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 homemade yogurt instead.
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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 (Iraqi dolma, grape leaf dolma, or cabbage dolma), 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 I had not to add more spices to the filling and the sauce 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 Ukrainian borscht, deruny (Ukrainian potato pancakes), and Polish dill pickle soup!
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😍 Why You'll Love This Recipe
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 them with the delicious spicy red sauce found in my Swiss chard dolma recipe.
🔖 Ingredients & 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 I 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, lengthwise. Boil the onions until they begin to open up, and the layers can be easily separated. Each layer will make one stuffed onion.
Prepare Tomato Sauce and Bake (Preheat Oven to 325°F)
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.
What Readers Are Saying
Made this recipe. My husband is adamant that cabbage rolls should be only rice and bacon, but he loved these! Thank you! -Lisa
If rolling cabbage seems too intimidating, I've got just the right recipe for you! These unstuffed cabbage rolls are both delicious and easy to prepare, making them a great beginner recipe!
🤷🏻♀️ 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 are 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 it cooks. The plate keeps the stuffed cabbage submerged in the cooking liquid.
- Store any leftover Holubtsi in an airtight 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.
🥘 More Dolma Recipes
You may also be interested in this informative Ukrainian Easter eggs post!
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📖 Recipe
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Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Nutrition
Video
Notes
- The best tool I've found for pulling away 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, lengthwise. Boil the onions until they begin to open up, and the layers can be easily separated. Each layer will make one 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 airtight 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.
Allison Lingstrom says
I’m so looking forward to trying this one. I myself am Ukrainian and I love cabbage rolls.
Hilda Sterner says
Thanks, Allison, I can't wait to hear what you think and how it compares to what you're used to!
Viktoria Rushing says
Hey I’m new to cooking. Do you absolutely have to use malic acid. Can I skip that step?
Jim says
work out well, unfortunately I was in a bit of a rush only had about 5 minutes to get this in the oven so I wasn't to thrilled with my performance in the kitchen but still came out very well thanks!😄
Hilda Sterner says
Thanks for the review, I hope you enjoy it!
Lisa says
Made this recipe. My husband is adamant that cabbage rolls should be only rice and bacon but he loved these! Thank you!
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Lisa, Haha, that's not a bad combo! I'm glad he enjoyed these as well. Thank you for the review!
Georganne Hoyman says
These were yummy. I had outer cabbage leaves that I wanted to use rather than toss. This was a perfect use for them. I had some ground lamb and beef. I love grated carrot, so that worked for me too. I did not have Malic Acid. So I substituted a splash of apple cider vinegar, lemon zest, and lemon juice for the sour taste. I used crushed tomatoes instead of tomato paste, for a slightly fresher flavor. I loved how it came out.
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Georganne, I love the way you improvised using whatever you had on hand. Totally something I would have done!
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!