Hungarian Stuffed Cabbage
Filed Under Beef, Entree, Pork, Recipe, Vegetable | Printer Friendly Page
Both of my parents were born in Hungary, and, lucky for me, my Mom still loves to make Hungarian dishes. Stuffed Cabbage is a family favorite, especially in the colder months, and I’ve adapted my Mom’s recipe a little bit over time. If you decide to make the dish, be sure to set aside enough time (1-2 hours for prep, 4 hours or longer for cooking time). This is a great leftover meal, as it tastes better when reheated.
Paprika is a key ingredient in Hungarian cooking, so when using it, take the time to look for a good quality Paprika, preferably Hungarian. Hungarian Paprika is a little spicier than Spanish Paprika, and provides a wonderful color as well as needed flavor to the dish. Our local supermarket carries Hungarian Paprika in the spice aisle (Pride of Szeged Hungarian Paprika), and we buy a lot of our spices from Penzey’s - they have several varieties of Paprika, but I prefer to use the Hungarian Sweet.
Ingredients:
- 1 large or 2 medium Green Cabbages
- 1 1/2 pounds Ground Beef
- 1 pound Ground Pork
- 1/4 cup non-instant Rice
- 1/4 pound Bacon, diced
- 1 medium sweet Onion, diced
- 3 tablespoons Flour
- 1 bag of fresh or one large can Sauerkraut
- 1 Green Pepper, diced
- 1Tomato, diced
- 4 tablespoons good quality Paprika, preferably Hungarian
- Kosher Salt
- Ground Black Pepper
- Sour Cream for garnish, if desired
Core cabbage(s). Bring enough water to a boil so that the entire cabbage will be emersed. Boil cabbage (one at a time if using two) for approximately 5 minutes or until leaves are starting to pull away from core. Remove from water and let cool. Once cooled off, carefully remove green leaves until you reach the tougher white leaves. Do not use the white ones for rolling as they are difficult to fold, but roughly chop a few of them to add to the stock pot.
Parboil rice for 10 minutes. While the rice is cooking, combine ground beef, pork, 3 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper in a bowl; mix well to incorporate salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, brown bacon in medium to large stock pot. Remove bacon and half of the grease that was rendered (discard grease). Add onions to remaining bacon grease and cook until translucent. Remove half of the onion mixture and add it along with the rice to the meat mixture; stir to incorporate the onions and rice. Add the flour to the remaining onion mixture in the stock pot and stir for a couple of minutes; this will help eliminate the flour flavor, but help to thicken the base. Add paprika and four cups of water. Stir and bring to a soft boil.
Rinse the sauerkraut in a strainer. Add the diced green pepper and tomato and gently toss to incorporate them together.
On a cutting board, trim off the tough stems of each cabbage leaf as shown in the picture below; this will make the rolling easier.
Put about a tablespoon (depending on the size of the leaf) of the filling into each leaf, and fold bottom to the middle, then each side into the middle, then roll leaf (will resemble an egg roll, as pictured below).
To assemble, put some of the leftover cut-up cabbage leaves into the bottom of the stock pot, then add a little of the sauerkraut mixture. Lightly salt and pepper contents in the pot.
Next, place cabbage rolls in a circle, and fill in gaps with the meatballs. Cover with more cut up cabbage leaves and another layer of the sauerkraut mixture. Lightly salt and pepper again. Continue until you are out of cabbage rolls and meatballs. Finish off with the sauerkraut mixture on top. Add enough water to barely cover mixture.
Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer/soft boil for at least 4 hours, as you are cooking raw pork. The longer you let it cook, the more flavor you will get out of the dish. Oftentimes, this dish is served with a dollup of sour cream. Enjoy!
These look very different from my Hungarian grandmother’s stuffed cabbage, but very wonderful in a different way! I had no idea you were Hungarian, too. (I liked your blog lots even not knowing, mind.) My maternal grandparents were born in Hungary, my mother was born in Israel, my father was born in Brooklyn, and his recent ancestors came from Ukraine (not far from the Hungarian border).
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You know there are so many days when you’re thinking of what to make and keep forgetting that there are simple and tasty home-made dishes like these that can be rolled up (pun intended)
in not time.
This sounds so good, my mom use to cook with cabbage a lot. I would absolutely love to have some of those, I really need to try this sometime…I know my mom would love it!
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These just sound too incredible!!! Throw in a few potatoes on the side and I would be in heaven. Do Hungarians have a version of perogies?
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I love your web site and all the great pictures and recipes. I will return often.
Hi Everyone,
Sorry for the lack of comments back - we have been here and there and unable to buckle down on the site lately; never fear, we are back.
Meeso - we will get to work on the Meme; Valli - I don’t think Hungarians have perogies, but they do cook with potatoes quite a bit…my Mom makes “saucy” potatoes with a lot of paprika, and also baked potatoes made with hard boiled eggs as well. Thanks again and Happy Holidays!
kris’s last blog post..Hungarian Stuffed Cabbage
My parents both came from Hungary in 1956 and I eat the Hungarian restaurant here in the the San Fernado Valley (California)I asked both and they only use pork no beef also no paprika.
I have been looking for a receipe for my moms dish and this is the closest I have found. Mom would mix pork and beef. Then she would also add sausage to the pot along with smoked pork pieces.
To die for!!!
Nice Blog! I came by for a visit!! Everything looks delicious.
This looks just fantastic. I made something similar but the pictures were not nearly as great as yours! Keep it up!
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Mmm. That looks really good actually. Is it difficult finding the ingredients?
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Hi Andy, I am so glad to read a recipe from Hungary. I am Slovak and love their cuisine. I am so bookmarking your cabbage recipe. I cam here through Cynthia´s blog and am very glad for that. I am hosting Tried & Tasted event dedicated to cooking from other blogs. This month, we re cooking from Cynthia. Up for the challenge?
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wow! This looks delicious. :)mmm
My friends mother use to make these she called them galumpkies or golumpki I don’t know but they where kick butt. I’m going to make some with cabbage out of my garden this years.