Polish Gołąbki (Stuffed Cabbage Rolls)

This Polish golabki dish is my grandma’s recipe for stuffed cabbage rolls. It is easier to make in large batches since the prep is time-consuming. I double or triple the recipe and bake them in an electric roasting pan. I freeze any extras, and when they come out of the freezer, they taste even better because the cabbage has becomes more tender. My grandma made these with various combinations of beef, veal, and pork and constantly experimented to get them right. I typed this up based on her notes, but she cooked as I do. Experiment with the meats and the flavors until you get something you like. I like to mix up the type of spices I use; sometimes, they are plain with just the marjoram, and sometimes, I use Italian seasoning.

Preparation Details

Prep Time: 30 mins

Cook Time: 2 hrs 15 mins

Total Time: 2 hrs 45 mins

Servings: 20

Ingredients

• 2 heads cabbage, cored
• 2 tablespoons margarine
• 2 onions, diced
• 4 pounds ground beef
• 2 (10.5 ounce) cans chicken with rice soup
• 2 cups rice
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram, or to taste
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can golden mushroom soup

Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook cabbage in boiling water until leaves are falling off. Remove leaves from water as they peel off and set aside.
3. Melt margarine in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook onions in hot margarine until translucent, 5 to 7 minutes.
4. Mix together cooked onions, ground beef, chicken with rice soup, rice, eggs, marjoram, salt, and pepper in a large bowl.
5. Take a cabbage leaf, lay it flat, and trim the thickest part toward the bottom of leaf to make it easier to roll; repeat with all leaves. Take darker outside leaves and line the bottom of a roasting pan with them.
6. Scoop a portion of beef meat mixture into a leaf and wrap leaf around mixture, enveloping meat completely. Repeat until all of the beef mixture is used. Arrange stuffed cabbage leaves into the roasting pan. Top with any remaining cabbage leaves. Cover the roasting pan with aluminum foil.
7. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour and 45 minutes. Remove aluminum foil, peel back top layer of extra cabbage leaves, and pour golden mushroom soup over stuffed cabbage leaves. Replace top cabbage leaves, return the roasting pan to the oven, and continue baking until soup is hot, about 15 minutes.