I am ashamed to admit that until this week, I have never cooked a cabbage in my life. For some odd reason, it seemed daunting, more so than cooking a whole turkey for Thanksgiving, which I have done at least a dozen times. But for some reason I have an unhealthy fear of cabbages. So, when I received a cabbage in my weekly produce box from Misfits Market, I was a bit discomfited. I stared at it in the fridge for nearly two weeks. Then I decided that I wanted to make vegetarian cabbage rolls.
I fell madly in love with cabbage rolls while visiting Poland one summer as a teenager. But since becoming a vegetarian 11 years ago, I haven’t eaten any. And I have missed them! So, I started looking online for recipes. Unfortunately, every recipe I looked at seemed overly involved. I had zero desire to stand over a hot stove boiling and peeling a cabbage layer by layer, or chopping and sauteing mushrooms and onions for the filling. But then I had an epiphany: I could use my Instant Pot to make Easy Vegetarian Cabbage Rolls! And for the filling, I could use the same lentil/rice filling that I use in my stuffed peppers! And the best part is, it only uses a handful of ingredients which were all readily available in my fridge or pantry, so I didn’t need to make any special trips to the grocery store. Yay!
Easy Vegetarian Cabbage Rolls
Equipment
- Instant Pot
- Dutch Oven or baking dish with aluminum foil
- Oven
- cheese grater
Ingredients
- 1 head cabbage
- 1 cup dried lentils
- 1 cup dried long-grain brown rice
- 2 jars pasta sauce
- 1 cup shredded cheese
Instructions
Making the Filling
- Cook lentils and rice. I typically cook each of these separately in my Instant Pot.
- For lentils, add 1 cup lentils (rinsed) and 1.5 cups filtered water to Instant Pot. Seal and cook for 6 minutes on high pressure.
- For long-grain brown rice, spray bottom of Instant Pot with oil to keep the rice from sticking. Then add 1 cup (rinsed) rice and 1 cup filtered water to Instant Pot. Seal and cook for 25 minutes on high pressure.
- Grate 1 cup of cheese. I like sharp cheddar.
- After both lentils and rice have cooked, combine them in a large bowl with shredded cheese and 1 jar of pasta sauce. I use this filling for a multitude of recipes. I love it in cabbage rolls or stuffed peppers. (In fact, one batch of filling will make enough for 2 recipes: both stuffed peppers and cabbage rolls, which makes planning meals easy.)
Cooking the Cabbage
- Place the whole cabbage (washed) on the trivet in the Instant Pot. Add 2 cups water. Seal and cook for 5 minutes on high pressure. Allow to depressurize naturally. Then open, making sure not to burn yourself and remove the cabbage. Place it in a bowl and allow it to cool until you can touch it without risking a burn.
Making the Cabbage Rolls
- Preheat oven to 375° F.
- Peel off the cabbage leaves one at a time and place between ⅛-¼ cup of filling in the center of each leaf. Wrap the sides of the leaf around the filling, then roll up the leaf to form a cabbage roll. Place the cabbage rolls face down in a dutch oven or large baking dish.
- Repeat this process until the cabbage leaves get too small to use. Then, layer the extra cabbage leaves on top of the rolls.
- Spread a jar of pasta sauce across the top of the rolls.
- Place lid on Dutch Oven or cover baking dish with aluminum foil or glass lid.
- Bake at 375° F or 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Notes
I realize these aren’t exactly traditional cabbage rolls: they don’t contain ground beef or pork or onions. They also contain cheese, which I don’t remember having in the traditional cabbage rolls. (However, if you want to make these vegan, just skip the cheese.) And using jarred pasta sauce may or may not be cheating. But they are DELICIOUS, healthy, and extremely easy to make. Even my kiddos like them.
Although there is a lot of cooking time for the lentils, rice, cabbage, etc., because it is all cooked in the Instant Pot, it makes for very little hands-on prep time. You can set it and forget it, and go back to helping your kids with their school work!