them, right? But this method is quite labor-intensive, and you can easily get burned. Alternatively, you can freeze the head of cabbage, then the sheets will become soft after thawing. But here’s another way - steam the cabbage in the microwave! We take a head of cabbage, remove the limp or damaged leaves, put it in a bag and tie it tightly. Depending on the weight of the head of cabbage, the time may be needed differently. But for 1 kilogram it takes about 10-12 minutes on the general mode. That is, you just put the cabbage in a bag in the microwave and cook it there on the Warm program. It took me half an hour to prepare a 2.5 kilogram head of cabbage.

We take it out and wrap it in a towel right in the bag so that it sweats a little more. You can carry out these manipulations in the evening, leaving the head of cabbage to cool until the morning. When it cools down, open the bag and take out the cabbage. The sheets will come off perfectly on their own, even the most delicate and compressed ones. We cut off the hard veins at the base of the sheets, otherwise it will be difficult to carefully roll the cabbage rolls with them.

Now it's time to start filling our delicious cabbage rolls. To do this, we either take ready-made minced meat (pork, chicken, beef or mixed - whichever you prefer) or grind the meat through a meat grinder.

Rice. My mother, for example, always pre-boils it until half cooked when preparing cabbage rolls, but I don’t see any point in this. I just wash the cereal very thoroughly in 5-7 waters.

Combine minced meat and washed rice in a bowl. In addition, we chop the peeled carrots (on a coarse grater), onions and parsley (cut very finely). Leave half the vegetables and herbs, and add the other half to the minced meat.

Mix the stuffing for cabbage rolls thoroughly, add salt, and taste. If necessary, add more salt.

Now we make cabbage rolls. Place a couple of tablespoons of minced meat on each cabbage leaf (they are very elastic) and wrap it in the form of an envelope. Place the first layer of cabbage rolls in a thick-walled pan or duck pot. I also put substandard or too small sheets on the bottom of the dish that no longer fit the minced meat.

Stuffed cabbage rolls with minced meat and rice are a delicious meat dish for both festive and everyday tables. But many people don’t know how to cook cabbage rolls correctly and tasty; it seems like a complicated task, but in fact everything is very simple, and the set of products is not that large, so why not cook delicious cabbage rolls this coming weekend? So let's find out how to make cabbage rolls with minced meat and rice.

Delicious cabbage rolls - recipe for cooking in a saucepan

Required ingredients:

• minced pork and beef – 1 kg;
• half a glass of rice (preferably round);
• head of cabbage;
• carrots – 1 piece;
• onions – 1 pc;
• vegetable oil;
• 1 tablespoon of tomato paste or ketchup;
• salt, pepper, spices.

How to properly cook cabbage rolls from fresh cabbage with minced meat

1. Buy minced pork and beef or make it yourself.

2. Wash the rice and fill it with cold water. Add some salt to the water and put it on the stove. Cook the rice until half cooked.

3. When the rice is cooked until half cooked, pour the water in which it was cooked into a separate container. We rinse the rice itself under cold water, transfer it to a colander and leave the water to drain.

4. Add rice to the minced meat, add salt, pepper and other spices, mix everything thoroughly.

5. Pour water into a large saucepan, add some salt and put it on the stove to boil. If you have a large enough pan, you can put a whole forkful of cabbage in it. Let it boil and remove the pan from the heat, take the cabbage out onto a plate to cool.

6. Then, when the cabbage has cooled a little, cut it into leaves.

If you don’t have a pan large enough to hold a whole forkful, you can first cut the cabbage into leaves, and then place the cabbage leaves in boiling water. As soon as the water with cabbage leaves boils, remove the pan from the heat. We take the leaves out of the water and leave so that the water drains and the leaves themselves cool a little.

7. Lay out the cabbage leaf on the table, put a spoonful of filling (minced meat with rice) on it. We roll the cabbage rolls into rolls so that all the edges are closed and the stuffing does not fall out.

8. Pour oil into the frying pan and set it to heat on the stove.

9. Place our cabbage rolls in a heated frying pan and fry them on both sides.

10. Transfer all the fried cabbage rolls into a deep pan.

11. In ANOTHER frying pan, sauté vegetables (pre-peeled and washed, finely chopped onion and grated carrots) and tomato paste. Here I also add mine, which, thanks to the bell pepper, gives the dish a summer aroma. When the vegetables are slightly fried, pour the water from under the rice onto them. Boil everything for 1 minute and pour this mixture over the cabbage rolls in the pan.

If the cabbage rolls are not completely covered, add boiled water.

12. Place the pan with cabbage rolls on the fire. When the cabbage rolls boil, turn the heat to low, taste for salt (add more salt if necessary), add bay leaf and simmer under a closed lid for half an hour.

13. The most delicious cabbage rolls are ready! You can sprinkle them with herbs and invite everyone to the table! Bon appetit!

I propose to cook delicious cabbage rolls with minced meat and rice in a saucepan today. This is a simple version of a popular dish that will allow you to diversify your regular menu. Despite the fact that there is a wide variety of recipes, today’s one, which I offer you, can easily be considered a classic. The combination of minced pork and fried vegetables has been tested by more than one generation of housewives, which says a lot.

As a rule, ordinary white cabbage is used as a “wrapper” to prepare cabbage rolls, but there are exceptions. For the sake of experiment, you can replace it with lettuce leaves, or even grape leaves. In the latter case, you will get dolma - a very tasty and nutritious dish.

You can also play around with the fillings and replace the rice with any other grain: buckwheat, millet, etc. Ready cabbage rolls are best served hot, with sour cream or gravy. You can also add sprigs of fresh herbs: dill or parsley.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp. rice + 2 tbsp. water
• 800 g pork
• 2 onions
• 1 carrot
• 3 tbsp. tomato sauce
• 100 ml sour cream
• 3-4 pcs. bay leaf
• Salt, black pepper and herbs to taste