Hungarian Stuffed Cabbage Rolls (Töltött káposzta)
This is a common Christmas dish in Hungary, but people make it other times too, mainly during winter. There are several versions of this dish, varying by regions. Sometimes tomato sauce is added, and in other recipes the meat is stuffed in sour cabbage leaves. There are arguments about whether we should or shouldn't precook the rice, add or don't add an egg etc. I think, it doesn't matter what recipe you use, you'll get a delicious meal. This is my version of it:
Ingredients (for 8-10)
1 large cabbage (8 lb, 4 kg)
1,7 lb (800 gr) ground pork
1 cup (about 200 gr) rice, half-cooked (the amount is of the uncooked rice)
1 egg
3 onions, finely chopped
5 tbsp oil
2,2 lbs (1000 gr) sauerkraut
3 garlic cloves - minced
paprika (1,5 tbsp for the stuffing + 4 tsp /or more/ for the layers)
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp ground black pepper
4 bay leaves
1 tbsp black peppercorns
Optional:
1 stick spicy Hungarian sausage
½ lb (200 gr) smoked meat
Sour cream – for serving
(a very large pot for cooking)
1. Heat the oil in a pan and saute the chopped onions on low heat until soft but not browned. Remove from the heat and set aside.
2. Carefully remove the core of the cabbage and place it in large pot of boiling salted water.
3. Cover and cook on low heat for 20-30 minutes
4. Using two forks or a tong remove the outer leaves when they're pliable and soft.(do it gently without ripping them). Remove as many leaves as you can and let them cool.
5. Continue to cook the head if the inner leaves are still hard. When they're soft, remove them.
6. Trim the thick center vein of the leaves – it'll help you roll them more easily
7. Remove the small, inner part of the cabbage from the water, let it cool, then slice it thinly – we'll use it later.
8. Now, let's make the stuffing:
9. Add the half-cooked rice to the ground pork, then mix a little.
10. Add half of the softened onion, paprika, salt, pepper, minced garlic and egg.
11. Mix it together with your hands until everything is well combined.
12. Now, place one cabbage leaf in your hand, add a handful of stuffing to the bottom part.
13. First, fold the stem end, then fold over one side and start rolling, tucking in the side of the leaf
14. Roll it up tightly then push the other end in with your fingers
15. Do the same with the rest of your leaves and stuffing. (leave some leaves – the torn ones -for later use)
16. Using the sausage and the smoked meat are optional, but it gives a really good flavor to the dish.
17. Slice the sausage (use spicy Hungarian type if you can), and cut the smoked meat into thick slices.
18. Pour the rest of the softened onion with the oil into a very large pot, add 1 tbsp paprika and stir.
19. Add a layer of sauerkraut then place half of the smoked meat and sausage slice on it.
20. Again: a layer of sauerkraut and a teaspoon of paprika
21. The next layer is the stuffed cabbage rolls. Cover them with the sliced, cooked cabbage, and add a layer of sauerkraut.
22. Repeat this layering until all the cabbage rolls are gone.
23. Sprinkle some paprika on top, add the bay leaves and peppercorns, then cover it with the cabbage leaves you set aside earlier.
24. Pour about 1 liter of water over. Put the pot on the stove, cover and cook on medium heat for 1,5-2 hours (until the meat is cooked through, and the sauerkraut is soft).
25. Remove from the heat when it's ready.
26. Serve 1-2 rolls per person, with the sauerkraut, sausage slices and smoked meat on side.
27. Pour over some sour cream and serve it with slices of nice, crusty bread.
28. ENJOY!
/The music is based on a Hungarian folk song, played and made by my husband, MrStick© 2016 - (all rights reserved)/
Authentic Hungarian Stuffed Cabbage Rolls Recipe with Pickled Cabbage #ultragustibus
ℹ️ Visit for ingredients and preparation methods.
✅ Send the recipe to all your friends (SHARE) and subscribe ( to follow this cooking channel for new delicious food recipes and homemade cake recipes!
#stuffedcabbage #cabbagerolls #cabbage #pickledcabbage #hungariancuisine #hungarianfood
MAGYAR TÖLTÖTT KÁPOSZTA - HUNGARIAN CABBAGE ROLLS by Helen's Hungarian Heritage Recipes TM ©
I am Evangeline Czegeny-Mackell, the third member in the Three Generation Wonder. My grandmother - Chef Ilona Szabo (Helen Irene Czegeny) is the Helen of the famed Helen's Hungarian Heritage Recipes - Best Selling cookbook. My mother Clara Margaret Czegeny is the gifted author who penned my grandmother's recipes.
Let me share about Hungarian Cabbage Rolls, or properly named - TÖLTÖTT KÁPOSZTA .
Stuffed Cabbage Rolls are a Classic Hungarian dish that almost everyone world-wide recognizes. No wedding celebration would be complete without large pots of these tightly rolled bundles of meat and rice held by soft wrappers of cabbage.
The rolls lay in a bed of silky sauerkraut with hints of smoky bacon. The cabbage and sauerkraut meld to create the most delicious and mellow dish. Once you sample Hungarian style cabbage rolls, you are hooked!
I just love cooking my mom's Hungarian Heritage recipes as she learned them from my grandmother and I learned them from her.
You WILL fall in love with Hungarian food, one dish at a time and saveur the flavours of Hungary, you will be glad you did!
How to own a copy of our BestSelling Hungarian Cookbook! VISIT
Cabbage Rolls
Cooking with Oma begins the second series of recipes, starting with Oma's famous Hungarian Cabbage Rolls.
