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Home » Instant Pot

Instant Pot Cabbage Rolls

Published: Mar 4, 2021 · Modified: Jan 7, 2024 by Kristina Tipps · This post may contain affiliate links for which I earn a small commission.

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Instant Pot Cabbage Rolls are stuffed with a ground lamb or beef and rice mixture, then pressure cooked in a flavorful garlic, mint and tomato sauce.

Instant Pot stuffed cabbage rolls on a white place
Table Of Contents
  • Ingredients
  • How To Make Instant Pot Cabbage Rolls
  • Recipe FAQs
  • Recipe
  • RELATED RECIPES
  • Recipe Reviews

This Instant Pot Cabbage Rolls recipe is a pressure cooked version of a traditional family recipe. It's inspired by a Middle Eastern slow-simmered stove top stuffed cabbage that my family has made for generations. We love it so much I have even turned it into a slow cooker unstuffed cabbage roll casserole!

The sauce is flavored with crushed garlic, dried mint, tomato sauce, and a sweet pomegranate molasses. The stuffing comes out tender and juicy, with an abundance of flavor.

Instant Pot cabbage rolls are a favorite for holidays, especially Easter and Christmas. They are also a quick and easy dinner for large families or dinner parties, made in 1 POT! It's one of our favorite traditional family dinners, along with stuffed peppers and stuffed grape leaves.

This recipe uses a whole head of cabbage, so it makes a generous amount of cabbage rolls. You'll love how easy and flavorful it is without spending hours simmering it on the stove.

Ingredients

Instant Pot cabbage rolls use minimal ingredients but are big on taste.

instant pot cabbage rolls ingredients on a cutting board

You need:

  • a head of cabbage (plus 1 onion to reduce the gastric effect)
  • ground lamb or beef
  • white rice
  • allspice
  • tomato sauce
  • pomegranate molasses (homemade or store bought)
  • dried mint
  • garlic cloves

Pomegranate molasses gives the sauce a subtly sweet taste. If it isn't readily available near you it's easily found online. You can make this without it and probably not notice too much of a difference. But once you make it with the pomegranate molasses, you'll never make it without it again!

My favorite stuffing for cabbage rolls is made with an all lamb, white rice, and allspice mix. You can use beef in place of the lamb and brown rice in place of the white rice if you'd like.

💡 For a keto-friendly version, use cauliflower rice.

How To Make Instant Pot Cabbage Rolls

This recipe works with a 6, 8 or 10 quart pressure cooker. Always make sure not to fill the pot over the fill line, no matter what size pressure cooker you're using.

STEP 1: Parboiling The Cabbage

The first step is to parboil the cabbage. Set the Instant Pot to saute for 20 minutes. Add 10 cups of water and 1 halved onion. Cut out the thick center of the cabbage and add to the water. When the water gets hot, set the timer for 20 minutes. Turn the cabbage over halfway through so all sides are parboiled evenly.

💡 Tip: Cover the pot to heat the water quicker.

head of cabbage with center cut out
cabbage parboiling with an onion

STEP 2: Rolling The Cabbage

Remove the cabbage once it's parboiled and discard the water/onion. While it cools make the stuffing and sauce. Combine all stuffing ingredients in 1 bowl and all sauce ingredients in another.

parboiled cabbage with center veins of leaves cut out

Peel the leaves off the cabbage. Cut away the thick portion of the vein. Slice large leaves in half.

cabbage rolled stuffed with lamb and rice

Fill leaves with 2-4 tablespoons of lamb stuffing, depending on how large the leaves are. Roll the leaves tightly like a cigar.

partially rolled stuffed cabbage

STEP 3: Wrapping Cabbage Rolls

There is no need to tuck in the corners of the cabbage as you roll. Just wrap it tightly and leave 1 inch empty on each side of the stuffing.

💡Tip: Layer ripped leaves on top each other and use them together. Ripped leaves are inevitable, but they don't need to go to waste!

stuffed cabbage rolled like a cigar

STEP 4: Pressure Cooking The Cabbage Rolls

Add 1 cup of water to the pot. Place the stuffed and wrapped cabbage rolls in the pot, packing them in tightly. Stack them in the same direction to create as many layers as needed.

💡 Tip: Layer the cabbage with the larger rolls on the bottom and the smaller rolls on top.

uncooked cabbage rolls in the instant pot

Pour the sauce over the cabbage rolls. Add a little more water if needed, to mostly over the cabbage. Seal the lid and set to pressure cook on high for 10 minutes.

cabbage rolls covered with sauce in the instant pot

Let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes, then quickly release remaining pressure. Remove the lid and let the cabbage sit in the sauce for 5 minutes before serving.

cooked Instant Pot cabbage rolls

Remove the cabbage rolls with rubber-tipped tongs and serve with additional sauce poured over top.

Enjoy!

instant pot stuffed cabbage

Recipe FAQs

Are Cabbage Rolls Healthy?

Yes! Cabbage rolls of packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. One cabbage roll is only 82 calories and contains 8 grams of carbohydrates and 4 grams of fat.

Are Cabbage Rolls Gluten Free?

