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.
Joan says
I followed the recipe and the soup is really good. Next time I’ll only use two tablespoons of brown sugar not all three
Margaret says
Do you know how long it would take to cook this in an instant pot?
Yvanna Blanch says
LOVED IT. Soooo delicious and easy to make. Did not change anything. Excellent
Sasha says
Sounds great. I’m going to try this but what’s the brown sugar for?
Sara says
It replicates the slight sweetness in traditional cabbage rolls.
Gail Cherry Bacon says
Wow this was the best soup ever.. I like the idea of using shredded cabbage. It fezzes well to
MB says
Sara,
You are a genius. I’ve toiled and dreaded the laborious agony of making the cabbage rolls for quite a while, and then I saw your comment in the cabbage roll recipe suggesting a short-cut soup version tasting just as great. This is the unexpected joy of encountering a chef with this kind of insight AND willing to create a recipe to help us all to get into the cabbage roll groove with minimal effort. You are unreal in your ability to step outside the box and slap on some wisdom. I’m suddenly deeply in love with you. This soup was stellar! Please tell me 5 other of your completely blow-it-out-of-the-park-and-to-the-moon-recipes! I am so lucky to have discovered you. I made a couple teeny changes, but I don’t know if it really improved your recipe, just little suggestions from other recipes, I hope you don’t mind. 1/2 T Worcestershire, 1 stalk celery, 1/2 bell pepper, 2 small cans tomato paste vs. 3 cans tomato sauce. 1 T balsamic vinegar, 1/4 tsp Italian seasoning, 1/4 tsp herbs d’ Province seasoning, 1 C beer, 1 tsp total table salt, 1 tsp total black pepper. The salt turned out to be a little weak so next time I’ll add 1 pkg of Magic Sarap (Philippine favorite garlic MSG seasoning) and I’ll also try 1/2 tsp cayenne. I see barberries in another recipe, maybe 1/4 C would do something extra good, or not…. Thank you so much, this is an awesome recipe!
Mike
Joy says
Geez, Mike. That was more than a couple of slight changes(lol), but I am going to try them. I’ve made this soup and it’s really good, but I can see where your additions would take the flavor to another level! Thanks for sharing. Happy Holidays!
Becky says
I was a little intimidated making this recipe as I dont usually eat cabbage….but it came out absolutely delicious. I never thought I’d love a cabbage soup so much. It is so hearty and tasty. Everyone in the family loved it. I will definitely be making it again!
Lola says
Can you use cauliflower rice?
Sara says
A lot of people have used cauliflower rice with great success!
Arlene ponce says
Will minced garlic from bottle work
Sara says
Yes that’s fine!
Kevin J Sterken says
Most excellent recipe I did one thing different used fire roasted tomatoes turned out lovely would recommend this recipe to anyone thank you
Jan says
I used Cole slaw mix, already had carrots shredded. Added beef bouillon cubes. Turned out great!
Valerie says
Just tried this today. Came out very good, would make again.
Sherri Metz says
I made this soup this afternoon and am very pleased with the recipe and will make again. It
Amber says
This is so yummy. I used ground turkey instead of beef and brown rice instead of white. I also used no salt added tomato sauce and low sodium broth. Definitely making this again!!