00743 11 40 C 11 55. 007431 69 40 69 C 47. This post may contain affiliate links, which means I make a small commission if you buy an holupchi in my links, at no charge to you. These lazy cabbage rolls are based on Ukrainian sour cabbage rolls with rice, sauerkraut and bacon, but without the extra work to roll them!
I grew up eating Ukrainian food at all the major holidays. Grandma cooked the Ukrainian dishes we knew and loved. They are NOT fresh cooked cabbage leaves filled with rice and beef in a tomato based sauce. At least that’s how my Grandma makes them. And, as it turns out, my mother-in-law too. Making cabbage rolls – as with making all the Ukrainian food I mentioned – takes a lot of work and a lot of time.
So, somewhere along the way, someone came up with a shortcut and found a way to incorporate all the components of cabbage rolls without all the extra labor. I bring you Lazy Cabbage Rolls. I do actually know how to make real cabbage rolls, and my mother-in-law often helps me make them when she’s here for a holiday. Then I cook up some bacon, onions and garlic and throw in a jar of sauerkraut. In goes the rice, and voila.
I like to think of it as Ukrainian fried rice. I especially like to make it for holidays. After all, that’s when I would be most likely to have the real deal cabbage rolls for so many years. You can bet they’ll be on my dinner table for Easter just a few short days away! You can also use turkey bacon instead of regular bacon to decrease fat content slightly, which is how my Grandma made her cabbage rolls for years. However, when it comes time to cook the onions, you may have to add a little oil to the pan.