Lahanodolmades (Greek Cabbage Rolls with Avgolemono Sauce)

I was not a fan of Greek grape-leaf dolmades when I was a kid, but I have thankfully gotten my act together. However, cabbage rolls are just as good… and so much bigger!

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The word “dolmades” (dohl-MAH-thes) refers to any filling wrapped by a leaf of some sort, but for the most part it’s used to refer to those that have grape leaves. The word “lahano” (LAH-hah-noh) is Greek for cabbage. Put them together and you get “lahanodolmades” (lah-hah-noh-dohl-MAH-thes), and there you go!

Greeks are by no means the only ones to make these kinds of dishes, but how the leaves are prepared and the ingredients chosen for the fillings will vary from one region to another. I’ve become a huge fan of fermenting my cabbage heads, which is popular in areas of northern Greece and other nearby countries like Romania. The flavor that it adds is out of this world, but you do have to be patient since the process takes a minimum of six weeks. Trust me, it’s worth the wait (but you don’t need them for this recipe).

This particular recipe is very distinctly Greek, though, because of the use of avgolemono (ahv-go-LEH-moh-noh) sauce. This rich and thick sauce made with eggs and lemon adds so much flavor as well as nutrients to so many dishes. It will also vary in flavor since it is made with the broth from the dish it will be used with, and any left over can be added to broth to make a delicious soup very like Greek avgolemono soup.

Some quick notes before you begin:

I used ground beef for this recipe, but ground pork or lamb are also a great alternatives that will work just as well with the rest of the ingredients. You could even make a mixture of any combination of these meats.

Rolling cabbage leaves is pretty easy. You just want to make sure that you roll them snugly around the filling so that they don’t fall apart when they are cooking. At the same time, you don’t want to do it too tight (which is kind of hard to do anyway), otherwise they may burst when cooking as the rice expands.

Be sure to start with very hot broth. This kick starts the cooking process and reduces the time you’re waiting for the broth to heat up properly. You want to be able to cook the entire time on a lower heat and cold broth will take too long to get up to a proper temperature.

If you decide to go with fermented cabbage heads, keep in mind that the leaves will already have salt in them, so be sure to adjust accordingly for the filling and the broth you use. You can get my recipe for the process here.

If you decide to use fresh cabbage heads, you will still need to prepare them for rolling. They’ll need to be blanched in order to soften the leaves so that they become flexible enough to wrap around the filling. See my process for properly preparing the cabbage leaves here.

The amount of cabbage heads you will need will depend on their size and number of leaves large enough for rolling. If you have very large cabbages, you may want to start with one. The filling can always be frozen for later if you realize you need more cabbage.

Leftover filling and cabbage leaves can be used to make this soup!

You will be stuffing the rolls with raw ground beef, so be mindful of cleanliness to avoid spreading any potential food pathogens.