Easy Galumpkis {Cabbage Rolls} in a Crock Pot

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Homemade galumpkis (stuffed cabbage or cabbage rolls) are so easy to make in a crock pot! Tender leaves of steamed cabbage are rolled around a tomato-y rice and beef mixture, then covered in a creamy tomato sauce and slow cooked to perfection. Easy on the budget and family friendly!

Shopping list

• Cabbage
• Rice
• Ground beef
• Onion
• Campbells condensed tomato soup
• Sour cream
• Paprika
• Salt and pepper

Make it stretch further by using more rice and less meat. You can also add chopped mushrooms to help stretch it more.

Instructions

Mom used to put cabbage rolls in a big Dutch oven and cook in a slow oven for several hours… that is until she got her first crockpot. 🙂

This is slow cooked for about six to eight hours to reach yummy perfection. The sauce is tangy and sweet, the cabbage is delicate and tender, and the rice and beef mixture is… unbelievably good. Making the rolls doesn’t take that long at all and the house will smell amazing. Here are the steps –

1. Brown ground beef and onion. Add cooked rice and tomato soup.
2. Steam the head of cabbage and carefully peel off the outside leaves. Place a spoonful of the rice mixture in one of the leaves.
3. Remove the thick center vein. Fold the ends of the cabbage leaf over the filling.
4. Roll the filling in the leaves.
5. Gently place in the slow cooker.
6. Repeat. You can stack the galumpkis on top of each other.
7. Cover with the sauce.
8. Mix sour cream and tomato soup and spoon over the top.
9. Slow cook for 6 to 8 hours.

Budget friendly

This recipe for stuffed cabbage uses Campbell’s Tomato soup. You don’t add anything to it – use it straight from the can.

You can use tomato sauce if you like but it isn’t quite the same. My mom did not put much ground beef in the recipe but keep in mind that this was a staple food for her through the Depression and World War II. She stretched it with lots of rice and not much beef.

Adjust the amount of ground beef up or down to match your budget and your own tastes. Just use more rice as needed.

How do you blanch cabbage

• First, you’ll want to choose a cabbage that is relatively loose rather than solid and tight.
• Next cut the heart out where the stem was. and cut up into the cabbage in a circle – like removing a cork or a plug.
• Bring about 3 inches of salted water to a boil in a large (tall) pot.
• Place the cabbage in the boiling water with the cut side down. Cover.
• Boil for 5 minutes or so.
• Run the cabbage leaves under cool water and lay them out, ready to be filled and rolled.

Tips

• Galumpkis freeze well for up to 3 months.
• Use a combination of ground pork and ground beef if you like.
• Cabbage rolls can be assembled up to 3 days ahead of time and cooked when desired.
• Make this into an easy 30 minute casserole by chopping the cabbage up and adding the remaining ingredients – bake in a 13×9 in pan at 375F for 20 minutes or until heated through.
• To make in the oven put the stuffed cabbage rolls in a casserole dish and cover with the sauce as directed in recipe. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes at 350F.

Related recipes

Here are more of my favorite casseroles here on Restless Chipotle.

• Burrito Casserole recipe is a creamy, easy, weeknight dinner with lots of Tex-Mex flavor. Layers of tortillas, beef, beans, and cheese in a creamy sauce is an absolute dream. It’s make ahead easy and your grocery budget is going to love it, too!
• Chicken Tetrazzini is one of those comforting casseroles that was a fixture in many of our childhoods. It was creamy, savory, and filling – I loved it as a kid and as a Mom! Let’s face it – you can take a little chicken and use more pasta and create a filling, delicious dinner for the whole family. 
• Stuffed peppers are high on my list of comfort food. A tomato-y beef and rice mixture is stuffed into green peppers and baked in the oven until the house smells like you want to chew on the walls and your stomach is turning somersaults in anticipation. It’s a gloriously easy meal that your wallet will thank you for.

☕️ Kaffeeklatsch

When I was young my mom would decide to make a big dinner once in a while. My favorite was stuffed cabbage (cabbage rolls, galumpkis, whatever you want to call them).

Mom was from an Irish-Scottish-French background but her best friend in high school in the early 1930s was a girl named Olga who’s parents didn’t speak a word of English. She was almost as much a part of my growing up as my mom was — even though I never met her.

I grew up hearing stories about Olga and mom, and all the trouble they got into.

They exchanged Christmas cards every year until the year that Olga died. They were in each other’s weddings. And, Olga’s family was responsible for one of my favorite comfort foods – ever, this galumpki recipe. In fact…several of the my kids love this stuff and so the tradition has been passed down. Thanks Olga!

If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need.

If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📖 Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Easy Cabbage Rolls (Galumpkis)

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🥘 Delicious cabbage rolls are stuffed with rice and beef, and simmered all day in a slow cooker with a tomato and sour cream sauce. You'll need a can of tomato soup for this one. It just isn't the same without it. Average/intermediate experience.

Course Main Dish – Ground Beef

Cuisine American – Vintage,German/Eastern European,Polish

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 8 hours

Total Time 8 hours 20 minutes

Servings 8 servings

Calories 536

Author Marye Audet-White

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Equipment Needed

• Slow Cooker

Ingredients

• 1 cabbage, remove core
• 2 cups rice, cooked
• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped fine – optional
• 44 ounces Campbells condensed tomato soup, 3-14.5 ounce cans
• 1/4 cup sour cream, more if desired
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• Place the cabbage head core side down in a pot with about 3 inches water.
• Steam, covered for 10 minutes.
• Check the cabbage, the top few leaves should be very transparent and pliable. Peel them off.
• Continue to steam the cabbage and peel off the outer leaves as they get done. The leaves should be VERY pliable. You may be able to use all of the leaves, although the cabbage rolls will get smaller in size.
• Saute the beef and onion until thoroughly cooked.
• Mix the rice and ground beef mixture. Add about 1/4 cup condensed tomato soup, paprika, salt and pepper. Mix well.
• Prepare the crock pot by spraying with cooking spray. Pour about 1/2 cup of tomato soup on the bottom of the crock pot. Lay a large cabbage leaf over it.
• Place a heaping spoonful of the mixture in the center of a cabbage leaf.
• Fold in the ends and roll up.
• Place seam side down in the crock pot.
• Pour more tomato soup (about 1/2 cup) over the first layer and add a second layer.
• Continue until the cabbage leaves are all used up.
• Pour about 1/3 cup water in the pot.
• Mix the remaining tomato soup and the sour cream and pour over the top.
• Slow cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.
• Serve with more sour cream if desired.

Notes

• Galumpkis freeze well for up to 3 months.
• Use a combination of ground pork and ground beef if you like.
• Use the soup straight from the can. Don’t dilute it.
• Cabbage rolls can be assembled up to 3 days ahead of time and cooked when desired.
• Make this into an easy 30 minute casserole by chopping the cabbage up and adding the remaining ingredients – bake in a 13×9 in pan at 375F for 20 minutes or until heated through.
• To make in the oven put the stuffed cabbage rolls in a casserole dish and cover with the sauce as directed in recipe. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes at 350F.

Nutrition

Calories: 536kcal | Carbohydrates: 69g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 64mg | Sodium: 674mg | Potassium: 1388mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 890IU | Vitamin C: 63mg | Calcium: 105mg | Iron: 4mg

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First published December 2010. Last updated February 2020 with better images, step by step images, and easier to read instructions.