I think my Grandma made Halupki (stuffed cabbage to some) almost every week.
When Grandma cooked – even when it was just her towards the end of her life – she cooked for a small army…
… and she ALWAYS made a care package for me.
I visited her at least once a week, and there was always a quart jar of some kind of homemade soup waiting for me in the fridge, usually a container of halupkis (or maybe stuffed peppers or something else that week), and then a bag full of goodies (cookies or cereal or candy or ALL three!) to treat the kids.
She kept an ongoing bag in the closet that she added to each time she shopped or made something so I always had a “Grandma Bag” to take home. Sometimes she even picked up dish towels or other small kitchen tools. She was always thinking of me, and always so giving.
I haven’t made halupkis in quite a while, so thought it would be fun to do. (Funny how this blog has inspired me to stretch out of the normal chicken salad, pasta with meatballs, and other “usual” dinners to more creativity so I can blog about it…) Definite bonus for Marty and family and friends that I share the “lovin’ from my oven” with 🙂 .
I hope Grandma would be proud of my halupkis – – – though hers were pure perfection – each sized the same in tight little cabbage packages – – – I’m not so fussy…
Halupki is a dish made of rice, beef, and pork encased in cabbage with a thin, sweet tomato sauce. Every family has their own twist on this traditional “hunky” comfort food dish.
One of Grandma’s tricks for her sauce was to mix tomato sauce, tomato soup and some of the water the cabbage was boiled in.
I hope you enjoy these with mashed potatoes – a must with Grandma’s halupkis.
Here is the recipe as I made it and as I recall from Grandma.
Makes: Enough for a small army (or approx. 60 halupkis)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3 large heads of cabbage, cored
2 lbs ground beef
2 lbs pound ground pork
2 lbs ground veal
1 1/2 lbs thick sliced bacon
4 cups cooked white rice
3/4 cup chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste
2 28 oz can tomato sauce
4-5 Family size cans Campbell’s Tomato Soup
Place cabbage in a deep pot and cover with water. Add salt to taste, and bring water to a boil.
Remove outer leaves as they begin to separate from cabbage head. Continue to pull leaves off while boiling for approximately 15 minutes. Trim thick center vein off cabbage leaves. Chop remaining core of cabbage and place in bottom of greased (I use Pam spray) roasting pan.
Reserve 4 cups of the cabbage water to mix with the tomato sauce and soup for sauce. Combine sauce ingredients and place 2 cupx over chopped cabbage in roasting pan.
Chop bacon into bite-sized pieces and fry. When cooked, drain off most of the grease, leaving enough in the pan to saute onions and garlic. Saute until translucent.
In a large bowl, combine ground beef, pork, veal, bacon, rice, onion, garlic, egg, salt and pepper.
Form oblong balls of meat mixture and place in center of cabbage leaves. Fold sides over filling and roll cabbage around meat.
Place in a roasting pan on top of chopped cabbage and sauce. When all are rolled and placed, pour remaining sauce over top of all.
Cover pan, and bake approximately 4 hours, basting every 30 minutes.
ENJOY!
Best Ever Blue Enamel Pot for Roasting Halupkis! You can get it HERE!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Can I add garlic salt instead of garlic cloves?
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Hi Ema – of course – that is the beauty of cooking. Tweak to your taste. Enjoy! And thanks for reading.
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Yeah, taste enhances when you exchange ideas. Happy cooking ❤ ❤
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Well you are a true “hunky”, as I am. My Mother was Croatian & my Dad was Slovak. Looks like you get an A+ on your Halupki!!!!
My friend & I were just talking about making stuffed cabbage yesterday…I was tell her that my Mom always browned some cut-up pieces of bacon, browned it than added and sauteed the chopped onions, cooled this and added it to the meat mixture. As you say every family has their own variation. But it always brings back good memories!!
Our church, that is an ethnic Slovak Catholic Church, has a stuffed cabbage dinner every september…they use Campbell’s tomato juice and soup.
Enjoy those delicious Halupki!!!!!
Char
❤
PS—-If you're ever in the Ytown area, there's a bar called Rip's Tavern on Youngstown-Poland Rd., north of Rt. 224, they feature a home-made Hunky Platter, (pirohy, halupki, & halushki).
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Thanks so much for sharing, Char. Bacon sounds like a great addition!!! When isn’t it?!? 🙂 And thanks for the restaurant recommendation. Can’t wait to try it some day! Ytown sure has some great ethnic restaurants, delis and stores that I fondly remember visiting when spending time there. Oh – I can still taste the Mish Mosh Soup and Reuben Sandwiches at that deli that was practically across the street from the office. Do you recall the name? And that Italian store that was across from it – oooh laaa laaa!
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Jodi, I’m sure you’re talking about Kravitz Deli, & Jimmy’s Italian store. Kravitz also has a cafe @ the Poland, Ohio Public Library on Rt. 224.
🙂
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Yep. That’s it Char! Good stuff!
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OMGEE…..My mom must have hung out with your grandma at some time…(knowing my mom and her 7 degrees of knowing someone somewhere at anytime…maybe she did!) She makes her cabbage rolls with Campbell’s tomato soup and her own stewed tomatoes from the garden. And, definitely sweet with a touch of sugar or maybe a lot- her sauces are always on the sweet side. I typed out directions for my daughter last year but now I can refer her to this blog post! Lovely pics! Actually, she has saved me from starving many a time with frozen ones I heat up in the microwave…
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Love it – thanks for sharing Cindy!
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Sounds delicious ! I use my Bubbie’s recipe. No pork. Tomato juice, sugar and kosher sour salt. Always served with mashed potatoes!
