Holubtsi is a Ukrainian Stuffed Cabbage dish comprised of tender cabbage rolls, stuffed with a mixture of seasoned ground beef or pork, rice, and onions. The cabbage rolls are baked in a tomato-based sauce and served with sour cream. For a healthier option, you can serve Holubtsi with yogurt instead.
Ever since the current situation in Ukraine, I've been contemplating what I can do as a blogger to show my support for the Ukrainian people. After a few friends asked if I would share some Ukrainian recipes, I decided to share a Ukrainian Stuffed Cabbage recipe.
Since Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cultures are known for their delicious Dolma (stuffed vegetables, grape leaves, or cabbage), I decided that Ukrainian Stuffed Cabbage would be a good fit. I mean I already have four Dolma recipes on my blog, what's one more, right?
Ukrainian Stuffed Cabbage, also known as Halupki or Golumpki (Polish name), is much milder than Assyrian-style cabbage rolls. We don't mess around when it comes to seasoning.
It took every ounce of restraint that I have not to add more spices to the filling and to the sauce, in order to keep the recipe as authentic as possible. I did, however, sneak in some garlic, parsley, malic acid for acidity, and sugar to balance out the acidity. So, I guess you could say this is my take on this classic Ukrainian Stuffed Cabbage dish.
If you like this recipe, you'll want to try my Ukrainian Borscht recipe too!
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🧐 Why This Recipe Works
Ukrainian Stuffed Cabbage is relatively easy to prepare with simple ingredients. Unlike Iraqi Dolma, the filling contains ground beef or pork. This means you don't have to spend extra time chopping the meat into tiny pieces.
Since Holubtsi is mild in flavor, this recipe is suitable for those who prefer mild-tasting food. If you or someone in your family decides that the Stuffed Cabbage Rolls are too mild, you can serve it with the delicious spicy red sauce found in my Swiss Chard Dolma recipe.
🧐 What You Need For This Recipe
🔖 Recipe Ingredients and Substitutions
- Cabbage: Purchase the largest head of cabbage that you can find so that you have enough cabbage leaves for the entire filling.
- Rice: Sometimes the rice is cooked or partially cooked before adding it to the filling. I prefer to add raw rice to the filling so that the rice can cook in the tomato sauce and absorb more flavor.
- Meat: Although this recipe calls for ground pork, you can substitute ground beef or ground lamb if you wish.
- Spices: Holubtsi is usually seasoned with salt and black pepper. I added some paprika for additional flavor and color. I also added malic acid to give it a sour flavor and a tiny bit of sugar to balance the sour taste and acidity. If you don't have malic acid, you can substitute an equal amount of citric acid or twice as much lemon juice.
- Herbs: Sometimes basil, dill, and bay leaves are added to the filling. I added parsley because that's what I had on hand but highly recommend adding fresh dill.
- Sauce: I prepared a sauce similar to what I use in my other Dolma recipes. However, I found many Holubsti recipes that called for canned tomato sauce, marinara sauce, or tomato soup instead.
🍲 How To Make Ukrainian Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
Boil Cabbage
Step 1: Wash, core, and boil cabbage in a deep pot. Once the water comes to a boil, turn the heat to low and simmer the cabbage until the outer leaves can easily be pulled away from the cabbage. The leaves color will change to a brighter green. As you pull the leaves off, allow them to cook in the hot water for a little longer if necessary, until they're pliable.
Pro Tip: The best tool I've found for pulling away the cooked leaves from the head of cabbage is to use kitchen tongs.
Prepare The Filling
Step 2: In a large bowl, mix ground pork, carrots, onion, parsley, garlic, egg, oil, tomato paste, salt, black pepper, and paprika. Add washed and strained rice and mix to combine.
Step 3: Once the cabbage leaves have cooled, slice off the large spine going down the middle of the leaves, and use the spines to layer the bottom of a large, heavy-bottomed pot. This layer of leaves will keep the stuffed cabbage from sticking to the pot or burning.
Pro Tip: You can also use the leaves in the core of the cabbage which are too small to stuff and the overly cooked and flimsy ones to line the bottom of the pot. Also, dogs LOVE cooked cabbage!
Stuff Cabbage Rolls
Step 4: Fill the trimmed cabbage leaves with 1 tablespoon of filling mixture and roll the leaves tightly over the filling. Depending on the size of the leaf, they may require more or less filling. Place the stuffed cabbage seam-side down into the lined pot; continue until you have one layer, then start another layer. Depending on the size of the pot, you may end up with two or three layers of cabbage rolls.
Pro Tip: If you run out of cabbage leaves, you can use the remaining filling to stuff onions, green peppers, tomatoes, grape leaves, zucchini, or eggplant. I'm not sure if that's Ukrainian-approved, but it's definitely Assyrian-approved!
Pro Tip: To stuff onions use medium-sized oval-shaped onions. Peel the onions and slice them halfway through the middle, length-wise. Boil the onions until they begin to open up and the layers can be easily separated. Each layer will make on stuffed onion.
