Most people associate cabbage rolls with slavic cuisines but the Greeks have had cabbage in their cooking as well. It’s a winter staple and our family’s had cabbage rolls as part of our winter roster of meals.
For as long as I can remember, our family has enjoyed cabbage rolls with an Avgolemeno Sauce. The more familiar cabbage roll comes accompanied with a tomato sauce but I think you find cabbage rolls with Avgolemeno Sauce to be a refreshing new take on this comforting dish.
First, I’m going to show you how to get your cabbage leaves and then I’ll make a filling and then close off with a Avgolemono Sauce.
Cabbage Rolls
(makes 30)
1 large cabbage *(see note below on how to loosen cabbage leaves)
1 1/2 cups of Arborio rice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 medium onions, finely diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup tomato puree
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 lb. ground pork
1 teaspoon black pepper
3 teaspoons of salt
1 cup chopped fresh dill
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
Avgolemono Sauce
4 Tablespoons of flour + 2 tablespoons. of water
Juice of 2 lemons
3 large eggs
- Bring a large saucepan to medium heat, add the olive oil, onions and garlic. Simmer to soften the onions for about 10 minutes. Take the saucepan off the heat and add your tomato puree, ground beef, ground pork, rice, parsley, dill, salt and pepper and mix until thoroughly incorporated.
- Take a cabbage leaf and place a heaping tablespoon of the meat mixture near the bottom of the leaf. Fold the two ends of the leaf inwards and roll it up into a long narrow shape. (do not roll too tightly as the rice will expand and may break your leaves) Place some spare cabbage leaves on the bottom of your roasting pan and start placing the stuffed cabbage leaves in concentric circles.
- Place some more loose cabbage leaves over the stuffed cabbage and you may even place a heavy plate on top to prevent them from breaking open.
- Add 3 to 4 cups of low sodium chicken (or vegetable) hot stock into the roasting pan (enough liquid to cover the cabbage by 1 inch), cover with the lid and place into a pre-heated 350F oven (lower rack) for 70-90 minutes.
- For Avgolemono, mix your flour and water until dissolved. Now add your lemon juice and whisk in. Now add your eggs into the lemon mixture and whisk until frothy.
- Take a ladle of your cabbage roll stock (hot) and slowly (SLOWLY) pour into the bowl with your egg/lemon mixture. Add 2 more ladles of stock (slowly) while whisking. Adjust seasoning and add salt to taste.
- Pour the Avgolemono Sauce over all the cabbage rolls and holding on to the handles of the roasting pan, gently shake it back & forth to thoroughly blend the Avgolemono Sauce with the remaining stock in the cabbage rolls. Serve warm.
- How to blanche and separate a head of cabbage
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil with a little salt. Meanwhile, remove the outer leaves of the cabbage and the hard stalk (root) of the cabbage. Wash it and put into the boiling water for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the cabbage from the water by using a large fork. Using some tongs, carefully peel away each leaf and unwrap the head of boiled cabbage. Remove the the bottom part of the main rib from each leaf. Repeat this process with all your leaves and reserve. You may halve the leaves if they are too big.
22 Responses
Peter, Your family used to make this beautiful dish? My Mom made cabbage rolls for the family as I was growing up but nothing that looked as light and flavorful as these rolls with this sauce! Your Avgolemeno Sauce looks very light and the lemon with the egg must make this dish outstanding. Thank you for sharing =D
Shandy
I love cabbage rolls with avgolemono and much prefer the lemon sauce over the tomato. This looks like a good version, plenty of dill and parsley. Great job!
Hola Peter,
These look great! I’ve never made cabbage rolls before… I’ve noted your recipe to perform it after all Xmas “jaleo”.
Peter, it’s always around noon when I’m reading your recipes and most times I’m hungry!! Wow, they look nice. However, I did know that we can bake them in the oven. Shall try them soon.
We eat this a lot here in Brazil, Peter (our country is such a melting pot). :)
But that sauce is new to me and looks delicious!
My mom loved this dish and she used to make it a lot at home.
Peter, lahanodolmades are my absolute favorite dish on the planet–Greek or otherwise. Yours look really delicious! My husband is not crazy about cooked cabbage, so I don’t make these often, but I see him eating some cooked cabbage in his near future :)
Elly, make a smaller batch of cabbage rolls and nothing else…he starves or he eats an, if he doesn’t eat them…you have leftovers.
This cabbage roll dish appealed to me when I was in Santorini. Mamma’s was owned by a lady who had lived in the States for 18 years. She had 100’s of dishes on her menu and everything was made fresh. If her dish is any indication your cabbage rolls must be excellent!!!
Peter,
This is my first visit to your blog and I love it! I live in the heart of Greektown in Chicago and love eating out, but never really tried to make that much greek at home. Your blog will be a wonderful source for me!!
Thanks!
Hi Erin and welcome! I’ve visited Chicago and it’s Greektown and it’s alive & well.
Enjoy the dishes, feel free to comment or email me for any questions.
Peter, I love cabbage rolls. Haven’t had them in ages, and I’ve never had them in an avgolemeno sauce. I’ve bookmarked this to try.
For some obscure reason this dish reminded me of the first time I ate at a Greek restaurant, in London, in the Camden Town neighborhood, to be precise. Those cabbage rolls look great.
I really like the sound of cabbage rolls with avgolemeno sauce!
I’ve really got to try making this.
We know cabbage rolls here in Germany, but usually they go with a thick sauce, so I´m very thankful for your recipe and I´ll mark it and post about my experiences in a week or two. :)
Absolument superbe, Peter! I love the taste of lemon and dill and the efforts put into preparing the dish must be well worth it. Thanks for this recipe!
Gawd, these have me starving at 8am…Soooo delicious! Your sauce came out beautifully, too. I always seem to mess avgolemeno sauce up. :P Great job! :)
These look wonderful, Peter–truly comforting!
I had this dish when I was on Santorini and fell in love with cabbage rolls all over again.
I look forward to trying this refreshing alternative to the Eastern European version I grew up eating!