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Basmati Rice-stuffed Cabbage

A casserole of cabbage leaves stuffed with basmati rice, sautéed vegetables, sauerkraut, and tomato sauce.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Basmati Rice-stuffed Cabbage

Oven375°F
Time45 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the rice filling

  1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat.

  2. Add onion, celery, and bell pepper; season with salt. Cover and cook 5 minutes.

  3. Stir in mushrooms and garlic. Cover and cook 5 minutes.

  4. Stir in broth and rice; season with freshly ground pepper.

  5. Increase heat and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and cook 15 minutes.

  6. Remove from heat and fluff rice with a fork. Stir in parsley; set aside.

Prepare the cabbage leaves

  1. Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a large pot. Place cabbage in water, cored side down. Cover and cook 5 minutes.

  2. Remove cabbage from pot. Peel off the first 4 leaves using a fork if necessary.

  3. Return cabbage to pot, cover and cook 5 minutes; peel off 4 more leaves. You will need 8 leaves.

  4. Cover leaves with plastic wrap. Reserve remaining cabbage for soup.

  5. When leaves are cool enough to handle, carve off as much of the tough ridge as possible from the center of the leaves, cutting flush with the leaf.

Assemble and bake

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F.

  2. Drain sauerkraut in a colander. Rinse briefly then squeeze out most of the liquid.

  3. Place sauerkraut in an even layer in a medium-to-large shallow casserole (13 x 9-inch). Top with 2 cups tomato sauce.

  4. Place about 3/4 cup of rice in the center of each leaf. Fold up the sides and place the stuffed leaves, seam side down, in the casserole.

  5. Spoon the remaining 1 1/2 cups of tomato sauce over the cabbage.

  6. Cover with foil and bake until bubbly and heated through, about 45 minutes. Check after 30 minutes; if it seems too liquidy, remove the foil during the last 10 to 15 minutes of baking.

  7. Serve hot.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

470Calories
11 gProtein
15 gFat
76 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 12 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Green Cabbage1 cup shredded (89g)22
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Mushrooms1/2 cup sliced (35g)15
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Waternot in our table0
Sauerkrautnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,665 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  3. Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  4. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Celery + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,668 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Basmati rice
Absorbs the broth and cooks into a fluffy, separate-grained filling that holds the leaves together.
Cabbage
Its leaves are pliable when blanched, forming the edible wrapper around the filling.
Sauerkraut
Adds tangy acidity and moisture to the base layer, balancing the sweetness of the tomato sauce.
Tomato sauce
Provides moisture and sweet-acidic flavor that cooks down around the stuffed leaves.
Mushrooms
Add savory depth and moisture to the rice filling as they cook down.
Onion
Softens and sweetens as it cooks, building the flavor base of the filling.

The step that matters

Blanching the cabbage in batches. Cabbage leaves become pliable only after heat softens their cell walls. Removing leaves too early tears them, while cooking too long makes them limp and fragile to fill.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, onion, celery, pepper, mushroom, garlic, basmati rice):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Cuminfits better
  3. Parsleyfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, onion, celery, pepper, mushroom, garlic, basmati rice. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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