Grand-mom's Galumpkis

Kim
The Cook
12 Servings
23 Ingredients
30 Comments

This traditional recipe for cabbage rolls was passed down to Kim by her Grand-mom. Bursting with a hearty mixture of beef, pork, and rice combined with sautéed garlic and onion in a rich tomato sauce, these galumpkis are a comforting meal worth sitting down to.

12 Servings
23 Ingredients
30 Comments

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons Olive Oil #1
  • 2 teaspoons mince Garlic #1
  • 28 ounces Crushed Tomatoes, Canned
  • 8 ounces Tomato Sauce
  • 14 ½ ounces Diced Tomatoes, Canned
  • ⅛ teaspoons Red Pepper Flakes
  • 2 tablespoons White Wine Vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon Sugar
  • ¼ teaspoons Salt #1
  • ¼ teaspoons Black Pepper #1
  • 2 tablespoons Olive oil #2
  • 1 cup dice Onion, Yellow
  • 2 teaspoons mince Garlic, minced #2
  • 2 tablespoons Tomato Paste
  • 2 tablespoons Red Wine
  • 2 tablespoons chop Parsley, Fresh
  • 1 pound Ground Beef
  • 1 pound Ground Pork
  • 1 ½ cups cook White Rice, Long-Grain
  • ¼ teaspoons Salt #2
  • ¼ teaspoons Black Pepper #2
  • 2 whole Cabbage
  • 2 tablespoons Olive oil #3

Containers

  • 3 8x8 Baking Pans

Supplies

  • Labels
  • Foils

Cooking Instructions

Freeze For Later Cooking Day Directions

Stovetop

These directions help you cook or prepare this meal PRIOR to being frozen for serving later (see Serving Day Directions when you are ready to prepare it to eat).

Why would I want to freeze this?

  1. Heat olive oil #1 in large sauce pan over medium high heat. Add garlic #1 and sauté for 1 minute.
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Make From Frozen Serving Day Directions

Bake

These directions help you cook or reheat this meal AFTER it's been frozen for when you are ready to eat it.

  1. Thaw: In fridge
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Make It Now Cooking Directions

Stove Cook

These directions are for cooking this recipe to serve immediately and NOT to freeze for later.

  1. Heat olive oil #1 in large sauce pan over medium high heat. Add garlic #1 and sauté for 1 minute.
  2. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes.
  3. Stir in red pepper, white wine vinegar, and sugar. Simmer a few minutes until slightly thickened.
  4. Season with salt #1 and pepper #1. Remove from heat and set aside.
  5. Heat olive oil #2 in medium skillet. Sauté onions and minced garlic until soft.
  6. Stir in tomato paste, red wine, parsley and 0.5 cups prepared sauce.
  7. Remove from heat.
  8. In a large bowl, combine meats (raw), onion and tomato mixture, and cooked rice. Season with salt #2 and pepper #2 and set aside.
  9. Boil a large pot of salted water over high heat.
  10. Remove cores and outer damaged leaves of cabbage. (Save outer leaves) Remove remaining leaves carefully.
  11. Blanch leaves for 5 minutes.
  12. Drain leaves and run under cold water.
  13. Prepare baking pan by lining with reserved outer leaves.
  14. Lay out blanched leaves and place about 0.5 cup filling in each, rolling up burrito style.
  15. Place seam side down in baking pan.
  16. Pour remaining sauce over rolls and fold in the cabbage leaf "blanket".
  17. Drizzle with olive oil #3.
  18. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until meat is cooked through (may need to check internal temperature with meat thermometer).

Nutrition Facts

Servings Per Recipe
12 Servings
Serving Size
1 cabbage roll
Amount Per Serving
Calories
359
Total Fat
20g
Saturated Fat
6g
Trans Fat
0g
Cholesterol
52mg
Sodium
445mg
Total Carbohydrates
29g
Fiber
6g
Sugar
6g
Protein
19g
WW Freestyle
9

30 Comments

Join the discussion
  1. Yum yum yum! One of my favorite childhood dishes (my Lithuanian mom made them). I had found a recipe and had my husband (the cook in our family) make it with some cabbage that we had from our local CSA. Nice to have a freezer friendly recipe!

  2. I truly loved the BLUE dress!!! I think I want one for myself. You looked awesome in it. Great for business, day wear or a sexy date with the hubs. You looked good and put together in everything though….I will follow your lead on my next conference. Cabbage rolls look yummy too…

  3. We just love Cabbage Rolls and your Grand-mom’s Galumpkis look amazing and can’t wait to try the recipe, yummy! Hope you are having a great week end and thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
    Happy St. Patrick’s Day and Come Back Soon!
    Miz Helen

    1. I am sure that ground chicken or turkey would work just fine. You might want to balance it with a few more spices if you like bold flavor.

