(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
 . . . . . . . . . .



Kitchen Table Kibitzing 9/21/2026: Lazy Cabbage Rolls with Beans [1]

['Chloris Creator', 'News Corpse', 'Thom Hartmann', 'Greg Dworkin']

Date: 2026-09-21  

Good evening, Kibitzers! It’s Monday, so you know what that means. Tonight’s bean recipe was an experiment on my part, and I’m very happy to report that it was a success.

I first started planning this over a week ago when I saw a TikTok video of a woman making “lazy cabbage rolls.” The recipe was labeled as a Ukrainian dish, although I don’t know enough about Ukrainian food to know if that’s the precise origin. Instead of stuffing cabbage leaves with meat, she mixed meat with shredded cabbage, sautéed vegetables, rice, and egg to make a kind of meatloaf mixture, which she then shaped into oval patties and baked in tomato sauce. I thought it looked fantastic, but (being me) I was disappointed by the lack of beans. So I thought about how I could incorporate them, and the result is what you’re about to see.

I used Royal Corona beans for this, since that bean goes so well with a tomato sauce. So the first step was cooking a pound of beans, but if you want to recreate this, canned beans would work perfectly fine.

Chrislove

The TikTok video that inspired me did not give amounts for anything, and I felt like I needed a little more guidance, so I went with this recipe. But, as usual, I’m doubling it, since I want meal preps for both the BF and me.

First, I shredded a whole head of green cabbage. The recipe I linked above calls for you to cook the cabbage until tender in the pan with the other vegetables, but other recipes I saw recommended that you simply add boiling water to the cabbage and let it sit for 10 minutes. I went with the latter method, and I’d suggest you do the same.

Then, I sautéed a large onion (finely chopped), two celery sticks (minced), and two carrots (peeled and grated) in a few tablespoons of cooking oil until tender, or about 15 minutes.

Chrislove

That’s really the only active cooking in this recipe. Next, I mixed the sautéed vegetables with the cabbage, one pound of lean ground beef, one pound of ground pork, two cups of cooked white rice, two eggs, three teaspoons of kosher salt, and a generous amount of black pepper. It’s like a cabbagey meatloaf. My vision for the meal preps was that each serving would be a very large cabbage roll, basically a personal-size meatloaf. I formed eight large oval-shaped patties:

Chrislove

That braising pan at the top is like the kid who usually sits on the bench, but Coach finally called him in to play. I was not particularly happy about using two pans for this, and the next time I make it (and, believe me, there will be a next time), I’ll probably get a large disposable aluminum pan to cook them in.

For the tomato sauce, the recipe I linked above literally just recommends using tomato puree flavored with garlic. A number of the other recipes (including the TikTok video) added sour cream to the tomato sauce, so I decided to do that. Since I made a double batch, I used two 24-ounce jars of passata, which I heated in the same Dutch oven I sautéed the vegetables in, with some salt, garlic powder, and about a cup of sour cream. This is also where the beans come in, since I added those to the sauce.

Chrislove

I then ladled the sauce and beans over each pan of cabbage rolls.

Chrislove

Finally, into the oven they went at 350 degrees (F) for a little over an hour (rotating the pans halfway through). If you make a single batch, it will probably take less time than that, so check at the 30-minute mark. This is what they looked like coming out of the oven:

Chrislove

I served a lazy cabbage roll on top of a bed of rice, with a generous amount of tomato sauce and beans. Oh, and more sour cream (which I obviously squeezed from a tube, lol).

Chrislove

What the inside looks like:

Chrislove

I cannot recommend this enough, with or without the beans. But I do think the beans work really well here. It’s absolutely delicious, and so comforting! We’re both huge fans of this, and I think it will be back on our menu very soon.

What’s on your mind (or plate) this evening?

🫖 💭 🥂 🍽️ ☕

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/9/21/800101495/community/kitchen-table-kibitzing-9-21-2026-lazy-cabbage-rolls-with-beans/

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/