Main Dishes

Cabbage Rolls

From the kitchen of Mom (Mary April)

Stuffed cabbage — known as Kohlrouladen in German, gołąbki in Polish, holubci in Ukrainian — is one of the defining dishes of Central European immigrant cooking in America. In NE Ohio, where German, Polish, Slovak, and Hungarian communities settled close together, cabbage rolls crossed ethnic lines and became a shared language of community cooking. Mary April's version, served with sauerkraut, honors the German side of that tradition.

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Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Put head of cabbage in boiling water to loosen leaves. Peel and keep large leaves for rolls.
  2. Line bottom of baking dish with smaller leaves.
  3. Mix hamburger, rice, onion, egg, salt, and pepper.
  4. Put 3–4 Tbsp of mixture in each leaf, depending on size. Roll up and lay seam-side down in dish.
  5. Top with sauerkraut, cover and bake 1½ hrs at 350°.
💡 Tip: A nod to the family's German-Alsatian roots — hearty and satisfying.