Delicious and satisfying vegan stuffed cabbage rolls filled with amaranth, sweet potatoes, and lots of spices and seeds.
These vegan stuffed cabbage rolls are amazing! Food I grew up with, food I love, I could eat cabbage rolls any time of the year and with any kind of filling you can think of. I have already posted some cabbage roll recipes on Where Is My Spoon over the past couple of years, but by far, not as many recipes as I have cooked during this time.
And not only cabbage rolls, vine leaves can be stuffed just as you would stuff regular cabbage.
If you would like to see some of those recipes, here are some of my favorites: Sarmale, Syrian Stuffed Vine Leaves, or Vegan Stuffed Vine Leaves.
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How to make vegan cabbage rolls?
Prepare the sauerkraut for filling
The head of sauerkraut I had weighed about 1,5 kg/ 3.3 lbs. I got 40 cabbage rolls, but this is not an exact science. Some leaves break, and some are too small to be filled... but you will get between 35 and 45 rolls out of a cabbage of this size for sure.
I usually buy the sauerkraut in the Russian store, but you should be able to find it in any other Eastern European food store, and if you live in Germany, even in some of the larger supermarkets (like Kaufland, they have it most of the time).
- You will have to soak the sauerkraut in cold water for about an hour before using it, even longer if you still find it too salty. If not soaked, the dish will be too sour and too salty.
- After soaking the sauerkraut, drain well. Separate the leaves and rinse them well. Place them on a chopping board, one at a time, and remove the lower part of the leaf, where the stem is very thick.
- Cut the larger leaves into halves, in the middle where the thick stem is.
- Discard the thick stem, but only in the case of the larger leaves that you split in half. Leave the smaller leaves whole and cut the thick stem as well as possible so that the leaves will be easy to roll.
How to stuff the leaves?
Stuffing cabbage or vine rolls isn’t difficult, though it may seem so at first. With practice, you’ll get faster, and the process can even be relaxing. To stuff the rolls, place a small amount of filling in the middle-lower part of the leaf. The filling amount depends on the leaf's size. I’ve explained this process before, but I’ll include pictures again to make it easier.
- After placing the filling on the leaf, fold the lower part of the leaf over the filling.
- Fold both the left and the right sides of the leaf over the filling.
- Form the roll.
I stuffed these cabbage rolls with amaranth because I just happened to have an open bag of amaranth in the pantry. But you could replace amaranth with bulgur, couscous or millet. Just cook the different grains according to the packet's instructions, the needed cooking times differ from grain to grain.
How to reheat them?
Like with any kind of cabbage rolls, these vegan stuffed cabbage rolls with amaranth can be easily reheated and enjoyed for several days in a row. You could either heat them in the oven, adding a bit of hot water to the dish, or they can be transferred to a pot and reheated on the stove, adding a little water as well.
Or you can use the microwave.
What to serve with them?
Recipe
Vegan Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
Ingredients
- 3.3 lbs head of sauerkraut/fermented cabbage
- 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
- 2 onions
- 1 lb sweet potatoes
- 1 cup amaranth or bulgur, millet, couscous – See note
- 2 cups (scant) good-quality vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- chili flakes to taste
- ¼ cup sesame seeds
- ¼ cup sunflower seeds
- a small bunch of parsley
- salt and pepper
Instructions
Sauerkraut:
- Prepare sauerkraut: Remove the core of the sauerkraut head. Release the leaves and place them in a large bowl filled with cold water. Let soak for one hour.
Filling:
- In the meantime prepare the filling.
- Saute: Chop the onions finely. Heat the oil in a heavy bottom pan and cook the onions until translucent.
- Add sweet potatoes: In the meantime, peel and roughly grate the sweet potatoes. Add them to the onions and continue cooking for a further two minutes.
- Cook grains: Wash the amaranth in a very fine mesh sieve and add it to the pan. Add the vegetable broth, cover the pan and cook the amaranth according to the packet's instructions, in my case 20 minutes. Use as much broth as required by the amaranth's packet instructions, but keep in mind that the liquid should be absorbed entirely in the end. If that is not the case, drain the cooked amaranth very well.
- Add the turmeric, cumin, coriander, chili flakes to taste, sesame, and sunflower seeds. Adjust the taste with salt and pepper. Stir in the chopped parsley.
Cabbage rolls:
- Prepare cabbage leaves: Drain the cabbage/sauerkraut. Separate the leaves and rinse them well. Place them on a chopping board, one at a time, and remove the lower part of the leaf, where the stem is very thick. Next, cut the larger leaves into halves, in the middle where the thick stem is. Discard the thick stem but only in the case of the larger leaves that you split in half. Leave the smaller leaves whole and cut the thick stem as well as possible to make the leaves easy to roll.
