Cabbage roll soup is a winter comfort food with all the same flavors as your favorite stuffed cabbage rolls but in a bowl! It will be hard not to love this cabbage roll soup.
Ready in less than 45 minutes but by making this soup recipe in a slow cooker early in the day will make your house smell amazing when you come home for a family meal.
Cabbage roll soup is the ingredients of cabbage rolls, ground beef, rice, cabbage, tomatoes, tomato sauce, vegetables and seasonings in a soup. Think of it as a deconstructed cabbage roll with more delicious tomato sauce and in a soup bowl.
This recipe is similar to my stuffed pepper soup in that, you get all your favorite flavors of the stuffed cabbage rolls but without the work and mess of stuffing them.
Why you will love stuffed cabbage roll soup recipe
- Warm and comforting this easy cabbage roll soup has layers of flavors that are delicious together in your bowl.
- A family favorite in my house this soup is very nostalgic for my dad.
- Perfect for easy heat up meals for busy week night dinners.
- Inexpensive and readily available ingredients make this delicious cabbage roll soup a low cost, filling winter soup.
🥫 Ingredients:
- ground beef - I use 80/20 lean ground beef but use 90/10 for a lower fat option
- garlic - minced. If you have garlic confit or roasted garlic, that would be delicious in this recipe.
- tomato paste
- carrot - shredded. see below why there is a carrot in this soup
- chopped cabbage - medium head of cabbage, core removed)
- diced tomatoes - store-bought can or use your own canned diced tomatoes
- Tomato vegetable juice - Think V-8 or something similar.
- long-grain white rice - uncooked rice
- bay leaf - dried
🥘 How to make cabbage roll soup:
- Heat a large pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat and brown the ground beef.
- Carefully remove all but a few tablespoons of the rendered beef fat from the pan.
- Add the onions and green peppers to the pot and saute the vegetables.
- Add the grated garlic and stir, cooking 30 seconds until the garlic becomes fragrant.
- Add the browned ground meat, tomato paste, and spices to the meat and vegetable mixture and stir to the pot and stir to combine.
- Add the cabbage and the remaining ingredients to the soup pot.
- Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pot and cook until rice is tender.
- Remove the bay leaf and discard.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
♨️ Slow cooker instructions to make this delicious cabbage soup
- Heat a large pot over medium-high heat and brown the ground beef.
- Remove the browned beef and add it to your large slow cooker.
- Carefully remove all but a few tablespoons of the rendered beef fat from the pan.
- Add the onions and green peppers to the pot and saute the vegetables.
- Add the grated garlic and stir, cooking 30 seconds until the garlic becomes fragrant.
- Transfer the cooked vegetables too your large crock-pot add the rest of the soup ingredients WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE RICE.
- Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours or on high 3-4 hours.
- Add the rice to the unstuffed cabbage soup, stirring to combine and cook an additional 20 minutes to cook the rice.
🧊 How to Freeze Cabbage Roll Soup
Cabbage roll soup can easily be frozen and reheated beautifully. Just be sure to cool it completely and store in a freezer-safe container. Make a double batch of soup, cool it completely, and portion it out into freezer-safe containers for an easy and delicious meal any day of the week.
🔥 Reheating instructions
This recipe makes a LOT and makes delicious leftovers for taking to work or school later in the week. I would recommend adding a splash of tomato juice, beef stock or water to the hearty soup before reheating the soup in the microwave on the stovetop. The rice will continue to absorb the liquids in the soup and to get more of a soup consistency, extra liquids will need to be added.
Can you freeze cabbage soup?
Cabbage roll soup can easily be frozen and reheats beautifully. Just be sure to cool it completely and store in a freezer-safe airtight container in your freezer. Make a double batch of soup, cool it completely, and portion it out into freezer-safe containers for a quick and delicious meal any day of the week.
How do you reheat leftover cabbage roll soup?
This recipe makes a LOT and makes delicious leftovers for taking to work or school later in the week. I would recommend adding a splash of tomato juice, beef stock or water to the soup before reheating the soup in the microwave on the stovetop. The rice will continue to absorb the liquids in the soup and to get more of a soup consistency, extra liquids will need to be added.
Why don't you use olive oil to sauté the vegetables?
