Braised stuffed cabbage

Name: Braised stuffed cabbage
Prep time: 19 min
Cook time: 34 min
Total time: 53 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Polish
Ingredients: 6 large Cabbage Leaves; 2 tablespoons Olive Oil; 1 chopped Onion; 2 tsp Rosemary; 1 chopped Celery; 140g Basmati Rice; 140g Cooked Chestnut; 50g Cranberry; 300ml Vegetable Stock; 1 tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar; 1 tsp Clear Honey

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Vegetarian recipe with Polish flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 40 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 53 min total

6 large Cabbage Leaves
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 chopped Onion
2 tsp Rosemary
1 chopped Celery
140g Basmati Rice
140g Cooked Chestnut
50g Cranberry
300ml Vegetable Stock
1 tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
1 tsp Clear Honey

Step-by-step instructions

Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Remove the tough central stalk from the cabbage leaves. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, add the cabbage, then cook for just 1-2 mins until the leaves are starting to wilt. Drain and refresh under cold running water. Drain well, then pat dry with a tea towel.
Heat the oil in a pan, add the onion, then fry for 5 mins until slightly browned. Add the rosemary and celery, then cook for 8 mins more. Stir in the rice, then cook for a min or so until the grains are glistening. Remove from the heat, stir in the chestnuts and cranberries, then season.
Spoon a little stuffing onto a cabbage leaf, roll up and fold in the sides to enclose the filling. Put in a single layer in a large, oiled, shallow ovenproof dish with the join underneath. Fill the remaining leaves in the same way. Mix the stock, vinegar and honey, then pour over the cabbage. Cover the dish tightly with foil, bake for 1 hr, uncover, then cook for a further 15 mins.

Why this works on a weeknight

Braised stuffed cabbage lands at about 53 minutes total — a little longer than our 30-minute target, but most of that time is hands-off simmering, which is why it earned a spot in our Sheet-Pan Dinners collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Braised stuffed cabbage actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🍳 Sheet-Pan Dinners Vegetarian Polish