Since I like giving some of it to a toothless friend, I make mine with a lot of what she calls "juice", so I can turn it into soup for her. Not only do I put in canned tomatoes, but also chicken stock and V-8. My Polish-American friend taught me to put slices of kielbasa in the broth to add flavor to it. Lots of paprika; a little of it hot, a lot of sweet, and a dab of smoked. Every once in awhile (not every time), a can of sauerkraut. The past few years I actually covered and put in a roasting pan in the oven (courtesy of some TV show), and I like it better because the bottom is less likely to scorch. My MIL used almost exclusively water, with something like a tablespoon of tomato paste. Mom used to make it with a few cans of tomatoes. I came up with the stock/tomatoes/V8 combo because I make a lot of soup with the leftovers. Mom used to make it with only ground beef, MIL made it with veal/pork/beef mixture (often sold as a meatloaf mixture in some stores). I tend to use beef & turkey, then the kielbasa adds that bit of fat. Like I said, mine is culturally a mish-mash, and I make a huge head of cabbage every time. Hubby could eat it breakfast, lunch and dinner, and my elderly friend just loves the soup I make from the "leftovers".
