Cabbage rolls stuffed with meat and rice are a classic of the genre. But preparing cabbage rolls takes quite a long time. To enjoy your favorite dish at any time, spending a minimum of effort and time, cabbage rolls can be prepared for future use by freezing them. You will learn how to prepare semi-finished stuffed cabbage rolls in the freezer by looking at this step-by-step recipe with photos.
First, let's prepare the filling. For this we need meat or ready-made minced meat. I used 900 grams of minced pork.
Peel the onion (200 grams) and cut into small cubes.
Peel carrots (150 - 200 grams) with a vegetable peeler and three on a coarse grater.
The next step is to fry the carrots and onions until lightly browned.
While the vegetables are fried, boil 100 grams of rice. I prefer to use long grain rice to stuff any vegetables. Place it in boiling water and cook for no more than 5 minutes.
You want it to turn white and swell slightly.
Now, let's prepare the filling for the cabbage rolls. To do this, add rice and sauteed vegetables to the minced meat, as well as salt, a mixture of peppers and an egg.
Mix the stuffing for cabbage rolls thoroughly.
Now, let's take care of the cabbage. This is probably the most crucial moment in preparing cabbage rolls. Cabbage should be loose, as it is easier to work with. But if your head is dense, then you can, after initially removing the stalk, place it in the microwave for 5 minutes (at full power). After this manipulation, the leaves will fall off easily. In my case, the cabbage was pliable, and there was no need to resort to the microwave.
So, we carefully remove the leaves from the cabbage, cutting off each leaf at the base. We try not to damage them.
Boil water in a large saucepan and add cut leaves (maximum of three pieces) to the boiling water. Blanch them for about one minute and place in a colander to cool. We do this procedure with all the leaves.
How to freeze cabbage rolls with minced meat and rice
After the cabbage has cooled, you need to carry out one more, in my opinion, necessary manipulation. If the leaves are juicy and large, then I cut off the thick veins with a knife. To make sure the cabbage roll rolls more accurately, I pierce the base of each leaf with a hammer.
Now you can start forming semi-finished products. To do this, place a tablespoon (more is possible) of minced meat on the cabbage and carefully roll up the cabbage roll. Place the finished twists on a tray covered with cellophane. Place the filled tray in the freezer for a day.
After 24 hours, we take out the frozen cabbage rolls and put them into bags in which they will later be stored in the freezer.
Undoubtedly, it is worth a little effort and rolling up more stuffed cabbage rolls at a time for freezing. But this preparation will make it much easier for you to prepare such a wonderful dish.
The well-known cabbage rolls today belong to Eastern European cuisine, but are widespread in Asian and Middle Eastern countries. Our usual cabbage rolls are eaten not only in Russia and the CIS countries, but also in other countries of the world. However, each country and nation has its own characteristics and subtleties of preparing this dish.
The name “stuffed cabbage” was given to a familiar dish at a time when French cuisine was fashionable in Russia. One of the dishes served there was pigeons baked whole. Around the same period of time, in parallel with this dish, they began to serve “false pigeons” - cabbage with minced meat inside. There is also an opinion that this dish received its name thanks to the Serbian language - cabbage rolls are dumplings.
How to cook delicious cabbage rolls
There are many recipes, as well as varieties of cabbage rolls themselves. It can be simple cabbage rolls with minced meat, or lean, vegetable, with mushrooms, and so on. There are no limits to your imagination - you can safely express it. This dish will not lose its taste, despite the combination of fillings and the use of various seasonings, as well as cooking methods. You can watch recipes in cooking videos.
The modern rhythm of life dictates its own rules - modern housewives do not always have time to cook on their own. Most women resort to frozen semi-finished products. You can purchase such products at any grocery store. Frozen semi-finished cabbage rolls are a finished product that just needs to be prepared correctly. Everyone should know how to cook frozen cabbage rolls. There are many cooking videos on the Internet that tell you in detail how to cook.