Preheat Oven to 325 Degrees F
Prepare Tomato Sauce and Bake
Step 5: Add water and tomato paste to a small saucepan and season with salt, malic acid, and sugar. Add oil and whisk over medium heat until the tomato paste is dissolved and the sauce comes to a boil.
Step 6: Pour sauce over stuffed cabbage, cover the large pot, and bake for one hour or until the rice is tender. Serve stuffed cabbage with sour cream on the side.
🤷🏻♀️ Recipe FAQs
Holubtsi is a Ukrainian dish in which cabbage is stuffed with a lightly seasoned meat, rice, and onion mixture, then cooked in a tomato-based sauce or tomato juice.
Cabbage rolls is a universal dish that is shared by many cultures. Countries known for their cabbage rolls include Iraq, Iran, Israel, Turkey, Greece, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Austria, Italy, and many others.
Holubtsi is the Ukrainian name for Stuffed Cabbage Rolls.
🔖 Pro Tips
- Sometimes the stuffed cabbage is wrapped into a cone shape, while other times the entire cabbage leaf is rolled into one giant stuffed cabbage roll. I fell back to the way my mom taught me to roll the cabbage leaves.
- If you decide to cook the Ukrainian Stuffed Cabbage on the stovetop, follow the same procedure. Sometimes a plate is placed on top of the stuffed cabbage while they cook. The plate keeps the stuffed cabbage submerged in the cooking liquid.
- Store any leftover Holubtsi in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
- Holubtsi does not freeze well because the texture of the cabbage rolls changes once they are frozen.
🥘 Related Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Ukrainian Stuffed Cabbage (Holubtsi)
Ingredients
- 1 large head of cabbage
- ¾ lb ground pork or beef
- 1 cup carrots (ground)
- 1 medium yellow onion (diced)
- ⅓ cup Italian parsley (or dill, chopped)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 large egg
- 2 ounces tomato paste (⅓ of a 6-ounce can)
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoon sea salt (divided)
- ½ teaspoon malic acid (or citric acid)
- 1½ teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cups Jasmine rice
Sauce
- 2 cups water
- 4 ounces tomato paste (⅔ of a 6-ounce can)
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon malic acid (or citric acid)
- 2 teaspoon sugar
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
Topping
- 1 container sour cream (or yogurt)
Instructions
Boil Cabbage
- Wash, core, and boil cabbage in a deep pot. Once the water comes to a boil, turn the heat to low and simmer the cabbage until the outer leaves can easily be pulled away from the cabbage. The leaves' color will change to a brighter green. As you pull the leaves off, allow them to cook in the hot water for a little longer if necessary, until they're pliable.
Prepare the Filling
- In a large bowl, mix ground pork, carrots, onion, parsley, garlic, egg, oil, tomato paste, salt, black pepper, and paprika. Add washed and strained rice and mix to combine.
- Once the cabbage leaves have cooled, slice off the large spine going down the middle of the leaves, and use the spines to layer the bottom of a large, heavy-bottomed pot. This layer of leaves will keep the stuffed cabbage from sticking to the pot or burning.
Stuff Cabbage Rolls
- Fill the trimmed cabbage leaves with 1 tablespoon of filling mixture and roll the leaves tightly over the filling. Depending on the size of the leaf, they may require more or less filling. Place the stuffed cabbage seam-side down into the lined pot; continue until you have one layer, then start another layer. Depending on the size of the pot, you may end up with two or three layers of cabbage rolls.
Preheat Oven to 325 Degrees F
Prepare Tomato Sauce
- Add water and tomato paste to a small saucepan and season with salt, malic acid, and sugar. Add oil and whisk over medium heat until the tomato paste is dissolved and the sauce comes to a boil.
- Pour sauce over stuffed cabbage, cover the pot, and bake the stuffed cabbage for one hour or until the rice is tender. Serve stuffed cabbage with sour cream.
Notes
- The best tool I've found for pulling away from the cooked leaves from the head of cabbage is kitchen tongs.
- You can also use the leaves in the core of the cabbage which are too small to stuff and the overly cooked and flimsy ones to line the bottom of the pot. Also, dogs LOVE cooked cabbage!
- Sometimes the stuffed cabbage is wrapped into a cone shape, while other times the entire cabbage leaf is rolled into one giant stuffed cabbage roll. I fell back to the way my mom taught me to roll the cabbage leaves.
- To stuff onions use medium-sized oval-shaped onions. Peel the onions and slice them halfway through the middle, length-wise. Boil the onions until they begin to open up and the layers can be easily separated. Each layer will make on stuffed onion.
- If you decide to cook the Ukrainian Stuffed Cabbage on the stove-top, follow the same procedure. Sometimes a plate is placed on top of the stuffed cabbage while they cook. The plate keeps the stuffed cabbage submerged in the cooking liquid.
- Store any leftover Holubtsi in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
- Holubtsi does not freeze well because the texture of the cabbage rolls changes once they are frozen.
