My mother always browned the cabbage rolls in bacon drippings before baking.

My mom always used ground beef and I they are so good, she also now uses tomato juice and they are quite excellent. I have added the tomato sauce also. Sometimes I use my meatloaf recipe as a guide for more flavor. I will be making stuffed cabbage for 100 people soon for the day after Easter, Dingus Day, along with Pirogi, and sauerkraut and sausage.

i grew up on this, and keep it in my own home. one of the great comfort foods. however, when i found out the hubby had high cholesterol among other things, and had to cut out pork, and all of the other good stuff. i couldn't bare to give this up. so i tried it with ground turkey and brown rice. while it is not the same. with a little extra pepper and whatnot, it was a tasty enough substitute to keep the dish alive in our home.

Mixing in pork is a personal preference. My mother (who is from Poland) does beef only. You can also add raw egg to the meat mixture before cooking. "Pigs in a blanket" is a made up American name, so having pork in the ingredients is completely unrelated. The actual name in Polish (golompki or golapki) literally means "little pigeons" (even though there's no pigeon in the dish.

I agree with Sue. We never baked our stuffed cabbage, but cook them in a big pot lined with the spines of the leaves and also any other leaves which we didn't want to roll. We add bacon to the meat mixture, diced and sauteed with the onion -- and we don't pre-cook the rice. My grandparents are Carpatho-Rusyn, so they did not do it the Polish way and called them Holupki which, I THINK, means "pocket" or "pouch."

I learned this recipe from my grandmother and mother. I don't bake them, but cook them in a large covered pot on top of the stove. We liked to use ground beef, pork, and veal. One of my aunts liked to finely chop celery, and another aunt would put some peppercorns in the pot when cooking. I cut the spines off the leaves after boiling them and place them in the bottom of the pot. I also use sauerkraut and a large can of whole tomatoes, which I crush. My family loves this dish. We called them golumpki and one was a golumpick (sp). A bit of work, but worth the effort.

Like MaryJane in Ohio, my mother made them with pork and beef, layered her homemade sauerkraut and canned tomatoes on top of the cabbage rolls, and let them cook slowly in the oven. Every New Year's Eve, we ate them at midnight!

My Polish grandmother always used ground beef, pork and veal. She also put a little vinegar and a little tomato sauce in the water as the 'halupkies' cooked. There was more tomato sauce added to the top of each when they were served. They were also simmered them (with extra cabbage leaves covering them) on the stove and not baked.

Be careful when using bacon or sausage, the cabbage tends to be salty.

My Nana always mixed ground pork and hamburg as well. But she never used the tomato sauce on them. She sprinkled the littlest bit of white vinegar over them before baking and I've always dipped them in ketchup.

Yes - always made with ground pork - NEVER saw it made with beef (thus the nick name "PIGS in a blanket" - sheesh) ... and baked with some of the sauce on top, but some sauce reserved to pour over when finished. We served the sauerkraut on the side...

After rolling I place in roaster, cover with layer of sauerkraut, can of whole tomatoes, then place a rack of ribs on top , add a little beef broth, put into 375°F oven for 2 to 2-1/2 hours. Sons football team always said "doug's mom has to bring cabbage rolls." (to their banquets).

We (polish in Hamtramck area in Michigan) also like to serve our Golumpki with Sauerkraut. Love it that way!!

I always made mine with mixing ground pork also & used minute rice. The sour cream mixed with the tomato soup really gives it a good flavor -- I put it on top when cooking if it is going to be eaten right away -- otherwise save for later.

My babcia always mix ground pork in too, 1:1 with the ground beef. Not sausage just ground pork.