Want to enjoy a hearty and satisfying favorite with a little less guilt? If you love Easy Stuffed Cabbage, especially the traditional Middle Eastern take on “Malfoof” with meat and rice, you’re going to fall in love with this slightly healthier version: Quinoa Stuffed Cabbage Rolls.
A new take on a classic flavorful dish that combines zesty, aromatic, and savory flavors.
A Juicy Roll with a Flavorful Quinoa Mixture
Low Carb Quinoa Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
This great recipe is identical to Easy Stuffed Cabbage- Malfoof recipe with one difference- switching out rice for quinoa. That simple swap can make for a change-up in texture, flavor, and more importantly, health benefits.
Pretty much everything else from the stuffing to the sauce ingredients are the same! If you’d like to go even healthier or lighter, leave out the meat altogether for a vegan take on stuffed cabbage rolls.
Skip the Meat for Vegan Cabbage Rolls
Why Use Quinoa?
Quinoa has more nutrients than most grains of its caliber. It is commonly prepared and eaten like oatmeal or other cereal-type grains. It also very popularly prepared like rice and in place of rice as what is done in this Quinoa Stuffed Cabbage Rolls recipe.
Quinoa usually has a crunchy texture in its raw form similar to rice. It is gluten free which makes it a great alternative for people who have gluten sensitivity. For a soft texture, it’s usually boiled and is used in soups, salads, or stuffing and can be made into a porridge.
Benefits of Quinoa
Quinoa does have carbs, in fact 21% of its makeup is carbs. In comparison to other grains, it’s not a high percentage, but it’s also definitely not a low carb grain. But, its many other health benefits are important and outweigh most other grains that can be used in the stuffing of this dish, including white rice.
- It’s very high in fiber, it provides you with the recommended daily value you need.
- Full of amino acids which provide a great source of protein.
- Packed with iron, manganese, magnesium, and zinc.
Mouth-watering Quinoa-Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Extra Fresh Lemon Juice
Recipe Variations
This delicious recipe is not vegan nor vegetarian. However, you can choose to stick with the ingredients of this easy recipe but skip the meat part and add vegetable broth instead. This way you can get a delicious vegan version of old favorites.
You can also alter these stuffed cabbage rolls into becoming a kind of funny recipe. In which you can choose to stuff the rollable leaves with smoky mixture of quinoa, brown lentils (or green lentils), soy sauce, and onions. Then bake them with maple syrup, white vinegar, and tomato sauce or marinara sauce in a large baking dish.
Where you can end up with vegan\vegetarian cabbage rolls!
Frequently Asked Questions
You can place the remaining leaves at the base of the pressure cooker or the pot that you are using to cook the stuffed cabbage rolls. Or you can save the leftover cabbage in the fridge for the next time you plan to roll some cabbage up. They can stay for up to a week in the fridge.
Place the leftovers in a sealed container kept in the fridge for up to 5 days
You can either opt for green cabbage, nappa cabbage, red cabbage, or savvoy cabbage.
Cooking the stuffed rolls in a pressure cooker will not take plenty of time. But if you don’t have one you can arrange the leaves in a regular pot and cook it on the stovetop. Cook them on high heat until it boils, then lower heat down to medium. Keep them on medium heat until they are fully cooked. But keep I mind that the cooking time will change. It will take longer for the leaves to cook in a pot.
Top Tips
Cover cabbage rolls with something heavy when cooking on the stovetop. You can opt for a glass dish faced upside down on top of the pot to prevent the stuffed leaves from breaking off.
Place the cabbage head in a large pot of water. The water must be boiling hot for the cabbage to cook properly. You should flip the cabbage from time to time just to make sure it gets cooked on all sides.
Don’t put too much filling inside the cabbage or it might break off once it’s cooked.
You can stick in cocktail wooden sticks to check if the cabbage rolls have completely cooked. If you are cooking them in a regular pot.
