My recipe for traditional Romanian Cabbage Rolls (Sarmale) are made with sour cabbage stuffed with pork, beef, and little bit of bacon. They’re the best cabbage rolls you will ever have!
This recipe for Romanian cabbage rolls is tried and true. I’ve made it probably a hundred times, and have rolled thousands of them! The big difference between Romanian cabbage rolls and others are that we make them with sour cabbage. You can find sour cabbage at pretty much all grocery stores sold in jars. You can also find sour cabbage at your local Polish or Ukrainian stores!
This is my mom’s recipe and it’s my favorite. I won’t eat cabbage rolls made any other way. The other piece that separates Romanian cabbage rolls from the rest is that we add some kind of smoked meat. This time I used smoked bacon. Now I’ve got your attention, hey?
Ingredients in Cabbage Rolls
I know some people avoid making their own cabbage rolls because they assume this type of recipe is complicated. Just look at these ingredients! They’re really simple.
For this recipe you’ll need:
- Vegetable oil – We’ll be using this to saute the onion and rice. You can use any type of oil that you have handy.
- Onion – I used a large onion because this recipe makes a lot of cabbage rolls. Every bite should have onion in it!
- Long grain rice – Basmati rice is best. I wouldn’t use brown rice- it takes a lot longer to cook than white rice and you may end up with crunchy bits in your rolls.
- Ground pork – I love to use pork because it has a higher fat content and makes for some nice juicy rolls. You can use any type of ground meat you like, but keep in mind that leaner meats like chicken or turkey will come out drier.
- Fresh parsley & dill – Using fresh herbs makes such a big difference in how the flavor develops in your rolls!
- Salt & pepper – Season the mixture to your own discretion.
- Sour cabbage leaves – This is what really sets the Romanian version apart from the rest. The little hit of vinegar is to die for!
- Bacon – Find yourself a nice thick-cut smoky style of bacon.
- Tomato juice – This is what our rolls are going to sit and cook in.
How to Make Romanian Cabbage Rolls
This recipe is super easy to prepare. The hardest part is getting through rolling all of that filling, but I promise it’s worth it. Make a day of it and invite some friends and family to help!
- Prepare the filling: Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high. Saute the onions until translucent, then add the rice and toast for 1 minute. Add the pork, salt, pepper, parsley, dill, and the onion mixture to a large bowl and mix well. Use salt sparingly – the cabbage leaves are brined.
- Roll the filling: Remove the cabbage leaves from the brine. You can soak them in water beforehand to draw out some of the salt. Cut each leaf in half and fill the piece with a few tbsp of the meat mixture and roll. Refer to the video in the recipe card to see how I roll these nice and tight. Repeat until all the filling has been used.
- Assemble the rolls: Chop up the remaining cabbage leaves and add them to a large pot or deep roasting dish with a lid. Arrange all the rolls over the chopped cabbage and disperse the bacon evenly among the rolls. Pour the tomato juice over the rolls and top up with some water, if needed, to ensure the rolls are covered with liquid.
- Bake the rolls: Cover the pot with a lid or foil. Bake at 375F for 3 hours, then remove the cover and cook for another 1 1/2 – 2 hours. Serve hot with a side of sour cream.
Can I Make This Recipe With Fresh Cabbage?
Using sour cabbage is what sets Romanian cabbage rolls apart from the rest. If you can’t find any, then you can use fresh cabbage instead.
Follow these steps:
- Carefully separate the leaves from your head of cabbage. Bring a large and generously salted pot of water to a boil, and cook the leaves for about 3 minutes.
- Remove the leaves and let them cool. Cut out the thickest part of each leaf at the bottom by slicing on each side of the rib to form a triangle.
That’s it! You can follow my method for rolling the perfect cabbage rolls by checking out the video in the recipe card.
Can I Make Cabbage Rolls Ahead of Time?
This recipe is perfect for making the night before. You can assemble all the rolls, chopped cabbage, and bacon in your baking dish, cover well with plastic wrap or foil, then pour the tomato juice in when you’re ready to cook the rolls.
Pro Tips for Making the Best Cabbage Rolls
- Sour cabbage can be pretty salty, so let it soak in a big pot of water for an hour or two before you assemble your rolls.
- You can use a mixture of ground meats. Pork+beef, beef+chicken, turkey+pork, or beef+lamb are all great combinations.
- Use your hands to mix all the ingredients together. This is the best way to make sure all the ingredients are mixed evenly.
- Try out riced cauliflower (uncooked) instead of regular rice for a low-carb option.
How to Store Leftover Cabbage Rolls
These will last in your fridge for 3-4 days. Cover the baking dish well with plastic wrap or foil, or you can transfer the leftovers to an airtight container. They will also last 3-4 months in your freezer. Make sure to save all that juice as well! You’ll need it to reheat the rolls.
How to Reheat Cabbage Rolls
If they’re frozen, transfer them to the fridge a day before you want to eat them so they can thaw. Place the rolls to a baking dish, with the juice, and bake at 350F for about 1 hour.
