Grandma's Vintage Cabbage Rolls Recipe: An Old-fashioned Recipe Rediscovered Beef Dinner Budget Recipes

My mom has been holding out on me. On a recent visit to my parents' house, we looked through yet another box of recipes from Grandma. Some were repeats I already had, but some were ones that we thought had been lost. Fortunately, now they're found!

This vintage cabbage rolls recipe is old-fashioned, simple cooking at its best. Tender cabbage leaves are filled with seasoned beef and rice, then baked in a tomato sauce. Here is what you'll need to create this old-fashioned cabbage roll recipe at home: rice, ground beef, salt, black pepper, chili powder, a head of cabbage, onion, a can of V8 juice, brown sugar and vinegar. Basic budget-friendly ingredients.

Serve these tender, juicy cabbage rolls for dinner with your favorite side dishes. My grandma loved to serve broccoli with cheese, cauliflower with cheese, green peas, green beans and other simple vegetables. 

Note: 30Seconds is a participant in the Amazon affiliate advertising program and this post contains affiliate links, which means we may earn a commission or fees if you make a purchase via those links.

Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour and 5 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour and 25 minutes
Servings: 2 

Ingredients

Cabbage Rolls

• 1/2 cup cooked rice
• 1 cup ground beef
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 small head of green cabbage
• 1 tablespoon chopped onion

Tomato Sauce

• 1 can V8 juice
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Helpful Products

• Salt and Pepper
• Mixing Bowl
• Baking Dish
• Soup Pot
• Mixing Spoon
• Measuring Spoons
• Measuring Cups
• Aluminum Foil 

Recipe Notes

• This recipe can easily be doubled.

• If you can't find V8 juice, use tomato sauce and a little water.

• My grandma always cooked white rice, but you could use brown rice.

• You could substitute ground turkey for the ground beef.

Here's how to make it:

1. Combine the ground beef, rice, onion, salt, pepper and chili powder in a mixing bowl.
2. Cook the cabbage in boiling, salted water for 5 minutes or until the leaves are pliable. Remove the leaves. 
3. Wrap a cabbage leaf around 1 rounded tablespoon of beef mixture. 
4. Put the stuffed cabbage leaves into a buttered baking dish. 
5. Stir together the V8 juice, brown sugar, vinegar and salt. Pour over the cabbage leaves to cover. 
6. Cover the baking dish and bake in a preheated 350-degree F oven for 1 hour. 

Recipe cooking times and servings are approximate. To ensure image quality, we may occasionally use stock photography. Need to convert cooking and baking measurements? Here are some kitchen conversion charts. Here's how to submit your recipes to 30Seconds.

Take 30 seconds and join the 30Seconds community, and follow us on Facebook to get recipes in your newsfeed daily.