If you’ve been intimidated by the thought of making crock pot cabbage rolls, you’re in the right place. This Slow Cooker Cabbage Rolls recipe is easy to follow and at the end of the day, you’ll have a tasty meal on the dinner table.

Cabbage cooks extremely well in the crock pot. Try a few other recipes like my Slow Cooker Corned Beef & Cabbage or Slow Cooker Potatoes, Cabbage and Kielbasa.

What are cabbage rolls?

Cabbage rolls are a popular Polish dish that has gradually made its way onto many dinner tables around the world. Your family is sure to love stuffed cabbage after sinking their teeth into these!

Traditional stuffed cabbage rolls are made by folding a cabbage leaf over and around a filling mixture of ground meat and rice and then cooking them in a tangy tomato sauce. A mixture of ground beef and ground pork is more traditional but using all beef has become popular.

Ground beef, rice, onion soup mix, and a few other pantry staples are used to create the delicious filling mixture and are cooked slowly in tomato soup.

Recipe Ingredients

• Ground beef: We used lean ground beef. The beef will fully cook inside the cabbage leaf in the slow cooker.
• Cabbage: Use a large green cabbage to ensure you have enough leaves.
• Filling mixture: Along with ground beef, you’ll need breadcrumbs, uncooked instant rice, diced green bell pepper, a large egg, onion soup mix, finely diced shallots, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper to complete the filling mixture.
• Cooking Sauce: Tomato soup and a can of Rotel tomatoes. You if want a spicy kick, you can use a spicy Rotel instead of mild.
• Seasoning: Use salt and pepper to taste.

Step One – CAREFULLY cut the stem of the cabbage out. The stem can be fairly tough so be sure to secure the cabbage well to avoid cutting yourself if it should roll.

Step Two – Add the cabbage to salted boiling water for about 5 minutes. Rotate the cabbage halfway through the cooking time to ensure it evenly cooks.

Step Three – The leaves will easily pull way. You will need 12 large leaves.

Step Four – Use a pairing knife to either cut the thick stem out or to shave it down making the leaves pliable.

Step Five – In a large bowl, mix the tomato sauce, rice, green bell pepper, shallots, Worcestershire sauce, onion mix, seasonings, breadcrumbs, and egg together.

Step Six – Add the ground beef and mix it in thoroughly. Mixing by hand is the best way.

Step Seven – Pour 1/2 can of the soup into the bottom of the slow cooker, spread it around. Take 1/3 cup of the mixture and place it in the center of a cabbage leaf.

Step Eight – Fold in all sides as if you’re making a burrito to completely enclose the filling.

Step Nine – Place the cabbage roll seam-down on the soup in the slow cooker.

Step Ten – Once you have your first layer of 6 rolls, pour half of the Rotel and the remaining tomato soup from the open can over the top of the cabbage rolls.

Step Eleven – Make the next 6 cabbage rolls, placing them on top of the previous layer. Once all of the rolls have been made, spread the remaining Rotel over them and the last can of tomato soup.

Step Twelve – Cook the cabbage rolls on LOW for 6-7 hours. Garnish the top with parmesan cheese and finely chopped parsley. Serve and enjoy!

How to Serve Cabbage Rolls

• Spoon some of the sauce over the cabbage rolls when serving. You can add a dollop of sour cream for an extra flourish.
• Prepared cabbage rolls are a complete meal on their own, but they can be served with a small salad. They’re also delicious served over mashed potatoes. Warm crusty bread is also great for soaking up every last bit of the sauce.

Recipe FAQs

More Recipes to try:

• Slow Cooker Cabbage Roll Soup
• Slow Cooker Cabbage
• Slow Cooker Red Cabbage
• Slow Cooker Chicken and Cabbage