Instant Pot stuffed cabbage!

I keep promising Chuck’s Mom I’ll post this recipe and other things keep getting in the way, so today, I’ll make it happen!

I was first introduced to stuffed cabbage by my step-sister-in-law, who is of Polish descent. Her dish was simple, delicious, and filling, and I decided it was definitely one I wanted to add to my repertoire.

My version of stuffed cabbage is a little bit different, based both on my research and upon necessity. My girlfriend has trigeminal neuralgia, a very painful condition where the nerves in the face are effected, and so chewing crunchy foods can be uncomfortable for her. The baked version of stuffed cabbage has a little crunch, so I started looking for different recipes, involving softer cabbage – and I found that the traditional Jewish version of the dish is slow cooked on the stove top … AHA! I can use the Instant Pot!

My version of stuffed cabbage is basically a modified meatloaf recipe rolled in cabbage leaves and stewed in a combination of crushed tomatoes and tomato soup. It may not be terribly traditional, but it’s what my family enjoys and it tastes fantastic.

Ingredients are pretty straightforward: hamburger, maybe ground turkey to stretch the beef, rice, seasonings, cabbage, tomato soup, and crushed tomatoes. That’s it.

So, let’s get down to the recipe!

For the stuffing: you can use uncooked rice, but I prefer to cook the rice first. Add one cup of rice and two cups of water to your instant pot (for richer, more savory rice, substitute chicken or beef broth for one of the two cups of water). Make sure the vent on your Instant pot is OPEN, and use the rice setting. This takes about 20 minutes, and makes a pretty decent pot of rice.

In the meantime, get 1 1/2 to 2 lbs of hamburger into a large mixing bowl. Add your seasonings. My measurements are not exact – I learned to cook from my mother, and the only time measuring spoons came out was when we were baking. I use about a tablespoon of Worchestershire Sauce, Lawry’s Season Salt to taste, and depending on how motivated I am, 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced (or garlic powder if I’m not motivated or in a rush), and a minced onion (or onion powder – USE LESS onion powder than garlic powder! It’s far more concentrated than the garlic powder is – I learned that the hard way). If you’re stretching your burger with ground turkey, add that in, as well. I’ve made this both with an egg and without (accidentally). The stuffing actually came out firmer in the Instant Pot without the egg. Also put in about 1/4 of your can of crushed tomatoes (or diced – I grabbed the wrong can when I was shopping, but crushed tomatoes work better). Wait to mix your stuffing – the hamburger is probably really cold, so once the rice is done, dump it right into the meat and then mix – this saves you hands from aching due to the icy cold meat! The key to a smooth consistency is hand mixing the meatloaf stuffing – there’s really no way around that. It just tastes better!

Set your meatloaf stuffing mixture aside, rinse out the Instant Pot, and put about 2 inches of water in the bottom (at least). Core one head of cabbage, pull off the dark, heavy outer leaves, and set the entire head in the water, core down. Keep the vent on the Instant Pot open, choose the vegetable steam setting. Your cabbage will be steamed in about 20 minutes. Once the cabbage is finished steaming, carefully remove the inner pot from the Instant Pot (don’t burn yourself!), drain the cabbage in the sink and run cold water over it to cool it – this is necessary because you’re now going to begin making your rolls.

Carefully separate individual leaves from the head of cabbage and set them aside. Try and keep them as intact as possible, but if they tear, it’s not the end of the world. You can use a knife to shave down the central vein in the leaves if you want, but the cabbage should be tender enough from steaming that this is made unnecessary. The goal of using the Instant Pot is less work, right? Steaming the head softens those veins up thoroughly.

Rolling the cabbage really isn’t all too difficult. Measure about 2 TBSP of stuffing, maybe a little more or a little less depending on the size of your cabbage leaf. Fold the sides up over the stuffing, then simply roll it up! Place each filled leaf in your Instant Pot around the edges, stacking them like bricks, the second row bridging over the rolls on the bottom, creating a “cabbage well.” I tried putting extra rolls in the center of the well – the Instant Pot magically pushed them up out of the well, so I decided to play along:

Chop up as much of what’s left of the head of cabbage as you want, and add it, the rest of your can of crushed tomatoes, and a can of tomato soup into the center well. Set the Instant Pot on the meat setting, close the vent, and hit start!

The resulting dish is delicious, tender, and very full of flavor. You can tune the seasonings to whatever your family’s tastes are – and you can use pretty much any meatloaf type recipe you like as the basis for the stuffing. This really is a simple dish – and one of the most delicious ones you can make on a chilly fall night! And, using the Instant Pot, it only takes about an hour and a half, most of which is waiting for the rice to cook and cabbage to steam, rather than an all day long stove-top affair!