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius/ 360 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Make rolls: Place one cabbage leaf on the working surface, place a little filling more or less in the middle of the leaf. Fold the lower part of the leaf over, then one side of the leaf over the filling, then the other side of the leaf. Roll the leaf to form the cabbage roll and tuck in the open end of the leaf. If some of the leaves are too small, you can build a cabbage roll from two leaves, nicely arranged on top of each other.
- Chop the middle of the cabbage (where the leaves are too small to use for rolls) and all leftover pieces of cabbage into fine strips. Place the chopped cabbage in an even layer on the bottom of a casserole dish large enough to hold all the rolls tightly but in a single layer.
- Assemble: Arrange the cabbage rolls in the dish in a tight, single layer. Pour hot water over the rolls, just as much as barely covering the rolls; they should not swim in the water.
- Bake for about 50 minutes or until the rolls are nicely colored, and the cabbage is cooked through.
Julka says
These look interesting. I have always used buckwheat + mushrooms and dill. But I might try the buckwheat filling with your sweet potato and flavouring suggestions.
I think whole head sauerkraut is a more southern European/Balkan thing. The vacuum-packed heads of cabbage I get in the UK are usually imported from Serbia or Macedonia.
Plus it's so much easier to make cabbage rolls from these as the cabbage is already softened.
Neal, Chicago says
Adina, when I saw you photo of your cabbage rolls I thought “that looks like the German cabbage rolls that I grew up eating, but when I looked at the vegan recipe I could immediately tell they aren’t for me. I searched your website for a meat version but didn’t find one.
Adina says
Hi Neal. You might be looking for these https://whereismyspoon.co/easy-stuffed-savoy-cabbage-with-minced-meat-german-recipe/; they are the cabbage rolls my German family makes all the time.
Minal says
How is your filling so red in color?
Adina says
Hi Minal. More orange than red, the sweet potatoes and turmeric.
Veronika says
I love to try traditional meat dishes that have been adapted for vegans. I've never seen cabbage rolls that have a brown top. Could you share how you did that? They look so much more appetizing than any cabbage roll I've ever had!
Adina says
Hi Veronika. Thank you for your comment. I didn't do anything special, they just come out that way, every time.
shapelessjourneys says
Made these with fresh cabbage that I cooked for a bit. Used rice instead of amaranth, added a bit of soy chunks and therefore doubled the spices. Loved the spices! I find cabbage rolls to usually taste quite bland but this is a good recipe! Thanks!
Adina says
I am happy you liked it, I make the rolls with fresh cabbage sometimes too, I cannot always find the sauerkraut.
Luisa Cole says
@Adina,
Luisa Cole says
Good day I was browsing through this lovely recepi and was wondering if one can buy plain cabbage was so glad to read one can. Thank you for the recepi. Am going to do this tonight.
Adina says
Hi Luisa. I hope you like it. 🙂
Susan says
Have not had these before am wishing to have a go at cooking Cab,roll look so nice thank you for your sharing your recipes have just found this page ????
Sven says
Hello Adina! The recipe looks very delicious. How many cabbage rolls do you get from this recipe?
Adina says
Hi Sven. Between 15 and 20, depending on how large the cabbage leaves are and how much filling you put into them. You don't have to be exact.
Sissi says
Very original cabbage rolls! My mum used to make cabbage rolls so often and in such big amounts, I had an overdose and it was like most boring food in the world, even when I moved out, but now I miss them a lot! I must start making my own!
(By the way, I buy sauerkraut in German organic shops and organic sauerkraut is sold even in DM's drug store's food section!).
Nammi says
Hello Adina, hope you had a lovely valentines. Love these cabbage rolls but its the first time I am seeing a vegetarian one, I always see the one with meat. Looks delicious
Rae says
I love stuffed cabbage rolls, such a comfort food. My it must be nice to have a whole fermented cabbage! I've never seen that here in the States, only fresh heads of cabbage. Then you have to simmer the cabbage in hot water until the leaves loosen (some recommend freezing and thawing it to achieve the same thing. That definitely makes it a bit more work, but still a rewarding meal. Do you have a different technique for using a fresh head of cabbage?
Adina says
Hi Rae. You can definitely use fresh cabbage for this recipe. I core the head of cabbage and boil it in water with some vinegar loosening the leaves one by one as they soften. It does take longer than just using fermented cabbage, which is so nice and soft, but it works and it is delicious. I have never tried freezing the cabbage, sounds interesting and there is less work involved. sounds great! 🙂
Rae says
Thank you, Adina! I'll have to try that. It makes sense that the vinegar would have a softening effect on the cabbage as it would on bones for bone broth.
Melissa says
I made these ahead of time for Thanksgiving and I'm freezing them until then. I'm planning on just taking them out and just warming them but I'm wondering if they'll be too dry. Have you ever made a sauce or sage butter to go over these?
Adina says
Hi Melissa. I have never made sage butter to go over the rolls, but why not? Butter makes everything taste better! 🙂