Vegan Cabbage Rolls

Delicious, hearty, and very similar to a traditional Slavic staple, these vegan cabbage rolls are easier to make than you might think!

Course Main Course

Cuisine polish, slavic, ukrainian

Keyword cabbage recipes, plant based cabbage dumplings, plant based cabbage rolls, stuffed cabbage, stuffed cabbage rolls, vegan cabbage dumplings, vegan cabbage rolls, vegan ground beef

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 1 20

Total Time 1 30

Servings

Calories 172.5

Author carleigh

Equipment

large pot to fit water and full cabbage
Small bowl or ramekin
Bowl or beaker for the sauce
Oven safe dish casserole or cast iron pan

Ingredients

1 large green cabbage

The filling

600 gram vegan ground beef I used Impossible
1 yellow onion finely chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried basil
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground pepper
¼ cup fresh parsley chopped
3 tbsp nutritional yeast

Tomato cooking sauce

3 tbsp tomato paste
1½ cups vegetable broth
2 tbsp fresh parsley

Instructions

Cut out the thick stem end of the cabbage. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and boil the cabbage for 2 to 5 minutes, until the leaves are softened and pliable to pull off.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375F and lightly grease an oven safe cast iron pan or casserole dish.
In a large bowl, mix together the raw vegan ground beef, onion, garlic, herbs and seasonings until combined. At this time, you should also make your sauce, by combining the tomato paste, vegetable broth and fresh parsley in a bowl or pourable container.
To make the dumplings, use a ramekin or small bowl, and lay down a cabbage leaf, adding two heaping tablespoons of filling inside. Fold in the outside of the leaves tightly around the filling to create a "parcel". Turn the dish upside down to remove the stuffed cabbage leaf and transfer to the prepared pan or dish. This recipe made six very large cabbage rolls or dumplings.
Once all the stuffed cabbage leaves are placed into the pan, pour the sauce on top. Now, crumble up a piece of parchment paper, and place on top of the dish so the cabbage dumplings are covered.
Move to the oven, baking for 1 hour. Uncover and baste the sauce onto the cabbage rolls. Bake for another 10-15 minutes, until tops of the cabbage start to brown and the sauce thickens. You can broil at 500F for a few minutes at the end, watching closely, if you desired more of a brown on top.
Serve as desired. These are excellent over a plain vegan yogurt, with more fresh parsley on top.

Notes

Use lentils or finely chopped mushrooms instead of vegan ground beef for a more whole-food version.

If your local store doesn't carry vegan meat substitutes, or if it's too expensive, try my recipe for vegan beef crumble using extra firm tofu.

Swap the regular cabbage for savoy or Napa cabbage if you want leaves that are softer and easier to roll.

Since meat was usually the most expensive ingredient, many traditional recipes add cooked rice to the filling to stretch it further. You're welcome to do the same, just make sure to add extra seasoning.

Serve over plain vegan yogurt to complement the key flavors. I also recommend adding a starchy side like my shaken potatoes or Hasselback butternut squash.

Nutrition