What Can You Substitute For Rice In Cabbage Rolls?

Whether it's because you're experiencing a newfound love of keto or you just aren't a rice fan, it pays to find an alternative grain for the filling in your cabbage rolls. Fortunately, you don't have to look very far to find something — a few somethings, for that matter — to put into the cabbage rolls to replace the rice. The options tend to fall into the "other grains" category, though there are some options that aren't even grains. What you use instead of rice is a matter of flavor preference, dietary goals, and availability. However, none of them will make your stuffed cabbage rolls less of a comfort food dish. Many times, they add even more flavor than rice ever could.

Let's start with your low carb options. Cauliflower rice is your best choice here, and this is the one you'll most likely select if you're following a low-carb diet, such as keto or Atkins. For the best flavor and texture, you should stir-fry the cauliflower rice beforehand. This makes it the right consistency, meaning that it won't be mixed in raw with the other filling ingredients, like diced tomatoes, caramelized onions, and ground beef. These tasty ingredients also get cooked ahead of time. Finally, the cooked cabbage leaves finally get stuffed with this cauliflower-forward mix before being shoved into the oven to bake.

If you're not following a diet that requires a low-carb option, but you're still looking for a healthy grain alternative, you have a couple of good choices available to you. First up is quinoa. This grain has been a staple food in South America for centuries. It's a super food that boasts a slightly wild flavor, not to mention a great number of vitamins, minerals, and fiber. This makes it a flavorful and nutritious choice for cabbage rolls. 

It is almost the antithesis of rice because it has a very wild, almost gamey flavor. Although there are thousands of varieties of quinoa, you'll primarily find three on the market: red, white, and black. Sometimes, these three types will be sold as a blend, giving you the best of all worlds. With this option, you'll treat the quinoa like you would pasta. Cook it for around 10 minutes in broth or water, before draining and combining it with the other filling ingredients. All that's left is wrapping it up in the cabbage leaves.

If you want something with a nuttier flavor, the grain-like pasta, couscous, would also be delicious. It follows a process similar to the quinoa. It's cooked ahead of time, often in broth for an extra boost of flavor. A few fluffs with a fork gets it ready for the herbs, spices, caramelized onions, and other ingredients that you'll use to stuff the cabbage.

As with the quinoa, you have a couple of different couscous options to choose from. There is the larger pearl couscous (often called Israeli couscous) as well as the smaller, more rice-like variety. Preference, in addition to availability, may have a lot to do with which kind you choose. Finally, since couscous is such a staple in Moroccan cooking, you may want to play up that flavor profile with this option by spicing up your cabbage rolls with a Moroccan spice blend. Think of using an aromatic blend of cinnamon, paprika, brown sugar, and cloves.