This fun twist on traditional cabbage rolls is a delicious way to squeeze more veggies in your day.
This slow cooker recipe, for turkey and cabbage rolls, is simple and yummy. We’ve replaced the traditional beef in cabbage rolls with lean ground turkey, cutting down on fat and calories without sacrificing protein and flavor. We also took some of the thinking out of how to cook them. Traditionally, cabbage rolls can be cooked a few different ways – steamed or baked – and I never remember how long to cook them using each method. By turning this dish into slow cooker stuffed cabbage rolls, I don’t have to worry about any of that! Simply roll them up and place them in the crock pot.
If you’ve never made cabbage rolls, you might feel a little intimidated by the rolling part. After all, cabbage is pretty tough when it comes off the head. All you need to do is remove the leaves and soften them up a bit. A few minutes in boiling water (or, in a steamer basket) should do the trick. It only takes about 2 minutes for your cabbage to be soft and pliable. Then you just add you filling and roll ’em up!
What Do You Serve with Stuffed Cabbage Rolls?
Looking for the best way to serve these slow cooker stuffed cabbage rolls? They’re perfect on their own, but you can also serve them over mashed potatoes, garlic mashed cauliflower, or brown rice. You’ll have some beautiful sauce left in the bottom of the slow cooker, so don’t forget to ladle that tomato sauce over the top of the potatoes or the rice.
Now that you know how to make them, let’s get cooking. Give us a shout in the comments if you have any questions. We always love to hear from you!
Slow Cooker Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
Ingredients
For the Rolls
- 12 cabbage leaves
- 1 cup long-grain rice cooked
- 1 egg beaten
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup white onion or yellow, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove finely chopped
- 1 pound lean ground turkey raw
For the Sauce
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/4 teaspoons ground black pepper
- 15 ounces tomato sauce can
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
Instructions
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Boil cabbage leaves for 2 minutes. Whisk together tomato sauce, honey, spices, lemon juice, ketchup, salt, and pepper, and Worcestershire sauce.
- In a separate bowl, combine the cooked rice, egg, milk, onion, garlic, and ground turkey. Add in 1/4 of the sauce and combine well.
- Scoop about 1/4 cup of the ground turkey mix into the center of each cabbage roll. Roll up the leaves, tucking in the ends. Top with tomato sauce and cover.
- Cook on low for 8 to 9 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours.
Nutrition Information
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Last updated: June 11, 2018
I am going to make these but instead of rice I am going to try quinoa. It will bump up the protein and lower the fat.
Did you try this? How'd it work?
Angie, We've gotten several positive reader responses on this recipe. One reader suggested adding a touch of clove powder to the mix. One reader thought it bland and I suggested adding more honey for those that like it sweet, salt to bring the flavors forward, or other seasonings.
I have a similar recipe that uses grape jelly and chili sauce for the sauce. Very tasty.
Made with sugar-free varieties, we imagine that would be delicious. Thanks for sharing!
there is no fat in rice….
is the meat suppose to be precooked?
The meat goes in uncooked and will cook in the slow cooker. You can brown it ahead of time if desired, but I didn't:)
6quart slow cooker???
the sauce has salt listed twice?
Poshlaw, Only add the salt once. Thanks for noticing that.
If using mince, how much? Thank you.
Pamela, About 1 pound mince, same as the ground turkey.
can I put this together the night before
Robin, yes you can put this together the night before in the crockpot insert and keep in the fridge and then put in the crockpot to cook all day.
In the process of cooking right now, excited to try. I used brown rice instead of white.
Secret Ingredient !!!!! for an extra added flavor bonus toss in about 5 whole cloves ! (Discard upon serving)
Michael, I could see how cloves would be a nice addition. Thanks for sharing the tip;).
Can these be frozen
Helene, Yes, this can be frozen and reheated.
VERY disappointed after spending the time to buy the perfect ingredients. tasteless. so glad my friends didn't accept my offer for stuffed cabbage for dinner tonight.
Linda, Did you add salt to taste? Salt really brings the flavors forward in a recipe. Some have recommended a pinch of clove powder. Another idea if not adding clove powder is to add a pinch of cayenne pepper for some spice. Also if you like a sweeter dish add more honey. Feel free to adjust seasonings and modify to your liking.
use ground Pork or seasoned breakfast sausage [the "other" white meat. 😉
ground Elk or Deer. real shredded corned beef would be good too.
Did I miss something? We definitely did not have any liquidy sauce after the 8 hours (and I added an additional 6oz can, too). Otherwise quite yummy.
Monica, It may depend on the slow cooker used. Definitely check and add more liquid if necessary. If readers can only check towards the end of cook time, and it looks dry then, tomato sauce or 1/2 cup of water or other liquid can be stirred in then.
New to the world of cooking som i'm just wondering: do I cook the turkey before I add it to the mix?
Sam, You can add the turkey raw. If you wanted to brown it a bit first you could, but it’s really not necessary and might make it drier.
Made 8 larger rolls. Used beef mince. Cooked for 4½ hours. Filling was fairly bland; sauce had plenty of flavour. When I made the filling, I also added a teaspoon of beef stock powder for added flavour, but think it needs a little more flavour. I found the cloves quite overpowering in the sauce. Next time would probably halve the honey and lemon juice and only add 2 cloves instead of 5. Will make again with a few changes. Thanks for the recipe!
I made them with 97% lean ground beef and followed the directions. They were very bland. They need something more than salt, for sure. Maybe a pinch of cayenne and idk what else.
Carole, Yes, you can feel free to add more salt to the recipe and any hotter spices to suit your tastes.