Cabbage Roll Soup is the perfect way to enjoy cabbage rolls without all of the work!
Cabbage, beef, pork and rice are simmered in a flavorful tomato broth for the ultimate bowl of comfort food.
We love to serve this easy recipe with a fresh side salad and some homemade Dinner Rolls for a meal that everyone absolutely LOVES!!
Growing up with a Polish grandmother dishes like Easy Cabbage Rolls and Cabbage and Noodles were staples on her table! Good easy simple comfort food!
I know you guys love this recipe just as much as I do because every time I post it Cabbage Roll Soup on Facebook, it goes crazy!
There are tons of great ways to prepare cabbage rolls (including as a Cabbage Roll Casserole which can also be made in the slow cooker)! As much as I love traditional cabbage rolls, I also love a good ol’ belly warming bowl of soup!
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
My grandmother always made cabbage rolls with a mixture of pork ground pork and ground beef which is what I use i this recipe. I sometimes make this cabbage roll soup with bacon as well, I love the smoky flavor it adds (and I just fry it with the rice). If you just have one or the other that will still work perfectly (I’ve also substituted ground turkey before with delicious results too).
Just brown your meat, throw everything in the pot and let it simmer (no need to precook your rice)! The result is a rich and hearty soup loaded with cabbage, meat & rice; perfect for a winter or fall evening! This soup comes out very thick, almost stew-like, if you prefer a more soupy consistency, you can add more broth.
We serve this up with a side of or Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits and a tossed salad for a quick weeknight meal! Like most soups and stews, the leftovers (should you be lucky enough to have any!) are amazing!
Can You Freeze Cabbage Roll Soup?
Yes, absolutely if you have leftovers, this soup freezes perfectly. We place them into freezer bags in individual portions and place them on a cookie sheet to freeze. Once frozen we stack them in the freezer making an easy individual lunch!
Cabbage Roll Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 large onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- ½ pound lean ground pork
- ¾ cup uncooked long grain rice
- 1 medium head cabbage chopped (core removed), about 8 cups
- 1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 4 cups beef broth
- 1 ½ cups V8 or other vegetable juice
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 bay leaf
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large pot, brown onion, garlic, pork and beef. Drain any fat.
- Stir in chopped cabbage and let cook until slightly softened (about 3 minutes).
- Add all remaining ingredients, bring to a boil and reduced heat to medium low. Cover and simmer on low until rice is fully cooked (about 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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A delicious soup loaded with fresh vegetables, potatoes and lean beef. It’s all simmered in a tomato broth for the perfect family meal!
Tender cabbage wrapped around a flavorful beef and pork mixture and baked in a delicious tomato sauce.
It was GREAT!
Older hands struggle with pulling leaves off cabbage heads to make cabbage rolls. This is a perfect substitute. I made a couple of changes that have received raves. Substitute low sodium tomato soup for paste,increase broth to 8 cups and added 1/4 cup brown sugar. I didn’t have ground pork, so used only ground beef. I also added 1 cup shredded carrots.
Looks and sounds delicious
Made this several times. Good soup. Only changes were I added two pinches of red pepper flake, and added 1/2 stick of butter when I sauté cabbage and add garlic then. If however you cook for a few, it makes a lot. Canning rice never works well. I cooked in crocpot and added rice seperately so i can can it in instapot. Happy new years!
I have a question. When making cabbage roll ups, what can you do with the remaining leaves after you are done making the roll ups? I plan on making a full pan of roll ups.
Hi Steve, we have some delicious cabbage recipes you could try with the leftover leaves. Like this boiled cabbage recipe, colcannon recipe, or this fried cabbage recipe. You will have to let us know if you decided to try one out!
Love this soup. Thanks for a great recipe!
You’re welcome Audie!
I love this soup. Great recipe. I made 2 changes. I used pork breakfast sausage instead of plain ground pork, and I added a medium sized can of sauerkraut because I felt it needed acid. You could also use some apple cider or red wine vinegar, but I loved the sauerkraut, which I also use when I make cabbage rolls.
That sounds delicious Nancy, thanks for sharing!
This recipe was amazing delicious! I did eliminate the tomatoe paste because we like lots of broth. I dont like pork so I used 2 lbs of hamburger. This recipe is tops in my book. Will definitely be making this over and over. Thank you!
You’re welcome Amyg! It’s a versatile recipe so I’m happy to hear that you tailored it to suit yourself!
Everyone loves cabbage rolls but no one ever wants to make them. Hello cabbage roll soup. I’ve made this soup from this recipe every New Year’s Day for the last few years. Always a crowd-pleaser. I like to add a bit more tomato juice, a teaspoon of fennel seed and some red pepper flake. A great, great soup.
So glad you loved this Bill!
I make cabbage roll soup for my youngest son and myself, we’re the only ones in my family that like it. He and I love it.
I make mine different than this recipe. I use, ground beef, cabbage, onion powder (my son won’t eat onions), tomato juice, Worcestershire sauce, a can of tomato soup, parsley, rice, garlic powder, salt and pepper. It’s absolutely delicious! I make it in a huge Farberware pot on top of the stove.
I’m going to make a pot for us really soon.
This recipe sounds great. It is an easy to enjoy recipe. It
I’ve made this but I used a bag of coleslaw. It’s a big timesaver. It’s a delicious soup.
The flavor was great but the cabbage was chewy.. I even simmered it for 20 extra minutes.. I would make it again but I would sauté the cabbage first and add it at the end. It would be good without the cabbage and just add extra rice.
I haven’t try any recipes yet. I planning to make your cabbage roll soup. It looks so…… delicious
Love the recipes
Excellent and mouth watering.
Awesome recipes
WONDERFUL DELICIOUS Filling meal in a soup bowll!! , real cooler weather comfort food !!
Looks good
DELICIOUS!!
What type of pot are you using in the video? None of my pots are deep enough. I made a different version of this once I had to cut back on the cabbage because my pot was too small. I absolutely love cabbage Also do you think I can make this in a pressure cooker
Hi Heidi, The pot in the video came from Costco and is no longer available. The brand is Chantal and it is a Cast Iron Dutch Oven. You can find similar Dutch Ovens here on Amazon. This recipe should work well in a 5qt or larger pot to give adequate room for stirring.
I started in a 6 qt. cast iron Dutch oven making this tonight.
Had to move it to a medium sized stock pot (maybe 9 or 19 qts.)
It was FABULOUS!!
Just grateful I had another pot to transfer it to. :)
I’d recommend a large stock pot for this. I like to make a huge pot, eat it for a few days and then freeze the rest.
Hi Heidi, Regarding the pressure cooker: If it is a stove top model consider using this large pot to cook in when you don’t pressure cook. Regardless, this recipe could be cooked any type. The item that takes the longest to cook is the rice. If you have a preference about how cooked you like cabbage, then cook it in two steps in pressure cooker. After cooking the meat, onions, garlic add all the other ingredients and bring up to pressure and cook for the time recommended for your pot, usually 10 minutes with natural pressure release. If you want the cabbage less soft, then omit the cabbage before cooking the rice. After rice cooks, then rapidly cool/decompress the pot, then add the cabbage, bring up to pressure for a couple of minutes and then rapidly cool/decompress. Honestly, by the time you have babysat the pot, it could all be happily done and you can do something else while it is cooking. Keep it simple for dish like this one.