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 planned to make cabbage rolls but the grocery pickup gave me the tiniest cabbage I’ve ever seen so I had to improvise. The ingredients in this recipe were very similar to what I use for the rolls so I was good to go. Not only was it delicious but it was so fast and easy I’m not sure you could get me to go back now. The only thing I did differently was leave out the olive oil (even using 93% lean beef there was still plenty of grease to sauté the onion and garlic) and I added 1 Tbsp of apple cider vinegar because I love vinegar with cabbage. All in all it turned out perfectly. I will make this again and again. Thank you!
I put in some substitutes, but this still came out great!
Love this recipe! Delish and easy. I use one box of Rice-A-Roni long grain and wild rice with the seasonings mixed in . It has 1/2 cup rice in its contents, which is what the recipe calls for . The flavor is amazing!
Amazing! So good–I cut it down to a 2 person meal , I like that the recipes do that automatically- no math for me!
Love this recipe. Follow it all except didn’t have a bay leaf. Still great. I used cauliflower rice instead of rice. How much does that reduce the carbs per serving?
Can it be made in an instant pot/pressure cooker? How long would you suggest?
That should be fine, 7 minutes manual pressure with a 10 minute natural release, then manually release any pressure remaining.
I have made this soup MANY times!! It is our absolute favorite!! I did not change a thing… I would however like to try it with chicken instead of beef. I have read the comments to see if anyone has done this but didn’t see where anyone had tried it this way. Do you think it would be good??
I’d use ground chicken and it should work!
Since there’s only the 2 of us, when I make a big pot of soup a lot goes in the freezer. I make this awesome soup without rice. I cook the rice separately, adding it to the bowl like I do with gumbo.
One serving is about how much soup?
It’s 1 1/2 cups!
can this be made in crockpot?
Yes that should be fine!
I want to sub diced tomatoes for the sauce. Did you drain the tomatoes before using? and would you use an ounce for ounce substitution.
I’d use a 15 ounce can undrained.
Can I add potatoes without muting the flavor?
Yes that should be fine!
I made this recipe tonight and it was the best cabbage soup I’ve ever made! Its definitely going to be a frequent!
Great recipe! I subbed a can of tomato sauce for a can of spicy diced tomatoes for an extra kick and my kids devoured it. I also put sauerkraut as a topping, someone suggested it here…. yum yum yum!!!
Can I use spaghetti sauce for the tomato sauce? I have Classico in the cabinet.
I think that would work ok but I haven’t tried it myself!
I would like to make a low carb version of this. Can it be made without the rice? Any suggestions?
A lot of people have said that they use cauliflower rice with good results!
Can red cabbage be used ?
That should be fine!
Would this soup freeze well ? I made this soup tonight and it was very good & flavorful.
Yes you can freeze it!
Instead of rice we use Quinoa and ground turkey
Wonderful recipe. I added an 8 oz can of Frank’s sauerkraut.
The menu stated adding 3 8 oz cans of tomato sauce? Do you know if it meant 3/8oz or?
3 cans of tomato sauce, 8 ounces each, for a total of 24 ounces.
Wow,imagine using 38 oz tomato sauce.
I I just like petite diced tomatoes in mine,instead of all that tomato sauce. To each their own. It was delish. Also added a can of dark red kidney beans
This soup is fabulous. Best version of the soup I’ve ever made. I would, however, be sure that the cabbage is totally cooked before adding the rice. My cabbage took forever to cook, maybe it was the “last” of the season, but I would be sure it’s done before adding the rice. The entire house was filled with the aroma of stuffed cabbage.
I used ground pork instead and it turned out DELICIOUS! Will make this again since I’ve never been one to make cabbage rolls. I served with toasted sourdough on the side!
I used half beef and half Italian sausage with colored peppers orange red and yellow
Soup was very easy to assemble. I used some ground round. I’m afraid I did omit the bay leaf, as I didn’t have any on hand and I HATE buying herbs or spices by the jar when I only need a small portion. Drives me nuts-especially during the holidays!
My pot of deliciousness will be on the low carb side-I substituted riced cauliflower for the regular rice. Used a low carb brown sugar sub as well.
Thanks so much for this simple, yet filling soup. It’s a keeper for me!