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
- Chicken Taco Soup
- Hamburger Soup
- Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
- Ham Bone Soup
- Tortellini Soup with Sausage
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.
I think I will cut back on the brown sugar next time. Never thought to add brown sugar in the first place but I think it was a little too sweet me. However a very good recipe.
What is the size of a serving?
It’s 1 1/2 cups!
We LOVE stuffed cabbage rolls, but hate all the fuss that goes with them, so this recipe is a keeper! I only did one thing different. We love slow simmered soups, so I did just that for 4 hours, and then added the washed rice in and cooked it until it was tender.
Everything was flavored perfectly and we ate it all within 3 days. It’s even better the next day. I did have to triple the recipe twice because of our multi generational family here where we live. And still had enough left over for the next days to feed all 16 of us.
Yeah, we have a zoo as well. Even the grandkids were wolfing it down and asked for more! And they’re not big on veggies!
This recipe is fantastic, thank you so much!
I added some dried thyme, oregano and dill, 6 fresh Roma tomatoes and used mushroom bouillon since I had no beef bouillon. I also added 1/4 cup more rice…and of course a bit more liquid.
Hi! Is the parsley dried or fresh? Thanks!
It’s fresh parsley!
I made this for the first time and followed the recipe exactly. It turned out perfectly and my whole family raved about how good it was, my mom and dad even asked me for the recipe. This one’s a keeper for sure!
Made this for the first time tonight and it was delicious! The only thing I changed was I added about a tsp of red pepper flakes for a little heat. My husband and I both loved it, and our kids who thought they hated cabbage tried it and really liked it too! Thank you for the recipe! (I will say that the broth is sweet, which I didn’t mind at all, but for those who don’t like overly sweet stuff, you might want to reduce the amount of brown sugar.)
I love this recipe and make it often. It’s so easy to make, healthy and delicious. It’s a frequent request in my family.
I added additional spices, crushed red pepper, basil and a pinch of star anise.
I absolutely love this soup. It is so hearty and satisfying, perfect for cold Michigan winters. With the cabbage, rice, meat and carrots, it’s a meal in a bowl. I use ground turkey instead of beef, but that is all I changed.
This is a very easy and very good soup. Cabbage al dente like I prefer. Wife loved it too. Will def make again.
Loved this recipe so much! Very hearty, healthy and filling meal. Great leftovers. I did add a few dashes of Worcestershire and extra seasoning such as onion, garlic powder, smoked paprika and oregano. I’ll definitely be making this again.
I substitute diced potatoes for the rice because I make a larger batch that way there is leftovers. And there really is something to be said for soups tasting better the next day
Delicious recipe, just too sweet!
I really enjoyed this recipe. I used impossible ground beef since our household is vegetarian. It was slightly too sweet, so next time I won’t use as much brown sugar.
I just made this recipe😊. It was so simple and good!
I used stewed tomatoes with celery and peppers. I omitted the rice.