Craving More Romanian Recipes? Try These!
- Romanian Meatball Soup (Ciorba de Perisoare)
- Romanian Stuffed Peppers (Ardei Umpluti)
- Walnut Roll (Cozonac cu Nuca)
- Pasca- Romanian Easter Bread
- Beef Salad (Salata de Boeuf)
Romanian Cabbage Rolls (Sarmale)
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 1/2 cup long grain rice uncooked, I prefer basmati
- 2 lb ground pork or whatever meat you prefer
- 1/4 cup parsley chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh dill chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 lb sour cabbage leaves
- 15 slices bacon chopped
- 4 cups tomato juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Heat the oil in a skillet, add the onions and cook until softened and translucent. Add the rice and cook for another minute.
- In a large bowl, add the ground pork, salt, pepper, parsley, dill and the onion and rice mixture. Be careful with the salt, not too much is needed because the sour cabbage is already salty. Mix well using your clean hands.
- Remove all the cabbage leaves and cut each leaf in half. Romanian cabbage rolls are traditionally smaller than the Polish cabbage rolls, so that's why I recommend cutting each leaf in half, otherwise you can use the entire leaf for one roll.
- Fill each leaf with about a couple tbsp of the meat mixture and roll. Repeat with all the remaining meat and cabbage. If you have any cabbage left over, chop it up and spread it over the bottom of a big pot.
- Put all the rolls in the pot, add the chopped bacon in between the cabbage rolls and add the tomato juice over the rolls. Add more water if needed, the juice should cover the cabbage rolls entirely. Cover the pot with aluminum foil or a lid.
- Place in the oven and bake for 2 hours, remove the foil or lid and place back in the oven and cook for another 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Serve hot with a bit of sour cream on top and with a side of polenta.
Bev says
April 26, 2019 at 9:52 amSounds wonderful and I want to make them SOON! Can you make these in the Instant Pot? Any idea how much time to pressure cook? Thanks!
Joanna Cismaru says
April 26, 2019 at 10:09 amOh great question. I haven’t made them in the instant pot yet, but I think the IP would be great to make these. Without trying them myself and just guessing I would say 18 to 20 minutes on high pressure.
Angela says
March 9, 2019 at 3:58 pmExcellent basic recipe. Works well with fresh cabbage, which I prefer. And I prefer a beef and pork combo (I don’t find veal is worth the expense or effort to get it.) All beef works well too.
Used it as a jumping off point to replicate a fusion of my mother’s and my aunts’ finest sarmale cu mamaliga to great success.
Andi says
February 6, 2019 at 5:31 amI am romanian and the thing u said “we making different by adding bacon or sour cabagge”, is our traditional food, so we do not making different, we making with sour cabagge and bacon or smoked pork ham, they melt on your mouth, everyone love cabagge rolls, sarmale, best food in Romania 😍
Wanita says
December 18, 2018 at 9:05 pmThis are how my mom made them i did almost the same but i tried some of them in my new instant pot and they were melt in your mouth!
Misty says
December 15, 2018 at 5:41 pmAfter meeting a lovely couple from Romania and hearing the rave remarks about sarmale I searched and found this recipe. My little town did not have the canned leaves so I blanched a cabbage head. I used my own canned tomato juice, our home raised pork and holy cow it was amazing! I’m wondering if I can make a large batch and freeze some. I would cook them once thawed. Have you tried this? Thank you!
Joanna Cismaru says
December 16, 2018 at 4:20 pmYes, they freeze great, either before cooking or after. So glad you enjoyed this!
Nicole says
November 19, 2018 at 11:06 amHi! Just wondering how big the casserole skillet should be? I’m attempting these today!
Joanna Cismaru says
November 19, 2018 at 12:17 pmIf you have a big roasting pan you can use that, but the size doesn’t really matter because you can layer them. But yeah, I’d go with a big casserole dish or roasting pan, about 18 inches.
Tina says
October 19, 2018 at 10:19 pmMy husband is Romanian and i cooked this sarmale as one of their famous food and he loved it!!! I follow this recipe all the time 🙂
Mindy Felisiano says
October 11, 2018 at 2:35 pmThanks so much for this recipe! I grew up eating these at my best friends Romanian family’s house and have been craving them for ages. I tried other recipes but for me the missing ingredient was always the fresh dill. I made these and they brought back that wonderful flavor I was missing! We served them with sour cream and it was exactly like being back in the kitchen at my friends house. So delicious! Many thanks!!!
Joanna Cismaru says
October 11, 2018 at 3:03 pmI’m so happy you like this recipe, it’s very dear to my heart. 🙂 I especially love it when non-Romanian people try and love it. 🙂
Cate says
October 1, 2018 at 7:18 amI have grown up eating cabbage rolls my whole life, but not Romanian style. I have to say that this recipe produces the best cabbage rolls I have ever tasted. The sour cabbage adds an amazing kick.
