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.
Made this soup for my family and they all loved it and so did I. It has a really great rich taste and I’m sure I’ll be making it again soon.
Glad to hear that the family enjoyed it, thanks for reporting back!
delicious, easy, quick – what more could I ask? made exactly as written- perfect for very cold winter night.
So happy to hear you loved it!!
It was a great recipe find, are used ground venison I would also use one less tablespoon of brown sugar.
Glad to hear you enjoyed it, thanks for reporting back!
Only made a large double batch of the soup. I assessed my mum’s cabbage roll recipe also then included a little lemon juice and paprika. The soup is yummy!! Might be my favourite soup. Thank you to the recipe.
So glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe, thank you for reporting back!
I tried this and it was one of the most delicious things I have ever made! I did make some unexpected adjustments though lol. I felt like it wasn’t enough rice so I put extra in, probably another 1/4 cup but I didn’t measure. As it was simmering my wife informed me it was really thick, and she was right, so I put a 10oz can of great value original diced tomatoes with green chilies and about a 1/4 cup water to add some liquid. It still was pretty thick but the extra rice was just fine and the tomatoes and green chilies added a little spice to it, which was awesome!
So happy to hear you enjoyed it, I appreciate you reporting back!
I tried this and it was amazing!I added sweet and hot sausage to mine to kick it up a notch and it was awesome. Great dish and great flavors . Thank you for sharing!
Love the idea of using sausage, glad you enjoyed it!
Good idea will definitely try that next time….
Thanks Nicole
😃
I have made other versions of this but love the addition of brown sugar in yours. I used 2T and it was the right amount for me. Also, I usually make it with bulk sausage and added 1T of paprika. Meal in a bowl!
So glad to hear you enjoyed it, thank you for reporting back!
Was in the mood for something hearty and warming and came across this recipe.. Ive never made cabbage roll soup before and it came out amazing!!! Thank you for such a lovely and simple recipe!!!
So glad you enjoyed it, thanks for reporting back!
By popular demand, I am making this for dinner tonight. This will be the 5th time making it. Thank you very much for posting your recipe
So happy to hear that you’re enjoying the recipe, thanks for reporting back!
Made this for dinner tonight…OMG!! I’m in absolute Heaven! The taste is amazing and it’s the perfect dish for a chilly night.
So glad you enjoyed it, thanks for reporting back!
Made a double batch this weekend after coming across this recipe. WOW, did I pick the right one! Had all the flavour of cabbage rolls with less fuss to make. Only deviation was a wee bit more rice, garlic and brown sugar. I have a feeling I will use this recipe vs making traditional cabbage rolls from now on! A dab of sour cream on top of each bowl made it that more delicious. Thanks!!
So glad to hear you enjoyed it, thanks for reporting back!
This was absolutely amazing. Instead of regular long grain rice, I did a wild rice. This helped extend the cooking time as it usually takes around an hour for wild rice to cook. Also sauteed all the veggies first and deglazed with some red wine and added a little more garlic than called for…can’t wait to eat the next bowl!
Sounds fabulous, I’m going to try it that way!
Hello! Any tips on how to adapt this recipe to a slow cooker??? I just moved and I’m currently without a soup pot!
Thank you 🙂
Yes, you can place everything in the slow cooker except for the rice and parsley. You may want to brown the beef first if you have a pot for that. Cook on low for 4-6 hours, then add the rice during the last hour. Sprinkle with parsley then serve.
Want to try this but since it isn’t close to thanksgiving only broth in the house is chicken broth, will it change the taste very much to use chicken broth instead of beef broth?
Oh my gosh, I found this recipe by accident the other day. I don’t even like cabbage rolls, but this spoke to me, so I went out on a limb and made it for dinner one night for myself, my sister, and my two picky eaters (7 and 9 years old). I followed the recipe pretty closely although I chucked in some extra garlic and spices, and y’all, this was SO GOOD! So flavorful, very rich. Both of my kids begged for more and ate multiple bowls (although I pandered to them and put the soup over a little bit of pasta, lol). And as an added bonus, it made the house smell DIVINE for about two days. This is definitely going on my regular winter meals rotation!
So happy to hear you enjoyed it and that the kids ate it too!!
OMGOODNESS This is the Best Soup I have ever had!! I had to double the batch the second time making it. I did omit the rice. My husband begs me to make this soup at least once every other week!! Thanks for sharing!!
Thank you so much for the rave review, so happy to hear your husband is loving it!
Could this be assembled as a freezer meal? If so, would you recommend leaving the rice out of the freezer bag and adding it later on?
Yes it can, and you’ll want to leave the rice out and add it when you reheat the soup!
Just made this and it is del ish but the rice almost dissolved while cooking the rest until done. Next time I will wait to add the rice until the veggies are almost done. I also think the brown sugar cuts the acid of the tomato sauce.
A friend made it but used quinoa instead of rice and Italian sausage instead of beef. She loved it!
Glad to hear you enjoyed it! Thanks for reporting back!
It says 3 8oz tomato sauce, so that 38oz or 3 8oz cans?
24 ounces total
Hello Sara, I have made your soup many times and it is so delicious! My son who does not like any soup really liked it as well as the rest of the family. This will be a go to soup this winter. I did not put the rice or the sugar in it.
Thanks
So glad to hear your family is enjoying it!! Thank you for reporting back!