It’s a well-known tradition to eat cabbage on New Year’s Day to promote a year of wealth and prosperity, but there’s no reason to confine cabbage consumption to one day of the year! One great way to enjoy this leafy green vegetable is with a classic dish that came all the way from Poland: cabbage rolls. While Poland is pretty far from Cajun country, there’s a great and easy way to inject a Cajun twist on these delicious rolls: boudin!
Traditional cabbage rolls typically use beef or pork (or both) mixed with cooked rice, which makes boudin an ideal substitute that’s both convenient and delicious.
What You’ll Need
Cabbage rolls are pretty simple fare despite their delicate intricacy. For these, you’ll need the following ingredients (quantities will vary depending on how many you want to make):
- Fresh cabbage
- Boudin links (roughly half a link per cabbage roll)
- Salt
- Pepper
- Tomato sauce
- Crushed tomatoes
- Parsley
- Raw egg
Some people use tomato soup instead of tomato sauce for a sweeter flavor profile, so feel free to get creative!
Making The Cabbage Rolls
In order to make your cabbage ready for the rolls, you’ll want to cut the bottom of the cabbage off including the stem and boil it in slightly salted water until it becomes tender. This usually takes about 2 minutes. As you gently peel the leaves off (being extra careful not to let them tear), dry them carefully with a paper towel and let them rest.
Next, preheat the oven to 350 F. While the oven warms up, cut the boudin links with a sharp knife or pair of scissors and mix a raw egg into the mixture as a binding agent. Drain and add diced tomatoes at a ratio of roughly 1:4 tomato to boudin mixture and heat them together in a skillet at medium heat for roughly 10-15 minutes. Drain any fat and excess moisture.
Next, you’ll want to stuff the cabbage leaves with the boudin mixture. After spreading the leaves out, carefully spoon some of the boudin mixture (leaving plenty of room) onto each cabbage leaf and roll up, making sure to fold them first. Place them in a walled baking pan with the seam side down. The weight of the rolls should keep them from opening, but you can use toothpicks to assist them in staying closed!
Once the pan is full of cabbage rolls, top them with tomato sauce, salt and pepper and put them into the oven!
Bake for 75 minutes before removing them and letting them cool. Garnish with fresh parsley leaves.
Bon Appétit!
Despite swapping in boudin, this recipe is more or less traditional—but there are no rules that say you can’t put your own twist on this recipe! You could top it with pepper jack cheese (we know that goes great with boudin) or even sprinkle pulverized cracklins on top for a flavorful crunch! If you enjoy this recipe or put a personal twist on it you want to share, be sure to tag us on Facebook or Instagram so we can check it out!
New Year’s tradition states that you should enjoy these cabbage rolls with a side of black eyed peas for luck (pro-tip: try using our tasso in your next batch of those), but why stop there? Some other sides that would pair well with these tasty rolls are:
And if you’re ringing in the New Year with a glass of wine to go along with your favorite Cajun foods, be sure to check out our guide to pairing wines with all your favorite Cajun foods!
We hope you enjoy this recipe and have a great 2025!