To properly prepare semi-finished “store-bought” cabbage rolls, you need to remember a number of steps:
- we take out the product itself from the packaging;
- Without defrosting, place in a cooking dish (you can use a multicooker);
- add chopped onions and carrots;
- pour boiling water until the cabbage rolls slightly protrude to the surface;
- add tomato paste and spices to taste;
- Place the container in which the cabbage rolls will be cooked on low heat and simmer a little. The simmering (quenching) time depends on desired result. Many people like cabbage rolls to melt in their mouth - to achieve this effect you need to simmer longer.
Now you will know how to cook not only ready-made cabbage rolls, but also how to make gravy.
In order to prepare cabbage rolls, we need to prepare:
- We prepare the filling for the dish - boil the rice and mix it with minced meat. Fry onions, garlic and carrots. Mix the resulting mixture with minced meat. Add salt and spices to taste.
- To prevent the filling from being dry, add a little tomato paste or mayonnaise sauce to the minced meat.
- Separate the cabbage leaves from the cabbage. Place them in boiling water for 10 minutes (you must constantly monitor the condition of the cabbage so that it does not overcook).
- Prepare the cabbage leaves for further preparation of the dish. Place the cabbage on a cutting board, take an iron hammer and beat off the hard parts of the cabbage leaves. This is necessary to simplify the process of adding the rice and minced meat filling to the cabbage.
- Place the cabbage on the board, put the filling in the cabbage leaf and carefully wrap it. The end result should be beautiful envelopes.
- cooking in a saucepan or cast iron;
- cooking in a slow cooker;
- cooking in the oven.
You need to choose a pan that will accommodate all the cabbage rolls.
For clear example You can watch a video on the topic of preparing cabbage rolls.
Bon appetit!
Modern technologies do not bypass the kitchen either. Today there are many cooking techniques. These technologies make life easier for modern housewives and reduce cooking time.
Is it possible to cook cabbage rolls in a slow cooker? Of course yes. A multicooker is a multifunctional device. Here you need to be creative and not adhere to specific recipes and cooking modes.
How to cook such a dish in a slow cooker?
It's quite simple:
- Chop onions, carrots and garlic. Fry the resulting mixture in a multicooker bowl in sunflower oil in the “Frying” mode.
- Carefully place the cabbage rolls into the multicooker bowl.
- Pour the gravy consisting of tomato paste into the bowl.
Close the multicooker and turn on the “Stew” mode. After the signal makes it clear that the multicooker has turned off, you need to open it and check its readiness. Depending on the brand of the device, you can re-enable the “Extinguishing” mode.
Place the finished dish on a plate, pour over the sauce and season with sour cream (mayonnaise).
You should follow these steps to prepare the dish correctly.
You can more accurately understand how to cook cabbage rolls by watching cooking videos, where all the steps and actions are clearly shown.
There are many cooking methods and options. When the question arises, “Is it possible to cook cabbage rolls in the oven?”, the answer is yes, you can.
To prepare cabbage rolls in the oven, choose a baking sheet or another bowl. Next we perform the following steps:
Place the cabbage rolls on a baking sheet and add the gravy, exactly the same as what was added when preparing the cabbage rolls in the standard way and in a slow cooker.
Cover the baking sheet with foil and seal it around the edges.
Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 30 minutes at 200C.
D 
Leave the baking sheet out of the oven and let it cool, otherwise you might get burned.
Move aside the foil and take out the prepared dish.
You can see how to cook cabbage rolls in the oven in a video on this topic.
How to cook lazy cabbage rolls
It is necessary to prepare all the ingredients separately, and then mix everything in one bowl. Next you need to simmer the resulting mass until completely cooked.
How to cook lazy cabbage rolls so that it is tasty? To do this, you need to make sure that the gravy lazy cabbage rolls Don’t boil it, otherwise the dish will turn out dry and not tasty. This dish can be prepared in the oven. You can learn more about how to deliciously cook lazy cabbage rolls in the cooking videos.
Lenten cabbage rolls are, at first glance, ordinary cabbage rolls, but they do not have minced meat filling. Vegetable fillings are used instead of minced meat. This dish is called both lean and vegetable or, for example, cabbage rolls with mushrooms.