I omit the olive oil because there is so much flavor in the rendered beef fat. By cooking down the beef first in a hot pan and then sautéing the vegetables in the beef drippings you are reducing the amount of oil in the recipe while using the amazing flavors the beef already has to offer the dish.
Can I substitute ground beef with another meat?
This recipe calls for ground beef but you can also substitute in ground pork, ground sausage or even ground turkey. Make sure whatever blend or combination you use, the total measurement will be a pound and a half.
Why is there a carrot in this recipe?
I add a bit of carrot to my recipes that have a lot of tomatoes as the main ingredient. For some people, tomatoes can be very acidic and hard to digest. The carrot will help neutralize the acid and make the dish more enjoyable. I use a Microplane grater to finely grate the carrots and my kids have no idea they are eating carrots! My halupki recipe and bolognese also have my secret grated carrot trick.
Can cabbage roll soup be made in a crockpot?
This soup is ready in less than 45 minutes but I understand that not everyone has 45 minutes to make dinner when the family is hungry NOW. Making this soup recipe in a slow cooker early in the day will make your house smell amazing when you come home for a family supper.
Can I use cauliflower rice or brown rice work in this recipe?
Yes, you can use cauliflower rice or brown rice in cabbage roll soup. Simply add your choice of rice to the large soup pot along with the other ingredients for a nutritious meal.
🍲 More Hearty and Easy Soup Recipes
- Lasagna Soup - This comforting soup is ready in 30 minutes and has all the classic lasagna flavors you love without turning on the oven.
- Autumn squash soup recipe (Panera copycat) - delicious, creamy, and full of fall flavors.
- Corn chowder recipe - comes together fast enough for a busy school night but tastes like you spent hours in the kitchen.
- Creamy tomato soup recipe - garden-fresh tomatoes, onions, garlic, chicken stock, and then garnished with fresh basil and a drizzle of heavy cream.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lb Ground Beef
- 1 Onion
- ½ green pepper diced
- 2 cloves Garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 Teaspoon Paprika
- 1 Teaspoon Thyme
- ¼ Cup carrot shredded
- 1 medium head cabbage chopped core removed
- ¾ Cup long grain rice uncooked
- 1 28 ounce Diced Tomatoes can
- 4 Cups beef broth
- 1 ½ Cup V8 or other vegetable juice
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 bay leaf
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Heat a large pot over medium high heat and brown the ground beef, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon until it is no longer pink.
- Transfer the cooked ground beef to a clean plate.
- Carefully remove all but a few tablespoons of the rendered beef fat from the pan.
- Add the onions and green peppers to the pot and saute the vegetables until they start to take on a bit of color. 4-5 minutes.
- Add the grated garlic and stir, cooking 30 seconds until the garlic becomes fragrant.
- Add the browned beef back to the pot and stir to combine.
- Add the tomato paste and the spices to the meat and vegetable mixture and stir to warm through. This will 'wake up' the spices and tomato paste bringing them to full flavor.
- Add the cabbage, carrots, diced tomatoes (with juice), beef broth, vegetable juice, rice, bay leaf and Worcestershire sauce to the pot.
- Bring to a boil and drop to a simmer, cover and cook for 25 minutes or until rice is tender.
- Remove bay leaf and discard.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Nutrition
Notes
- Heat a large pot over medium high heat and brown the ground beef.
- Remove the browned beef and add it to your large slow cooker.
- Carefully remove all but a few tablespoons of the rendered beef fat from the pan.
- Add the onions and green peppers to the pot and saute the vegetables.
- Add the grated garlic and stir, cooking 30 seconds until the garlic becomes fragrant.
- Transfer the cooked vegetables too your large crock-pot add the rest of the soup ingredients WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE RICE.
- Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours or on high 3-4 hours.
- Add the rice to the soup, stirring to combine and cook an additional 20 minutes to cook the rice.
I am Sarah Mock. Welcome!
Sarah Mock is a classically trained Chef and graduate of Johnson & Wales University. A culinary blogger for 16 years Sarah helps the home cook prepare her recipes with professional results.
Shadi Hasanzadenemati says
I'm making this for the weekend, I bet everyone is going to devour it!
Sarah says
I hope fall has arrived at your house. This is the perfect fall comfort food.
Jessica Formicola says
This is my kind of comfort food! I can't wait to try it out this week! This recipe looks amazing.
Sarah says
SAME! I love a warm soup on a cool crisp fall night.