Kohlrouladen are a staple of German home cooking and Bavarian restaurants: tender cabbage leaves wrapped around seasoned ground meat, browned and braised slowly until everything melts together.
German cabbage rolls differ from their Eastern European cousins in the details — caraway in both the cooking water and the filling, a soaked bread roll instead of rice for a lighter texture, and a pan sauce built from the browned drippings and cabbage cooking water.
They take a little time, but most of it is the oven’s problem, not yours. Serve them the German way: with boiled potatoes or spätzle, and the sauce over everything.
Kohlrouladen Recipe
What you need
Ingredients
- 1 white cabbage (about 2½ pounds)
- 2 tablespoons caraway seeds
- 1 stale bread roll (about 1.4 oz)
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- 1 pound mixed ground meat (beef and pork)
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon ground caraway
- 8 tablespoons neutral oil
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- Salt and pepper
- Kitchen twine
Cook along
Instructions
- Remove the cabbage’s outer leaves and cut out the core in a wedge. Simmer the whole cabbage with the caraway seeds in plenty of salted water, covered, for about 20 minutes.
- Lift the cabbage out and cool 10 minutes. Strain and reserve the cooking water.
- Soak the bread roll in water, then squeeze it out well.
- Knead the ground meat with the bread, onion, egg and ground caraway; season with salt and pepper.
- Carefully separate 12 large leaves, pat dry, and shave down the thick center ribs. Overlap two leaves per roll.
- Divide the filling into 6 portions, place one on the lower third of each leaf pair, fold up from the bottom, fold in the sides, and roll. Tie with kitchen twine.
- Brown the rolls in hot oil, 4 to 5 minutes per side, then transfer to a roasting pan.
- Deglaze the frying pan with some of the reserved cabbage water and the tomato paste, simmer 2 minutes, and pour over the rolls.
- Braise at 350°F for about 2 hours, until completely tender.
- Strain the braising liquid into a saucepan, whisk the cornstarch with a little cold water, and stir it in over heat until the sauce thickens. Serve over the rolls.
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