Irresistibly Delicious Hungarian Cabbage Rolls Recipe - aka: Töltött Káposzta
FILLIN GINGREDIENTS
- 1 Medium/Large Yellow Onion, chopped
- 3 tbsp Dairy Free Margarine
- 2 Garlic Cloves, finely chopped
- 1/2 pound Medium Ground Beef
- 1/2 pound Ground Pork
- 2/3 cup Basmati or Jasmine Rice
- 1 Egg
- 2 tbsp Paprika
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt
- Freshly Ground Black Pepper
REMAINING INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups Pre-Made Tomato Sauce
... or try my gourmet vegetarian spaghetti sauce recipe, it's so delicious in this recipe (
- 1 cup White Wine
- 10 Savoy Cabbage Leaves
INSTRUCTIONS
STEP 1: If you've made spaghetti or tomato sauce in advance and frozen it, put it in a sauce pan over low heat to warm it up while preparing the rest of the recipe
STEP 2: Warm a non-stick skillet over medium heat
STEP 3: Add margarine and chopped onions to the skillet and saute until translucent (around 5 minutes)
STEP 4: Add finely chopped garlic to the onions and saute for another minute or two
STEP 5: Transfer onions and garlic to a large mixing bowl and set aside to cool
STEP 6: Preheat oven to 350°
STEP 7: Once the onions are cooled, add beef, pork, rice, egg, paprika, salt & pepper to the bowl
STEP 8: Be sure your rice is NOT cooked when you add it to the filling mixture, it will cook in the casserole dish once it's in the oven :)
STEP 9: Mix the filling ingredients together well until thoroughly combined
STEP 10: Add white wine to your tomato/spaghetti sauce and mix together well
STEP 11: Coat the bottom of a 3 liter (3 quart) casserole dish with 1/2 (1 cup) of the sauce & wine mixture
STEP 12: Trim the ribs off your 10 cabbage roll leaves
STEP 13: Lay each cabbage leaf seam side down, fill each one with 1/3 cup of the filling mixture
STEP 14: Roll the bottom of the leaf over the mixture, tuck in sides and finish rolling
STEP 15: Avoid rolling too tightly to leave a bit of room for the rice to expand
STEP 16: Place each roll seam side down in the casserole dish
STEP 17: Pour remaining sauce and wine mixture on top of the cabbage rolls
STEP 18: Cover with a tight fitting oven-safe lid and cook in the center rack for 90 minutes
STEP 19: Serve soon after cooking is done
Full recipe with instructions can be found here:
Stuffed Cabbage Rolls Recipe with Sauerkraut Hungarian German Rice
Vanessa shows you how to make cabbage rolls from start to finish using a traditional Transylvanian recipe. If you don’t have access to sour cabbage heads Vanessa tells you about a couple of workarounds. To get started you’ll need sour cabbages, sauerkraut, sauerkraut juice, ground pork, rice, onions, sea salt, pepper, eggs, parsley is optional, and bacon is optional. Make as many as you like, but it's a good idea to make a big batch. Here Vanessa uses 4 heads of sour cabbage to make around 60 cabbage rolls.
Learn how to make your own whole sour cabbage heads here:
Want to make your own sauerkraut too? Learn here:
My Printable Ebook with sauerkraut and cabbage roll recipes is available at for $4.99
Vanessa von Schellwitz is the owner operator of the Gingerbread Cottage Bed and Breakfast, an idyllic 1905 heritage B&B in beautiful downtown Victoria BC, a half block off the Salish Sea. Website is
As a child, Vanessa was a real life “Heidi” living in the Eschen Villa on the clean, cold alpine Attersee Lake, in Seewalchen Austria, 50 KM East of Salzburg
Vanessa’s birthplace was located 50 meters from her Godmother’s famous Paulick Villa – the Summer Playground to Vienna’s Elite Art Noveau Community including Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Richard Teschner and Friedrich Paulick at the turn of the 19th century.
In fact, the aunt of Vanessas’s Godmother, Gertrude Floege, was the famous fashion designer Emelia Floege – life companion of the famous artist Gustav Klimt who frequently painted at the Paulick Villa..
Also the last Countess Maria dei Medici, who lived adjacent to the Eschen Villa hand wrote a poem for Vanessa as a child… Not many People can say that!
Vanessa got her teaching Degree in Salzburg but her real love and talents were for cooking.. after moving to Vancouver Island, she honed her chef skills under the eye of her brother in law Dieter von Schellwitz who had been the first executive chef at the famous Ilikai Resort in Waikiki, and had chef career in New York and San Francisco.
Coming to Vancouver Island via Culture City itself – Salzburg Austria – A true Austrian,Vanessa has pure Mozart flowing through her veins and a delicious piping hot Austrian ApfelStrudel in the Oven for her many guests! Vanessa and her 70’s husband owned and operated the Austrian Chalet, an 80 room hotel with 3 Restaurants in Campbell River BC
Vanessa spent many years as Victoria BC’s busiest and most Versatile Culinary Instructor from her Veni. Vidi, Coxi Cooking School, and operating her busy “Vienna Catering” Business
Author of 7 Cookbooks, Vanessa also wrote a food Column, had her own TV cooking show and did food styling for other local authors. You can purchase her cookbook online in a PDF format
Vanessa makes all her guests feel like Austrian Royalty in her c. 1905 Victorian “Arts and Crafts Heritage Home” with Cozy Themed rooms and Elegant 3 Course Breakfasts in her “Bavarian Gasthaus” Style Breakfast Room
Please Feel Free to Contact us for booking information. Call Tollfree 1-877-767-2121 iMessage or Text 250-812-5457 Email: gingerbreadcottagebb@gmail.com
Closed Captioning and Description Editing by Kris Brandhagen. brandhagen@gmail.com