Lenten or vegetable cabbage rolls are prepared as follows:
Cabbage is prepared in the usual way.
Vegetable (lean) fillings are prepared from onions, carrots, rice, tomatoes, mushrooms and so on. Here you can experiment depending on the availability of products, as well as taste preferences. Add spices.
Vegetable (lean) fillings are wrapped in cabbage.
Place the prepared lean cabbage rolls into the bowl where the dish will be prepared.
Fill the dishes with boiling water, to which we add tomato paste.
Simmer the lean cabbage rolls for an hour, then put them on a plate and serve.
This dish can be prepared in the oven and slow cooker. You can watch the cooking process in more detail in the video “How to cook lean cabbage rolls.”
How to cook lean cabbage rolls with mushrooms
Stuffed cabbage rolls with mushrooms are a kind of Lenten cabbage rolls. How to cook cabbage rolls with mushrooms?
It is necessary to prepare the filling with mushrooms. It consists of rice, mushrooms, onions, carrots. For the mushroom filling, you can use canned champignons.
Lay out the cabbage on the board and add the filling with mushrooms. The mushroom filling consists not only of mushrooms, but also of all the other ingredients described above.
To make the mushroom filling juicy, you can add a little creamy garlic sauce, sour cream or mayonnaise.
Place cabbage rolls with mushrooms in a bowl. Add boiling water and tomato paste. Simmer for an hour.
This dish can be prepared in the oven or slow cooker.
You can see more details on how cabbage rolls with mushrooms are prepared in cooking videos. There are a large number of videos that tell and show cooking recipes in detail. These videos can be viewed to provide a more detailed understanding of the entire process.
All types of cabbage rolls can be frozen, and after a while you can heat up the frozen cabbage rolls and spend less time on it.
Video about how to cook cabbage rolls
Stuffed cabbage rolls are not a traditional Russian dish, but a recipe from Middle Eastern and European cuisine. Frozen cabbage rolls are a real help for housewives, because they can be prepared at any time, simply by taking the semi-finished product out of the freezer. Despite the simplicity of preparation, the dish has its secrets.
Compound:
- Cabbage - 1 head
- Minced meat (can be replaced with mushrooms) - 1 kg
- Onions - 1 pc.
- Chicken egg - 1 pc.
- Rice - 5 tbsp. l.
- Salt, pepper and seasonings - to taste
Preparation:
- First you need to prepare the filling. In a separate bowl, mix the egg, seasonings, finely chopped onion, cooked rice and chopped meat. When the filling is ready, you can start preparing the cabbage.
- Carefully separate large sheets from the head of cabbage, place them in a saucepan and cook for about 20 minutes. Place the filling in each prepared leaf, wrap it and place it in the freezer.
- Frozen cabbage rolls are ready, now you can cook them at any time according to the following principle:
- Without defrosting, place the cabbage rolls in a thick cast iron pan. Sprinkle the dish with grated raw carrots on top and add a small raw onion. Pour enough boiling water into the pan to completely cover the semi-finished products. Cover with a lid.
- When the water boils, reduce the heat, add a little sour cream, salt to taste and tomato sauce. Simmer the cabbage rolls until done. Serve the finished dish hot, sprinkled with herbs.
- Frozen cabbage rolls can also be cooked in the oven. Place semi-finished products on a ceramic baking dish. Pour some water into the bottom. Coat the cabbage rolls with sour cream or prepare the sauce. If desired, you can sprinkle grated carrots on top.
- Cover the pan with parchment paper or double folded foil. There should be a small gap between the paper and the cabbage rolls. First 30 min. bake cabbage rolls at a temperature of 120 degrees, then for about an hour at a temperature of 150 degrees. Keep an eye on the water, if it has evaporated, add a little more.
- Remove the paper from the pan, pour the sauce over the cabbage rolls and keep them in the oven for another 10 minutes. at a temperature of 170 degrees.
