This delectable Cabbage Roll Soup takes everything you love about cabbage rolls and puts it into one easy soup. Just think of it as deconstructed cabbage rolls. This hearty, family-friendly soup is flavor-packed and full of wholesome ingredients like ground beef, onions, carrots, garlic, tomatoes, and cabbage. I love to serve it with cornbread or beer bread.
I love everything about cabbage rolls, but I don’t always have the time to make them. Simmering the cabbage leaves, stuffing them, and rolling them takes time. This soup eliminates all of that but still gives you all the flavor of cabbage rolls. Besides, who wouldn’t love a nice warm, hearty bowl of soup? To me, soup is great anytime. It warms the cockles of my heart.
Ingredient Notes with Substitutions
See the complete ingredients on the recipe card below.
- Ground Beef: You can substitute ground turkey, ground pork, or even pork sausage for the ground beef.
- Beef Broth: Substitute vegetable broth or chicken broth.
- Canned Tomatoes: You can find them with the other canned tomatoes at your local grocery store. I love them because they really add a smoky sweetness to this soup.
- Rice: To make this soup low-carb friendly, use cauliflower rice.
How to Make Cabbage Roll Soup
This is a summary; for the full list of ingredients and instructions, see the recipe card below.
- In a Dutch oven or large pot, brown the ground beef and add the onions and carrots halfway through. Cook until onions are soft.
- Reduce heat to low and add the garlic, paprika, oregano, and thyme. Cook for a minute while stirring.
- Add the cabbage, beef broth, tomato sauce, fire-roasted tomatoes, brown sugar, bay leaves, and rice, then bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes or until the rice is tender.
Preparation Tips
- If you know you will save some of the soup for another night’s meal, split the batch before adding the rice. Refrigerate the half without the rice. When you simmer it for another night’s dinner, add the other half of the rice and cook until tender.
- Fire-roasted tomatoes are tomatoes charred over an open flame, then diced and canned.
- Go light on the salt, as the tomatoes and beef broth are already salty.
More Soup Recipes
- Sausage Soup
- Loaded Potato Soup
- Lasagna Soup
- Chicken Barley Soup
- Pasta E Fagioli
- Tuscan White Bean Soup
Cabbage Roll Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 5 cups chopped green cabbage
- 4 cups low-sodium beef broth
- 1 can (15-ounce) tomato sauce
- 1 can (14-ounce) fire-roasted tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ cup uncooked long-grain white rice
- Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley or fresh thyme
Instructions
- Heat vegetable oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Brown the ground beef. When the ground beef is about halfway browned, add the onions and carrots and cook until the onions are soft.
- Reduce the heat to low and add the garlic, paprika, oregano, and thyme. Cook for 1 minute while stirring.
- Add the cabbage, beef broth, tomato sauce, fire-roasted tomatoes, brown sugar, bay leaves, and rice. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 25-30 minutes, or until the rice is tender.
- Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley or thyme.
Notes
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop.
- Freeze this soup for up to 3 months in heavy-duty freezer bags. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. For best results, hold back the uncooked rice. Add it when reheating the soup so the rice doesn’t get mushy.
Nutrition
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Jan
This was wonderful! I threw in some celery and left over asparagus. This is comfort food even for people in South Florida. Even though cold nights are rare we will eat this year round. I’m not the best cook but this was easy and I’m so proud of myself!
Beth Pierce
That is awesome Jan! So glad that you enjoyed it and that you did such a great job cooking it. I find cooking therapeutic!
Becca
Love love love this! Thank you for the great recipe.
Beth Pierce
You are most welcome!!So glad that you loved it!!
micke
what are the calories?
Beth Pierce
I finally got around to adding the calorie count on that! Sorry about the delay!!
Linda
What about using coleslaw mix as a short cut?
Gayla
I am going to use coleslaw mix.
Beth Pierce
That will work as well.
Tania
Hi there,
I live in Australia so was wondering what type of sausage to use and also cant get fire roasted tomatoes so should i just use regular canned tomatoes instead?
Beth Pierce
Thanks for the heads up. Pork sausage. I just corrected that. Sure you use canned tomatoes but I think I might kick in some cumin, chili powder and maybe a pinch of ground cayenne pepper or you could just add a little cajun seasoning. Go slow and season to taste. Thanks for stopping by!!
Laura
Do you drain the the meat at all?? It doesn’t say and normally you drain the grease off cooked beef or sausage
Beth Pierce
Yes if there is excess grease please drain it!!
Alan Ames
I added smoked paprika instead of the Cajun seasoning and added a few little meat balls!!! NICE!!!
Beth Pierce
That sounds absolutely delicious! I should try that!
Karen
I’m making this today! It’s rainy and chilly here in South Louisiana. Movies and comfort food on the menu for the day!
Beth Pierce
Awesome!! Enjoy your fun filled comfort day!!
Karen
The soup was a huge hit! This will be a definite “go to” on busy winter days.
Kimberly
What is the weight or volume equivalent of a small head of cabbage? That is kind of subjective. Same for the onion
bpierce
Small head of cabbage weighs about 1.5 lbs. About 8 ounces for a medium onion. I hope this helps and sorry about the delay. I am a little under the weather.
Valerie Vincent
I am making this for the second time in a week….My husband and I love it!! Thank you for posting such a nice comforting soup. Will be made many times up here in cold New York!!
bpierce
You are most welcome. Glad that you like it. Try to stay warm up there!!! We have some pretty cold winters down here in Missouri!!
Jason Carty
it says 1/4 tomato paste, a 1/4 of what. is it a tsp, tbsp., cup, can.
bpierce
Opps. Never ever post recipes while you are drinking cocktails! LOL! 1/4 cup! I am fixing it right now. Thanks for the heads up!!!!
Susan
Can it be madw in a crockpot
Beth Pierce
Yes I am sure you can. I would brown the ground beef first in a skillet adding the onions the last few minutes of cooking. I would also cook the rice separately and add at serving time so it does not overcook
Petar
Probably 1/4 of a cup
Pat
It says 1/4 cup tomato paste.