Stuffed Cabbage AKA Pigs in a Blanket
Posted in: Dinner Ideas, Food Photos | 23 Comments
Tonight I took my first stab at Pigs in a Blanket (that’s what we call stuffed cabbage up in North East Pennsylvania.) I’ve been wanting to make them since mom made a batch of hers a few months back. They are a perfect meal idea to jam pack full of healthy veggies.
I’m going to write up how I made them this evening but I may change a few things next time. Not quite sure what yet, this is one of those ‘wing it, use what you got on hand’ type of meal ideas. :) 
- 1 large head of cabbage
- 2 cups of cooked brown rice (I just used one of these
- 1 lb (16oz) extra lean ground turkey, raw
- 6 cloves of garlic minced
- 1/2 of a large sweet onion diced
- 1 small zucchini diced
- 1-2 cups baby spinach chopped
- 2 stalks of celery diced
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp dried parsley separated
- 2 tsp dried basil separated
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 can of condensed tomato soup
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- Kosher Salt & Pepper
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cut the core out of the cabbage and cook for 5 minutes. This will help loosen the leaves. After 5 minutes run under cold water.
Combine the brown rice, ground turkey, garlic, onion, zucchini, spinach, celery, 1 tbsp parsley and 1 tsp basil until well mixed.
Carefully separate a leaf from the cabbage head.
Place about 1/2 cup of the turkey/rice mixture in the middle.
Fold the sides in like a burrito.
Roll.
Place in a deep baking dish.
Repeat until you run our of filling or cabbage leaves. You should get about 12. I actually ran out of leaves and used the rest of the filling in a pepper I had in the fridge. :)
Once the baking dish is filled with "piggies" mix the tomato soup, diced tomatoes, and the rest of the dried spices with a bit of water to thin it. Pour over the piggies, cover and bake for an hour in a preheated 350 degree oven. You may want to baste now and then to help keep everything moist.
Serve with the tomato soup mixture drizzled on top and sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper.
Here’s the approximate nutritional info for how I made them above.
| Servings | Amt per Serving | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 2 piggies | ||
| Calories | Fat | Fiber | WWPs |
| 260 | 2g | 8g | 5 |
| Sugar | Sat Fat | Carbs | Protein |
| 13g | 0g | 39g | 25g |
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Hey Roni, did you know you can freeze the cabbage head instead of having to boil it. From Mennonite Girls can cook blog:
‘In the bag that you brought your cabbage home. . .place the cabbage in the freezer and leave for 12 hours or overnight.. . .remove and leave to thaw at room temperature. .this will take awhile. . so I often take it the night before the day I want to make the cabbage rolls. The leaves will be soft and easy to use without having to boil them’
Just a thought.
Love your blog, your a great inspiration to us!!
Renee has a great point…I always freeze the entire cabbage head and upon defrosting, the cabbage leaves are pliable and ready for filling. Try it, Roni, it is a no fail procedure. Happy New Year!
Thanks guys! I will totally try that next time!
I tried something like this once and I loved them, but the hubby hated the combination of cabbage and tomato. (He’s Irish so **shrug**)
When I did them they were fried as well as having a good amount of bacon and cheese crumbled on top. It was so unhealthy. I think I’ll try your way now!
Do you think they can be frozen after cooking, for meals later on if I make a batch and the hubby still doesn’t like them??
Totally! I just separated out servings and froze them for me since my hubby doesn’t really like them either!
Thanks Roni! I’m going to try these tonight!!! Can’t believe how particular my hubby can be about cabbage!! We had a royal Christmas Day fight once about brussel sprouts!!! LoL!!
These are a comfort food for me. I love them. Hubby doesn’t care for cabbage too much so I haven’t made them in a while.
I cook them in the crockpot.
I will also try to freeze the cabbage next time. It was always a pain to boil it.
I think Im more excited that you gave me the idea to use those packs of rice instead of cooking up rice before I make stuffed anything! lol :) Great tip! Oh and dinner looks tasty but my boyfriends family makes what they call sweet dolma and its kinda the same idea. :)
Looks yummy! Can’t wait to try it.
Where do you get all of these ideas for recipes? Pigs in a blanket in the south are hot dogs in biscuits, hahaha. Not quite the same thing.
Thanks Roni…Such a comfort food from my childhood! My mom gave us a pan of them recently, and I remembered how much I like them. Now I have your directions to make it easier!
I’ve only tried stuffed cabbage from a Lean Cuisine meal (pretty sad, right?) but this recipe looks pretty good. It has to be better than a frozen dinner, right!?
I love cabbage rolls (as my family calls them) and like what you’ve added to make them more interesting…thanks for the “renewed” recipe!!
I love piggies! My husband doesn’t like cabbage either; what is wrong w/ these men??? lol
I can’t wait to try this recipe.
We were SO on the same page that day! I made lettuce wraps with my daughter
http://pickytots.blogspot.com/2010/01/happy-new-year.html
I’ll have to try this recipe, looks really good!
Those cabbage rolls look /so/ good! It reminds me so much of my mom. I must make these! We also call them pigs-in-a-blanket in Northwestern Pennsylvania as well. Must be a PA thing! :P
My Boyfriend’s mom makes something super similar and they call it (stuffed cabbage rolls). I wasn’t sure all that went into it but its a lot like yours just not as healthy! lol! Brandon (boyfriend) LOVES these things!!! I am gonna use your recipe since its healthier and I like the freezing tip from the others! I’m gonna use it and I can’t wait! yummy!
I’ve been thinking about these all week (or at least since you posted this)! I’m going to have to give in & make them tonight!
I just found your blog and these look very good. Wonder if I can convince the rest of the fam? Hope so because these are on the menu now for this weekend. Thanks!
I just have to second that freezing the head of cabbage first definitely makes it much easier to make stuffed cabbage. No need to boil a pot of water and handle a hot head of cabbage. :) We just made a batch last night. And I have to say that the stuffed cabbages I grew up with had rice in it. However, DH is 100% polish and they do not use rice. So the batch I made last night is without rice, which means lower points. :) Just thought I’d mention it.
Thanks for the recipe, Roni!
I made these on Monday and they were excellent :) I had 2 for lunch and froze the rest for lunches later on. I was wondering the best way to reheat them? Should I just out them in the oven @ 350 degrees?
Thanks again!
Awesome Shannon! Glad you liked them!
The oven would work but I just nuke them in the microwave. They came out just as good!
I tried this recipe for dinner tonight. It was delicious! I froze the cabbage and thawed it but it didn’t peel easily for me. Next time I’m going to stick w/ boiling it.
I made this last night… it was soooo good! My bf had 5 rolls, but I stuck with the serving size of 2 rolls. :)