This recipe for stuffed cabbage rolls is gluten-free, just make sure to check the rice and allspice. Both are usually gluten-free but sometimes flour is added to spices to preserve it.

Are Cabbage Rolls Keto?

As written, this recipe is not keto-friendly. It can easily be made keto by replacing the white rice with cauliflower rice.

What Side Dishes Are Good With Cabbage Rolls?

Cabbage rolls are a hearty meal all on their own, but can be served with a salad or large helping of steamed vegetables.

Can I Freeze Cabbage Rolls?

Yes! Stuffed cabbage rolls are freezer-friendly for 6 months. Place the rolls in a plastic freezer bag or freezer-safe container, separate from the sauce. The sauce can be frozen in a separate container. Defrost overnight in the fridge and reheat in the microwave.

If you enjoyed this recipe, make sure to give it a star rating and let me know what you thought in the comments! And follow me on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for more delicious recipes!

Recipe

instant pot stuffed cabbage rolls picture

Instant Pot Cabbage Rolls

Kristina Tipps
Instant Pot Cabbage Rolls are stuffed with a ground lamb or beef and rice mixture, then pressure cooked in a flavorful garlic, mint and tomato sauce.
4.96 from 88 votes
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Prep Time 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes minutes
Total Time 40 minutes minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American, Middle Eastern
Servings 20 cabbage rolls
Calories 82 kcal

Equipment

  • pressure cooker

Ingredients

  • 1 large cabbage
  • 1 onion, halved
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Stuffing

  • 1 lb ground lamb or beef
  • ¾ cup uncooked white rice
  • 3 teaspoon allspice
  • ⅓ cup water

Sauce

  • 1 cup water
  • 1 large can tomato sauce (26 oz)
  • 2 tablespoon pomegranate molasses *see notes
  • 4 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2 tablespoon dried mint
  • 1 ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper

Instructions
 

  • Set the Instant Pot to saute on high. Add 10 cups of water and 1 halved onion. Cut out the thick center of the cabbage and add to the water. When the water gets hot, set the timer for 20 minutes. Turn the cabbage over halfway through so all sides are parboiled evenly. Remove the cabbage and discard the water/onion.
  • While the cabbage cools, combine all stuffing ingredients and mix well.
  • Peel off the leaves of the cabbage. Cut away the thick portion of the vein. Slice larger leaves in half. Fill with 2-4 tablespoons of meat stuffing, depending on how large the leaves are. Roll the leaves tightly like a cigar.
  • Add 1 cup of water to the Instant Pot. Place the stuffed cabbage rolls in the pot with the larger rolls at the bottom and smaller ones on top, packing them in tightly. Stack in the same direction to create as many layers as needed.
  • Combine all sauce ingredients and pour over the cabbage rolls. Add a little more water if needed to mostly cover the cabbage. Seal the lid and set to pressure cook on high for 10 minutes.
  • Naturally release the pressure for 10 minutes, then quickly release the remaining pressure. Remove the lid and let the cabbage sit in the sauce for 5 minutes before serving. Remove cabbage rolls carefully with rubber-tipped tongs and serve with additional sauce.

Notes

Pomegranate molasses gives the sauce a subtly sweet taste. You can make it homemade or find it in the ethnic food section of grocery stores. If it isn't readily available near you, it can be found online.
Tip: Layer ripped leaves on top each other and use them together. Ripped leaves are inevitable, but they don't need to go to waste!
Adding an onion to the water to parboil the cabbage is said to limit the gastric effet that cabbage causes.
*nutritional information is for cabbage rolls made with lamb and will change with the use of beef

Nutrition

Serving: 1cabbage rollCalories: 82kcalCarbohydrates: 8gProtein: 4gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 14mgSodium: 266mgPotassium: 85mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 53IUVitamin C: 14mgCalcium: 25mgIron: 1mg
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Comments

    4.96 from 88 votes (82 ratings without comment)

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    Recipe Rating




  1. Elizabeth Lee says

    January 26, 2025 at 6:52 pm

    Thank you soo much for the instapot recipe!! This turned out super delicious!! We're Turkish so I made some tweaks according to our cultural tastes. I did not use an onion when I parboiled my cabbage. For my meat mixture, I added 1/4c canola oil to my meat and rice, 3TB Baharat (or you can use 7 Spice), s/p and lots of fresh parsley, chopped. For the sauce I used 1 can of tomato sauce, 8 cloves of chopped garlic, heaping TB dried mint, 1/4c lemon juice and a good pinch of sugar to balance it out. Stuffed my cabbage rolls. Added 1c water to instapot (per recipe). Added half of cabbage rolls, poured half the sauce on top. Added the other half, poured the remaining sauce on top. Did not use pomagranetes. This saved me half the time it usually takes me. Thanks!

    Reply
  2. Swathi says

    September 23, 2022 at 6:38 am

    5 stars
    Instant Pot cabbage rolls looks delicious perfect dinner idea. I am going to give it a try.

    Reply
  3. Giangi Townsend says

    September 21, 2022 at 10:21 am

    5 stars
    My grandmother and mother used to make those and never shared the recipe with me. Yours very absolutely delicious and brought back so many beautiful memories. So delicious and savory, I used lamb meat. Next beef.
    Thank you.

    Reply
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