Greek Stuffed Cabbage Rolls (Lahanodolmades)
Greek Stuffed Cabbage Rolls or Lahanodolmades are the perfect comfort food for cold days. These delicious Greek cabbage rolls are stuffed with an herby meat and rice mixture and topped with a delicious avgolemono or egg-lemon sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 large cabbage savoy or green/white cabbage
- 3 lbs ground beef
- 1 onion diced
- 1 1/2 cups rice uncooked and rinsed
- 1 cup tomato puree
- 1/3 cup fresh parsley
- 1 1/2 tablespoons salt
- 3/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- water enough to cover the cabbage rolls
- 2 vegetable bouillon cubes (alternatively you can use vegetable or chicken broth instead of the water in this recipe)
Avgolemono Sauce (Egg-Lemon Sauce)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 lemon juiced
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Discard the outer leaves of the cabbage and wash the cabbage. Place it in a large pot or dutch oven with the stem facing upwards. Fill with enough water to submerge 2/3 of the cabbage and simmer over medium-high heat for 4-6 minutes. Working cautiously, use a fork to hold the stem in place and then use a knife to cut the leaves away from the stem and slowly try to remove the leaves. If they do not release easily without breaking, allow it to simmer more. You can flip the cabbage over to simmer the stem side for a few minutes as well. This can help loosen the leaves. [Note: You do not want to fully cook the leaves, just soften then enough to loosen them so they can be detached from the stem easily.]
- Lay the detached cabbage leaves on a baking sheet until you are ready to use them. If they are too stiff to roll, you can place them back into the water and par-boil them to soften them. Keep about 4-5 of the smaller leaves that are too small to stuff on hand as well (these will be used as a bed for the rolls).
- Prepare the cabbage stuffing by adding the ground beef, onion, rice, tomato puree, parsley, salt and pepper to a large mixing bowl. Mix the filling together until well combined.
- In a large dutch oven, place some of the smaller cabbage leaves that are too small to stuff on the bottom of the pot.
- Working with one cabbage roll at a time, lay a cabbage leaf on a cutting board and remove the harder stem portion as it will make rolling difficult. Discard this portion.
- Add about 1/3 cup of filling to the middle of your cabbage roll. (the amount will actually depend on the size of your cabbage leaves so you will need to adjust accordingly).
- Fold over the left and right sides of the leaf over the filling and then, starting at the bottom of the leaf, roll it up to form the cabbage roll. Place the assembled cabbage roll into the dutch oven. Repeat with all of the cabbage rolls, creating layers of cabbage rolls.
- Drizzle the cabbage rolls with the olive oil. Then add 2 bouillon cubes and top the cabbage rolls with enough water to come right up to the top of the cabbage rolls. Place an extra cabbage leaf on top of the rolls (optional).
- Bring the pot to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium and simmer the rolls for about 1 hour or until cooked through. [Tip: Use a meat thermometer to ensure they are fully cooked.]
- In 2 bowls, crack the eggs, separating the whites from the yolks. Beat the egg whites with a hand mixer until they are fluffy and hold their shape.
- Beat the egg yolks for a couple of minutes and then mix the egg whites and yolks together.
- Add the juice of 1 lemon and continue to beat. Continue to beat as you add some hot broth from the soup to the egg mixture to prevent cooking the eggs. Add the egg-lemon mixture to the pot. Turn off the heat. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Serve with additional lemon juice if desired.
Note: Metric ingredient measurements are provided as a courtesy using a third-party calculator and are rounded to the nearest unit. The recipes provided on this site have not been tested with metric measurements and their accuracy cannot be verified.
Nutrition
Calories: 244kcalCarbohydrates: 14gProtein: 12gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 54mgSodium: 528mgPotassium: 314mgFiber: 2gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 193IUVitamin C: 23mgCalcium: 41mgIron: 2mg
The nutritional information provided is based on third-party calculations and is an estimate only. Accurate nutritional facts will vary based on the particular brands used, portion sizes, measurement accuracy and more.
Tried this recipe?Leave a star rating and comment below to let us know how it was!