Stuffed cabbage is a classic Ashkenazi Jewish dish, and everybody seems to have their favorite way of making it. Also known as holishkes or prokes, stuffed cabbage leaves were a central part of the Eastern European Jewish diet. When we talk about these types of dishes, it nearly always comes down to one question:
“How did Bubbe make it?”
We all have a fondness in our heart for the dishes we grew up with, and the way our parents or grandparents cooked them. Often, we find ourselves wishing that our grandparents had written their family recipes down. After they’re gone, we struggle to capture that traditional flavor, the one we remember so well from our childhood.
Because I don’t have a Jewish “bubbe” (grandma), I have to create my own favorite way of making these iconic Jewish dishes. Sometimes I am influenced by my husband’s family, but I also like to see what other family traditions are out there. Whenever I want to learn a Jewish recipe, I try many, many different recipes to see what I like best in each one. That means I’ve made stuffed cabbage over a dozen different ways. I’ve tried recipes from Polish friends and Israeli friends. I’ve tried it the Sara Kasden way, the Molly Goldberg way, the Fanny Engle and Gertrude Blair way (Jewish cookbook authors from my vintage cookbook collection). I’ve tried the wonderful versions from Joan Nathan and Arthur Schwartz and 2nd Avenue Deli. I’ve made it with V-8 juice and tomato soup, cranberry sauce and apricot preserves, raisins and crushed gingersnaps. They’re all terrific, and each has something that makes it special. My challenge is to take the thing I like best in each recipe and create something new, something fresh– my own take on the classic.
One thing I’ve found is that I like a stuffed cabbage that is less sweet and more tart. Polish versions tend to be extremely sweet, often with raisins. I prefer a tart sauce with a slight sweetness, as well as a savory filling full of flavor. I add sauerkraut for that extra bit of tartness. The filling is key– a stuffed cabbage filling can easily be bland if you don’t give it lots of seasoning and care.
At any rate, this is my version of stuffed cabbage, the one my husband loves and asks me for on a regular basis. Your bubbe may have done hers differently. That’s what is so fun about Jewish food… every family has their own way, and every bubbe’s way is the best way. The sauce’s flavor can be adjusted by adding more brown sugar or lemon juice to taste, if desired.
Stuffed cabbage is a wonderful dish for the autumn and winter months. It’s cozy and satisfying, and it’s also pretty healthy. It’s gluten free (when using certified GF packaged products), low in carbs, high in protein and full of fiber.
Ingredients
2 heads of cabbage
2 lbs ground beef
3 cups cooked rice
1 egg
1 tsp garlic
1 tbsp parsley
2 slices diced onion
1 -15 oz. can tomato sauce
1-28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup tomato sauce (in meat)
Salt & Pepper to taste
Preparation
Put a head of cabbage in a pot of boiling water, and peel off the cabbage leaves one at a time.
Cut off the rough part on the end of the cabbage leaf with a sharp knife.
Mix all ingredients together except the 15 oz can of tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes and put a small amount (size of a sausage) on a cabbage leaf, and roll up like a fajita and place seam side down in a casserole dish. I put tomato sauce and a cabbage leaf or 2 on the bottom of the casserole dish so the Halupky won’t burn.
Pour crushed tomatoes over Halupkys.
Cover and bake approximately 75 minutes at 375º.
Turn oven down to 325º and bake for approximately 90 more minutes until cabbage is tender. Baste every hour.
Serve with tomato sauce.
Polish version g Galumpies
Never made cabbage rolls ever. Want to try them. Just wondering with this recipe it calls for a 15 oz. can of tomato sauce. Do you just use a little of it in the bottom so they won’t burn and keep the rest of the can for when they are cooked to pour over them? I would imagine you use quite a bit in the bottom of the casserole for them to cook in. Please explain the recipe more clearly for me. Thanking you in advance!
I also use some of the old end pieces of cabbage and cover the bottom of pan before putting the cabbage rolls in. Then they won’t burn.
when you say to cut off rough part do I cut the leaf straight accross?
I am going to try this. Sounds good!
I am going to try this. Sounds.Good!
Going to make this,
I don’t put garlic in mine. I use milk instead of tomato in the meat mix. I also cover mine with a mixture of tomato soup and tomato sauce. You can also use a tooth pick to hold it closed.
I cook mine in sauerkraut. I also mix the ground beef with ground pork.
I love cabbage rolls!
I’ve made cabbage rolls a couple of times. I don’t bake mine though I boil them in the tomato sauce slowly. Around 3 hours. Stick tooth pick in them so they don’t come apart. Very good.
I’m polish and my grandmother’ called these Gumpki
My Aunt from Michigan calls them Gumpkis. Her recipe is awesome.
My Inn was called them Hal UPKI. I make them with one pound of hamburger and 1 pound of ground pork. If you put the cabbage in the microwave with some water and start cooking it you can easily take the leaves off whole. My recipe is one cup of cooked rice the Hamburg and the pork 1 egg chop up some bacon that’s cooked already salt and pepper and onion. Take a large can of tomato sauce and add the same amount of water to it and mix it together on the bottom of the Pan put at least half of the can and then use the rest to cover the stuffed cabbage in a big baking Pan. I cook at slow for about 2 and a 1/2 to 3 hours on 325
My mother always made a sweet and sour sauce out of sugar and apple cider instead. Of tomato sauce and it is outstanding