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Instant Pot Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls is a deconstructed version of the classic cabbage rolls my mom made. They are inexpensive to make, and you can feed the family a nutritious, tasty meal for very little. This pressure cooker unstuffed cabbage rolls recipe is like a stew, and is very good.
Instant Pot Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls
Cabbage rolls are a comfort food in many cultures, mine included. Recreating a comfort food from my childhood brings me back to our tiny little kitchen (I called it our 1-butt kitchen, lol!).
This recipe is rather old fashioned. Nothing fancy, except for maybe the balsamic vinegar! I was going to make this into more of a soup (and you can), but I really wanted the thickness of a casserole, and for it to be more like when you mash up a cabbage roll.
If you decide you want to make Instant Pot Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls into a soup, just increase the broth, and adjust the seasonings a little, to your liking. Easy!
Two questions I get asked about this recipe are:
1) Is the rice cooked or uncooked when I put it in? It is uncooked. Rinse it well before adding it to get some of the starch off.
2) Will I get the dreaded “BURN” error from this being thick? You shouldn’t. As long as you pay attention to the amounts of the ingredients, and don’t stir in the tomatoes before pressure cooking, it should come to pressure with no burn issues.
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Instant Pot Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 lb Ground Beef or Ground Turkey (93% lean), or use sausage or half sausage for added flavor.
- 1 large Yellow Onion, chopped
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 4 large cloves Garlic, pressed or minced
- 2 tsp Paprika
- 1 ½ tsp Coarse Salt (or 1 tsp table salt) more to taste
- 1 tsp Pepper
- ¼ tsp Oregano
- 1 small-med Head of Green Cabbage, chopped in 2" pieces
- 3 ½ cups Beef Broth,* low sodium (or chicken, if using gr. turkey)
- 1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 cup Long Grain White Rice, rinsed, uncooked
- 1 (14 oz) can Diced Tomatoes, with juice
- 1 Tbsp Tomato Paste
- 2 tsp Sugar
Instructions
- Get all of your veggies chopped, and all other ingredients ready to go. Then turn on the pressure cooker's Sauté setting.
- If using ground beef, add it to the pot and start browning it. Then add the onions.
If using ground turkey, add some olive oil to the pot and add the onions first. Then add the ground turkey when the onions just start to turn translucent. - Add the bay leaves and garlic. Sauté, stirring frequently, for a minute.
- Add the paprika, salt, pepper, oregano, cabbage, broth*, balsamic vinegar, and Worcestershire. Stir well and let heat up for a few minutes.
- Add the rice and stir well.
- Pour the can of diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and sugar over the cabbage mixture, but don't stir.
- Put the lid on the pot and lock in place.
- Set the steam release knob to the Sealing position.
- Cancel the Sauté function and then press the Pressure Cook/Manual button or dial. Use the + or - button or dial to choose 4 minutes.
- When the cooking cycle is finished, let the pot sit undisturbed for 5 minutes (5 minute natural release). Then do a controlled Quick Release to manually release the remaining pressure. This will take a few minutes as the pot is full.
- To do a controlled Quick Release, use a spoon handle to gently push the steam release knob towards the Venting position, but don't turn the knob fully over. The reason is that with a full pot there is a risk of sauce spewing out of the knob with the steam. It make a huge mess, and could burn you. So just feather it and when you feel sure that only steam is coming out, turn it fully to Venting. If sauce starts to come out, just turn it back and feather it some more.
- When the pin in the lid drops down, open the lid carefully and give the contents a stir.
- Taste and adjust salt, if desired.
- Serve with some soft dinner rolls.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Resources to Make Instant Pot Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls Recipe and More
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Just made this and it is terrific, and much easier than rolling up and stuffing cabbage leaves. It makes a lot of food. I filled up all 5 of my fairly large pyrex food storage containers and had enough left in the pot for today’s lunch. (I’d give it 5 stars, but clicking on the stars doesn’t seem to work in my browser).
Hi Thomas, I’m happy to see your review. Thank you! Looks like the stars did show up. I get a lot of comments that say they didn’t when they did. I don’t know why that happens. I am happy that you liked this recipe!
Loved this recipe so thank you. I would like to try it with 1 extra cup of rice. How much extra liquid would I need to add? Thanks in advance
I would add 1 1/4 cups more liquid.
If I’m omitting the meat and adding sauerkraut how much broth would I use?
Hmmm, that’s a big change. I would keep the liquid the same and see how you like it. The rice needs that liquid to cook properly.
I am new to the IP and normally make my unstuffed cabbage rolls in my crockpot with tomato sauce rather than broth. Do you think I can use my recipe in the IP or does it require the broth since it isn’t as thick as the sauce? Thanks!
You will need the thin liquid to bring the pot to pressure, which is why I use the broth.
Made this a few days ago and I can’t wait for lunch every day for the leftovers! I omitted the meat and rice, but added peppers and a little half & half. So good!!!
This looks like a really good recipe and it also teaches me a lot about how to manage the Instant Pot. I subscribed. Thanks.
Ok – thanks! I’ll teduce the cooking time, then!
I made stuffed cabbage in my ip last night. For this recipe I used cooked rice. I have a lot of the meat , rice, & cabbage mixture left over to make this unstuffed cabbage recipe – already mixed together. Should I make any adjustments to the recipe when using the cooked rice?
Stir in the cooked rice after pressure cooking, or reduce time to 3 minutes. That’s my best guess as I haven’t made it that way!
Are you supposed to drain the grease from the meat because it doesn’t say in the recipe?
Only if you have a lot. That’s why I say to use lean ground beef.
I used basmati rice and used 4 cups low sodium vegetable cocktail (juice) with 3 tsp beef better than bouillon. I cooked for the 5 minutes because i’d rather mushy rice than undercooked cabbage and it was DELICIOUS!!! The rice was quite cooked but not mush and seriously this is SO good!! I cannot wait to make this for my polish mother in law, I think shes going to be stunned!! Thank you Sandy!
I’m so glad it was such a success for you, Nat! I hope your mother-in-law likes it! Never hurts to impress the MIL! 😉
I have this all prepped and ready to go for supper, would you modify anything if using basmati rice? its all I have on hand.
Maybe take 1 minute off the cook time.