I’ve been making this Braised Cabbage recipe for 18 years now and it stays solid on our family’s favorites list. This is my mother’s recipe, so it’s definitely on my favorites list. It’s such an easy recipe but tastes so scrumptious and satisfying. It was a popular dish in Ukraine, as I was growing up. We had it pretty often during cabbage season and enjoyed it.
I like my braised cabbage a tad on the sweeter side, so I don’t use sauerkraut in it at all. My mother made this recipe in the freshest way possible, so I follow her process in a similar way. I always marinade the beef overnight because that makes it very tender and savory.
I make this meal more frequently for Sunday after church meals, as it is very….
… quick and convenient. Saturdays are the busiest days at home, so it’s very nice to have the option to quickly throw something together. I do all the prep work the night before, such as shredding the vegetables and marinating the meat, so that in the morning you just quickly sauté the meat, throw it all together into a pot, pop it in the oven to cook while you’re at church, and it is hot and ready to enjoy when you get home. Savor the flavor! 🙂
Ingredients:
2 medium – cabbage heads
4 large – carrots
1 tbsp. (15 ml) – Mrs. Dash seasoning
1 tbsp. (15 ml) – Garlic Salt
1 tsp. (5 ml) – Sea Salt
1 tsp. (5 ml) – Vegeta
1/8 – ¼ tsp. (1.25 ml) – ground Black Pepper (to taste)
2 Bay leaves
Olive oil (as needed for frying)
15 oz. (425 g) – Tomato Sauce
3 oz. (85 g) –Tomato Paste
½ cup (118 ml) – Heavy Whipping Cream
2 lbs. (1 kg) – beef (rinsed and cubed)
Instructions:
1. Measure out all spices. Mix the spices together on a plate and set it aside until ready to use.
2. Soak meat in water for thorough cleaning and removal of blood. Rinse well. Cut into small, 1” cubes. Soak the meat again, rinse thoroughly. Place the meat into a strainer for the water to drain. Transfer clean meat into a gallon-size zip lock bag or bowl with a lid. Sprinkle and stir in the seasoning. Cover with lid (or zip lock bag) and let it marinate in the refrigerator overnight.
3. Rinse vegetables. Shred cabbage and grate carrots.
4. Place one layer of shredded cabbage on the bottom of a 10 quarts pot and then sprinkle some carrots over the cabbage. Repeat the process until you’ve run out of cabbage and carrots. The pot should be about ¾ full of shredded vegetables.
5. Pour oil in a large skillet. Heat the skillet on high temperature. Place seasoned meat onto the hot skillet and sear the meat on high, stirring constantly to prevent burning. (Keep the temperature on high to prevent the pan from cooling from the cold meat. This causes the meat to juice out and become dry.) Saute meat, stirring it constantly for a couple of minutes. Reduce the heat to low and let it continue frying for a couple more minutes, stirring occasionally. Add tomato sauce, paste and heavy whipping cream, stir and simmer for a few minutes.
6. Make a small crater in the middle of the cabbage and place the meat and sauce in it. Cover with surrounding shredded vegetables. Place the pot into preheated, at 350 F, oven. Cook for one hour at 350 F. Reduce the temperature to 300 F and cook for 3 more hours.
7. Remove from the oven and stir the braised cabbage very gently, not to mash it.
Transfer to a serving dish and enjoy! Braised cabbage can be served right away or if it must wait, cover with lid, place it back into the warm oven (as long as it turned off) and serve within a couple of hours.
- 2 medium – cabbage heads
- 4 large – carrots
- 1 tbsp. 15 ml – Mrs. Dash seasoning
- 1 tbsp. 15 ml – Garlic Salt
- 1 tsp. 5 ml – Sea Salt
- 1 tsp. 5 ml – Vegeta
- 1/8 – ¼ tsp. 1.25 ml – ground Black Pepper (to taste)
- 2 Bay leaves
- Olive oil as needed for frying
- 15 oz. 425 g – Tomato Sauce
- 3 oz. 85 g –Tomato Paste
- ½ cup 118 ml – Heavy Whipping Cream
- 2 lbs. 1 kg - beef (rinsed and cubed)
- Measure out all spices. Mix the spices together on a plate and set it aside until ready to use.