Read also:Freezing vegetables at home.
How to cook cabbage rolls correctly?
Compound:
- Cabbage - 1 head
- Pork - 1 kg
- Pork fat - 150 g
- Onions - 1 pc.
- Sour cream - 150 g
- Tomato puree - 50 g
- Ground pepper and salt - to taste
Preparation:
- Separate the leaves from the cabbage, place them in salted boiling water and simmer for several minutes over low heat.
- Cut the pork into thin slices, beat them, salt and pepper. Finely chop the onion and stew it in fat. Place a slice of meat and stewed onion on each cabbage leaf.
- Wrap each sheet with a roll. Place semi-finished products in the freezer.
- To prepare, place cabbage leaves on the bottom of the pan, place cabbage rolls on them, pour in salted boiling water, add pork fat and simmer over low heat for about 1.5 hours. When the dish is ready, pour it with tomato puree and sour cream sauce. Serve hot.
Compound:
- Cabbage - 1 head
- Tomatoes - 0.5 kg
- Onions - 1 pc.
- Cheese - 500 g
- Pork - 1 kg
- Eggs - 3 pcs.
- Flavored vinegar - 5 tbsp. l.
- Bread - 3 slices
- Vegetable oil - 2 tbsp. l.
- Salt and pepper - to taste
Preparation:
- Separate the leaves from the cabbage, place them in a pan of boiling water and cook until tender. Peel the tomatoes and cut them into cubes. Finely chop the onion, grate the cheese on a medium grater, and finely chop the pork. Combine chopped onion, pork, cheese, eggs and flavored vinegar in a separate bowl.
- Grind the bread pulp and add to the filling. Season with salt and pepper. Spread the prepared filling onto the cabbage leaves, form into rolls and secure. Freeze prepared semi-finished products.
- To prepare the dish, heat the oil in a frying pan, add 70 ml of water, a little vinegar and tomatoes. Simmer the cabbage rolls in the resulting sauce for about 15 minutes.
Compound:
- Cabbage - 1 head
- Buckwheat - 200 g
- Sunflower oil - 200 ml
- Dried mushrooms (any) - 30 g
- Onions - 70 g
- Breadcrumbs - 100 g
- Flour - 40 g
- Salt and pepper - to taste
Preparation:
- Boil a head of cabbage in salted water for about 15 minutes. Carefully cut off the leaves. Place pre-boiled buckwheat on them, add vegetable oil. Tie each sheet with thread. Roll the cabbage rolls in breadcrumbs and fry them on vegetable oil until ready.
- When you have prepared the main part, you can start the sauce. Soak dried mushrooms for 4 hours in water, then boil. Finely chop the onion and fry it with flour, add mushroom broth, finely chopped mushrooms and ground black pepper. Pour the prepared sauce over the dish and serve hot. In this recipe, you can not only freeze semi-finished cabbage rolls, but also prepare the sauce for future use. You can store it for several days in a clean glass container with a lid.
Good housewives always have frozen semi-finished products in stock. Such “reserves” often serve as a good help when guests suddenly appear, or in other cases when there is no time for long cooking. Frozen cabbage rolls are a convenient and healthy product not only for this reason: they are easy to prepare, incredibly tasty and nutritious. Moreover, even a novice housewife can prepare them without fear for the taste and aesthetic qualities of the cabbage delicacies served to the table.
Classic recipeYou will need: an enamel saucepan or a deep, thick-walled frying pan for stewing; 3-4 medium-sized onions, 2 large carrots, ½ cup vegetable oil, 2 tbsp. spoons of tomato paste, 3 tbsp. spoons of sour cream, water, as well as freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste.
- Pour the oil into a frying pan and heat it to sauté the vegetables.
- Place grated carrots and onion cut into half rings in boiling oil and sauté for 10 minutes over medium heat;
- Remove half the vegetables to a bowl; Distribute the remaining onions and carrots in the pan evenly over the area of the dish and place the cabbage rolls on top, placing them next to each other.
