This recipe for stuffed cabbage is a distinctly American variation with ketchup, tomatoes, brown sugar, and lemon juice. It is also American to freeze the cabbage and then defrost it, a trick I learned long ago that makes this dish a snap to prepare. And, like many good Jewish dishes, it tastes better the next day.
Joan Nathan’s Chosen Stuffed Cabbage
April 02, 2021
Ingredients
Filling
- 1head of cabbage, frozen, about 2 pounds
- 2pounds ground beef
- 1teaspoon salt
- ½teaspoon pepper
- 2large eggs
- ⅓cup ketchup
- ½cup uncooked rice
- 1small onion, finely chopped
Sauce
- 135-ounce can chopped tomatoes
- 2tablespoons tomato paste
- Salt and pepper
- 2large onions, sliced
- ½cup ketchup
- 2lemons, juiced
- ⅓cup brown sugar
- ⅓cup raisins
- 1tablespoon oil
Yield: about 24 rolls
Preparation
To make the Sweet-and-Sour Stuffed Cabbage
- Step 1
Defrost the cabbage the night before cooking. When it is completely defrosted, separate the leaves.
- Step 2
To make the filling: In a large bowl, mix the ground beef, salt, pepper, eggs, rice, ketchup, and chopped onion; set aside.
- Step 3
Place 1 heaping tablespoon of the filling on each cabbage leaf. Tuck the ends in and roll up like a big cigar. Place them, open side down, in a 6-quart casserole.
- Step 4
To make the sauce: Cook onions with oil in a saucepan for a few minutes, then add the tomatoes, tomato paste, salt and pepper to taste, onions, ketchup, the juice of one lemon, brown sugar, and raisins. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 15 minutes, covered.
- Step 5
Pour the sauce over the cabbage. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for one hour and a half, and then uncover for an additional half hour, adding water if too dry. Taste for sweet and sour and, if needed, squeeze the juice of the remaining lemon over all.
- Step 6
Turn the stuffed cabbage rolls onto a serving platter, spoon the sauce over, and serve. This is even more delicious the second day.