This easy, Polish comfort food is a family favorite! The recipe was given to my mom by her best friend way back in the 1930s.
Jump to:
❤️ Why you'll love it
- Traditional cabbage rolls are a classic comfort food dish that the whole family will love.
- They are filled with a delicious beef and rice mixture and smothered in a creamy tomato sauce.
- The best part is that they can be made in a crock pot, so you can come home to a delicious meal all ready to eat.
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!
🧾 Ingredients
This is an overview of the ingredients. You'll find the full measurements and instructions in the green recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.
The following are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
🔪 Instructions
This is an overview of the instructions. Full instructions are in the green recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Steam the whole head of cabbage in a large covered pot of boiling water.
- Cook the ground beef and onions until cooked all the way through, then add in all the other ingredients to the ground meat mixture.
- Fill the steamed cabbage leaves with the meat mixture and roll.
- Place cabbage rolls to the bottom of the slow cooker and top with sauce.
🥬 How do you blanch cabbage?cabbage
You'll need to blanch the cabbage for these slow cooker cabbage rolls so that the leaves are soft and pliable.
- 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.
🥄 Equipment
The following are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
You'll need the following items to make this recipe successfully.
🥫 Storage
Leftover cabbage rolls can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. It's best not to freeze them.
Reheat the leftovers in the microwave or in a covered pot on the stove until warm all the way through.
📖 Variations
- Ground turkey or ground pork can be used in place of ground beef.
- For a vegetarian version, use cooked lentils or quinoa in place of the ground beef.
- Add 2 cups of your favorite chopped veggies to the beef mixture (e.g. mushrooms, zucchini, bell peppers).
- If you want a sweeter sauce add a tablespoon of brown sugar to the tomato soup.
- A dash of Worcestershire sauce added to the beef mixture will give a deep rich flavor.
💭 Things to know
Expert Tip: 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.
- To help with rolling the cabbage leaves cut a "v" out of the bottom of the leaf where it's thick.
- Add a little water or V8 juice to the bottom of the crock pot to prevent sticking and burning.
- When rolling the cabbage leaves wrap them like a burrito and tuck the leaves under to prevent them from unraveling.
- Garnish plates with a sprinkle of fresh parsley for a beautiful color.
- When rolling the cabbage leaves wrap them like a burrito and tuck the leaves under to prevent them from unraveling.
- Cabbage rolls can be assembled up to 3 days ahead of time and cooked when desired.
- Make this into an easy 30 minute cabbage roll casserole by chopping the cabbage up and mixing in the remaining ingredients - bake in a 13x9 in pan at 375F for 20 minutes or until heated through.
👩🍳 FAQs
A savoy or green cabbage is the best cabbage to use.
One reason your cabbage rolls may not have turned out as expected is because they were overcooked. Another possibility is that you didn't add enough filling. The rolls should be tightly packed but not so full that they can't roll closed.
The easiest way to soften cabbage leaves is to place them in boiling water and remove them from the head of cabbage as they soften.
There is no need to add eggs to this recipe. The rice and beef mixture will hold everything together.
📚 Related recipes
- Slow Cooker Sausage and Potatoes is a hearty comfort food that the entire family will enjoy.
- 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.
🍽️ Serve with...
- Mashed Potatoes is a classic recipe that is one of my favorite side dishes to serve with this meal.
- Southern Green Beans is an easy recipe that is fresh and pairs well with this comforting meal.
- If you are looking for a great recipe to make for dessert with this dish, look no further than this Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake recipe.
📞 The last word
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.
Make it stretch further by using more rice and less meat. You can also add chopped mushrooms to help stretch it more.
Making this cabbage roll recipe doesn't take that long at all and the house will smell amazing.
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. Don't forget that you can click on "add to collection" to save it to your own, private recipe box!
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Easy Cabbage Rolls (Galumpkis) Recipe
Print Pin Recipe SaveEquipment Needed
Ingredients
- 1 cabbage, remove core
- 2 cups rice, cooked
- 1 ½ pounds ground beef
- 1 onion, chopped fine - optional
- 32.25 ounces Campbells condensed tomato soup, 3 10.75-ounce cans
- ¼ 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.
- Cover and steam over medium heat 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.
- Chop up any remaining cabbage.
- Saute the beef and onion until thoroughly cooked.
- Mix the rice and ground beef mixture. Add about ¼ cup condensed tomato soup, paprika, salt and pepper. Mix well.
- Prepare the crock pot by spraying with cooking spray. Pour about ½ cup of tomato soup on the bottom of the crock pot. Spread the chopped cabbage over it.
- Place a heaping spoonful of the meat mixture in the center of a cabbage leaf.
- Fold in the ends and roll up.
- Place seam side down in the crock pot.
- Repeat until you have a layer of cabbage rolls in the bottom.
- Pour more tomato soup (about ½ cup) over the first layer and add a second layer of cabbage rolls over it.
- Continue until the cabbage leaves are all used up.
- Pour about ⅓ cup water or V-8 juice in the crockpot.
- 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
- To help with rolling the cabbage leaves cut a "v" out of the bottom of the leaf where it's thick.
- Add a little water or V8 juice to the bottom of the crock pot to prevent sticking and burning.
- When rolling the cabbage leaves wrap them like a burrito and tuck the leaves under to prevent them from unraveling.
- Garnish plates with a sprinkle of fresh parsley for a beautiful color.
- When rolling the cabbage leaves wrap them like a burrito and tuck the leaves under to prevent them from unraveling.
- Cabbage rolls can be assembled up to 3 days ahead of time and cooked when desired.
- Make this into an easy 30 minute cabbage roll casserole by chopping the cabbage up and mixing in the remaining ingredients - bake in a 13x9 in pan at 375F for 20 minutes or until heated through.
Nutrition Facts
Sign up for the emails and never miss another recipe!!
We'll never share your email or send you spam. Pinkie swear.First published December 2010. Last updated March 20, 2022 with better images, step by step images, and easier to read instructions.
susan
Being Polish and having a Hungarian husband, I make stuffed cabbage frequently. I usually bake it the oven, but decided to try the crock pot recipe. It came out better than I thought it would. However, I did make a few changes to your recipe. I used 1 lb of ground beef and 1/2 lb of ground pork. I added in some garlic powder, dried italian seasoning and sauteed the onions (translucent) before adding to the meat/rice filling mixture (I also added in (1) packet of Goya Sazon with annatto to kick up the flavor. (Not a Polish thing, but I find that this seasoning just adds more flavor). To the tomato soup I mixed in some san marzano crushed tomatoes (undrained) as well as V-8 juice (for a thinner sauce) and omitted the sour cream. These are better freshly made but do freeze rather well. Put in an airtight ziplock plastic freezer bag covered with sauce. Do not thaw, just put frozen cabbage rolls in a saucepan covered with sauce and simmer gently until heated through. I found when I did it this way the cabbage was tender and did not get tough and chewy. Even though I changed your recipe I gave it 5 stars for the idea of preparing it in a crock pot. So happy to hear that you daughter has been coming along well.