Ground Turkey & Brown Rice Cabbage Rolls

These sweet and savory cabbage rolls took me back to dinner at my grandmother's house in all the best ways. Such a delicious and comforting meal. Most cabbage rolls are made with beef and/or pork and white rice, however this recipe offers a lower saturated fat and cholesterol, higher fiber version using lean ground turkey and brown rice while losing zero of the classic amazing flavor.

This dish takes a bit of prep time, but once the prep is completed, the cabbage rolls simmer in the Crockpot for 2hrs (or keep warm for hours) in the wonderfully tangy tomato sauce, for a ready to enjoy meal, when you are ready to serve. They are also great on the re-heat, so perfect for meal-prep.

There are a few steps to get everything ready to roll your cabbage rolls. The first 2 steps are to steam your cabbage and cook your rice, as those will take the longest.

1. Cook your Rice

Cook your chosen rice, I used 1 cup (dried) brown rice.

To get the most flavor, I highly recommend cooking the rice in chicken broth or stock vs water. You want to slighly undercook the rice, as it will cook further once rolled in the cabbage,

2. Steam Cabbage

For the cabbage, there are several methods out there, however, I did a basic steam, by filling a large pot, about 1/4 full of water, set to boil- add cabbage, and put the lid. Shut off the heat, and let the cabbage steam till the water becomes room temp. You can also do a quick para boil of the cabbage. Once the cabbage leaves are tender and pliable ( not falling apart), they are ready. Remove from water, and set aside to cool. NOTE: Larger heads of cabbage, with large leaves are much easier to work with!

Once cooled a bit, peel off the leaves and set aside. Save the cabbage core (smaller inner leaves), and cut them up and you can add them to the filling mixture in step 4.

3. Cook your Ground Turkey

Mince 2-3 cloves of garlic
Dice 1/2 cup onion

Heat a sauté pan on medium heat and add about a tablespoon of olive oil or your favorite cooking oil.

Add your garlic and onions and sauté till onions start to soften

Add 1/2-3/4 lbs. of ground turkey

Season to taste with garlic salt and pepper

Stir regularly. Once almost cooked through remove from pan and let cool.

4. Create your filling

Chop 2 tablespoons of fresh parsley (or you can used dried)

In a large bowl, combine the cooked rice and meat, add the 2 tablespoons of fresh parsley and mix. If you have cabbage cores left over, add them in as well. It adds a great texture to the filling.

5. Make your Sauce:

In a bowl, combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly.

1 8oz can of tomato sauce
1 can stewed tomatoes
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
Juice of 1/2 small lemon
1 teaspoon garlic salt or to taste
1 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

6. Fill and Roll the Cabbage Rolls:

Add a spoonful of 2 of the mixture to the center of a steamed cabbage leaf, and fold in both ends and do a "burrito" roll. The amount of filling used will really depend on the size of the leaves. If you have any extra filling, bake it in the oven for 20 minutes on 350, covered in foil- still great!