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Do you love the taste of classic cabbage rolls (oh, yes, me! me! me!), but don’t have time to roll them one by one, by one? This lazy cabbage rolls recipe gives you the same great flavors of stuffed cabbage with very little effort.
These are so so juicy and comforting. Did I mention my kids liked them? Actually, they loved them – it was a very enthusiastic “this is delicious!” from 7-year-old and my toddler quickly cleaned her plate. This recipe was shared with us by my Mom-in-law and it was an instant hit.
These come together in no time and completely satisfy the stuffed cabbage craving. It’s also a really great way to use up leftover rice and cabbage. It’s brilliant!
Ingredients for Lazy Cabbage Rolls:
4 cups cooked white rice (from 1 1/2 cups uncooked rice), cooled to room temp*
1/2 medium cabbage, sliced into 1/4″ wide strips (7 cups sliced)
1 pound ground pork
1 pound ground turkey
1 large onion, divided (1/2 grated and 1/2 finely diced)
2 large eggs
Original Mrs. Dash, or any salt-free all-purpose seasoning
Salt and black pepper
2 Tbsp finely chopped parsley or dill
For the Sauce:
1 Tbsp Olive oil
3 Tbsp butter
1 large carrot, julienned or grated
2 cups store-bought marinara or homemade Marinara Sauce
3 cups hot water
*We used Jasmine rice
How To Make Lazy Cabbage Rolls:
Prep: Oil a 9×13 casserole dish, preheat oven to 425˚F.
1. Slice cabbage into 1/4″ thin slices. Place in a heat proof bowl or pot, cover with boiling water and let sit 10 minutes to soften. Drain and squeeze out excess water with your hands.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 lb ground turkey, 1 lb ground pork, drained cabbage and 4 cups cooked rice. Grate 1/2 large onion into meat mixture. Add 2 eggs, 1 tsp Mrs Dash, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 2 tsp salt, and 2 Tbsp finely chopped parsley. Mix well. Form into potato-shaped patties with your hands, each with about 1/2 cup of the meat mixture. Arrange in prepared casserole.
P.s. my larger casserole dish was a smaller 9×12 so they didn’t all fit in 1 pan. This is why I baked it in 2 separate dishes. If you use a 9×13, they should all fit :).
3. For the sauce, finely dice remaining 1/2 large onion. Heat a large pot over medium/high heat and add 1 Tbsp oil and 3 Tbsp butter. Add diced onion and sauté 5 minutes, stirring occassionally or until softened. Add julienned carrot and cook another 3 minutes or until softened. Add 2 cups marinara and 3 cups hot water and bring to a boil. Add 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp Mrs Dash, or season to taste.
4. Pour sauce over patties until they are nearly covered. Cover with foil and bake on medium rack at 425˚F for 40 min.
To serve, plate the lazy stuffed cabbage and spoon the extra juice over the top. Serve with sour cream (my favorite) or plain Greek yogurt.
Lazy Cabbage Rolls

Ingredients
For the Lazy Cabbage Rolls:
- 4 cups cooked white rice, from 1 1/2 cups uncooked rice, cooled to room temp
- 1/2 medium cabbage, sliced into 1/4" wide strips (7 cups sliced)
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1 large onion, divided (1/2 grated and 1/2 finely diced)
- 2 large eggs
- Original Mrs. Dash, or any salt-free all-purpose seasoning
- Salt and black pepper
- 2 Tbsp finely chopped parsley or dill
For the Sauce:
- 1 Tbsp Olive oil
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 large carrot, julienned or grated
- 2 cups store-bought marinara or homemade
- 3 cups hot water
Instructions
Prep:
- Oil a 9x13 casserole dish, preheat oven to 425˚F.
How To Make Lazy Cabbage Rolls:
- Slice cabbage into 1/4" thin slices. Place in a heat proof bowl, cover with boiling water and let sit 10 min to soften. Drain and squeeze out excess water with your hands.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine ground turkey, ground pork, drained cabbage and 4 cups cooked rice. Grate 1/2 large onion into meat mixture. Add 2 eggs, 1 tsp Mrs Dash, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 2 tsp salt, and 2 Tbsp finely chopped parsley. Mix well. Form into potato-shaped patties with your hands (each should be about 1/2 cup of the meat mixture). Arrange in oiled casserole.
- For the sauce, finely dice remaining 1/2 large onion. Heat a large pot over medium/high heat and add 1 Tbsp oil and 3 Tbsp butter. Add diced onion and sauté 5 minutes, stirring occassionally or until softened. Add julienned carrot and cook another 3 minutes or until softened. Add 2 cups marinara and 3 cups hot water and bring to a boil. Add 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp Mrs Dash, or season to taste.
- Pour sauce over patties until they are nearly covered. Cover with foil and bake on medium rack at 425˚F for 40 min. To serve, plate the lazy stuffed cabbage and spoon the extra juice over the top. Serve with sour cream (my favorite) or plain Greek yogurt.
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Check out our original Cabbage Rolls Video Recipe here if you roll old school and really want to impress your peeps :).
Need more leftover cabbage ideas? Check out all of our cabbage recipes here.
Came out very watery. Between the water in the sauce and the pork grease it was not good. After cooking I drained it and made a new sauce and could save it but initially came out awful. I used turkey and pork and followed the recipe exactly.
