Stuffed Cabbage with Cranberry Sauce

2

CampRecipes Classic Archive

This recipe is part of the CampRecipes Classic Recipe Archive. It was originally submitted to the CampRecipes community and is preserved as historical outdoor cooking content. Some formatting, ingredient wording, or cooking guidance may reflect the original submission.

Because these are preserved vintage recipes, they have not been reviewed for modern allergen labeling, nutrition accuracy, food-safety guidance, or current outdoor-cooking best practices. Please review the ingredients carefully, use safe food handling, and adapt the recipe as needed for your equipment, location, dietary needs, and current fire restrictions.

Original Date: 2001-03-11
Serves: 7-8
Prep Time: 60m+
Difficulty: average
Backpacking: No

Ingredients

  • Filling:
  • 2 pounds ground beef
  • 1/2 cup uncooked rice
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 medium onion, grated
  • 4 tablespoons ketchup
  • Variation: on camping trips I sometimes use dried chili mix 1/3 package "Old El Paso" too for an added zest.
  • 1 large head of cabbage
  • Sauce:
  • 1 16-ounce can jellied cranberry sauce.
  • 1 35 ounce can tomato sauce or puree.
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 apple
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar or to taste.
  • 1/2 cup of raisins or currants (optional)

Instructions

Mix the cranberry sauce, tomato sauce,/puree 1 cup water, lemon, and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil; Peel, core, and dice the apple and add. Simmer for another 5 minutes.

Sauce Tip: 1

Another American way to make this dish is to make a sauce of 3/4 cup ketchup , 1 1/2 to 2

cups tomato juice, 3/4 cup brown sugar, the juice of 1 large lemon, and sour salt to taste.

Sauce Tip: 2

There are many ways to make a sauce, BUT… If you sauce is not pleasing to taste don't use it over the rolls. The sauce is the simplest to re-make or fix compared to all the other prep.

Core the cabbage and place in a large pot with water to cover. Bring to a boil and then

simmer, covered, about 10 minutes or until wilted. Cover with cold water and drain.

Variation:

You can place the cored cabbage in the freezer for several days. Defrost 24 hours before making the cabbage. It will wilt from the freezing and thawing out. Boiling leafs still is best way.

Cabbage Tip: 1

I use the outer leafs and chopped up core to line bottom of pot or dutch oven to prevent bottom first row of Cabbage rolls from possibly burning.

Cabbage Tip: 2

2 large heads of cabbage is sometimes better for a more unicorn size of roll. ( Outer leaves to thin and tuff, inner are too small to roll.

In a large bowl mix the meat, rice, salt and freshly ground pepper to taste, egg, onion, 1/2 cup water, and ketchup, blending with your fingers until well mixed.

Trim the ribs off the cabbage, remove the outside leaves, and line a large flameproof casserole with them. Pull off the inside leaves and place them one by one on a board, outside down. Fill with a heaping tablespoon or two of the filling, depending on the size of the leaf. Fold up like an envelope, top first, then bottom and then the 2 sides, some use toothpicks. Place seam side down in the lined casserole. Repeat with the rest of the cabbage and the filling.

Pour the sauce over the stuffed cabbage and simmer, covered, for 2 hours. Then place the stuffed cabbage in a preheated 300-degree oven and bake, uncovered, for one half hour more. Or Simmer for 3 hours total.

Yield: at least 15 stuffed cabbages or 6 to 8 servings.

Looking for newer outdoor cooking ideas?

Browse the current CampRecipes collection for modern camping recipes, backpacking meals, Dutch oven recipes, foil packet meals, and campfire cooking ideas.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Close
CampRecipes © Copyright 2026. All rights reserved.