This delectable Cabbage Roll Soup takes everything you love about cabbage rolls and puts them 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. It takes time to simmer the cabbage leaves, stuff them and roll them. 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.
In no time at all, you can have a whole pot of hearty soup for your crew. This family-friendly recipe starts with ground beef, onion, carrots, and garlic. It is seasoned perfectly with paprika, oregano, and thyme and sweetened with just a bit of brown sugar. The aromas from the kitchen will be enough to ensure that you don’t miss out on a bowl.
How to make Cabbage Roll Soup
First, brown the ground beef in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. When the ground beef is about halfway browned, add the onions and carrots and cook until the onions are soft. Now 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. Then reduce and simmer for about 25 minutes or until the rice is tender. Season with salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley or thyme.
Helpful tips for making Cabbage Roll Soup
- Ground turkey, ground pork, or even pork sausage can be substituted for the ground beef.
- If you know, you will save some of the soup for another night’s meal split the batch before adding the rice. Plan to refrigerate the half without the rice. When you go to simmer it for another night’s dinner, add the other half of the rice and cook until it is tender.
- Fire-roasted tomatoes are tomatoes that have been charred over an open flame before being diced and canned. They are with the other canned tomatoes at your local grocery store. I love them because they really add a smokey sweetness to this soup.
- Vegetable broth or chicken broth can be substituted for the beef broth.
- To make this soup low-carb friendly, use cauliflower rice.
- 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 does not get mushy.
More soup recipes to try!
Chicken Vegetable 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 15 ounce can tomato sauce
- 1 14 ounce can 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 and simmer for about 25-30 minutes or until the rice is tender.
- Season with salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley or thyme.
Notes
- Ground turkey, ground pork, or even pork sausage can be substituted for the ground beef.
- If you know, you will save some of the soup for another night's meal split the batch before adding the rice. Plan to refrigerate the half without the rice. When you go to simmer it for another night's dinner, add the other half of the rice and cook until it is tender.
- Fire-roasted tomatoes are tomatoes that have been charred over an open flame before being diced and canned. They are with the other canned tomatoes at your local grocery store. I love them because they really add a smokey sweetness to this soup.
- Vegetable broth or chicken broth can be substituted for the beef broth.
- To make this soup low-carb friendly, use cauliflower rice.
- 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 does not get mushy.
Nutrition
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This post was originally published on September 12, 2016, and was republished on February 6, 2020, with new content.
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Kristi Humenski
If I am going to use cauliflower rice, how much does you recommend?
Beth Pierce
1 cup. Add the cauliflower rice the last 5-7 minutes of simmering.
Kelly
What happened to the original recipe??? It was Italian sausage, chicken broth, NO carrots. Why mess with what was perfect? Do you happen to have the original to share????
Beth Pierce
You can email me at smalltownwoman.com@gmail.com with the name of the recipe.
Catalina
This is definitely my favorite soup. It has all these rich flavors and it’s so delicious!
Tavo
Great soup! it was super tasty and even my kids asked for more!
Beth Pierce
Awesome! So glad that they liked it! Kids can be hard to please!
Gail Montero
Love the many options of which meat to use! With all the herbs added this is such a flavorful soup indeed!
Holley
Nothing beats a big bowl of this soup recipe! I love all the flavors and heartyness!
Lucy
So delicious and great for the chilly weather! I love this twist in cabbage rolls.
Janessa
Love this idea! Cabbage rolls are one of my favorite foods but they are so much work to make. This soup was easy and satisfied my craving.
Beth Pierce
Thanks, Janessa! So glad that you liked the soup!
Sandra
Bravo! We absolutely loved this soup. I served it with your delicious corn muffins, and we just could not get enough.
Amanda
This looks perfect for those chilly winter evenings. I cannot wait to make this!
Abida
Yummy! There is so much flavor in this great soup! Such a creative recipe.
Autumn Murray
Yum! I haven’t had cabbage roll soup since I was a child. With the cooler weather now approaching, will pin this to make over the holidays. Thank you!
Fransic verso
This looks so yummy and would love to try it. Always love to try new recipes like these. Thank you for sharing!