Welcome back to {Celebrating Our Heritage Series}!
When I think of Polish food this is always the first recipe that pops into my head! Polish Cabbage Rolls {Galumpkis} are cabbage leaves stuffed with a mixture of ground meat, spices and rice that are baked in a tomato sauce. Healthy and delicious!
Grammy’s Galumpkis were a staple in our house. In fact I remember them being served on a regular basis at our weekly Sunday dinners.
I was never a fan of Galumpkis as a kid. Grammy would always disapprove of this and tell me “You don’t know what good is!”. Apparently she was right! But I know what good is now!
Her recipe for Galumpkis is delicious and very healthy too. You could eat them as a main dish or serve it as a side.
Grammy made these all the time along with a million other dishes on her weekly Sunday dinner menu. If we were lucky she would make Galumpkis and her Kielbasa filled {Potato Dumplings}!
I made these on a Sunday afternoon. My family was so impressed!
They looked and tasted just like Grammy’s. I remember thinking the same thing when Grammy made them. I always thought it was so much work and she was slaving for hours in the kitchen making them.
They were actually quite easy to make though and I’m looking forward to making them again.
Polish Cabbage Rolls {Galumpkis} {Celebrating Our Heritage Series}
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 Head of cabbage
- 1 pound Ground beef or turkey
- 1 Large egg
- 3/4 Cup Uncooked long grain rice ,can also be precooked (if using brown rice you should precook as its cook time is longer)
- 1/4 Cup ,chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Pepper
For the sauce
- 1 ,28 ounce can Crushed tomatoes
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 Degrees F.
- Fill a large stock pot with water and bring to a boil. Add whole head of cabbage and simmer until leaves begin to loosen and can be easily removed from head. (Once outer leaves are removed you may need to leave cabbage in a bit longer to loosen the leaves that were covered)
- Once leaves are removed and cool enough to handle remove the hard vein from center of each cabbage leaf.
- In a large mixing bowl mix mix ground beef with rice, parsley, egg, salt and pepper.
- Spoon about 1/4 cup of meat mixture onto the center of a cabbage leaf and roll over once then tuck sides of the leaf in and continue to roll up to encase the meat mixture.
- Place in a casserole dish with the seem side down.
- Continue until you use all of your meat mixture. You may not use all of the cabbage leaves depending how big the head of cabbage is.
- Pour crushed tomatoes over cabbage rolls and season with salt and pepper
- Cover casserole with foil and place in oven for 30-40 minutes.
- Remove foil and serve.
Nutrition
These Polish Cabbage Rolls {Galumpkis} are a great side dish for any buffet and would be a great addition to you Easter spread!
Make sure you stop by on Thursday when I will be sharing one of Grandpa’s Lithuanian traditions! Until then here are some more of Grammy’s tasty authentic Polish recipes for you to try! Just click on the picture for the recipe.
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You would make grammy and grandpa very proud in making some of her wonderful Polish food and keeping her memory alive in the way she showed her love to the family through her food. We are all impressed . And it is so nice that someone in the family can still keep her presence felt at the table. I know if they were here grandpa, would say with a smile, “very good Nicole”! and Gram would be beaming that she was able to show you and you
listened and watched.
Made this tonight, very disappointed, the rice is not cook, baked in oven for over an hour. Should it really be ¾ cup of cooked rice?
I’m sorry to hear that Mary. Not sure what went wrong for you. I always use uncooked rice and never have a problem with it not cooking enough. You could use cooked rice next time. I would use about 1-1 1/4 cups of cooked rice. Sorry that the recipe didn’t come out as intended for you.
I made it with uncooked rice once and it was not done. That was the last time I did that. I always use precooked rice. Making it tonight for dinner.
Hi Pam. A few people have said that. I always use white long grain rice and never have a problem if I do not pre cook it. I wonder if just the type of rice? Enjoy your dinner tonight! Think I need to make some for dinner soon too.
Yes I had the same problem my 1st time making these because I didn’t cook my rice first. I didn’t think it mattered but since then , 20 years ago , I always cook my rice first. I’m making about 50 golobki tomorrow. A xmas tradition. My family loves them ! My Busha and Mother would be proud of me.
Thanks ,
Rich Kowalski
IF any of you end up with uncooked rice –it is because you did not have enough liquid in your roaster.. and you have to make sure there is enough for the rice to absorb.. and cook longer on lower heat for all over cooking and flavour—
I use 1 C cooked minute rice. Never a problem.
I use cooked rice, (boil-in-the-bag). And I use salt Pork to flavor meat. Cut a few slices of salt pork into small pieces and saute in fry pan slowly to release all the flavor. Then mix into meat mixture. Add a tbls. Of tomato paste as well.
Hi Linda, That sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing your version! I love the idea of the salt pork for added flavor!
Recipe was perfect!
Used left over 3/4 lb beef so did one part rice to 2 parts beef and added onion.
Thank you!
Thanks Julie. I’m so glad you liked them. It’s nice to hear other people enjoying my grandmother’s recipes!
