My husband and I met in 1978. This gluten free cabbage rolls recipe was the first dish I ever cooked for him. He enjoyed the stuffing so much he went back for seconds, and ate the stuffing by itself. I suppose the way to a man’s heart is truly through is stomach. I remember it was football season, and the only attention I received from him was during half time or commercials. I should have seen the writing on the walls, then. Seriously, you have to try this recipe. Most kids even like it, as it masks the taste of the vegetable. I haven’t been able to to taste it in decades due to my tomato allergies, but I just had to share it with you. Enjoy.
A flavorful and classic, gluten free stuffed with ground beef or bison, rice, and sauteed onion, garlic and green bell peppers.
Ingredients:
- 8 large cabbage leaves
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup yellow onion, chopped
- 1 green bell peppers, chopped
- 1 lb. lean ground beef
- 1 clove garlic, minced or grated
- 2 8 oz.-cans gluten free tomato sauce, separated (most are)
- Fine sea salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 cups cooked rice (brown or white)
- 1 - 3 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce (Lea & Perrins Original or my corn-free, sugar-free recipe), to taste (exclude for yeast-free diets)
Instructions:
- Begin to boil a large pot of water; add salt.
- Add 1 can of tomato sauce and Worcestershire sauce to a small sauce pan; stir and simmer on low until aromatic.
- Add ground beef to a skillet on medium-high heat; cook beef until no longer pink; lower heat to medium-low; add onion, bell pepper, and garlic; saute until tender; add 1 can of tomato sauce; simmer until flavorful, about 15 minutes. Add a little water or gluten free beef broth if it becomes too thick.
- While mixture is simmering, blanch the cabbage leaves in the boiling water; cook just long enough for the leaves to bend; drain in a colander. Place the leaves on several layers of paper towels to drain further.
- Preheat even to 350°F.
- Add as much rice as desired to beef mixture; and toss lightly. Fill each leaf with a large scoop of the filling near narrow an end; roll half way up; bring in sides; roll completely closed.
- Transfer each to a casserole dish, seam side down; pour tomato/Worcestershire sauce on top of all rolls. Place in oven just long enough to warm through, and larger veins of cabbage are tender, about 15 minutes, depending upon how long you blanched them for.
- Serve as is, or topped with grated or fresh shredded Parmesan, or roughly chopped flat leaf parsley. Serve with a hearty salad. If not, it will only feed 2-3.
Tips
You'll find that some recipes have you use raw meat. That is added calories. This recipe calls for you to cook the meat first. If you are not using lean beef, drain fat prior to adding vegetables.
I used to skip the oven and just keep everything warm. It all depends how fast you work.
Variation: Substitute the rice with gluten free bread crumbs. I've never tried it with cabbage rolls, but I have with Gluten Free Stuffed Bell Pepper.
The stuffed cabbage looks absolutely delish you have so many good looking food I must order. Ty so much looking forward to eating them.