Rice and Cabbage (Healthy, Italian Recipe)
Rice and cabbage is a fantastic Italian recipe for a beginner cook. Not only are measurements not important, but this is one of the best comfort food dishes, ever. It’s so nutritious and low fat, too!
Originally published March 15, 2012.
My grandmother used to make this rice and cabbage recipe in Italy.
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It’s a simple, peasant-type meal (cucina povera), but this is the sort of food I love. It was probably a meal which made the ingredients stretch further, however, it’s a really healthy meal, and tasty too, so it’s a winner all around!
The other great thing about this rice and cabbage dish is that it is a marvelous recipe to try for those who want to learn to cook. If you have absolutely no confidence in the kitchen, this is for you as there’s really no way to mess it up.
Make it more soupy (add more water) for wintertime, or more dry for the hot summer weather. There’s no right or wrong amount of vegetables, and as long as the rice is cooked, the length of cooking time can vary greatly too, and will not affect the final outcome in a significant way; it’s a very forgiving meal.
You can use any rice you like, but for the best results for this recipe, I recommend arborio or carnaroli rice.
Rice and Cabbage (Italian Recipe)
recipe passed down from my Nonna serves 5
FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW
Ingredients:
- extra virgin olive oil
- onion
- celery
- tomato puree (or fresh tomatoes) I use Mutti in glass jars
- Savoy cabbage
- salt
- pepper
- Arborio or Carnaroli rice (or any other rice)
- (optional: Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese)
Directions
Heat the olive oil in a heavy pot, over medium high heat. Add the chopped onion and celery when hot. Stir and cook for about 5 minutes, until onion starts to become translucent.
Remove the core from the cabbage (I eat this part, it’s very yummy and good for you too!) and chop into thin strips.
Meanwhile, add the tomato puree to the celery and onion and cook for about 5 minutes.
Next, add the water (you can always add more later) and salt; then add the cabbage.
Stir often, and bring to a boil, then allow to simmer for about 10 minutes, still continuing to stir occasionally. Then add the rice, less for a more soupy dish, more for a drier result.
Stir well, and continue to simmer for 30-40 minutes, until rice is cooked. I used about 5 cups of water and 3/4 cup rice.
Make sure to serve rice and cabbage with plenty of grated Parmigiano Reggiano (or Pecorino Romano) cheese!
This is a perfect crock pot meal too. Just sauté the veggies, then transfer to the crock pot, adding the rest of the ingredients. Let cook all day. Italian cabbage and rice is just easy-peasy!!
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Italian Cabbage and Rice
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 onion diced
- 1 celery stalk chopped
- ¾ cup tomato puree or fresh tomatoes, pureed in a blender (I use Mutti in glass jars)
- 5 cups water
- 1 medium Savoy cabbage
- 1 tsp sea salt
- ⅓ cup Arborio rice most rice varieties will work, but Italian is preferred
- 5 tsp Parmigiano Reggiano DOP or Pecorino Romano cheese, grated, to serve (optional)
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a heavy pot, over medium high heat. Add the chopped onion and celery when hot. Stir and cook for about 5 minutes, until onion starts to become translucent.
- Remove the core from the cabbage (I eat this part, it's very yummy and good for you too!) and chop into thin strips.
- Meanwhile, add the tomato puree to the celery and onion and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Next, add the water (you can always add more later) and salt; then add the cabbage.
- Stir often, and bring to a boil, then allow to simmer for about 10 minutes, still continuing to stir occasionally. Then add the rice, less for a more soupy dish, more for a drier result.
- Stir well, and continue to simmer for 30-40 minutes, until rice is cooked.
- Make sure to serve Italian Cabbage and Rice with plenty of grated Parmigiano Reggiano (or Pecorino Romano) cheese!
Notes
- Use vegetarian stock and omit the cheese topping and this dish is vegan.
- Add up to 1 cup/200 g of rice for a drier dish.
Nutrition
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Hi,,
This is so good and easy! I m on way to the farmer market for fresh produce and I’m meal prepping today for my seniors-
This is so easy and full of good veggies for them! Thank You! Oh yes I’m a HUGE fan of cabbage!
It’s excellent food for seniors, absolutely, Marie! Thank you for feeding them GOOD FOOD!
what is the serving size? it says 1 but 1 what?
Hi Jackie, it serves 5 people so it’s a bowlful, probably around 1.5 cups each.
hi, great recipe! but when you sautee the vegetables, don’t you mean until onion starts to look transparent, rather than opaque? thanks!
OMG, yes! Hahaha! That was 9 years ago and you are the first person to catch that! Thanks, Sandy! Fixing it now! :)
We live in a city and have a weekly CSA box so I sometimes get vegetables I’m not sure what to do with- this week it was cabbage !
I made this and loved it – made some modifications based on comments – chicken broth instead of water, very scant additional salt, two cloves garlic in with the onions and celery, jarred pizza sauce instead of tomato purée (didn’t have any!), and threw a pecorino rind I had in the freezer in with the rice. Plus some crushed red pepper.
So good!