Ground Turkey Cabbage Rolls (Healthy, Easy Recipe)

Ground Turkey Cabbage Rolls simmered in tomato sauce with a quinoa turkey filling are a lighter twist on this Eastern European meal. With a few shortcuts built in to make the process easier than traditional cabbage rolls, this version uses jarred marinara sauce and pre-cooks the meat mixture making this the easiest cabbage roll recipe you’ll ever make!

Stuffed cabbage rolls are comfort food at its finest. The cabbage is merely a vessel for the savory, hearty filling and sauce ensemble, which are the real shining stars of this recipe. The seamless cohesion of ingredients comes together in neat single-serve bundles.

Is the recipe authentic? My husband is from Russia and he loves them! There are so many versions of cabbage rolls in Eastern Europe from Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, Turkish and everything in between with many methods and variations of ingredients. This is my version of cabbage rolls with ground turkey and my own twists to make this classic dish lighter and easier.

If you love red sauce as much as we do, check out my homemade turkey spaghetti sauce recipe. If you’re trying to cook with ground turkey more, definitely check out my ground turkey teriyaki rice bowl recipe for a simple veggie loaded flavorful meal. My turkey chili with veggies is pretty fantastic too!

Why make this recipe

After countless tries at making this dish, I’ve finally got a fabulous recipe for delicious cabbage rolls that I can’t wait to share with you all! This recipe has multiple steps and gets a few pans dirty so it is not my standard quick weeknight meal. The results are worth the extra effort though and I’ve come up with some shortcuts to make it more approachable.

This recipe has shortcuts to make it faster and easier. Cabbage rolls require some extra work no matter how you make them but I’ve shortened the overall process to take just an hour. The shortcuts include pre-cooking the ground turkey, using jarred pasta sauce, boiling the whole cabbage head instead of removing each leaf as it boils.

Turkey cabbage rolls are a lighter option. This is a dinner recipe with ground turkey and a blend of veggies and quinoa for filling but is still just as tasty as traditional recipes.

Its the most delicious stuffed cabbage I’ve made yet! You’d never assume the filling was on the lighter side with how flavorful it is. Also, the cabbage rolls and sauce perfectly blend to make the tastiest twist on this dish yet. Don’t take my word for it, check out the reviews and comments!

It’s naturally gluten free and dairy free. It’s the perfect meal for anyone whether you have dietary restrictions or not!

Ingredients and Substitutions

The ingredients for this turkey cabbage roll recipe are simple and most you probably already have in the pantry. Here’s what you’ll need, suggestions for substitutions and more detail on exactly what to get.

• quinoa – You can also substitute 3 cups of cooked white rice, brown rice or even pre-cooked microwave rice packets to make this even easier. You can also substitute cauliflower rice.
• chicken broth – this adds a lot of extra flavor to the quinoa. You can substitute vegetable broth or just toss a bouillon cube into the cooking water if needed.
• cabbage – make sure to choose a large head of cabbage so you will have enough leaves to work with. Use regular green cabbage or savoy cabbage
• aromatics – yellow onion or white onion works great while garlic adds more flavor. Using pre-minced jarred garlic is fine here.
• ground turkey – use regular ground turkey with about 7% fat NOT the 1% fat option. If you do, the meat in your cabbage rolls will be dry. You can substitute another ground meat like ground chicken, ground pork or ground beef instead if you prefer.
• carrots – carrots add flavor, variety and texture in addition to getting an extra veggie in.
• paprika – this spice is essential to the overall flavor. You can substitute in smoked paprika or Hungarian paprika but do not skip adding paprika in some form.
• Worcestershire – use a gluten free version if needed (linked)
• egg – egg helps bind the filling together. If you need to exclude it, the end result will taste pretty similar but the filling will be looser.
• jarred marinara sauce – you can make your own tomato sauce but this is an EASY recipe for turkey cabbage wraps so we’re using store bought.
• Sour cream – you can use dairy-free or even plain Greek yogurt if you prefer. This adds creaminess and authenticity to the end result.
• Chopped parsley and/or dill – optional, but chopped fresh herbs add contrast and a touch of extra flavor so I recommend using something here.

How to make ground turkey cabbage rolls

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190° C).
2. Use a mesh sieve to rinse quinoa before adding to a small sauce pan with the chicken broth. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and cook for 15 minutes.
3. Simmer a whole head of cabbage in a large pot of water for 7-8 minutes. Remove from boiling water and cool.
   
4. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat and sauté onion and carrot for a few minutes.
5. Add garlic and sauté a minute longer before adding ground turkey. Cook turkey using a spatula to break it up into small pieces as it cooks.
6. While turkey is cooking, season with Worcestershire, salt, pepper, paprika, and 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce. Add cooked quinoa to turkey mixture and mix it in over medium heat. Taste and add more salt if you prefer. Add the egg and stir to mix in.
7. Spoon 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce into the bottom of the baking dish in a thin layer. 
   
8. Carefully peel the tender cabbage leaves and scoop 1/2 – 3/4 cup of the turkey filling into the center of each cabbage leaf. Fold the bottom half over the filling and then tuck the sides in. Fold the upper half over and place cabbage rolls seam side down in the prepared casserole dish. Repeat with the rest of the cabbage leaves.
   
9. Spread the rest of the tomato sauce on top of cabbage rolls. Bake for approximately 30 minutes until cabbage is fully cooked.
   
10. Garnish with parsley and serve with sour cream or plain yogurt.
    

Storing, re-heating and freezing leftovers

One of the best parts about this dish is the leftovers! They are almost better the next day and reheat great. Here are instructions on how to freeze, reheat and store these cabbage rolls.

Storage: Store leftover cabbage rolls in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. They’ll still be okay to eat for about 5 days but can become a little watery at that point.

Freezing: Allow the cabbage rolls to cool completely before freezing in an airtight container or freezer-safe bag. Remove as much air as possible or if using a container, use an appropriately sized one so there is just a little bit of extra room at the top, not more than 1/4″, to minimize freezer burn. Label and freeze for up to 3 months. Let the cabbage rolls defrost in the refrigerator overnight.

Re-heating in the microwave: To reheat from the refrigerator either place the cabbage rolls in the microwave, spacing each roll apart on a plate for even heating between each roll. Microwave on high for 1 – 1 1/2 minutes until the center of each roll is warm. If microwaving from frozen, use the defrost setting to make sure they thaw and heat evenly.

Re-heating in the oven: Reheat in a baking dish in the oven covered by aluminum foil at 350° F (175°C) for 20 minutes if defrosted and 30-40 minutes if frozen.

Recipe originally published February 4, 2015. It was updated to include more detail in the recipe and change the instructions on how to cook the cabbage on September 15, 2021. The post was updated again in May 2023 to add additional content and detail to the recipe.