Turkey Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

It seems like everyone and their mother has a different variation of this old favorite – stuffed cabbage rolls!

My version is stuffed with a blend of ground turkey and hot Italian sausage, along with veggies, rice and spices, for a satisfying and deeeeelicious cold weather meal. It’s been SO chilly here lately at night! I keep bugging Adam to get more firewood. Nothing better than a good fire and some comfort food on a chilly evening, right? Making cabbage rolls was way easier than I thought it would be – cabbage leaves are stronger than they look! Plus, they freeze and reheat well making this an easy make ahead meal.

They might not be the most photogenic food that ever graced this blog, but I promise they are super delicious and really not as complicated to make as they look!

Stuffed cabbage rolls have many different roots. After doing some research, I found that so many different cultures have variations! It’s really fascinating, actually.

So while these may not be the same as your grandma’s version, they are still really darn good. I know traditionally a blend of beef and/or veal is used to stuff the cabbage but I prefer turkey and hot Italian sausage for a bit of spice. You could use beef if you darn well please though! I bet that would be fantastic.

In regards to getting the cabbage leaves off the cabbage in one piece, it’s really not hard at all. You just need to blanch the cabbage in boiling water for a few minutes before the leaves just fall right off. Super easy. Then, just add your filling and roll up like a burrito before simmering in tomato sauce!

Turkey Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

serves about 4-6

Print this Recipe!

Ingredients:

1 large head Savoy cabbage

1 lb ground turkey

2 links {about 1/2 lb} hot Italian sausage

1 large carrot, grated

1 large shallot, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup currants or raisins

1/2 cup uncooked white rice

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 3/4 -2 tsp salt

pinch of cinnamon

ground black pepper

1 large jar marinara sauce

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Remove any outer leaves from your cabbage and stick a large fork or prong right at the bottom, in the core. Once the water is boiling, place the cabbage in the water. Continue boiling for 5 minutes then remove cabbage and run under cold water immediately.

Place cabbage on a bed of paper towels and carefully remove the leaves, snipping the bottoms with kitchen scissors. They should come off very easily and in one piece after the blanching process. Lay all the cabbage leaves on paper towels and cover with more paper towels to soak up any water. Let drain while you work on the filling.

To prepare the filling, heat up the olive oil over medium heat. When hot, add the shallot, garlic and grated carrot. Saute for about 4 minutes then add the tomato paste and mix well. Continue sauteing for another 2 minutes.

Remove pot from the heat and transfer veggies into a large mixing bowl. Keep the pot handy because you’ll use it again soon!

Add the uncooked rice and currants to the veggie mixture followed by the ground turkey and sausage meat. Add the salt, pepper and a pinch of cinnamon and mix well! I found this was easiest when using a big wooden spoon to break up the turkey meat and mix it well with the sausage meat.

Once you have everything combined, start filling your cabbage rolls. Place about 1/3rd cup of meat mixture in the center of each cabbage leaf. Roll up like a burrito, folding in all sides so no meat escapes. Place filled rolls gently on the bottom of your large pot. Repeat until all the cabbage leaves have been filled and rolled.

Pour the marinara sauce right over the cabbage rolls in the pot and place pot on the stove. Bring to a boil then cover and reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes until rice has cooked through. If you use brown rice it will take longer to cook – just an FYI.

Serve cabbage rolls with additional sauce and a big green salad. These rolls freeze well!

Time:

1.5 hours