This is one of my favorite meals. Golabki. You may know this as Stuffed Cabbage, but I come from a Polish family and in our house these are only known as Golabki. Every time I make these it brings me back to when I was a child. For holidays or special gatherings the older women in my family would prepare the best Polish dishes and it was special. You cannot just go to the store and get a meal like this. As a matter of fact, I don’t know of many restaurants where you can go to get a meal like this. This meal has to come from your kitchen, from scratch and from your heart. It is made with love.
This meal does take some time to prepare, but it is worth every minute. I decided to start making these in my slow cooker for Sunday dinners because I wanted to spend time with my family and not be in the kitchen all afternoon. I think these are amazing when made in the slow cooker. The meat filling is so moist and tender and the flavors have time to be mingled together perfectly. I can make this recipe with ease now, but it was a bit tricky in the beginning. I didn’t give up on these though because I wanted to share this with my children. It was important for me to continue certain things that show my children part of their heritage. Whether you are Polish or not, this is a wonderful meal! I hope you get a chance to make these sometime soon for your family. Do you have a special family meal you like to make in your slow cooker?
For those of you who haven’t made these before, I made a quick photo tutorial:
First, I like to cut a deep square around the core of the cabbage with a Chef’s knife. This allows the cabbage leaves to be removed easily and without any tears when you place the cabbage in boiling water to soften it.
In a pot of salted water, gently place the cabbage in and turn it with the edge of the mesh strainer or a wooden spoon. After a few minutes, remove 2 leaves. Keep doing this until you have enough leaves. I like to use this strainer because I gently touch the cabbage and the leaf is separates and I quickly place it in the strainer to remove any excess water. Be careful it’s going to be hot!
Set the cabbage leaves on the counter to cool off a bit before you work with them.
Turn over the cabbage and with a sharp paring knife, remove the hard stem that goes down the middle without piercing through the leaf. You don’t want that tough piece in there!
Now that your cabbage leaves are ready, whisk your ingredients together for the Tomato Sauce.
Use the left over cabbage and onion to cover the bottom of the slow cooker.
Pour about 1/3 of the sauce over it.
Spoon about 1/2 cup of meat filling into the cabbage leaves. Size will depend on how large your cabbage leaves are and your personal preference.
Roll up the cabbage firmly while tucking in the sides.
Place the rolled cabbage into the Slow Cooker so they are touching but not over crowded either.
Cover the first layer of Golabki with another 1/3 of the Tomato Sauce.
Make a second layer and cover with the remaining sauce. Place the lid on the Slow Cooker and cook on Low for 8 to 9 hours or on High 4 to 5 hours.
Enjoy!
Ingredients
- For the Filling
- 2 lbs. ground beef 80% lean
- 1/2 lb. ground pork
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- 1 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. sugar
- 1/2 of 1 large onion, chopped fine- reserve the other half for lining the slow cooker
- 1 cup uncooked instant white rice
- 1 or 2 heads of green cabbage
- For the sauce:
- 1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 Tbsp. flour
- 1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 4 Tbsp. brown sugar
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- Carefully place the cabbage in the water and gently turn with a mesh strainer or wooden spoon.
- Every few minutes, with the strainer or spoon, loosen a few leaves and remove.
- Set aside to cool.
- Do this until the desired number of cabbage leaves are softened and removed.
- While you are softening the cabbage you can mix together the filling.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the beef, pork, garlic powder,pepper, salt, sugar, 1/2 of the onion and rice.
- Mix until combined.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the sauce.
- Slice remaining cabbage and onion and layer the bottom of your slow cooker.
- Cover with 1/3 of the tomato sauce.
- When the cabbage is cool enough to touch, with a paring knife, turn the cabbage over and remove the hard stem being careful not to pierce through the cabbage leaf.
- Fill the cabbage with about 1/2 cup of filling and roll gently, not too firmly, while tucking in the sides.
- Line them across the sauce in the slow cooker.
- Cover with another 1/3 of the sauce.
- Place your final layer of golabki in the slow cooker and cover with remaining sauce.
- Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on Low for 8 to 9 hours or on High for 4 to 5 hours.
- When the it is done cooking, remove the id and let cool for 15 minutes or so.
- Serve with a salad and fresh bread.
- This recipe usually makes me about 20 golabki.
