Satisfy your craving for something cozy, comforting, and delicious with cabbage roll soup.
Cabbage, beef, pork and rice are simmered in a flavorful tomato broth for the ultimate bowl of comfort food.
This easy cabbage roll soup recipe is reminiscent of my grandmother’s cabbage rolls and is the perfect meal for chilly days or cozy nights.
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Growing up with a Polish grandmother, dishes like cabbage rolls, rouladen, and haluski (cabbage and noodles) were staples in our family! Good easy simple comfort food!
- This cabbage roll soup recipe has the same great flavors found in my grandma’s cabbage rolls made into a cozy delicious soup.
- Easy prep, no rolling required!
- This dish uses simple ingredients, most of which you likely have on hand.
- It reheats and freezes well.
This Cabbage Roll Soup recipe was adapted from my favorite cabbage rolls to create a quick and easy meal without all of the work! We just simply add it to the pot and walk away; no rolling required!
How to Make Cabbage Roll Soup
Meat – My grandmother always made cabbage rolls with a mixture of pork ground pork and ground beef, which is what I use in this recipe. You can use just one or the other or substitute ground turkey.
If you’d like, add a few slices of bacon, it adds a delicious smoky flavor.
- Brown the meat.
- Add the cabbage and cook for a few minutes. Add the uncooked rice, broth, tomatoes, and seasonings.
- Simmer until tender.
This makes a nice rich and hearty soup loaded with cabbage, meat & rice which is very thick, almost stew-like. If you’d prefer a more soupy consistency, you can add more broth.
Bread for Dipping and Dunking!
This soup pairs well with any type of bread or dinner rolls for dipping and dunking.
Leftovers
Leftovers will keep for 3 to 4 days in the fridge. The rice may soak up some of the broth so add a bit of water or broth if needed.
You can freeze leftover cabbage roll soup. Place individual servings in freezer bags or in an air-tight container. Freeze bags on a baking sheet and once frozen we stack them in the freezer upright to save space!
More Cabbage Favorites
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 large onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- ½ pound lean ground pork or additional ground beef
- ¾ cup uncooked long grain rice
- 1 medium head cabbage chopped, core removed, about 8 cups
- 28 ounces canned diced tomatoes with juices
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 4 cups beef broth
- 1 ½ cups vegetable juice such as V8
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 bay leaf
- salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large pot, brown the onion, garlic, pork, and beef over medium-high heat. Drain excess fat.
- Stir in the chopped cabbage and let cook until slightly softened, about 3 minutes.
- Add in the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, beef broth, V8 or vegetable juice, uncooked rice, paprika, thyme, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaf, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir well to combine.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover the pot and let simmer until the rice is fully cooked, approximately 25-30 minutes.
- Remove bay leaf and serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Soup
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8elicious soup loaded with fresh vegetables, potatoes and lean beef. It’s all simmered in a tomato broth for the perfect family meal!
So amazing always make a double recipe because make for my friend and kids as well. My son is 6 and very picky but loves this.
Me and my husband loved and had a good taste and we both love cabbage I put a bit more beef broth in it and added some water because I like to have a lot of liquid in my Soup
So glad you loved it Margaret!
it’s sooooo yummy, iv’e made it 3 times , love it !!!
I am so glad that you are enjoying this recipe JoAnn!
This is a good winter soup recipe!! My husband loves it!!
I am so glad that your family enjoyed this recipe!
Love this soup! Froze leftovers and they were just as delicious as the day I made it.
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe Cindy!
Very good hearthy soup! Am putting this in my favorites! I tweaked it a bit to ressemble the taste of my irish grandma’s recipe she obviously puts…beer in hers hahaha so half beef broth half beer, i had fennel fronds so put them in as well and celeri i had in the fridge and added a little brown sugar to cut the acid from beer and tomatoes :) yummy meal here in cold grey Quebec december! Thanks for the recipe! :)
I am going to have to try adding beer the next time I make this! That sounds delicious!
So yummy. I didn’t have any ground pork and just added more ground beef but it tasted amazing. Thw whole family loved it. Great for a cold winter night.
Tried this great recipe and it was easy to follow and tasted amazing. Reminded me of when my grandmother made cabbage rolls. Thank you for sharing
This is delicious. Made last week and it was requested again tonight.
I am so glad this recipe is a hit with your family!
A very hearty soup. Great on a cold day. It got very thick the longer it cooked. I kept adding more tomato juice, more than double than the recipie called for. I also used smoked paprika because that is what I had. It punched up the flavor. I’d make it again, we loved it.
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Tried this recipe today, turned out great.
Very easy to make
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
I made it and it was delicious. I froze several portions separately and defrosted each one as I wanted them. I found that each serving was better than the last. I will make this again, for sure. Quick and really easy. I highly recommend making it a day or two before serving. It truly enhances the flavor.
Would love to see some vegetarian recipes that are easy, quick and as delicious as this was!
I found this recipe posted by a friend on FB.
This soup is absolutely delicious. I couldn’t keep my husband from eating it. I did find it very thick so had to add extra liquid. Try it, you won’t be sorry.
Just made this tonight and it’s so good. Great to have on a cold fall night. I like the fact I can freeze it too. For two people, that’s good for several meals now and later.
Hi! I saw your recipe shared on Facebook, and tried it today. It was so yummy! I made a slight change. The store didn’t have ground pork, so I used a lb of regular sausage, which is what I would use in actual cabbage rolls, and I added a bit more liquid. Sooo good! And it made a HUGE pot of soup!
I’m so glad you loved it Shannon! I’ll have to give ground pork a try in mine sometime!
I like this soup recipe over others out there, it has more flavor. I don’t eat pork so I substituted turkey. It is great and with the rice very filling. If avoiding carbs you can leave rice out. I’ve made it both ways. I also like to use smoked paprika gives it more depth. It is one of those recipes you can play with and it is still great.
Anytime a recipe calls for tomato juice or v8 I always sub my favorite bloody mary mix. I tried it with this as well and it turned out fantastic!
Sounds like a yummy twist!
Thank you for sharing your recipe ! This turned out perfectly. So flavorful, and hearty, and healthy.. It was even better the next day. We placed over rice, this afternoon ..so good.
That sounds awesome Suzanne!
This is the 3ed or 4th time I’ve made this soup. We love it so very much. We eat every drop of this soup. If there is left overs we eat them up.
So glad you enjoy it so much!
I have a question: I made the Unstuffed Cabbage Casserole and it’s just way too much for my husband and I …. What are your thoughts on taking that leftover, adding beef broth (was also thinking some onion soup) and turning the leftover unstuffed cabbage casserole into this soup????
I think it would be delicious, such a great idea!! Please let me know how it works out for you!