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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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This is amazing. My partner loves cabbage rolls and while I like them well enough, they never seem worth all the time and effort (and since I’m the one that does the cooking, that’s a key issue for me). This recipe is perfect though! All the great flavors with absolutely none of the hassle. So easy and delicious…definitely getting added to the rotation!
would i double this for an 8 quart? thanks so much
You don’t have to, but you can if it fits safely.
I just made this recipe. I did cut back slightly on the salt in the cooking time & after cooking added a bit more balsamic vinegar. Very tasty & easy. I used a 6 qt Instant Pot. All of the ingredients were cooked perfectly. I was a little concerned for the cabbage but it was fine. I did not rinse the rice so the extra starch made a sort of thickened sauce. I will use this recipe again. Thank you!
I made this tonight. The adjustments I made were : half the recipe in a 3 qt PC, ground turkey, and Banza rice instead of white. Also, pizza sauce instead of tomato paste (I know I have a can somewhere, but darned if I can find it!), and I added a cup of chopped, multicolor bell peppers. Even tho I halved the recipe, I still used a whole can of diced tomatoes.
This is wonderful! I got easily 8 cups of food, so lunch or dinner for 4 days (well, three days. I just ate 1 serving.) I ran it thru WW, and with the cheap ground turkey I used, it’s still only 6 pts for 2 cups of food! If I had used lean ground turkey breast, it would have been 2 pts! So, this is going in to the regular rotation, and thank you for it! (I think I’m going to add a whole carton of fresh mushrooms next time. Yum.)
OUTSTANDING! Added two hot italian sausage links and one extra can of tomatoes as suggested by others. Hubby and I were amazed! Oddly I cannot rate this recipe but it is a keeper!
I made this pretty much exactly as the recipe says, except I never add sugar to savory recipes (I assume this is done because of the tomatoes, but I’ve never understood that). Anyway, it was very good. I will definitely make this again. I might try turkey next time, but the only thing I might change is slightly more spices (except salt) because that’s more to my taste. I also put some hot sauce on top when I ate mine – YUM!!!
This was excellent. We used potatoes instead of rice because 1) my husband loves potatoes and 2) they really needed cooked soon. It tasted wonderful and we absolutely loved it!
What a fabulous idea! Well done!
The cabbage cooked into mush. I would cook it for just 2 minutes if I make it again.
I like a soft cabbage, so yes, you will want to cook it less time. Just enough so that the rice is cooked.
Would liquid and timing adjust if using medium grain rice? Also, if rice us not added, would I still need to use 3 1/2 cups of broth?
I think the rice to water ratio stays the same. If not using rice, I would decrease the liquid by 1 or 1 1/2 cups.
Made this but added sourkraut awesome and uses stewed tomatoes 🍅 3xcellent
Omg this was amazing and so easy to make.