Vegan Cabbage Rolls
Vegan stuffed cabbage rolls recipe made with plant-based meat, veggies and rice filling cooked in tomato sauce
Ingredients
- 2 medium green cabbages
For the Filling
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 pint cremini or white button mushrooms
- ½ large yellow onion
- 1 clove garlic
- 12 oz ground vegan meat such as Impossible
- ¾ cup uncooked white rice
- 1 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp kosher salt I use Morton's
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley plus more for garnishing, optional
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh dill plus more for garnishing, optional
- 1 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce such as Annies
For the Sauce
- 32 oz tomato juice
- 2 cups water
- 1½ tbsp tomato paste
- 1½ tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp kosher salt I use Morton's
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ¼ tsp sugar
For Serving
- vegan sour cream or plain unsweetened almond milk yogurt
Instructions
Prep the Cabbage Leaves
- Start by removing the stem and core of each cabbage. Then add 8 cups of water to a large oven-safe dutch oven (one that has a lid.) Bring the water to a boil and add one cabbage at a time.
- Cook for 4-5 minutes or until outer leaves are slightly softened and tender.
- Using tongs, carefully remove the cabbage from the water and place it in a colander to cool. Repeat with the second cabbage.
- When cool enough to handle, remove outer leaves and return the cabbage to the boiling water if the center of the cabbage needs to cook a little longer to become tender. Tip: You can save 2 cups of the water you cooked the cabbage in to use for the sauce later on if desired. If so, set it said and discard the remaining water so the pot is empty.
- Once the leaves are softened, remove the center rib from the middle of the larger leaves so that they're easier to roll. Stack the cabbage leaves and set aside for rolling and then finely chop the ribs of leaves and place them in the bottom of the pot (off the heat.)
Make the Filling
- Finely dice the onions and mushrooms and mince the garlic. Chop the parsley and dill and rinse the white rice. Set everything aside. Tip: The smaller you cut the veggies, the better the filling will be so instead of chopping by hand, I chopped both the onions and the mushrooms in this mini food processor. It makes a world of difference in the texture of the filling!
- Next, add 2 tbsp of olive oil to a large frying pan and set the heat to medium. Once warm, add the onions and cook for 5 minutes or until soft and translucent.
- Then add the garlic, paprika, salt and pepper and cook for 1 minute. Then turn off the heat and add the uncooked white rice. Mix well and allow to cool slightly.
- Then add the Worcestershire sauce, chopped parsley, chopped dill and vegan ground beef (off the heat because we're not cooking the "meat" here) and use clean hands to mix it all together.
Roll
- First, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Next, spoon ¼ cup of the filling onto the bottom third of one cabbage leaf. Then fold the base of the leaf over the filling, tuck in the sides and roll forward. Repeat with remaining cabbage leaves. Tip: You'll want to use a little more filling for the larger leaves and a little less for the smaller leaves. Watch this video for a helpful demo 😊
- Place the cabbage rolls on top of the chopped cabbage in the stock pot and line them up so they're touching but not too compact. If you have extra cabbage, finely chop it up and set aside.
Make the Sauce
- Combine all of the sauce ingredients in a large mixing bowl and whisk well. Taste and add more salt as desired. Remember this sauce will season the cabbage you added to the pot as well as to the actual rolls so add salt and pepper as needed. Pour the sauce on top of the cabbage rolls, making sure each one is fully submerged. Sprinkle and additional cabbage on top so that nothing goes to waste and cover the pot with a lid.
Bake
- Bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour and 45 minutes and then serve with a sprinkle of chopped parsley and dill and some vegan sour cream. Tip: this recipe is greats served with boiled potatoes or polenta on the side.