The cabbage harvest was a good one so I took advantage and made up a big batch of stuffed cabbage for the freezer. I love pulling a package of this out mid-winter and enjoying a hearty meal. It’s one that takes me back to my childhood as my grandmother used to make this for us all the time. It’s not at all difficult – just a little time consuming. It freezes beautifully and it’s one of those meals that tastes freshly made even after a year in the freezer.
Stuffed Cabbage (for a crowd or to freeze)
3 LBS ground meat (I used a mix of venison and goat)
3 cups cooked rice (I used Jasmine rice)
1 egg
1 TBS garlic powder
1 onion, cut into small dice
1 TBS olive oil
1 1/2 tsp salt
large outer leaves of one large cabbage
For the Sauce:
2 quarts tomato juice (I used home canned)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
salt to taste
Heat the olive oil in a fry pan. Add the diced onion and cook until the onion is just slightly browned. Mix the ground meat, cooked rice, egg, garlic powder and onion in a large bowl. Set aside.
Carefully remove the outer leaves from the cabbage. Fill a large pot with salted water. Bring the water to a boil. Add a few leaves at a time to soften them up – immediately remove them to a sink or bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process.
Take one leaf at a time and cut out the hard part of the core. This will make the cabbage easier to roll.
Take a handful of the meat mixture and place it at the bottom of the remaining cabbage.
Fold up the bottom, fold in the sides and roll up!
Do this until you have used up all of the meat mixture and cabbage leaves.
Make the sauce: add the tomato sauce, sugar and vinegar to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Taste and adjust with salt to taste.
For the cabbage rolls I was putting in the freezer I parceled out into containers and I added the sauce and they went into cold storage for later.
To serve for dinner:
Place a cabbage leaf or two on the bottom of a saucepan. Add the cabbage rolls you will be cooking – I used three – and pour in sauce and add another cabbage leaf on top. Cook until the sauce boils, lower the heat so it simmers. Cook for about half an hour.
To serve add the cabbage rolls to a bowl, add some sauce and top with chopped fresh parsley.
The sauce was a delightful mix of sweet and sour and perfect compliment to the cabbage and ground meat.
Other Bulk Freezer Meals:
Making Hamburgers for a Crowd
Waffles in Bulk for the Freezer
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Stuffed Cabbage for the Freezer – Recipe
- Category: main dish
Ingredients
- 3 LBS ground meat (I used a mix of venison and goat)
- 3 cups cooked rice (I used Jasmine rice)
- 1 egg
- 1 TBS garlic powder
- 1 onion, cut into small dice
- 1 TBS olive oil
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- large outer leaves of one large cabbage
- For the Sauce:
- 2 quarts tomato juice (I used home canned)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup white vinegar
- 1 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a fry pan. Add the diced onion and cook until the onion is just slightly browned. Mix the ground meat, cooked rice, egg, garlic powder and onion in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Carefully remove the outer leaves from the cabbage. Fill a large pot with salted water. Bring the water to a boil. Add a few leaves at a time to soften them up – immediately remove them to a sink or bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process.
- Take one leaf at a time and cut out the hard part of the core. This will make the cabbage easier to roll.
- Take a handful of the meat mixture and place it at the bottom of the remaining cabbage.
- Do this until you have used up all of the meat mixture and cabbage leaves. Fold up the bottom, fold in the sides and roll up!
- Make the sauce: add the tomato sauce, sugar and vinegar to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Taste and adjust with salt to taste.
- For the cabbage rolls I was putting in the freezer I parceled out into containers and I added the sauce and they went into cold storage for later.
- To serve for dinner:
- Place a cabbage leaf or two on the bottom of a saucepan. Add the cabbage rolls you will be cooking – I used three – and pour in sauce and add another cabbage leaf on top. Cook until the sauce boils, lower the heat so it simmers. Cook for about half an hour.
- To serve add the cabbage rolls to a bowl, add some sauce and top with chopped fresh parsley.
