It’s cold outside. It’s winter cabbage season. It’s time for a comforting meaty Turkish cabbage rolls recipe: Etli lahana sarması.
Why it has taken so long to get our cabbage roll recipe on the blog? I don’t know!
We don’t make them often – there’s a bit of meal prep involved – but they are sooo tasty and a perfect winter food.
The first time we had homemade cabbage rolls was at a friend’s house, here in Fethiye, many years ago.
We watched her make them; observing as she expertly rolled the tender cabbage leaves around spoonfuls of her white rice and meat mixture, before layering them into a rather large pot on the stove.
And I remember not particularly looking forward to eating them.
Naturally, all of that immediately changed once we tucked in! An immediate convert.
And we’ve been eating them ever since.
Cabbage rolls are one of those traditional dishes that are enjoyed in various countries around Europe and the Middle East.
Romanian and Polish cabbage rolls are made with minced / ground pork rather than beef.
VERY Large Cabbage A Winter Feature
Once we’re in the colder months in Fethiye, seasonal eating turns to winter greens. So cabbages appear on the local markets.
Very large cabbages!
If you’re a person doing the weekly fruit and veg shop for one of the local restaurants or a bigger family, all well and good.
But when you’re only two people, you need to have a few cabbage recipes up your sleeve so that you know you’re going to be able to make full use of these ginormous Turkish winter cabbages.
Even with that in mind, we still root around for the smallest one.
And then we get to work with our stuffed cabbage rolls recipe…
How To Make Turkish Cabbage Rolls – Etli Lahana Saramsı
First of all, make life easy for yourself and try to get your hands on a big, leafy green cabbage.
One with lots of leaves but where those leaves aren’t too tightly packed.
This just makes it easier to release – and roll – each cabbage leaf without tearing them too much.
Release, Cut, Blanch
There are different ways of going about prepping your cabbage leaves.
Some people blanch the whole head of cabbage in a large pot of water, first.
This method is a no go for us. Quite honestly, with the size of the cabbages here in Turkey, we have no pot or pan that will accommodate them!
We also find it easier to work with the uncooked leaves to prep for our cabbage rolls.
So, our method is to work from the bottom of the cabbage, running a sharp knife deep around the rim of the stalk.
Then, from there, we can pull away any damaged outer leaves.
Then we tease each cabbage leaf away using the stem that runs up the centre of each leaf.
You can keep running the knife round in stages so that you end up with a long stalk (photo 2 above).
Once we have enough large leaves, we need to remove the hard stem from each leaf.
You can do this by holding the base of the stem and running your sharp knife along each side of it.
Don’t discard the stems!
They’ll come in handy, later.
Then we just bring our large pan of water to the boil and blanch our cabbage leaves over a medium heat in batches.
No longer than 3 minutes. Or, even 2 minutes if your leaves are more delicate.
Remove the leaves from the water with a slotted spoon and carefully lay into a colander to drain.
Then I usually run them under the cold water to prevent them from cooking further.
The Meat & Rice Filling
We’re real omnivores.
And, although there are vegetarian and vegan variations of stuffed cabbage rolls, for us, this is a winter food of pure comfort.
That means, if we’re going to the effort of making them, we want to enjoy the cabbage-meat combination.
No particular process, here.
We just need to mix our combination of rice, minced beef, dried and fresh herbs and spices and seasonings.
Chopped fresh dill and parsley make up the fresh herbs.
For our cabbage rolls, we prefer dried mint to fresh mint. And a generous amount is used there!
Fan of garlic?
Don’ t be shy, here. Four big cloves!
A generous dollop of tomato paste and/or pepper paste, too.
In Turkey, you can buy jars of mixed pepper and tomato paste. So we use that. But if you can only find tomato paste, that’s fine.
And then your spices and seasoning of salt and freshly ground black pepper.
For your rice filling, we recommend short grain over a long grain rice version like basmati rice.
Go in with your hands to knead all the mixture together.
Start Rolling And Arranging
This is the good bit – where you start to see your cabbage rolls come together.
Those stalks and loose outer leaves you have to one side; they can be laid across the base of your large pan in a single layer to make a bed for your rolls.
When you roll your leaves around the mixture, try not to roll them too tightly – because you need to leave a little bit of ‘wiggle room’ for your rice to expand as it cooks.
Place your leaf vein-side up onto a flat surface. Then put a spoonful of the mixture at the bottom end, making a little sausage shape.
After that, you just need to fold in the sides of the leaf and then roll.
Your cabbage rolls need to be placed in your pan with the seam side facing downwards so that they don’t unravel when they’re cooking.
They also need to be arranged so that they fit quite snugly to prevent them from moving around as they are simmering.
You might end up with two or three layers of rolls, depending on the size of your pan.
Now you just need to mix your cooking sauce ingredients with boiling water or stock and pour over the rolls.
We add just enough sauce to cover the top of the rolls. And then place a plate, upside down, over the top of that.
Cover the pan with a lid, turn the heat to a simmer…
…then sit back and relax until your tasty cabbage rolls are cooked.
Cook time isn’t hard and fast. But we generally simmer our cabbage rolls over a low heat for an hour.
Time To Indulge In Your Delicious Cabbage Rolls
Because that’s what they are!
Completely delicious. And completely worth the effort.
Carefully remove the cabbage rolls from the pan onto your serving plate(s) and then spoon the remaining sauce from the pan over them.
