Niño Envuelto [Video+Recipe] Rice & Ground Beef Cabbage Rolls

Enjoy these lovely Niño envuelto (rice and ground beef wrapped in cabbage), a juicy mixture of minced beef and rice wrapped in cabbage, with roots in Middle Eastern Cuisine.

Course Dinner, Lunch, Party

Cuisine Dominican, Middle-Eastern-Inspired

Keyword cabbage wrapped beef, ground meat wrapped in cabbage, meat wrapped in cabbage, spanish cabbage recipe

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 45

Total Time 1 5

Servings servings

Calories 539kcal

Author Clara Gonzalez

Equipment

Ingredients

For beef filling

2 tablespoon olive oil [20g]
1 red onion (medium-size, minced [65 g]
3 cloves garlic [20g]
1 pound minced beef [454g]
1 cup tomato sauce [115g]
1 bell pepper (diced [76g]
1½ teaspoons salt (or more, to taste)
½ teaspoons pepper freshly-cracked, or ground
1 sprig minced cilantro or parsley

For tomato sauce for baking

6 tablespoons olive oil
4 cups large tomato peeled and seeded
2 cloves garlic crushed
¼ teaspoon oregano dry, ground
1 teaspoon sugar white, granulated
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
¼ teaspoon pepper freshly-cracked, or ground, (or to taste)

For rolls

3 cups cooked white rice arroz blanco per our recipe
1 head cabbage (pick one with thin outer leaves)
Minced parsley to garnish

Instructions

1. Make tomato sauce

Dice the tomatoes.
Place the tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients in a pot, and simmer over low heat until the tomatoes are soft.
💡 You can mash the tomatoes with a tomato masher for smoother sauce.

2. Cooking beef

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-low heat. Stir in onion and cook and stir until it turns translucent. Add garlic and cook and stir for a minute.
Add ground beef and cook and stir, breaking it into small clumps until it browns. Pour in tomato sauce. Add bell pepper, salt, and pepper. Stir and cover. Simmer for 3 minutes.
Taste and season with salt and pepper to taste if needed. Mix in cilantro. Remove from the heat and set aside.
⚠️ See the video to cook the beef.

3. Softening cabbage leaves

Separate the outermost leaves of the cabbage. Try not to break them.
Soak in boiling-hot water cooking over low heat until they are slightly softer.
Remove from the water, discard water and set aside the leaves.

4. Making the rolls

Preheat oven to 400 ºF [200 ºC]
Put 2 tablespoons of the rice and beef mixture in the center of one of the leaves. Wrap tightly (using more leaves if necessary) securing the bundle with a toothpick if necessary.
Cover the bottom of a lasagna pan with half the tomato sauce. Place the rolls on top and cover them with the rest of the tomato sauce.

5. Bake

Cover the baking pan tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 15 minutes, or enough to heat everything until it starts steaming.
Uncover and let it cool for a few minutes before serving.

6. Serve

Remove the toothpicks, if you used any,
Sprinkle with minced parsley and serve each with some of the tomato sauce.

Video

Nutrition