This cabbage roll soup has all the same flavors as classic baked cabbage rolls, but with way less work! This unstuffed cabbage soup is hearty, filling and the perfect choice for an easy dinner option.
If you love cabbage rolls, but don’t love all the work involved, this quick cooking cabbage soup is for you!
Baked cabbage rolls are one of those nostalgic dishes that my grandma used to make. While I love the flavors, I don’t love all the work involved. Between boiling the cabbage, making the filling, wrapping everything up and then the bake time, it can turn into an all day affair! This cabbage roll soup has all the same flavors as the classic dish, but with a fraction of the prep time.
How to make cabbage roll soup
To make your unstuffed cabbage soup, you’ll need to start with some ground beef. I use 90% lean beef, it’s got great flavor but doesn’t make the soup overly greased. The beef is browned along with some onion before the rest of the ingredients get added to the pot.
After your beef is ready to go, everything else goes into the pot, including rice, carrots, tomato, spices and of course, cabbage. Bring the whole thing to a simmer and in about 25 minutes dinner is done!
What you end up with is a rich and hearty soup that has complex flavors. I know in many cases simmering a soup for longer helps to develop the flavors, but in this case you don’t want to over-cook the soup or else the rice will get mushy.
There is so much going on here, between the meat, veggies and rice, that it’s really a complete meal in one pot. I do often serve this cabbage roll soup with a side of crusty bread or a green salad, just to round out the meal. Even my kids love this one, they didn’t even mind the cabbage pieces which normally they might not eat.
I often make a double batch of this soup just so we have leftovers to eat for a few days, that’s how good it is! It’s absolutely perfect for a cold night, and the quick prep time makes it ideal for a busy weeknight.
More soup recipes
Cabbage Roll Soup Video
Cabbage Roll Soup
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 pound ground beef I use 90% lean
- 1 onion finely diced
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 4 cups coarsely chopped green cabbage
- 2 carrots peeled, quartered and sliced
- 4 cups beef broth
- 3 8 ounce cans tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons parsley
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the ground beef and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Cook, breaking up the meat with a spatula, until beef is browned, approximately 4-5 minutes. Add the onion and garlic cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the cabbage, carrots, beef broth, tomato sauce, rice, bay leaf and brown sugar to the pot. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Bring to a simmer and cook for 25 minutes or until rice is tender. Remove bay leaf and discard.
- Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
Notes
- Recipe adapted from The Wholesome Dish.
- Not a fan of ground beef? Try ground turkey instead!
- You can substitute brown rice for white rice, but that will require about 20 more minutes of cook time.
Frances Adair says
Made it but also added kielbasa to it. Delicious. Will definitely make it again
Gail Cherry Bacon says
Oh yes great recepie having leftover for lunch. I cooked in crock pot after browned the meat
Cook rice on the side too. It in the freezer as well for another night
TeLisa says
Can I use Pearl Couscous instead of the Rice?
And Pearl Couscous is a Toasted Israeli Pasta.
Sara says
Yes that’s fine!
Pamela says
Great recipe. My husband and I LOVED it. Easy to make and absolutely delicious. I HIGHLY recommend it. Thanks so much for posting this recipe.
Stephanie Hannah says
Delicious. Added Cumin and Thyme. Used left over cauliflower rice instead of actual rice. Very impressed with this simple flavourful recipe!
Gail Cherry Bacon says
It was to live for
The only thing I did is cook rice seperate cook in crock pot 6 hours low
It could of used a little more cabbage but great recepie
Jamie says
Making this tonight! Could you use basmati rice?
Sara says
Yes that’s fine!
Pamela says
Absolutely DELICIOUS! My husband ate three bowls of it! Thank you for this recipe!
GAJ says
I will try this soon . It looks delicious and ready to eat ” hungry “
Linda Zack says
Im making this tomorrow, can’t wait,,yummy
Kristy says
We are on Keto, could you substitute the brown sugar for swerve? Or just omit all together?
Sara says
Yes either way works!
Tequilla Washington says
Has anyone tried using riced cauliflower instead of the rice?
Sherie says
I made this soup and served it to my husband, myself and our four grandchildren ages, three, eleven, fourteen and sixteen. We all loved it! It was simple to make and I’ll definitely be making it again.
Cheryl says
This was so delicious! Just the kind of meal my husband loves! Can this recipe be frozen, and if so can it be frozen before being cooked and would you still add all the ingredients or wait til day of to add meat and rice? Or would it need to be fully cooked and then freeze?
Sara says
I would freeze it without the rice, then stir in the cooked rice just before serving!
Jeannine says
Can this be done in a crock pot? What would cooking time be?
Sara says
I would cook on low for 6 hours, and stir the rice in during the last 30 minutes.
Pam says
If I wanted to make this in the instant pot how long would I set it for?
Sara says
20 minutes high pressure!
Marie says
Thank you for sharing this recipe. It was easy to put together especially because my sweet husband chopped onions and cabbage for me. This is dinner tonight.
Hannah says
Loved this! It really hits the spot! I have a question though, does this save well? Can it be frozen or eaten as leftovers for a few days? My husband is away right now so it’s just me and my two littles so it was a lot of food for us. Lol
Sara says
Yes it will keep in the fridge for 3 days!
Jake Y says
I always double the recipe bc the fam loves it so much. I split ground beef and ground pork, add a little more tomato sauce, and a couple tbsp of Worcestershire sauce.
Loretta says
Jake – I’m mixing my meat now, with Worcestershire Sauce, bc I make my meat like a meatloaf. ✔
Karine says
So good! So comforting! Only changes I made was to use chicken broth bc I ran out of beef broth, and used fennel instead of bay leaf. Oh, and I added a couple tbsp of white wine to the pot. So simple, yet so tasty!