A warm and comforting dish, that is as versatile as it is tasty. Traditionally filled with a meat filling, this is a flavorful and wholesome dish that simmers in a beautiful yet simple tomato sauce.

With European roots, specifically in the Middle East regions, cabbage rolls have spread in popularity and have taken on various modifications based on cultural influences.

My Cabbage Rolls take on influences from both Greek and Jewish flavors. These rolls are steeped in a sweet and sour sauce featuring golden raisins and filled with a savory wild rice blend with vegan ground sausage.

How to Make: Ingredients and Steps

Cabbage rolls require a few extra steps, resulting in a more time-consuming prep, however, they are worth every second. These can be prepped in advance and stored in an air-tight container or frozen and defrosted. Although I make these vegan and vegetarian-friendly, you can make these entirely vegetarian, by making a filling with lentils and/or mushrooms. For my readers who prefer to make these with an animal protein such as ground pork or beef, you can easily substitute 1:1.

Ingredients - Filling

Plant-Based Ground Sausage: I use Lightlife Gimme-lean Ground Sausage. *This is solely my preference and choice and in no way endorsing or pushing their product

Yellow Onion: Yellow onion carmelizes and adds a great depth of flavor while providing a slightly sweet undertone

Extra Virgin Olive Oil: or any oil of your choice

Wild Rice Blend: or any rice of your choice

Vegetable Broth: Adds extra moisture to the plant-based ground sausage that I use

*if using an animal protein, you can omit this

Salt and Pepper: To taste

Ingredients - Tomato Sauce

Canned Diced Tomatoes: If using diced tomatoes, puree them in a blender or use an inversion blender

Tomato Paste: Adds another depth of flavor

Minced Garlic:

Unseasoned Rice Vinegar: Adds acidity and brightness to the sauce

Brown Sugar: This is the “sweet” part of the sweet and sour!

Golden raisins: Classic ingredient in Jewish cooking

Steps -

1. First, you need to prep your cabbage and rice. Bring a large pot to boil that will fit the whole cabbage. Take the cabbage and core the stem out with a pairing knife. Once the water is at a boil, carefully add the head of cabbage. Add your measured rice to a pot with water at a 2:1 ratio. The general metric I use is 2 cups of water to 1 cup of rice. Cook the rice completely - cooking time may vary depending on the rice you use, follow the directions per the label.

• What’s the purpose of boiling the cabbage? This step serves two functions, a) this step pre-cooks the cabbage to ensure they are malleable when folding, and b) helps the cabbage leaves layers to separate. This is a beneficial step to avoid breaking the leaves.

2. While the cabbage is boiling, fill a large bowl with cold water and add ice. When leaves begin separating in the boiling water, with tongs, carefully place them in the ice bath to stop the cooking process.

3. Place extra-virgin olive oil into a preheated skillet and add diced yellow onion. Sautee for approximately 3-5 minutes on medium-low heat until softened. With a wooden spoon, mix occasionally to prevent the onions from burning.

4. Once the onions have softened, add the plant-based ground beef and break into bite-size pieces with the wooden spoon. Mix occasionally to prevent burning, but allow the mixture to get slightly browned—approximately 10 minutes. Cooking time may vary if using an animal protein.

5. Next, add the fully cooked rice to the sausage mixture, and add salt and pepper to taste, then add the vegetable broth. Mix until completely combined.

6. In the pot, you had boiled the cabbage in, dump the water and place one layer of the cooked cabbage leaves on the buffer. This serves as a barrier to prevent the cabbage rolls from browning and burning.

7. Take one of the cabbage leaves from the ice bath, and lay one flat in front of you with the stem facing down. Place a golf ball-sized portion of your meat and rice mixture onto the bottom portion of the cabbage leaf. Roll like a burrito - roll stem side over mixture, tuck both sides in, and keep rolling. Place in the pot, with seam side down. Continue until all filling is used.

8. Prepare the sauce. In a bowl, mix together the tomato puree, brown sugar, tomato paste, vinegar, and raisins. Pour the mixture over the cabbage rolls. Top with water until rolls are just covered. Allow to simmer on low heat for two hours covered.

9. Serve right away or store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to five days. Enjoy!