*Linking up at I Gotta Create,The Taylor House,Joyful Homemaking, Reasons To Skip The Housework, Best Blog Recipes, Comforts Of Home
Thanks Shannon, My daughter gave us a new slow cooker for Christmas and I’m using it for the first time. I got a late start so I will do them on high for five hours. Your recipe is very close to mine, stolen from a Polish Busha! I’m going to make baked potatoes and a salad to go along with them and I’ll let you know how they turn out. My wife can’t wait to get home from work! As an aside….Golabki freeze well and we portion them into containers for an easy home made dinner without the work.
Hi Denny! We love freezing these too! It’s so nice to have a comforting meal on hand for dinner on a busy weeknight. I hope you and your wife enjoy them as my as our family does! Have a wonderful rest of the week:)
I love your way of cooking cabbage leaves, placing extra leaves in the bottom of the crock and cooking it slow. I know I should double the recipe but then I’d need another cooker. I was out of onions so I used a tsp of onion powder. It’s after midnight and I told DH to get two loaves of french bread as a filler since these will be gone too soon if we have them for dinner. THANKS for posting the recipe!!
Thank you Lisa! This is a real favorite at our house. I’m so glad your family is enjoying this recipe too:)
This looks like a great recipe to make for Christmas dinner. How far in advance can I make them? And can they be frozen?
Hi Lindi! I usually make these a day or 2 ahead of time and them put them in the slow cooker on Christmas morning and they are perfect. I have frozen these before (just a few leftover ones) and they freeze pretty good after they are cooked.
thank you so much for this recipe– it has been over 15 yrs since I made this ,prior to that I made it every year for our anniversary (it will be 50 yrs in March of ’17) It’s my husbands favorite. Why did I quit making it? A stroke I suffered in 2000 affected my memory , my speech and my eyesight. On a total other note I have to tell you this little story- when I was just a young gal I lived with a Polish family and Virginia ( the Mom) would make these in a big electric roaster– yum– was never sure about the spelling of many of her wonderful dishes and didn’t ask as I was almost positive there would be a ‘Z’ in there somewhere and I wouldn’t remember it anyway. So I was tickled to see the correct spelling- though they pronounced it GOO- WUMP- KEY ‘ Thank you again for posting this recipe 🙂
Hi Ann! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave me such a sweet note here. I’m so happy that a recipe like this one can bring others back to a special time or place in the kitchen like it does for me. Enjoy & have a wonderful week:)
Prepared the Slow Cooker Golabki recipe this morning for the first time. Anxiously awaiting for the crockpot beeps to sound! Smells delicious!! Utensils and plates are at the ready!
I hope you enjoyed them! 🙂 Have a great week!
The Golabki were delicious! Thank you for sharing your recipe. I will make them again.
I’ll be trying these today! If I make too masny, I’ll put the rest in the oven and then freeze any leftovers! thanks for sharing!
I hope you like them Lisa! Have a great week!
Thank you for getting back to me so quickly Andrea.
Your recipe sounds so good. I’ll be making these tomorrow in the crockpot, but I have a question. Do I precook the rice or add it raw? Thanks, looking forward to our meal.
Hi Cassie! I use instant white rice and you do NOT have to precook it! Mix it right in with the raw meat and the rice cooks with everything else:) I hope you enjoy the recipe! Thanks for stopping by!
So excited eat mine tonight!! What a wonderful recipe you’ve put together here! I have doctored the ingredients a bit, added a few extra pinches of seasoning and also a bit of shredded Italian cheeses. Cannot wait <3
Thanks Andrea! Adding the cheese sounds delicious! Let me know how it turns out:)
Hi! I’ve been wanting to make these for so long and I can’t wait to try your recipe!! Such wonderful pictures and I loved how you went through the steps! Was wondering what you would suggest for making a smaller portion of this? We are just a family of three but I would love some leftovers! Thank you!
Thank you Noel! We always make these for Christmas, and they are just wonderful:) I would suggest maybe halving the recipe and still cooking them the same amount of time for a smaller amount. I hope you enjoy them! Happy Holidays!
I made this last night and it was wonderful!! It definitely challenged me in my cooking abilities! Thank you again for this recipe and the advice! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Hi Noel! Thank you! I’m so happy you and your family liked it:)
Can these be made in the oven too? How long would you cook them? The ingredient list sounds wonderful.
