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!
I’m always looking for something to do with left over cabbage. This recipe sounds delicious!
I made this recipe tonight. Absolutely delicious and nutritious!!!!
Will definitely make it for gatherings and soup suppers at church.
I am so glad you loved it Nancy!
Hi, do you have nutritional information for the soup? I made it yesterday and it is delicious!!
Please find the nutritional information below the recipe. Glad that you loved the soup!
WOW WOW!! We absolutely LOVED this soup. We loved it so much that we ate it as leftovers for 2 days and then made it AGAIN for company. I omitted the 1/2 lb of pork completely and just used the beef. It was plenty thick and meaty for us. This will be made again and again at our house! Thanks for a great recipe.
So glad you and your guests loved this one Shayla!
Found this recipe via Pinterest. We absolutely loved it! I was worried the cabbage might be gross as leftovers but it was still delicious the next day. My five year old said this was, “The best soup ever!” We are planning to make it again tonight for guests. I completely omitted the pork and just used 1# beef. It was plenty thick and meaty for us! Thanks for a great recipe!
This recipe is fantastic. However (lol) …
I personally would have benefited from a slightly more accurate measurement for the cabage.
I think my concept of what constitutes a medium cabbage is MUCH bigger than yours. There was way too much cabbage in it.
About how many cups of chopped cabbage do you use? ie 4-6, 8, 10-12?
I loved the taste. So I’m going to try again. Maybe this time I’ll nail it. ☺
Thank you for your feedback Lesley! I think mine was closer to 8 cups, I am going to measure it by cups and add it into the post next time I make it!
I hate to burden you with another question, but…
Head of cabbage, cups of cabbage… would it be simpler to just weigh the cabbage? Who wants the mess of measuring chopped cabbage!
Just trying to keep this simpler for everyone. Thanks for the recipe. You may file this under your ‘you can’t please everyone’ file. Or the bulging ‘you can’t explain things enough for everyone’ file!
It would certainly be easy to weigh it but not everyone has a scale available. A medium head of cabbage weighs approximately 2 lbs. If your cabbage is a little bit smaller or larger, it will still work perfectly in this recipe. Enjoy! :)
Made this last night. It was easy and delicious. Thanks for a great recipe.
is there a place to save recipes we want to keep?
You can save your favorite recipes here or set up a Pinterest board to keep all of your favorites in one place.
Pinterest.
print it out , that is what I did
I used V8 juice before in a chili recipe and it seemed to add a sweetness I didn’t like.
Absolutely delicious! Thick and hearty. I browned the meat and threw it and everything else in my crock pot. Turned out perfectly. This recipe is a keeper!
So glad you enjoyed it!
I’ve used a recipe called ‘unstuffed cabbage’. This sure sounds like it…..sounds delish!!! Will try this! People just love it!!!! :D
I have made this a number of times and it freezes very well
Thank you for sharing Judy!! I know a lot of people have been wondering about that!
Can this be made in the crockpot and if so how?
I haven’t yet made this recipe in the crock pot… but I am definitely going to try it!
yes I did make mine in the crock pot , after I cooked the meat with onions,and drained the grease from pan ,,,,and did cook cabbage as noted than all went into crock pot ,,and glad to find out it can be frozen also as it makes a lot Rose
This looks good, but I would have to add a can of kraut to this. Pinned it. Thanks for sharing.
Mmmm, sounds good! Will try this!
I can’t wait to try this. I had a recipe for a casserole that had the same ingredients/flavor profiles as stuffed cabbage but it was layered and not rolled up. It tasted exactly like stuffed cabbage without all the work. Unfortunately I lost the recipe.
This is the same recipe (with small exceptions) that my niece made and shared the recipe with me. It it really, really good. Super good – one of those soups you crave! I’m going to make it again this week. The difference in my niece’s recipe is that she cooks rice separately (a big pot of it) and then ladles the soup over the rice just before serving. There is no flour in her recipe – no real need for it. We made it “soupy” by adding beef broth where necessary. Extremely good. I had lost the recipe and was trying to find it when I came across your recipe and it’s soooo similar I’m keeping this one. By the way – Golumki is a Polish for Cabbage Rolls!
Holly, I have been making a version of this for years and it is delicious.. I have never used flour though as I feel the starch in the rice thickens it just right.. I got my version of this recipe from my German woman’s group a few years ago when we served it up at our October Fest Dinner.. the name they gave it was “Glumpky or Glumpki” I will have to try your version for dinner this weekend as I think the addition of the pork sounds wonderful.. I am a huge fan of Cabbage rolls too and cannot get enough of them.!! Thank you so much for sharing. ~Suzy-in-Colorado~
I have used my left over sour cabbage rolls to make this soup (delicious).
i made this today, and it is delicious, will make this again. I did add extra beef broth near the end as you suggested, as there wasn’t much broth. Thank you for this recipe!
Apparently this has skipped a few words. Such as cabbage rolls and it was very tasty.
This was a great recipe. My mother like to serve her cabbage with mashed potatoes. I noticed that on the second day there was not very much broth. So I served the soup/stew over mashed potatoes and was very tasty. It was a good way to stretch the meal, as well.