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.
Joseph Lee says
June 13, 2019 at 3:03 pmI love cabbage rolls and now I love cabbage roll soup!!! I substituted 8oz of El Pato for 8oz of tomato sauce, a spicy Mexican tomato sauce you can find in the ethnic food aisle. OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS RECIPE!! I’m looking forward to doing all sorts of riffs with sausages and different tomato sauces.
Naomi says
May 17, 2019 at 1:52 amLove cabbage rolls,taught the recipe by Lebanese friends. 50years later still cooking. Thank you so much for your recipe. It certainly is exactly the same without the hassle. A new favourite
Larry A. says
May 12, 2019 at 1:10 pmTried out this recipe today and it turned out amazing. Had to sub out the tomato sauce for a 28 oz. can of original spaghetti sauce and used brown rice instead of white rice. Extended cooking time to 50 minutes and it worked out very well. Thanks for this recipe. Will be a keeper for my recipe book. (Personal only)
Crystal says
May 6, 2019 at 3:56 amCan u freeze this soup?
Sara says
May 6, 2019 at 8:38 amThat would work fine, you may want to consider freezing it without the rice, then adding the rice when you serve it so that the rice won’t get mushy.
J says
April 5, 2019 at 8:34 amThis is one of the BEST recipes I’ve tried! Savory and satisfying.
Judi says
March 31, 2019 at 1:14 pmI really wanted to make this soup today…a rainy, cool Sunday… Did not quite have all the ingredients so instead of rice, I used tiny pasta shells, which I precooked el dente and did not add them till the last ten minute… Used a can of pureed stewed tomatoes for one of the sauce and a half cup of original V8 juice… we all LOVED it !!!
Jeanette Ransom says
March 24, 2019 at 5:11 pmMy family doesn’t like rice so I cubed potatoes small to bite size now they liked the taste that’s for this recipe.
Kathy says
March 18, 2019 at 10:20 amWe have actually made this and used riced cauliflower and it was awesome.
Sara says
March 18, 2019 at 1:32 pmGlad to hear it worked well with cauliflower, thanks for reporting back!
Jesschat says
March 7, 2019 at 12:19 amCould I use a 1/2 cup of barley instead of rice?
Sara says
March 7, 2019 at 2:18 pmThat will work but barley typically takes longer to cook so you’ll need to simmer it for more time.
Sherry says
February 28, 2019 at 4:03 pmJust made this tonight with cabbage from my garden….oh my goodness! It was delicious! My family loved it 😋
Sara says
February 28, 2019 at 5:45 pmGlad you enjoyed it, thanks for reporting back!
Natasha says
February 27, 2019 at 2:20 pmSoundsgreat! As I am typing I just put this all together a d it’s simmering! I hope it turns out great and it looks! Thank you and I added diced tomatoes also.
Sara says
February 27, 2019 at 7:06 pmI hope you enjoy!
gbc says
February 25, 2019 at 8:46 pmI live alone, so this recipe will go a long way and it sounds wonderful. I’ll be using my slow cooker and adding the uncooked rice last. How much cooking time will the rice need? Thank you!
Sara says
February 26, 2019 at 11:32 amThe rice should cook in about 30 minutes on high!
Brooke says
February 25, 2019 at 10:20 amWhat is the serving size. I changed it to 12 total servings, but how big is one serving?
Sara says
February 25, 2019 at 1:44 pm1 1/2 cups!
Samantha says
February 16, 2019 at 3:22 pmMade this vegan by using veggie crumble. Will be making this again!!!
Sara says
February 16, 2019 at 9:47 pmSo happy to hear you enjoyed it, I appreciate you coming back to comment!
Stan says
February 17, 2019 at 10:33 amWe will be trying this without carrots and sugar, and serving with sour cream on top. Oh, and adding lots of lemon juice when we do our cabbage rolls really perks up the flavor.
Tracee says
February 18, 2019 at 10:02 amI’m about to try the vegan version myself. So happy to hear it turned out well. Can’t wait to get this ready tonight!