Cabbage Roll Soup recipe

overhead square image of cabbage roll soup in pot.

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 25

Total Time: 40

Servings: servings

Calories: 248cal

Author: Ashley Fehr

Cabbage Roll Soup is a one pot soup recipe that's made hearty with ground beef and of course plenty of tender cabbage! A bold tomato broth holds it all together and makes every spoonful more savory than the last.

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Ingredients

1 lb lean ground beef
4 cups chopped cabbage
2 large carrots (peeled and chopped)
1 rib celery (finely chopped)
½ medium onion (finely chopped)
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon minced garlic (3-4 cloves)
2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
2 teaspoons salt (you may need up to 3 depending on your broth)
½ teaspoon black pepper
5 cups low sodium chicken broth (or vegetable or beef)
1½ cup tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes (14 oz or 398 ml) or crushed
1 cup long grain rice (rinsed well)
1 bay leaf
2-3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons ketchup
fresh chopped parsley

Instructions

Heat a large dutch oven or soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the beef and cook just until browned.
Add cabbage, carrots, celery and onion and cook until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes.
Add in tomato paste, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper and cook 2 minutes.
Add broth, tomato sauce and canned tomatoes.
Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and stir in the rinsed rice and bay leaf. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and cook until vegetables and rice are tender (about 10 minutes).
Stir in 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and 1 tablespoon ketchup. Taste and add additional sugar and ketchup if needed, adjust seasonings as desired.

Video

Notes

Ingredients and Substitutions:

Beef: I use lean ground beef and don't find I need to drain the fat (we also use it to cook our vegetables), but you can do this after browning if you desire. You can also substitute for ground pork or turkey, but the flavor will differ.

Tomatoes: diced or crushed tomatoes both work as well, so choose your preference! I use low sodium so I can control the salt content.

Broth: I always choose low sodium broth so I can control the salt content. If you're using salted broth, you may want to reduce the added salt and season at the end to taste.

Rice: Long grain white rice is my preferred variety for this recipe, but you can use long grain brown rice as well, it may just need to be cooked longer.

Brown sugar and ketchup: don't knock it til you try it! Cabbage roll sauce is typically a little on the sweet side, so this is required, but you can start with a little and add more as needed. The ketchup adds some acidity to brighten the flavors at the end as well.

Nutrition