  4. Does anyone know why the cabbage would be hard and leathery? My grandmother used to make these, and the cabbage was soft, sweet and delicious.
    I made two pans – we ate one last night and the other is for a family thing. My problem is that the cabbage (which I blanched) is hard and almost leathery. I would bake it some more, but the meat is done – and I am afraid overcooking is the problem in the first place. Or could it be undercooked? I cooked 2 pans of it in a 350 oven for about an hour. Any advice? I have to take it over tonight and don’t want to be embarrassed. Might it help to bake it again? How about a slow cooker? Thanks!
    Mary

    1. I made these as well for my grandmother and they came out delicious but the Cabbage was tougher and she said use the soft cabbage next time. Didn’t know there were different types of cabbage

    2. Yes! I had the same problem. Drop heat to 325 and cook for about 2 1/2 hours. Even for the last hour, drop temp to 300, if you’d like. Guaranteed softness!??

    3. When I make polish cabbage rolls, I core the cabbage but leave intact. I use a regular green cabbage. Nothing fancy I put it in a big pot of water, bring to a boil. As the outer leaves start separating off naturally I use tongs to take leaves and put facedown in a bowl. The bowl has a paper towel in it to drain. I pare the rib off back of leaf and save to put in pan when cooking rolls I put some sauce on bottom then some leftover cooked cabbage leaves then layer cabbage rolls in. Put some more leftover cabbage leaves on top so they don’t burn. I put aluminum foil tightly on top of all of it and go for an hour. The cabbage rolls will be tender.

      1. That all sounds perfect Linda, but please everyone using aluminum foil for any cooking or covers for dishes need to realize that it is being absorbed into the food and you are sadly filling your body with a very toxic metal when you eat your meal. you can easily solve this problem by cooking in Pyrex dishes and use parchment paper on top and then cover that paper with aluminum foil to maintain the seal during the cooking process. This keeps the aluminum out of your food. think about how often we wrap aluminum around potatoes or corn on the grill. So so bad for us. I just make Italian Galumskis with spicy Italian hot Italian sausage, peppers, onions, herbs, parsley, garlic, red peppers, jalapeno pepper and Quinoa. The sausage was precooked and amazing. Sweet, sour and hot brings it together. I cooked the cabbage cored in boiling water until the leaves came off. Good luck and sterr clear of aluminum. I plan to make Mexican Galumskis next. Love all this cabbage dishes,

  5. I love cooking family recipes. Even though my parents and grandparents have been gone many years, I feel like they are in the kitchen with me. Thanks for reminding me.

  6. @Mary, it could be old cabbage, or it just needed boiled longer. Sometimes if ours is not “limp” enough, we stick it in the microwave for a few seconds (the leaves, I mean)Recipe looks so good and I prefer my cabbage rolls this way, but due to limitations we have switched out to “lazy man’s cabbage rolls” whereby we chop our cabbage, soften it in the microwave, then layer it in a casserole with our meat and rice mixture, top with sauce and bake. Taste is the same, not as eye-appealing!

  7. My family recipe cooks the rolls in a soup. Place your rolls in a pot, add one can of tomato soup and fill up the pot with water. Bring to a boil and turn down to simmer until done. We would serve it with rye bread. A very frugal dish because my great grandparents did not have a lot of money.

  8. Our 90 year old grandma makes them also. Her recipe is a little different but a few years ago she stopped blanching the cabbage. Instead she rinses it off and throws it in the freezer when she first buys it. Says to take it out the night before or the morning of wanting to make the galumpki and just let it thaw. It works like the first freeze in the fall….causes all the green leaves outside to become soft and wimpy. (I think the freeze breaks down the cellulose?) Anyhow, the cabbage leaves are soft and pliable for wrapping with out burning the heck out of your finger tips!! That’s a good plan, Grandma! Works like a charm. Then you just keep doing everything else just the same as you like to do.

  9. Our family makes basically the same recipe but we always use sauerkraut to line the pan. I was told that it kept them from scorching in the pan. Whatever the reason it gives it a unique flavor. We also like to eat buttered saltine crackers with it. Sounds funny but something about it just goes great together. We also never cook the rice. Just put uncooked minute rice in the meat mixture. Funny how popular this meal is. We have always called it “pigs in the blanket” I’m guessing that was a weak translation from my great uncle who was from Poland. Anyone make “snake bread”? I remember that was another of his favorites.

  10. My Polish grands made this, and I love it. My mom, about 50 years ago, said that my grand-uncle had a recipe using beef, pork, and lamb. Now lost forever, I fear. Anyone got one like that?

    1. My Mom, also about 50 years ago, said that “Uncle Leon” had a similar recipe. I will check with my sister, see if she has it. If not, I suspect that dividing the meat into 3 parts, for the same total, would be fairly close.

    2. I believe that its equal parts of each meat. My mother has passed and she made them. I remember asking that question. Now I make them. They taste delicious..

  11. My mom was Lithuanian….she used to make this couple times a month. I LOVED it……had not had one since she passed away 20 years ago. I might try and make it….but I have a high bar to hurdle. wish i’d got the recipe from her.