- Cover the cabbage rolls with the rest of the sautéed vegetables, after mixing them with tomato paste and sour cream.
- Pour enough water into the container to cover the cabbage rolls by 0.5 cm from the top. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, cover with a lid and place the pan on the fire or in a preheated oven.
- Simmer the cabbage rolls over moderate heat or in the oven at 180 degrees for 40 minutes, adding water if necessary.
This differs from the classic cooking method in that instead of tomato paste, tomatoes are used (2-3 pieces are enough), sautéed with 2 pieces of red or yellow bell pepper.
- Sauté onions and carrots in oil, preheating it to a boil, for a quarter of an hour over medium heat.
- Add the tomatoes cut into slices. Sauté for another 5-7 minutes.
- Add the cut into strips into the frying pan. bell pepper and continue sautéing for 10 minutes.
- Divide the vegetables into two parts. Distribute the first one over the frying pan and place the cabbage rolls on it.
- Mix the second part of the vegetables with sour cream, add black pepper and cover the cabbage rolls in an even layer.
- Fill the vegetables with water so that it covers the contents of the container and add salt.
- Simmer for 40 minutes, monitoring the liquid level in the container.
This cooking method involves stewing cabbage rolls in the oven. At the same time, remember that the pots must be placed in a cold oven, and the stewing time should be increased to 50 minutes.
Calculation of products for 1 pot: 2 frozen cabbage rolls, 3 tbsp. spoons of vegetable oil, ½ onion, 2 tbsp. spoons of grated carrots, 1 medium champignon, 1 tbsp. spoon of sour cream, 1 tbsp. a spoonful of grated hard cheese, water, as well as finely chopped herbs and salt to taste. For sautéing vegetables: additionally - vegetable oil.
- Cut and lightly fry the mushrooms in vegetable oil. Place them on a plate.
- Sauté onions and carrots in a frying pan.
- Mix vegetables with mushrooms, add herbs and sour cream.
- Pour oil into the pot and place the cabbage rolls. Place the vegetable mixture on top, pour water to the surface of the vegetables.
- Sprinkle the dish with salt and cover with finely grated cheese.
- Cover the pot with a lid and place in the oven to simmer.
Favorite cabbage rolls! I cook them in different ways: with chicken and oatmeal, with pork and buckwheat, with millet and mixed minced meat, with mushrooms or even fish, in the oven, frying pan, saucepan, slow cooker, in tomato, sour cream or other sauce. This way you never get tired of cabbage rolls. In this step-by-step recipe, I will show you how to cook cabbage rolls with a classic filling of meat and rice in a saucepan, in sour cream and tomato sauce.
So, to prepare cabbage rolls in a saucepan, prepare: minced pork, round rice, onion, vegetable oil, salt, ground pepper, water, tomato paste, sour cream, white cabbage. Boil the rice in salted water until half cooked and combine it with the minced pork. Cut the onion into cubes and fry in vegetable oil.
Add the onion to the minced rice, add salt and ground pepper and stir. The stuffing for cabbage rolls is ready.
Now prepare the cabbage leaves for the cabbage rolls. To do this, boil a whole head of cabbage in large quantities water, gradually removing the soft upper leaves. Cut off thickenings from the softened leaves and, placing a spoonful of meat filling with rice on each leaf, wrap the cabbage rolls with closed rolls.
Place the cabbage rolls in a saucepan.
For the sauce, combine: tomato paste, sour cream, salt and boiling water. Stir the sauce until smooth.
Pour the prepared sauce over the cabbage rolls and let the sauce boil over high heat.
Then simmer the cabbage rolls over low heat under the lid until cooked. Always test the top cabbage roll for doneness - if the cabbage is soft and a fork fits into it easily, effortlessly, then the bottom cabbage rolls will be 100% ready. The time for stewing cabbage rolls is different each time, it all depends on the cabbage. But in any case, you need to simmer the cabbage rolls in a pan for at least 30 minutes.
Let the cabbage rolls sit for another 10 minutes, and then they are ready to serve!
Enjoy your meal!
