Cabbage Roll Soup has all the cozy, savory flavor of classic cabbage rolls without any rolling! Beef and pork, tender cabbage, and rice simmer together in a rich tomato broth for an easy, hearty one-pot meal.
Serve with crusty no-knead bread or homemade fluffy dinner rolls to soak up every drop.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights: Cabbage Roll Soup
- What Is It: It’s a cozy, deconstructed version of classic stuffed cabbage rolls, with ground meat, cabbage, rice, and tomatoes simmered together in one easy pot.
- Shortcut: Chopped cabbage skips the boiling, separating, stuffing, and rolling required for traditional cabbage rolls.
- Consistency: This soup is thick and hearty, with an almost stew-like texture. Add extra broth if you prefer a thinner consistency.
Total Time: 50 Mins Servings: 8 Cooking Method: Stovetop
- Total Time:
- 50 mins
- Serves:
- 8 servings
- Rating:
- 4.9/5
Ingredient Notes
- Meat: Lean ground beef adds plenty of savory flavor without making the broth greasy. Ground pork adds richness and classic cabbage roll flavor, but you can use additional beef or ground turkey if preferred.
- Long Grain White Rice: Add the rice uncooked so it absorbs the seasoned broth as it simmers. Brown rice takes longer to cook and requires additional liquid.
- Green Cabbage: A firm head of green cabbage holds its texture well as the soup simmers. Chop it into bite-sized pieces, or use bagged chopped cabbage as a shortcut. Savoy cabbage also works but softens more quickly.
- Diced Tomatoes: Keep the juices because they become part of the tomato broth.
- Beef Broth: Beef broth adds rich, savory flavor and complements the ground meat. Chicken or vegetable broth can be used instead.
How to Make Cabbage Roll Soup
- Cook the beef, pork, onion, and garlic. Drain excess fat.
- Add the cabbage and continue cooking (full recipe below).
- Stir in the remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer.
- Remove the bay leaf, adjust the consistency, and season before serving.
Save Some for Later
- Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Freeze in airtight freezer containers for up to 3 months. Leave a little room for expansion. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
- Reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave, adding beef broth or water until it reaches the preferred consistency.
Hearty One-Pot Comfort Soups
Did you enjoy this Cabbage Roll Soup Recipe? Leave a comment and rating below.
Cabbage Roll Soup
Cabbage roll soup has tender cabbage, beef, pork, and rice simmered in a savory tomato broth. It has all the cozy flavor of cabbage rolls in an easy one-pot meal.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- ½ pound lean ground pork or additional ground beef
- 1 large onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 medium head cabbage chopped, core removed, about 8 cups
- 1 (28 ounce) can canned diced tomatoes with juices
- 4 cups beef broth
- 1½ cups vegetable juice such as V8
- ¾ cup long grain white rice uncooked
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 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 ground beef, ground pork, diced onion, and garlic 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, beef broth, V8 or vegetable juice, uncooked rice, tomato paste, 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 to 30 minutes.
- Remove bay leaf and serve.
Video
Notes
- This soup is thick and hearty; if you prefer a thinner soup, add more beef broth or water to reach the desired consistency once the rice is cooked.
- If you don’t have beef broth on hand, you can substitute chicken broth or vegetable broth instead.
- Stretch it even further by adding in some chopped carrots, celery, or potatoes.
- Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Freeze any leftovers in airtight containers for up to 3 months.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 291 | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 55mg | Sodium: 794mg | Potassium: 917mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 795IU | Vitamin C: 67.3mg | Calcium: 113mg | Iron: 3.9mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Soup
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I loves this recipe! It has become a regular go to meal in our household and it’s so easy to make.
Pretty bland had to add 1 1/2 cup addition V8 juice. Then it was perfect.
Can you use left over cabbage rolls ?
I’m sure you could! I haven’t tried it but I think it would be delicious!
This recipe both looks and sounds delicious. I appreciate the fact that you included a nutritional facts label for this soup, however, it indicates 273 calories per serving size but doesn’t indicate actual serving size. Also, I’d like to know how the sodium percentage was calculated because it seems high when you look at the ingredients which don’t seem to indicate many sources of sodium. If the percentage is correct, are there any suggestions on how to reduce the sodium? Thank you.