- Soak meat in water for thorough cleaning and removal of blood. Rinse well. Cut into small, 1” cubes. Soak the meat again, rinse thoroughly. Place the meat into a strainer for the water to drain. Transfer clean meat into a gallon-size zip lock bag or bowl with a lid. Sprinkle and stir in the seasoning. Cover with lid (or zip lock bag) and let it marinate in the refrigerator overnight.
- Rinse vegetables. Shred cabbage and grate carrots.
- Place one layer of shredded cabbage on the bottom of a 10 quarts pot and then sprinkle some carrots over the cabbage. Repeat the process until you've run out of cabbage and carrots. The pot should be about ¾ full of shredded vegetables.
- Pour oil in a large skillet. Heat the skillet on high temperature. Place seasoned meat onto the hot skillet and sear the meat on high, stirring constantly to prevent burning. (Keep the temperature on high to prevent the pan from cooling from the cold meat. This causes the meat to juice out and become dry.) Saute meat, stirring it constantly for a couple of minutes. Reduce the heat to low and let it continue frying for a couple more minutes, stirring occasionally. Add tomato sauce, paste and heavy whipping cream, stir and simmer for a few minutes.
- Make a small crater in the middle of the cabbage and place the meat and sauce in it. Cover with surrounding shredded vegetables. Place the pot into preheated, at 350 F, oven. Cook for one hour at 350 F. Reduce the temperature to 300 F and cook for 3 more hours.
- Remove from the oven and stir the braised cabbage very gently, not to mash it.
- Transfer to a serving dish and enjoy!
- Braised cabbage can be served right away or if it must wait, cover with lid, place it back into the warm oven (as long as it turned off) and serve within a couple of hours.
If you make this recipe please share a picture with me on Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest. Tag with #valyastasteofhome. I’d love to see your creations! 🙂
Kitchen items I used in making this recipe:
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Fabulous with Tomato, Cucumber and Onion Salad and Toasted Cheesy Garlic Canapes
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Why do you need to soak the meat?
I soak the meat before grinding it for more than one reason:
1.) The water removes dye that has been added during it’s processing.
2.) The water pulls out blood from meat.
3.) The water cleanses meat.
Thank you for your question, because others may have the same ones. ?
Is it better to soak meat in salty water or fresh water? Why?
I soak beef in plain water. But meat like chicken or turkey I soak it in plan water first, and then right before I prepare a recipe I soak it in a salty water for about 15 min. Then rinse the salty water off the meat before cooking. This makes the meat clean and kills bacteria. The rest of bacteria will be killed during cooking process, but I like my meat to be somewhat clean before preparing it too. I had this question asked many times, and I’m thinking to make a separate post “Should you soak meat before cooking and why?” It’s NOT necessary to soak the meat, but this is my way of clean food prep. Thank you for asking.
Yes that would be a good post! Please make it when you have a chance. I agree with you – soaking & grinding your own meat is VERY important ❤
Thanks Victoria 😉
Thank you Valya for a different spin on this popular Slavic dish. I like your approach in prepping the meat and then marinading. I will definitely incorporate this method next time I make this dish. Thank you for sharing your talents and recipes with us!
You are very welcome Tanya. Enjoy!
Valya, Thank you for sharing your awesome recipe! Can you clearify in the directions, do you add tomato sauce and paste, and heavy cream into the meat and let it simmer? Or, do you add, mix and pour into the cabbage? Also, what does heavy cream do? Can I avoid it or substitute? I am really excited to try your method of baking cabbage instead of sauteing! Thank you again!
Add tomato sauce and paste. Mix in with sautéed meat. Then add heavy cream. Mix it again. Bring the sauce with meat to a simmer (slow boil process) for couple of minutes before pouring it over the shredded cabbage. Yes, you can omit heavy cream. I don’t add cream if I don’t have it. I like it better with cream added though. Try it both ways and see which way you like it better. Thanks for your comment Tanya:)
can you tell me what exact meat you use for this recipe?
Beef.
Am I supposed to cover the pot with a lid while it’s cooking ?
Yes. Otherwise the top cabbage will be burned. Thanks for your comment 🙂
Thank you. I’m cooking the cabbage now and first I put in without lid for like 15 minutes but it didn’t seem right to me without lid so just wanted to double check. I already covered it with lid and it looks all good. Can’t wait till it finishes cooking to taste it.
That’s awesome! Let me know how it turns out for you.
It came out delicious. I like the marinating meat overnight part. My husband really loved it. Thank you 🙂
I’m so glad to hear that! Thank you for trying out my recipes. 🙂