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I’ve never heard stuffed cabbage, but this looks so appetizing, I’m tempted to try. Thanks for making me drool…
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Isn’t it interesting how different food can be from different regions, and how fun it is we can all share!
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Just finished par boiling my cabbage…ready to go tomorrow!!!!!
See what you started, haven’t been able to stop thinking of Halupki!!!! 🙂
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LOL! I didn’t know I had such vast influence!! 🙂 ENJOY! I’ve been thinking about that bacon in it 🙂
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What a good idea to use the cabbage core in the bottom of the pan. I have never heard of that and think it is a great idea. My recipe is from an old Minnesota cookbook. It’s very similar to this although it does add a healthy blob of brown sugar into the sauce which I think I cannot live without. This is what’s so fun about cooking – adapting recipes to your own personal taste. Next time I do these, your chopped cabbage in the bottom of the pan is a must do. Waste not, right?
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My grandmother sauteed bacon with the onions…. this recipe is very close to hers. No tomato sauce and she swore by Campbells for the soup. 🙂
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Hi Christine! Thanks for visiting. I did try bacon last time and LOOOOVVVEEED it! I think I will be adding all the time now too! I love Campbells best too 🙂
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This looks delicious! I will have to try it one of these days. 🙂 xo
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They are worth it! 🙂
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This is a lovely memory. My mother used to make this. I’ll be trying it out soon. It looks just delectable in your photos
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My grandmother was from Slovakia and her stuffed cabbages are one of my favorites. Stuffed peppers are excellent too. I sent your recipe to my wife…
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My grandma made wonderful stuffed peppers too, and I love them also. I’m glad you shared and hope you try. 🙂 Thanks for visiting.
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It looks delicious!
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These sound delicious! If I was a better cook I might give them a try. I love cabbage. My grandmother used to make a German dish that we called “filled noodles”but I’m sure it had a real name! She rolled out dough and filled it with ground meat, rolled it up like a jelly roll and sliced them in pieces. Then they were boiled in an ox tail broth. They were so good! I really should have gotten the recipe!
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Wow – that does sound interesting! Darn – that you didn’t get the recipe. Anyone else in the family maybe? We take those things for granted until we lose them – eh?
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This looks so good!
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This looks like my Grandmother’s recipe! She was from the old country. The only thing that she did that was different was to make a couple of stuffed peppers and stuck them in the pan with the stuffed cabbage. That added a great flavor accent!
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Wow! That sounds wonderful too! Thanks for sharing your memories and making me think of Grandma again 🙂
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To many ingredients…..hamburger…onion…parsley…salt…..and pepper….Campbell tomato soup…that’s it…..this is how both polish mother’s made them…passed down by their polish mother’s.
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I forgot rice also…sorry😁
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To many ingredients…..hamburger…onion…parsley…rice..salt…..and pepper….Campbell tomato soup…that’s it…..this is how both polish mother’s made them…passed down by their polish mother’s.
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Isn’t it fun how we all have our own twist? My grandma came over from Poland as a child. Oh the stories she had. 😊
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Just made some! Of course grandma’s recipe, Slovak! No brown sugar here though, maybe next time, starving waiting!
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YAY! ENJOY!!
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A secret to great Halupki is, believe it or not, nutmeg! A dah or 3 will make it more tasty. or all of you hunkys and Slovaks out there, I nee a recipe for ‘horse buns. My Grandma made the on special occasions like Christmas. They were very small balls of bread dough placed on a baking sheet, When done she broke them apart, covered them with melted butter then mixed it all with fried sauerkraut, We called them horse buns cuz they looked like horse ‘you know what’. Sure would like to have it again!
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Thanks for the tip frank! And those horse buns sounds amazing!
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You have no idea! As a kid I thought they sucked greatly but as I got older I learned differently. A 3rd generation American I really embraced the old ways.
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Me too! 😊
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excuse the spelling of dash (das)
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I am 100% slovak so I hope I can help you out. The “horse buns” are called bolbalki. Using an all purpose dough or bread dough make round bite size pieces and bake until golden brown. (350)
When cool, put in a colander and pour 2 cups of boiling water over bread bites.
saute kraut in butter and mix with the bread bites.
You can also make a sweet version. After bread bites are cool put in colander and pour 2 cups of milk that has just been brought to a boil (do not boil)… Mix together 1 c ground poppyseed, 4 T milk also just brought to a boil, 4 T honey, 1/4 cup sugar and 3 T melted butter. Mix together and then add to the bread bites and mix well.
Hope you enjoy
Gram Patty
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O m g does this sound delish!! Thank you!!!
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Thanks Patty! Here is another thing my Grandma made. I was just a boy but I remember her making some sort of cheese (I think). She would take eggs and milk (plus other things I’m sure). She would then put the stuff in cheesecloth and hang over the sink until it stopped dripping. I can’t recall which Holiday. Could be Easter or Christmas.
Frank
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I have a Slovak cookbook. It is published by the ‘First Catholic Slovak Ladies Association’. I just don’t know the names of the dishes. I found the bolbalki recipe under a different name (bobalky).
Here is the website should anyone like to order the cookbook. It’s only $9.00 and I believe includes shipping: http://www.fcsla.org
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That’s called hrudka.. eaten at Easter. It’s a recipe known to the PA coal regions
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That’s where I grew up. We lived not far from Brownsville, PA.
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Cheese is called Cedak, if it’s spelled right? I make every Easter , a favorite in my house!
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OMG, this is definitely something I’ll try out. And soooo many nice variations and tips from your fellow bloggers as well! 🙂
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Hope you enjoy Dina. It is surely an old favorite. 😊👍
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