You wouldn’t believe how tasty this simple olive oil, tomato paste and garlic sauce becomes after its slow simmer with the cabbage rolls.
And you can either enjoy your cabbage rolls as they are with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice over the top.
Or – this is a Turkish version of cabbage rolls, after all – you can make up the yoghurt sauce and drizzle that over the top.
Highly recommended as far as we’re concerned!
Got Leftovers?
Don’t worry if you have leftover cabbage rolls. They taste great, reheated the next day!
Leave them to come to room temperature. Then store them in the fridge in an airtight container for up to three days.
To reheat them, we do them in the oven.
180 Degrees Celsius (356 Fahrenheit) for around 15 to 20 minutes…and there’s an argument that they taste even better reheated!
And if you have leftover cabbage like we do, you can make that other favourite cabbage dish – and one of our favourite Turkish recipes – kapuska!
Cabbage Rolls Recipe
Let’s make our Turkish version of cabbage rolls.
Turkish Cabbage Rolls Recipe – Etli Lahana Sarması
Equipment
- 1 large saucepan
- 1 sharp knife
- 1 mixing bowl
- 1 colander
- 1 slotted spoon
Ingredients
For The Cabbage Rolls
- 1 head of green cabbage (large)
- 400 grams minced beef (or lamb)
- 100 grams short grain rice (or bulgur wheat)
- 1 medium onion (peeled & grated)
- 4 cloves garlic (peeled & grated)
- 1½ tablespoons red pepper paste (or tomato paste)
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill (finely chopped)
- 1 tablespoon dried mint
- 1 teaspoon ground paprika
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- salt (to season)
- 2 tablespoons water
For Cooking Your Cabbage Rolls
- 2 cloves garlic (peeled & grated)
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon chilli flakes (optional)
- 500 millilitres hot water or stock (approximately)
For The Yoghurt Sauce
- 3 tablespoons thick natural yoghurt
- 1 clove garlic (peeled & grated)
- 1 small lemon (juiced)
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
To Make Cabbage Rolls
- First of all, we need to remove the leaves from our cabbage. To do this, run a sharp knife around the rim of the stalk at the bottom.
- Now, you can start to gently remove each of the leaves one by one.
- When you have all your leaves, cut them in half from bottom to top by running your knife along the thick stem. Put the stems to one side.
- Now bring a large pan of water to the boil and plunge your cabbage leaves into the boiling water a few at a time, blanching for 2-3 minutes until they start to go limp.
- Remove the leaves with a slotted spoon and carefully place into a large colander to drain. Run cold water over them to prevent them from cooking further.
- Keep blanching your leaves in batches until they are all done and draining in your colander.
- Drain your large saucepan and cover the bottom of it with cabbage stems and / or any leaves that may have torn.
- Now add the your meat and rice cabbage roll filling to a mixing bowl and stir together, kneading briefly to make sure all the ingredients are well mixed.
- Take one of your cabbage leaves and place it on a flat surface with the veins facing upwards.
- Place a spoonful of your meat and rice mixture across the bottom of the cabbage leaf (how much you add will depend on the size of your leaves) and fold the sides of the leaf inwards, over your stuffing.
- Now roll the leaf, making sure not to roll it too tightly, so that the filling is encased and place in your large saucepan, seam-side down.
- Keep repeating this, arranging the cabbage rolls in your pan so that they are quite a snug fit. You need a bit of balance between leaving a little wiggle room for the rice to expand as it cooks but having the rolls secure enough so that they don't move around and unravel in the pan as they simmer.
- Now mix your cooking sauce ingredients together until your tomato paste has dissolved.
- Place your pot of cabbage rolls on the hob and pour the sauce over them making sure that the liquid reaches, and just covers your top layer of rolls.
- Bring to the boil and then turn the heat down to a low heat.
- Place a small plate, upside down, over the top of your cabbage rolls to weigh them down a little.
- Now place a lid on your saucepan and leave your cabbage rolls to cook for around 60 minutes.
For The Yoghurt Sauce
- Whilst your cabbage rolls are cooking, you can prepare your yoghurt sauce.
- Mix the ingredients together in a small serving bowl, adding a splash of water if you want a thinner consistency.
To Serve Your Cabbage Rolls
- When cooked, remove your pan from the heat and carefully lift your cabbage rolls onto your serving plate(s).
- Spoon your cooking sauce over the top of them.
- Serve immediately, with a drizzle of yoghurt sauce over the top and a few chilli flakes to garnish, if you like.
Notes
- The nutritional information for our stuffed cabbage rolls recipe is calculated by 3rd party api and should be used as a rough guide, only. Values will differ according to the particular ingredients you use.
- In our recipe, we use a mix of red pepper paste (biber salçası) and tomato paste (domates salçası). If you can’t find Turkish red pepper paste, tomato paste will be fine.
- If you like, you can uıse minced / ground lamb instead of beef. And coarse bulgur wheat instead of rice.
- At our local Turkish markets, the cabbages are huge. Our cabbage rolls recipe makes around 30 cabbage rolls. We allocate 5 cabbage rolls per serving as a main meal.
- If you have leftover cabbage rolls, allow them to cool and then store them in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days. You can gently reheat them on the hob or in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius (356 degrees Fahrenheit) for 20 minutes. They taste great!