Serving size is ⅛th of the recipe, approximately 1.5 cups.
Skip the thyme.
I’ve never tried making them as a soup buy I’m sure it’s delicious just the same. Mine is a family recipe & when I have the time to make them for my family, I have to make about 6-8lbs worth so they’ll be some for leftovers later during the nite when my husband raids the fridge! Love your recipes & look forward to trying this version !
I use ground chicken and omit the rice. Carbs are my enemy. This is the best soup. I make a huge stock pot and freeze single servings. I could eat this everyday. Oh and i add red pepper flakes for a light kick.
I have a question about the cabbage roll soup. I am trying to add it into my food tracker. The total calories is for 8 cups?
This is per serving (about 1.5 cups).
I made this tonight( I had no thyme and it was excellent without it). The whole family enjoyed. Thanks for the recipe
This soup is really good. I left out the rice, as I’m trying to cut down on carbs, and I don’t even miss it. My grocery was out of ground pork, so I substituted a couple of sweet Italian sausages, minus the casings–YUM!!! I think the next time I will try half beef broth and half chicken. Thanks so much for a delicious recipe!!
I bet the Italian sausage was great in this recipe! Thank you for sharing!
I made the Cabbage Roll Soup last night–a big pot of it! I switched it up a bit to my liking. I only used hamburg–no pork, no garlic, used a lg. can of whole peeled tomatoes that I chopped myself, no tomato paste, no thyme or bay leaf and I forgot the worc. sauce. I used minute rice and pre-cooked it, added it at the end. I ended up adding more beef broth to make it “soupier,”. It was a good sized pot almost full! My brother and sister-in-law came over and let me tell you, the pot was almost empty! I think my brother had 4 bowls of it! All I served it with was warm, crusty bread and butter and they kept saying how delicious it was! I gave them a small amount to take home and kept the even smaller amount for myself, enough for a tiny bowl! Its so much easier than rolling the cabbage, and just as good!!
I’m so glad your family loved this recipe Nancy! :)
What’s the serving size? Also, I’m vegan and made this with boca crumbles and it turned out WONDERFUL! Making this tonight for NYE. Happy New Year!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it with Boca! Thank you for sharing and Happy New Year to you too! Serving size is about 1½ cups.
this was so delicious- especially on a cold winter day. I love cabbage rolls, my Serbian and Slovak grandparents and my mom made them tirelessly, I however dont have the patience. This soup is perfect, I am guessing it freezes well too, hope so anyway, made a huge pot. I added a bit more rice to make it filling, as hubby doesnt like watery soups, other than that I would not change a thing on this !
Is the Worcestershire necessary? I’m trying to avoid soy. Other than that…I can’t wait to try this recipe.
You can leave it out, it’s just to add a little bit of extra flavor!
What is the difference in the cabbage soup and the casserole ? And on the soup after browning the meat could I just put it all in crock pot ? and on low what would the time be.?
The soup has much more broth while the casserole is more like a cabbage roll. I would cook this 4 hours on high or 7-8 hours on low.
This is one of our very favorite recipes… with one additional ingredient – ketchup. The first time I made it I supplemented ketchup for the V- 8. We almost licked the bowls clean! I’ve made it since ‘the right way’, but it doesn’t come alive for us until we add the magic red sauce. Since each person is different, I would suggest it ‘to taste’. Thank you for such a wonderful recipe!
I’ll have to give that a try Leslie!!
Great recipes, please keep them coming and send them to my email address below thank you.
I made this recipe yesterday with only lean ground beef and I made it in the crockpot. I just added the rice a little later on in the cooking process. Love it! Huge hit
So glad you loved it
I love your recipes, especially the cabbage roll soup. I would really like to know also where you got the beautiful black pot you cooked it in.
It’s so pretty and unique and I’ve not seen any like it before.
Thank you Darb! It’s definitely one of our favorite soups!
Two questions re:this recipe.
Is it freezable?
Which meat (pork or beef) did you sub the ground turkey for?
Thank you very much, and may you have a joyous Christmas season.
This recipe freezes beautifully! When I use ground turkey I usually use enough to sub for both the beef and pork. Enjoy and Merry Christmas to you and your family too!