Hi Caryl! I have made these in the oven. It has been a while- I think I would start them at 350 for 30 minutes and then lower to 300 or 250 for 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours. I covered the pan well with foil and then about an hour before it was done, covered them with a little more sauce, recovered and finished cooking. I guess cooking time would depend on how thick your golabki are. The slow cooker kind of takes the guessing work out, so that’s why I prefer that method. I hope you have a chance to make these. Enjoy:)
Hi Shannon. I enjoyed this post so much. I have also kept the Polish tradition of cabbage rolls going from my Mother and Grandmother. But funnily in our family the rolls are called Habichas, not Golabkis. Wonder where are respective Polish ancestors came from. You did a great job of explaining the process. The hardest part for me to learn was the rolling. I love that you did these in the crock pot. Mom always cooked on the stove top on low. She also put the cabbage scrapes in the bottom of the pot so that the rolls wouldn’t burn. Love your blog.
Penny recently posted…Ham, Cheese and Quinoa Frittata Muffins
Thank you so much for your sweet comments Penny:) That was a very special post for me. I actually have these in the slow cooker today! Even though it’s the first day of Spring, it’s snowing here and I couldn’t help but think of this comforting meal! I’m so happy you are enjoying Cozy Country Living. Have a wonderful day!
Thank you so much for this recipe! I can hardly wait to try it!! The post is beautifully done. Great job!
Thank you so much Angela! I hope you like it! 🙂
We always cook them in a mix of 50% tomato sauce and 50% tomato soup. Gives a nice tastes
That sounds good too Todd 🙂
Shannon, thank you for such an accurate representation of Golabki. I will be making these today, for friends tomorrow, one of whom is undergoing outpatient surgery currently… Again, thanks for your awesome contribution… I’ve seen and tried many, but this is the one I KNOW I was looking for. 😉
Oh Marlene, thank you so much for your kind words:) I hope you like it! Sending prayers and healing thoughts your way for your friend too. 🙂
Had a rainy day here in Seattle with plenty of time on my hands, gave these a shot. Pretty, pretty, prettayyyyyy good. Thanks
Thank you KC! I am so glad you liked them:)
Hi, Shannon! Your tutorial is so VERY well done, it enticed me to try your recipe before even seeing the ingredient list! Excellent photography and presentation! Off to put it together now, and we’ll either be having it later today, or I’ll “fridge” it till bedtime and pop it in to have ready after church tomorrow morning! Looking forward to it, and the temperature is now perfect here for such a meal! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you so much for your kind words Jo! I hope you enjoy this! Let me know how it turns out:)
Shannon,
This is the closest recipe to my Grandmom’s. One difference was she made a tomato sauce that included tomato sauce and sweetened condensed milk but i like your idea of using brown sugar. I also use red bell pepper and an egg in the mixture. My family loves it!
Oh I am so happy you liked it! Red pepper sounds like a wonderful addition too! I’ll have to try that. Thank you so much for taking time to leave me a comment:) Have a great day Greg!
Shannon,
I’m really excited to try this recipe! My mom used to make the Italian version of stuffed cabbage. I’m sure Ken will really enjoy this dish. It sounds delicious!!
Thank you for sharing it!
Delia
Thanks Delia! I hope you guys like it:)
Thanks for linking up at the Pinterest Power Party!
Danielle
SewMuchCrafting.com
This recipe sounds wonderful! I am going to pin and make. My husband’s Mom and family came here from Hungary and every Christmas we all get together for Hungarian food and fun. Aunt Zita makes stuffed cabbage and it is so good but each time I attempt to make it, it seems bland. I am excited to try your recipe. It sounds so much better than the one I found. Have a great weekend. Blessings!
Thanks for stopping by Wanda! I hope you like these:) Have a wonderful weekend too!
These sounds really delicious. I made a stuffed cabbage casserole that was a big hit at home so I bet this one would be too. Adding it to my list of things to try.
Thanks for stopping by Shannah! I hope you enjoy it:)
so glad to see this made in a slow cooker! I love stuffed cabbage but haven’t made it in a few years. Your photos have made me check out the pantry to make sure we have all the ingredients . The cooler weather has moved back in and is perfect for a dinner of Golabki. I am new to your site and will be following you for more delicious ideas.
Thanks so much! I hope you love this in the Slow Cooker as much as I do:) Thanks so much for following me!
i love stuffed cabbage! haven’t made them in a couple years, but never thought to do it in the slow cooker! im pinning as well to give it a try=thanks for sharing it girl!!
Thanks Amanda! Gotta love that Slow Cooker:)
Sounds like a delicious recipe. I’m definitely pinning to try out soon.
Thanks for stopping by and pinning Megan:)