Hi Lisa, if it was watery, it could be due to not soaking the cabbage or not squeezing out enough liquid.
Can I use uncooked jasmine rice if I add some extra water? …kind of like a porcupines recipe. Like my baba used to make
I haven’t tested that but I think it could work. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe, Melissa
Natasha, this is such a HIT. I grew up in Ukraine with my mom making holuptsi, and this recipe really brought me home. Thank you for posting it with such detailed instructions. And for those wondering why it is called “lazy” in the title–because the original would take you a couple of hours longer 😉 Love it!
I have been cooking for years.
The sauce was so watery there was no tomato flavor at all.
At 40 minutes the cabbage was still hard even though I had soaked it for 30 minutes.
HI Heather, I’m sorry to hear it didn’t turn out as expected for you and I’m always happy to help troubleshoot. Did you change anything in the recipe? ingredients? steps? These are normally very tender and the filling has plenty of flavor.
Comfort food at it’s best. I try to lower carbs where it’s least noticeable, so I only used half the rice and none of carrot…and it turned out great!
this dish was a lot of work. the meat should have been cooked first and drained of fat because the fat ended up in the sauce.
won’t be making this again. Just wasn’t that good.
HI Allie, if using a beef with a hight fat content, it is a good idea to drain but I haven’t had that issue with this recipe. Otherwise, it should have been a pretty straightforward recipe. What part was time consuming? Maybe there’s something I need to clarify in the recipe?
So yummy! Have you ever tried making them with a large can of sauerkraut instead of fresh, steamed cabbage?
Hi Kimberly! I have not, but sounds delish!
Great recipe but unless you have an army to feed cut the recipe in half.
I dont eat pork.
Could I use all turkey instead.
Has anyone done that and
How are the results.
Hi Mary, I definitely recommend keeping the pork along with the turkey, turkey on its own will be very dry.
Usually use ground beef and chicken breast. I make my own ground beef and usually use chuck pot roast, so chicken breast goes very well with it)
Hi Natasha. I am from Western Ukraine originally and love all your recipes. Lazy cabbage rolls came out perfect and I have also added garlic to the sauce and rolls too for extra taste. Thank you!
That’s wonderful, Alisa!
Hello, i was wondering Can I freeze these after its been cooked?
Hi Karolina, I have successfully frozen these uncooked, but I haven’t tried freezing them cooked to advise. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
I made these last night and they were so good. I cut the recipe in half, since it’s just me and my husband. I adjusted the recipe some just to use what I had in the kitchen…meatloaf meat (pork, veal, hamburger) cause it’s what I had in the freezer, one pouch of microwavable brown rice, and a bag of pre-shredded cabbage just for convenience, and it turned out great. Will definitely be making this one again!
That’s wonderful, Mary! Thank you for sharing that with us. I’m glad you love the recipe.
Very good.
I did misunderstand the saucing part. It wasn’t until I had poured it ALL over the meat that I realized I should have reserved some. There was some spillover into the oven. Noted for next time!
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Shelley! I hope you loved the recipe!
Hi Natasha, I know you listed this years ago but I’m just now making. noticed you told others tomato sauce may not work as well as marinara. I have homemade tomato sauce from our garden tomato’s with onions,garlic etc. it’s not thick like marinara but thought it would work if I leave out the water & used more. also wondering if dutch oven would work instead of casserole dish.
Hi Sandy! Yes, marinara works best but that should be fine. The casserole dish is wider, but you can use a dutch oven if the meat patties have enough room to be laid out on one level.
This was so easy to make. Thanks for a great recipe. Just out of curiosity, what do you eat with cabbage rolls? Are there any sides that are served with this?
Hi Chris! You’re welcome. I’m glad you liked it. You can serve them with roasted or mashed potatoes. Some cultures serve them with polenta. They can be served with many things or as simple as eating with french bread on the side.
Delicious ! However being a Garlic lover , I added a few dashes of garlic powder . Delicious!!
Sounds good, glad you liked it!
Love your recipes so I’m excited to make this one, but are they freezer friendly like your cabbage rolls are?
Hi Debbie! Yes, you should be able to freeze these uncooked. 🙂
These were awesome. Didn’t have unsalted seasoning so I replaced the salt with a mix of the same amount of Herbamare and Old Bay, and aside from purple cabbage, the recipe was followed exactly. I will be making it often.
Thank you for sharing that with us, Kevan! So glad you enjoyed the recipe.
This is a great recipe! I thought they took as much time to make as regular to make though, so not sure if that is the best name for this dish. I think cabbage roll meatloaf or something like that would be better. I didn’t have Mrs. DASH, so I looked up the ingredients in it and added 1/4 teaspoon of each one I had, which was all but one. They taste amazing and I will definitely make again. I did add cabbage underneath the rolls and so glad I did!! Yum! Yum! Yum!!!
Thank you for the feedback, Katrina! Glad you loved this recipe
Love the idea of cabbage underneath the rolls. Hubby loves cabbage and his opinion is the more the merrier!
Do we have the calorie count on these? These are delicious!
Hi Elizabeth! we are slowly working through all of our recipes to add nutrition info but it is a time-consuming process as they have to be added one at a time. Thank you for being patient!