What You’ll Need for Quinoa Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
- large head of cabbage
Stuffing:
- ground beef
- white quinoa
- onions; minced
- garlic; minced
- seven spices
- sumac
- oil
- salt to taste
- citric acid
- black pepper
Broth:
- oil (you can choose to use olive oil)
- warm water
- garlic; crushed
- bouillon cubes
- lemons; juiced
- black pepper
- seven spices
Equipment :
- Pressure Cooker (optional)
(scroll down for more details in the recipe card)
Preparing and Cooking Quinoa Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
- At the root of the cabbage cut deep with a knife around in square form. After cutting well, pull the root out with a fork.
- Place the whole head of a cabbage in boiling water for 20 minutes or so, until it becomes tender and the outer leaves start to slightly fall off.
- Don’t over boil since leaves will become too soft to roll. Drain cabbage and begin to separate leaf by leaf. With a knife cut horizontally the tip of each leaf that is hard to smooth out surface. In order for them to become rollable leaves.
- Mix the quinoa with the rest of the filling ingredients for a couple of minutes. You can add more salt to taste. I usually taste the mix (I don’t swallow it) then fix salt to your liking. You can also choose to add chili powder if you want a kick of heat. It is totally optional.
- Put about 2 tablespoons of the meat and quinoa mix in one whole cabbage leaf or half the leaf, fold in from the right then the left of leaf and begin to roll. Line up the rolled cabbage in a pressure cooker, a large ,or medium bowl.
- Mix all ingredients under “broth”, then pour over rolled cabbage in pressure cooker pot. Set pressure cooker to 18 minutes.
- Once done, you can taste it, adjust any flavors in the broth if needed. Note: Once the pressure is released, leave the stuffed cabbage in for about an hour or so, it really allow the flavors to soak in.
- Drain few inches of water out by placing a plate over the cabbage inside the pot. Enjoy with black pepper and a squeeze of lemon.
Other Great Healthy Recipes
- Grilled Lime and Cilantro Shrimp
- The Best Chicken Healing Soup
- Stacked Beef Shawarma Salad
- Honey Soy Glazed Salmon
- Roasted Eggplant Salad
- Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette Chef Salad
- Vegetarian Grape Leaves
- Low Carb Turmeric Cake- Sfoof
- Tuna Salad
- Cauliflower Tahini Bake
Low Carb Cabbage Rolls
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 heads cabbage
Stuffing
- 1½ pounds ground meat
- 2 cups white quinoa
- 2 medium onions minced
- 10-15 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons seven spices
- 1 tablespoon sumac
- ¼ cup oil
- salt to taste
- ¼ teaspoon citric acid
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
Sauce
- ¼ cup oil
- 4 cups warm water
- 6 cloves garlic crushed
- 2 bouillon cubes
- 2 lemons juiced
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon seven spices
Instructions
- At the root of the cabbage cut deep with a knife around in square form. After cutting well, pull the root out with a fork.
- Place the cabbage head in boiling water for 20 minutes or so, until it becomes tender and leaves start to slightly fall off.
- Don’t over boil since leaves will become too soft to roll. Drain cabbage and begin to separate leaf by leaf. With a knife cut horizontally the tip of each leaf that is hard to smooth out surface and the leaf becomes foldable.
- Mix all ingredients under “cabbage stuffing”. You can add more salt to taste. I usually taste the mix (I don’t swallow it) then fix salt to your liking.
- Put about 2 tablespoons of the meat and quinoa mix in one whole leaf or half the leaf, fold in from the right then the left of leaf and begin to roll. Line up the rolled cabbage in a pressure cooker or a large pot.
- Mix all ingredients under “broth”, then pour over rolled cabbage in pressure cooker pot. Set pressure cooker to 18 minutes.
- Once done, you can taste it, adjust any flavors in the broth if needed. Note: Once the pressure is released, leave the stuffed cabbage in for about an hour or so, it really allow the flavors to soak in.
- Drain most of the water out by placing a plate over the cabbage inside the pot. Enjoy with black pepper and a squeeze of lemon.
Andrea says
I followed the recipe exactly and these turned out amazing! Reminded me of my childhood when my mom used to make them but with meat. I used to love the dark green ones .I can’t stop eating them! I will continue to make these again and again!
Julie says
I gave this cabbage roll recipe a -go today and it turned out so great! Will double the recipe next time
Lesley says
This cabbage recipe was a hit with the whole family! DEF a keeper! Thanks for sharing!!!