Vegan Cabbage Rolls are a famous Macedonian traditional recipe, prepared in winter using sour cabbage that has been fermented. They are filled with leek, rice, and red pepper. Red pepper is used in a lot of Macedonian/Balkan dishes and it’s a signature spice in traditional cuisine.
During the Holidays I spend some time in Macedonia and got to see my grandma. 🙂 She is a great cook and I have learned a lot from watching her cook while growing up. Macedonia is rich in delicious vegan cuisine and I hope to share more traditional recipes in the future with you. We also made Traditional Zelnik, check out the recipe here.
How to make the best Vegan Cabbage Rolls
- Make sure to use high-quality paprika. This is a key ingredient in cooking Balkan Dishes. Paprika is made out of sweet red peppers, that have been dried and later powdered.
- To get perfect rolls, cut out the hard part of the cabbage/sauerkraut. The hard part makes the cabbage rolls form into a weird shape and lose their nice form.
- Cook the Vegan Cabbage Rolls mixture on low heat, this is the key in making Balkan dishes. It takes a bit more time but it’s well worth it.
No Sauerkraut? No Problem
If you can’t get sauerkraut in the store or you don’t ferment at home, there is a solution. Take one head of cabbage, cut out the hard part and boil it in water for 5 min. Let it cool down and you will be able to easily separate the leaves. Cut out if there is and hard part on the leaves and you are ready to go.
Where to Find Sauerkraut/Pickeled Cabbage?
Different types of Middle Eastern, Turkish, and Balkan shops carry it. Make sure to check if the product is a whole head of cabbage because a lot of the similar jarred products are prechopped cabbage.
Vegan Cabbage Rolls - Macedonian Traditional Sarma
Equipment
- Stove
Ingredients
- 1 sour cabbage
- 3 leeks
- 1 + 1/2 cups rice
- parsley
- 3 thbsp red pepper
- salt and pepper
- 1 tbsp Vegeta (dry vegetabeles spice)
- sunflower or olive oil
Instructions
- Chop the leek and start frying it for 10 min on low heat. Add the spices and the prewashed rice.
- Let it cook for 5-7 minutes, add a handful of chopped parsley and mix it together.
- Remove it from the stove right after adding the parsley.
- Out of the cabbage separate the leaves and cut out the hard part.
- In a medium-size pot lay 2-3 cabbage leaves to cover the bottom of the pot. Sprinkle a little bit of red pepper and oil.
- Take a cabbage leaf and spread it on a cutting board. add the filling at the center of the leaf and cover it with the left and right sides. Then roll it and place it in the pot.
- Repeat the same until you fill 2 rows of cabbage rolls in your pot. Then cover the rolls with cabbage and place a plate on top of them.
- In the pot where the filling was cooked add warm water, stir it together and transfer it to the cabbage rolls pot until you cover the plate. Press the plate couple of times to lat the air out.
- Cook it on the stove for 3 hours on low heat. Serve it one it cools down.