It was nice to find a simple recipe for my Polish guy.
His mom used to make them for the family.
It was my first time and you really made it easy 🙂
Just my view , first they are called golabi ( I don’t have Polish font , there is a diagonal line thru the L which makes a “w” sound , and the than a has hook on it sounds like ” go-won-ki”) . My mom has always used cooked rice and depends on your taste the ratio of rice to meat. The best way to cook it is at 325 for 4 hours that way flavours really blend and all you need is a fork. Also grandmother is babcia
Phonetically spelled: Gow wump ki. Hope this helps.
This dish, is a tradition of my families. My dad was very much polish, I have six brothers and sisters or we still carry the Polish name. My mother made this dish in her own certain way. That’s one recipe that I never got from her prior to her dying. I up it a little bit. I used ground beef, also with Johnsons hot sausage, sautéed garlic and onion. I use diced tomatoes with oregano and basil for the top. After cooking I pulled it out of the oven take the foil off sprinkle a little cheese on top, and put it back in for a few minutes. It was delicious thanks!
That sounds delicious Mark! Glad you found this recipe to get you started. This was the basic recipe that my grandmother would make often. She was always trying new ingredients depending what was in her pantry though. That’s the beauty about this recipe. You can add the seasoning and flavors that you love!
I have been making galumpkis for 30 plus years and always did cooked rice and I add cut up carrots n potatoes ,,,,soooooo good,,liz
I have many Catholic Polish friends,of which I am neither. Through the years, I have been privileged to try many of the foods their families have prepared.There is one dish that no seems to have a recipe for….Polish peas with little dumplings. It was not a soup( very little liquid ), may have had onion,did not seem to have meat. My friend’s mom would make if she knew I was coming over…Would love to get a recipe even if it is not exact. Could you help? Thank you! A.H.
I’m sorry Ann. I have never heard of that dish but I will ask some of my Polish friends and relatives and let you know if I find a recipe for you.
Great recipe. Cooked mine with precooked rice(partial). Used 2 cast iron skillets, covered. Sprinkled with hot Hungarian paprika.👍👍👍😜
I’ve been eating the forever! My Lithuanian grandmother always made them the way my polish grandfather liked them. My Irish mother continued the tradition. I made them today for family Easter. Stumbled across your recipe after I got home, and it’s pretty much identical to what I do. I’ve always used cooked rice, and equal quantities rice and ground beef. I’ve always felt they were lacking something, but couldn’t put my finger on it. This year I found a penzeys spice blend called Krakow Nights. Perfect addition and yummy, as always!
Your recipe is similar to my grandmothers. She would partially cook the rice in tomato juice instead of water. She also added some fried salt pork to the mixture. I’m not a fan of cabbage rolls with hard lumps of meat so I make sure there is enough rice to soften the meat. On top off the rolls a mixture of crushed tomatoes and tomato juice to keep them moist.
Thanks for sharing Donna. I love the tip about partially cooking the rice in tomato juice. I bet that gives it some great added flavor.
Dumb question maybe – do you cook the meat first? Or mix it raw and let if cook after stuffing the cabbage?
Hi Tammy, Not a dumb question at all! You fill the cabbage leaves with the raw meat. It gets cooked in the oven when you bake it.
Made this tonight. I used long grain white rice. Followed the recipe to the T. The rice turned out undercooked. Very disappointed
Turned out great for me. Sounds like YOU (and the others complaining) may be the problem. Don’t try to come on here and shame her.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I am very close to 100% Polish, and you were very rude!
I’ve been making cabbage rolls for awhile, I’ve noticed that if your burger is too lean the rice doesn’t cook all the way. The leanest I use is 80-20. I’ve been using uncooked 5 minute rice just to ensure that uncooked rice isn’t an issue and they turn out great.
That’s a great tip Meg…Thanks so much for your input.
I love this recipe and so do my children.
The only thing I do differently is use couscous and I add lea and perrins.
This is a great dish.
I love the idea of using couscous. Thanks for the tip. We’ll have to give that a try some time!
Love that you call it Golumpki. I see it spelled differently in stores. Maybe Golumpki is how we heard it. That is what my family called it too. The recipe seems the same as my grandmas recipe except I remember her using cooked rice.Thank you for sharing your recipes!💗
My mom made meatballs and rolled them in cabbage. Used a large stew pan to allow movement. For each large can of tomato juice she added 1/2 can of water. I found a faster way of enjoying this recipe is to slice the cabbage heads into desired thickness or peel the cabbage leaves off if i have more time. I put the cabbage in first to get it going while i make the meatballs. This also keeps the meatballs from scorching on the bottom. I also use minute rice in mine, garlic salt, pepper, egg. I usually use 3 large cans of tomato juice plus a half can of water from each of those cans, ground beef bc the leaner meats get too hard. Layer the meatballs over the cabbage, cover and allow to cook. Occasionally use a spatula to move the bottom layer of cabbage to make sure it is not sticking to the pan.