This grilled cabbage wrap is so flavorful and filled with delicious sticky rice and chopped kale stems that you can’t stop with just one bite. I love this recipe because the cabbage has an amazing smoky flavor once grilled.

How to make Cabbage Wrap
- Step 1: Prepare the rice according to the package’s instruction. Since I used glutinous rice, I soaked mine overnight. Then, drain out the liquid the next morning and steamed with water until fully cooked through.
- Step 2: Sauté mushrooms and vegetables’ steam of choice and seasoned accordingly.
- Step 3: Mix all the filling ingredients together in a large bowl until all incorporated.
- Step 4: Blanch cabbage leaves in hot boiling water until soft. Alternatively, if you have a small cabbage head, remove the hardtop with a knife. Then, bring a small pot of water (large enough to fit the whole cabbage) to a rolling boil. Immerse the whole cabbage in the water, head down. The water level should cover at least 1/4th of the cabbage’s height. Place a lid over and steam for 10-15 mins.
- Step 5: Drain cabbage leaves or remove the cabbage from the pot.
- Step 6: Place one cabbage leaf on a cleaned surface. Then, fill the middle with 1-2 tablespoons of the mixture. Fold to seal.
- Step 7: Place wrapped cabbage wraps on a greased non-stick pan and grill until lightly brown on both sides.

Ingredients and Substitute for grilled cabbage wrap
- Blanched cabbage leaves – I used white cabbage, but purple or Savoy or Napa cabbage or any thick leafy greens will work too.
- Sticky rice or any high starch grain is perfect for this dish. However, Jasmine, short-grain, or Basmati rice which are normally less starchy will be a great substitute as well. Just a small note that they may fall out easily when you wrap them.
- Kale stems and carrots – I love Kale stems for its crunch but you can use any veggie stems such as broccoli or asparagus.
- Sauteéd Mushrooms – it’s optional but highly recommended. Mushrooms always give a dish the amazing umami flavor, but please omit if you are allergic to this ingredient.
- Sweet and Spicy sauce – The sauce is optional as the wrap is flavor as-is.
This grilled cabbage wrap recipe is
- Delicious with an amazing smoky grilled flavor
- A perfect way to eat cabbage
- Dairy-free
- Customizable: use tamari for gluten-free
- A great make-ahead meal
If you try this recipe, I would love to hear your feedback and see your beautiful re-creation. Leave me a comment, rate it, and tag @woon.heng and #woonheng to your photos on Instagram or Facebook. Happy cooking, friends!

Grilled Cabbage Wraps
These cabbage wraps are filled with flavorful sticky rice, then wrapped and grilled to achieve that smoky flavor. They are then paired with a simple sweet and spicy sauce for a perfect meal. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked glutinous rice or any higher starch rice works
- 20-25 cabbage leaves big enough to wrap a filling
- ¾ cup kale stems finely chopped (or sub with broccoli stem)
- ½ cup mushrooms finely chopped – optional (used mini King Oyster mushrooms)
- 1 small carrot finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon finely minced ginger
- oil for cooking
- salt to taste
Rice seasoning
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce/tamari
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Sauce
- 1½ tablespoons soy sauce/tamari
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon mirin
- 1 Thai chili chopped
- ½ cup water or veggie broth
Instructions
- To make the filling, heat a non-stick pan with 1 teaspoon oil, sauté ginger until fragrant, then add mushrooms and cook to remove moisture (if any).
- Add kale stems and continue to cook for about 30 secs, turn off the heat.
- Transfer the mixture to a bowl, add carrots, cooked rice and mix well with the rice seasoning ingredients. Set aside.
- Bring a pot of water to boil, blanch cabbage leaves for about 45secs. Remove & quickly plunge them in icy water to stop the cooking. Note: If you have a small cabbage, please check my stories on how I did mine.
- Place one cabbage leaf on a cleaned surface, remove the harder vein, if needed.
- Add a heaping spoon of filling in the middle, fold in the sides and wrap to seal. (Note: adjust filling based on the size of your cabbage leaf). Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
- In a heated non-stick pan with 1 teaspoon oil, place as many cabbage wraps as will fit in one layer in the pan, sealed side down. Cook until both sides are nicely browned, flipping in halfway. Set aside or serve as-is.
Sauce
- To make the sauce, add all the sauce ingredients in a pot or pan, then bring it to simmer. Cook until the sauce is slightly thickened.
- Drizzle sauce on the cabbage wraps and serve warm.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Feel free to pin the below picture on your Pinterest Board for easy reference.

These were good but there is no thickener for the sauce in your recipe. I added cornstarch and it worked and tasted great – just wondered why it was missed
Delicious and so easy but how could you stop at 3 ??? I was too hungry to make the sauce so just had tamari and chili oil – so very good. Thank you.
These were SO delicious! Flavors and textures were amazing and super satisfying. Such a memorable meal. Thank you!
I just made these, they were simple with the steps to follow along. I never thought I’d be able to make cabbage rolls – especially ones that taste this good! Thank you!
Omg this was SO GOOD!! Zero criticisms. I can honestly say it was one of the best homemade dinners I’ve ever had. 10/10.
I added in some tofu along with the mushrooms for some protein. I just crushed it up with my fingers into small pieces and it was very good.
woohoo! Thank you so much Lia. I’m really happy to hear it turned out awesome for you. Yummy! Thank YOU for the rating and feedback. I hope you get to try some other recipes soon. Best, WoonHeng
They are yummy. I had 3 of them. Had to stop myself from eating more. So good.
I bought soft cabbage. I blanched leaves for 3 minutes. They were still bit chewy, probably that kind of a cabbage, but delicious.
Thank you for sharing recipe with us. ❤️
hehe, it’s so easy for me to eat 3 too, I loved it. So glad you loved it and thanks for your feedback. I hope you get to try some other recipes soon. Best, WoonHeng
Aside from the fact that I rarely measure my ingredients, I followed this recipe to the letter and it was fantastic! I would highly recommend this. The prep did take a bit of time, but once everything was ready to go it took no time to cook. Thanks so much for such an easy and great tasting recipe.
Yay, so awesome to hear that you loved the recipe. Thank you very much for your wonderful feedback and comment. Thank YOU for making this recipe, hope you give other recipes a try. Have a fantastic day! Best, WoonHeng