Virginia says
September 13, 2018 at 2:53 pmHi, I live in Raleigh North Carolina and couldn’t find cabbage rolls. Could I use sauerkraut and get the same taste even though it won’t be rolls? Also, do I use cornmeal to make the mamaliga? I lived in Bucharest for 5 years and miss Romanian food. Multumesc!
Nicole Beaulieu says
September 14, 2018 at 10:17 amYou can purchase them online, or call some specialty stores in your city to see if they sell it.
Virginia says
September 14, 2018 at 1:31 pmthanks, I just found a polish storm that might sell them!
Elena says
August 16, 2018 at 5:26 pmI’ve made this recipe before and it is my favorite! I was adopted when I was 7 from Romania and I miss the food so much. Thank you for sharing this with us. I am making a batch now as we speak! I usually divide it and freeze some so I can enjoy some whenever I want.
Joanna Cismaru says
August 16, 2018 at 6:12 pmMy pleasure, enjoy them!
Sue says
February 10, 2018 at 8:52 pmWhat is sour cabbage? I always steam the cabbage wit stem removed.
Joanna Cismaru says
February 11, 2018 at 6:00 pmSour cabbage is fermented cabbage, the same as sauerkraut but a whole cabbage instead of it being chopped.
Ashley Stewart says
February 7, 2018 at 2:10 pmI was wondering what the best way to reheat these? In the oven? At what temp and for how long? Do you add more liquid if reheating?
Joanna Cismaru says
February 8, 2018 at 10:49 amWe usually just reheat them in the microwave and it depends really on how many you reheat at once. If you reheat about 10 cabbage rolls I usually reheat them for about 6 to 7 minutes. I know you can reheat them in the oven too at 350 and no I wouldn’t add more liquid.
Lori Warnke says
December 21, 2017 at 7:13 amIn your description you say Traditional Romanian Cabbage Rolls are made with sour cabbage stuffed with pork and beef and little bit of bacon, the best cabbage rolls you will ever have.” This recipe just says pork. Do you mean you can use either pork or beef?
Joanna Cismaru says
December 21, 2017 at 9:22 amYes, absolutely, or you can mix the two. 🙂
Barb says
March 24, 2018 at 8:53 amAs a vegetarian, we use TVP, texturized vegetable protein. It emulates ground meat quite nicely.
George says
September 24, 2018 at 7:54 amI’m a complete beginner when it comes to food, but over here in Romania we also have a “vegetarian” version of this, where we use soy instead of meat. I can’t really say which is better since the taste is a bit different, but they are amazing. There is also a variant where u use vine? (vita de vie, maybe someone can help translate properly) instead of sour cabbage.
Emma says
December 20, 2017 at 5:53 amHello! I have a friend who spoke about this dish and I’d like to cook it for her 🙂
She mentioned that her grandmother used to make it with homemade tomato sauce (“everything from scratch”). Have you any recipe for that? Or which one do you buy? Is the tomato sauce supposed to be a bit sweet, spicy or tangy etc.. ? Many thanks!
Joanna Cismaru says
December 20, 2017 at 9:35 amI don’t use tomato sauce, I just buy tomato juice like V8 or anything like that, don’t make it from scratch but you could.
Emma says
December 20, 2017 at 9:48 amOk I see.. My bad I didn’t read it properly, was so set on sauce but maybe my friend said juice as well. Is that the traditional way? Thanks so much and great of you to reply so swiftly!
Joanna Cismaru says
December 20, 2017 at 10:00 amHonestly, that’s how my mom always made them with tomato juice, so in that sense they’re traditional for me that way. I think maybe tomato sauce might be a bit too thick and you might need to add more water.
Emma says
December 20, 2017 at 10:05 amThank so much! I will take your lead on this one 🙂 Will let you know how I get on and how my romanian friend likes it! x
Adriana says
December 13, 2017 at 8:54 pmHello again Jo,
Thank you for the quick response about the cooking/temp time.
I have one more request.
The utube video goes really fast over the procedure for crockpot cabbage rolls. I would like to see the technique for “wrapping” the meat/rice mixture in the cabbage leaf- but in slow motion or demonstrated slower- any idea where I could find that? Thank you so much!!
Joanna Cismaru says
December 13, 2017 at 9:03 pmI usually roll it first then tuck in the ends, that’s all there is to it. I’m sure if you search on youtube, you might find something.
Adriana says
December 13, 2017 at 12:08 pmHI Jo,
Could you confirm the baking time? Is it 4 hours @ 375 F?
Thanks
Adriana
Joanna Cismaru says
December 13, 2017 at 8:13 pmLOL Yes, 3 to 4 hours. I know it seems like a long time, but they should be fork tender when they’re done. If you don’t want to keep your oven busy for that long, you can always make them in a crockpot. Check it out here: https://www.jocooks.com/recipes/crockpot-cabbage-rolls/
Brad Simpson says
December 30, 2017 at 3:33 pmThe rice should be cooked prior,to mixing with the meat correct
Joanna Cismaru says
December 30, 2017 at 4:14 pmNo, it’s not cooked, it will cook with the cabbage rolls.