dairy-free · Dinner
Spiced Lamb and Rice Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Spiced Rice · Sarma Machboos
Bosnian sarma cabbage leaves wrapped around Qatari machboos-spiced lamb and saffron rice with cardamom and dried lime, simmered in a tomato broth, finished with crispy fried onions and parsley.
$$
25 minsPrep
35 minsCook
60 minsTotal
MediumLevel
Nutrition per serving
880Calories
48gProtein
42gFat
82gCarbs
14gSugar
8gFiber
1180mgSodium
145mgChol
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Instructions
1
Prep
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Trim cabbage core and submerge whole 5 minutes until outer leaves soften. Lift, cool under cold water, and peel off 10 large leaves; trim thick veins flat. Finely dice both onions (divided: 1 for filling, 1 for frying into rings). Mince 6 garlic cloves for the filling and 4 for the broth. Crack dried lime, tap out seeds, and pierce twice. Crumble saffron into 4 tbsp hot stock and rest 5 minutes. Dice tomatoes. Pick parsley leaves. Cut lemon into wedges.
2
Build 1
Combine machboos spice in a bowl: cardamom, cinnamon, turmeric, sweet paprika, black pepper, and 0.75 tsp salt. Rinse rice under cold water until clear.
3
Build 2
Knead lamb with diced onion, filling garlic, rice, half the machboos spice (about 0.75 tsp), and 2 tbsp olive oil in a bowl for 90 seconds until tacky and uniform.
4
Sear
Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high 60 seconds. Add sliced onion and fry 7–8 minutes turning often, until deep mahogany and crisp. Drain on paper towels and salt lightly.
5
Build 3
Lay a cabbage leaf flat. Spoon a tenth of the lamb-rice mix near the stem end, fold sides over the filling, and roll tight into a snug parcel. Repeat with remaining 9 leaves.
6
Simmer
Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a heavy lidded pot over medium 60 seconds. Add broth garlic, tomatoes, tomato paste, remaining machboos spice, dried lime, bay leaf, and 0.75 tsp salt, stirring 90 seconds. Pour in saffron stock and remaining chicken stock. Nest cabbage rolls seam-side down in the broth. Cover and simmer over lowest heat 28–30 minutes until lamb is cooked through and rice is tender.
7
Plate
Lift cabbage rolls to shallow bowls and ladle broth around them. Scatter crispy fried onions generously across the top, finish with parsley, and serve with lemon wedges.
Recipes use AI and Edamam. Always check for allergens before cooking. Spotted something wrong—email us at hello@grubplanit.com.
Serves
2 portions ·
2 adults, 0 over 10, 0 under 10
Ingredients
- 400g (14.1 oz) ground lamb
- 1 small head white cabbage
- 120g (2/3 cup) short-grain rice
- 2 small yellow onions
- 10 garlic cloves
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 0.5 tsp ground cinnamon
- 0.5 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 0.5 tsp ground black pepper
- 1.5 tsp kosher salt
- 1 whole dried lime
- 0.5 tsp saffron threads
- 2 ripe Roma tomatoes
- 4 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 dried bay leaf
- 700ml (3 cup) chicken stock
- 120ml (1/2 cup) olive oil
- 20g (small handful) flat-leaf parsley
- 1 fresh lemon