Donald Samborski says
Every on line recipe is with meat and tomato sauce. My mother and her mother and others did not use tomato sauce or meet. Mostly filled with rice and some oatmeal etc. When I lived In Minneapolis there were some ladies in Polish and Ukranian neighborhood that made them like that. Seems to me yours are more German or Polish. Ours were very simple and delicious.
Don
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Donald, that must be frustrating not being able to find what you're looking for. I have a vegetarian stuffed cabbage recipe on my blog. It has a rice & herb filling, however, I've never heard of oatmeal being used in the filling. I guess you learn something new every day. Good luck with your search!
Gavin says
Thanks for the recipe and your take on cabbage rolls. For a insider tip, instead of boiling cabbage and having your house smell like it, freeze the cabbage for 7 days, let it thaw for a couple in the sink (so you don’t freeze your hands while making them). And you get the same result without the smell.
Anne says
Can I make them without tomato soup.etc?
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Anne, The tomato sauce adds to the flavor of the dish. However, if you don't want to use the tomato paste, I would mix the sauce ingredients with broth instead.
Kamil says
Regarding name - in Poland we use word Gołąbki (spelled similar to go-womb-key), which is a plural for a little pigeon. Seeing Ukrainian name I, as a slavian, assume it’s something similiar - it even seems to sound alike to a polish word
Hilda Sterner says
Thank you for the info!
Gina Kipybida Wagner says
Hello,
I made this last night with meat I had on hand. Half pound ground pork and half pound ground turkey. The baking result flavor was still very good but my Ukrainian Grandmother's meat was Much Softer than mine. Is there something I can do to fix this next time ? Thank You.
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Gina,
Thank you for the review! I suspect it was due to the ground turkey, which is pretty lean. I'd be willing to be your grandmother used more fatty meat for example beef or lamb. Do Ukrainians eat a lot of lamb? I know my mom always added some fat in the filling for added flavor and a more tender texture. I hope that helps!
Mic says
Excellent recipe although I use a modified version of. This. I am Ukrainian btw. But, nonetheless, this is a very excellent recipe and will produce outstanding results!
насолоджуйтесь!
Hilda Sterner says
Thank you for the review and your comment. I'm glad it's Ukrainian-approved!🇺🇦
Irka Zacharkiw says
Hi Hilda great recipe, I can remember my mum cooking this when we were young. Is there a substitute I can use for meat, as my daughter-in-law doesn't eat meat but would live to cook this for her if there is, thanks
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Irka,
Thank you for the review and the comment! My daughter doesn't like meat either and when I make the Assyrian version of stuffed cabbage, I substitute the meat with an additional cup of rice. I hope that helps!
Linda Miller says
Thank you thank you my gramma was polish so we had "golumpkis"! She used BOTH ground beef and ground pork in her mixture...gave it extra flavor....👍👏👏❤ our sides were mashed potatoes and applesauce
Linda Miller says
Thank you thank you my gramma was polish so we had "golumpkis"! She used BOTH ground beef and ground pork in her mixture...gave it extra flavor....👍👏👏❤
Hilda Sterner says
Thank you, Linda, enjoy! ❤️
Lisa Tehansky Missinne says
I'm so happy I found this. I'm Ukrainian American. Since the war I am soaking up anything I can about my heritage
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Lisa, I'm happy you found me too! Since the war, I've been having requests from my readers for Ukrainian recipes. I plan on sharing more in the future, so stay tuned.
Dave says
Hi Hilda, my better half is allergic to onions, onion powder, anything onion. What can I use for more flavor in the filling?
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Dave, I would add a few more cloves of garlic, more parsley, a bunch of dill, and any of the spices that I add to my Assyrian stuffed cabbage recipe. The Assyrian version is way more flavorful if that's what you're looking for. Let me know how it goes!
Dave says
Thanks for the tips! I'll definitely let you know how they were!
Kelly Methey says
These are really good! They are even better with a little added heat. Your tip to use onions for the extra filling is genius! I am an onion person so I really enjoyed them.
I love all the international foods you have introduced us to. This Ukrainian recipe is a great addition. Thanks Hilda!
Hilda Sterner says
Thanks, Kelly! Glad you liked them. 🙂 You're right, the spicy red sauce takes them to another level!
Jim says
Cooked rice or dry rice ?
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Jim
Dry rice that is washed and strained to remove excess starch. I mention in the recipe ingredients and notes section that sometimes the rice is either fully cooked or partially cooked prior to adding it to the other filling ingredients. However, I like to allow the rice to cook in the juices for added flavor. Be sure to check out the recipe video on the bottom of the post!
Donna says
Hi Hilda, my mother-in-law was Polish and prepared similar to this with tomato soup but cooked on top of the stove. I prefer tomato sauce (and a little more spice). I believe my stepmom cooked in the oven and used tomato sauce. She had some German and Bohemian descendants.
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Donna,
Yes, my mom always cooked it on the stovetop as well, which is why I shared that option in the post. I have found that baking them makes the rice more tender, which might be my new way of preparing them!
Kathy Fisher says
We had this last night and it was delicious. Great with the sauce (we like it hot) and yogurt. For me, it's comfort food.
Hilda Sterner says
You like it like I do, hot!