Love cabbage rolls but don't love all the work involved with cooking them? Use your slow cooker with this simple recipe. You'll have to do some work before you put the cabbage rolls in the slow cooker, but once they're in you can sit back and relax while they cook.
These cabbage rolls will take six to seven hours to cook on low. It may not be long enough for you to cook them while you're away at work, but you can certainly cook them on the weekend while you go out to do fun activities with your family. Slow cookers are great since they can be left unattended for long periods of time.
You won't need any fancy ingredients for these cabbage rolls. If you can find fresh cabbage from a local farm stand, that's the best cabbage to use. Nothing beats farm fresh, and you'll be helping out a small farmer as well. If you can't find farm fresh cabbage, whatever you can find in the store will work just as well. As long as you have one large head, you're good to go!
Other ingredients that play an important role in this recipe include tomato sauce, quick-cooking rice, green pepper, ground beef, and onion soup mix. This is a very flavorful recipe that is sure to delight your entire family each time you make it!
Slow Cooker Cabbage Rolls
Ingredients:
1 large head cabbage
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
¾ cup quick-cooking rice
½ cup chopped green pepper
½ cup crushed saltines (about 15 crackers)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 ounce onion soup mix
1½ pounds lean ground beef (90% lean)
1 (46 ounce) can tomato juice, such as V8
Salt to taste
Grated Parmesan cheese, optional
Directions:
1. Cook cabbage in boiling water just until leaves fall off head. Set aside 12 large leaves for rolls; drain well.
2. Cut out the thick vein from the bottom of each reserved leaf, making a V-shaped cut; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine the tomato sauce, rice, green pepper, cracker crumbs, egg, and soup mix. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well.
4. Place about ⅓ cup meat mixture on each cabbage leaf; overlap cut ends of leaf. Fold in sides, beginning from the cut end. Roll up completely to enclose filling. Secure with toothpicks if desired.
5. Place cabbage rolls in a greased 5-quart slow cooker. Pour tomato juice over rolls.
6. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours. Just before serving, sprinkle with salt and cheese if desired.
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