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Polish

Gołąbki

Non-vegetarian

Soft cabbage leaves wrapped around a filling of minced pork and beef with rice and onion, then baked in a light tomato sauce.

Gołąbki is a Polish main course from Poland, ready in about 1 hour 55 minutes and made with cabbage, ground pork and tomato passata. It serves 6 and is rated intermediate to cook.

Start cooking
A serving of Gołąbki
Photo: Silar / Wikimedia Commons · CC-BY-SA-3.0
Prep
40 min
Cook
1 h 15 min
Total
1 h 55 min
Serves
6
Level
Intermediate
Calories
380

Ingredients

6 servings (about 14 rolls)

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Cut out the cabbage (opens in a new tab) core and lower the cabbage into a large pot of boiling water. Peel off the leaves as they soften; you need about 14. Shave down the thick central ribs.

  2. Step 2

    Par-boil the rice in salted boiling water for 10 minutes, so it is still firm in the centre, then drain and cool. Soften the onion (opens in a new tab) in the butter (opens in a new tab) until translucent. Mix both with the pork, beef, egg (opens in a new tab), marjoram (opens in a new tab), salt and pepper (opens in a new tab).

    Food safety: Wash hands after handling raw meat and egg.

  3. Step 3

    Place a heaped tablespoon of filling on each leaf, fold in the sides and roll up. Pack seam-side down in a baking dish (opens in a new tab) lined with any torn leftover leaves.

  4. Step 4

    Mix the passata and stock, pour over the rolls, cover with foil and bake until the filling is cooked through and the cabbage (opens in a new tab) is very tender.

    Food safety: The filling should reach 72 °C in the centre.

  5. Step 5

    Serve with the tomato sauce and a spoonful of sour cream (opens in a new tab).

    • 1 min
    A finished dish being plated
    How it looks · Photo: Willians Huerta on Pexels

About this dish

Origin
Poland · Commonly attributedStuffed cabbage is eaten across Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans; gołąbki is the Polish form.Also popular in Ukraine, RussiaMore food from Poland
Dish
Dinner · Lunch · Main courses
Cooking method
Oven-baked, Blanched
Taste
savoury, tangy, mild
Diet
No nut ingredients · High-protein
All labelsNon-vegetarian · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · High-protein · Carb-conscious · Calorie-conscious
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
Make-ahead · Freezer-friendly
Cook more with
Cabbage · Ground pork · Tomato passata · Long-grain white rice · Ground beef · Onion
Techniques
Baking · Boiling · Blanching

Allergens

  • Contains: Milkfrom butter, sour cream
  • Contains: Eggsfrom egg
  • May contain: Glutenfrom vegetable stock
  • May contain: Celeryfrom vegetable stock

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

380 kcal per serving

Calculated

1 serving ≈ 410 g · recipe makes 6

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 21%
  • Carbohydrate 33%
  • Fat 46%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
Energy380 kcal93 kcal
Protein20.6 g5 g
Carbohydrate32.2 g7.8 g
Net carbohydrate26.1 g6.4 g
Sugars——
Added sugars0 g0 g
Fibre6 g1.5 g
Fat19.6 g4.8 g
Saturated fat7.9 g1.9 g
Trans fat——
Cholesterol97 mg24 mg
Sodium842 mg205 mg
Salt equivalent2.1 g0.5 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
948 mg
Calcium
106 mg
Iron
4.4 mg
Magnesium
62 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
74 µg
Vitamin C
66 mg
Vitamin D
—
Vitamin B12
1.2 µg
Folate (DFE)
151 µg

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • *Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
  • Optional ingredients are not included: sour cream.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • Freezing the whole cabbage overnight and thawing it softens the leaves without blanching.

Common mistakes

  • Fully cooking the rice first makes the filling mushy.

Serve with

  • Serve with boiled potatoes or crusty bread.

Storage

  • Refrigerate for 3 days or freeze in sauce for 3 months.

Reheating

  • Reheat covered in the oven or microwave until piping hot.

Variations

  • Holubtsi (Ukraine): The Ukrainian version, often with more rice and sometimes buckwheat.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Used in steps 1, 2, 4, 5

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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