This easy Sausage & Cabbage Soup is the ultimate comfort food. A beautifully luscious soup with smoky sausage, fresh vegetables and of course sweet tender cabbage simmered in a flavorful creamy broth.
When the weather gets cooler, in my house it’s officially soup season. There is just something about a delicious warm bowl of soup that warms your belly from the inside out and this creamy cabbage soup recipe is no exception. If a hug were food, it would be this soup.
Cabbage and Sausage
Cabbage and sausage just seem to go hand in hand. If you’ve read my blog before, you likely know that I love all things cabbage from Cabbage Roll Soup to Sausage and Cabbage cooked on the grill! Cabbage is inexpensive, a little bit goes a long way and once cooked, it’s tender with a delicious sweet flavor.
This is just one of my many favorite cabbage recipesfavorite cabbage recipes. If you don’t cook with cabbage often, you can find lots of great info in The Ultimate Guide to Cabbage!
Irresistibly Creamy
This easy soup starts with sausage, I use kielbasa but you can also use a garlic sausage or pretty much any smoked (fully cooked) sausage that you’d like. I make this cabbage soup with potatoes to give it a nice creamy texture (and to keep my belly full all day long). Fresh carrots and cabbage add both fresh and sweet flavors to this soup and of course cream makes it buttery irresistible.
While this is a creamy soup, keep in mind it is not a thick soup like a chowder. The creamy portion of this soup comes from making a roux. While roux may sound like a fancy or difficult cooking term, it’s really easy. A roux is the base for most white sauces (and even Sausage Gravy) and starts by cooking butter and flour (to get rid of that raw flour flavor) and then adding in milk or cream and cooking until thick and bubbly. The roux is then added to the soup in this recipe giving it a delicious buttery cream flavor.
More Cabbage Soups
- Crock Pot Cabbage Roll Soup – Easy favorite version of cabbage rolls!
- Cabbage and Noodles – Classic Haluski recipe!
- Cabbage and Sausage Foil Packets – Perfect for grilling or baking.
- Cabbage Roll Soup Recipe (video) – All time reader favorite.
- Easy Cabbage Rolls – Best ever homemade cabbage roll recipe.
- Slow Cooker Cabbage Soup – Healthy veggie filled soup!
How to Thicken Your Sausage and Cabbage Soup
If you’d like your soup to be thicker, you can certainly increase the butter/flour mixture to about 3/4 cup each while leaving the milk the same. I also give my potatoes just a slight little mash with a potato masher to help thicken the broth somewhat.
We add a little bit of fresh dill to this soup at the very end for a pop of freshness. If you don’t have fresh dill you can substitute dry dill and add it along with roux to allow it to rehydrate.
Can you Freeze Creamy Cabbage Soup?
Unfortunately, most soup recipes that contain dairy don’t freeze well (non-dairy is usually ok). The soup can separate and the texture can become grainy. I would suggest freezing a portion before adding the dairy in this recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 pound smoked sausage sliced
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ⅔ cup diced onion
- 4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
- ¾ pound potatoes peeled and diced, about 2 to 3 medium
- 2 carrots sliced
- 3 to 4 cups chopped green cabbage
- 1 rib sliced celery
- salt and pepper to taste
- ⅓ cup butter
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
Instructions
- Cook sausage, onion and butter until onion is tender. Add celery, carrot, potato, cabbage, broth and salt & pepper to taste.
- Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
- Meanwhile, melt butter in a small saucepan. Stir in flour and cook over medium heat about 2 min. Add milk and cream and stir until smooth. Continue whisking until thick and bubbly.
- Once vegetables are tender, add cream mixture into the soup. Allow to simmer 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in dill and parsley.
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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More Creamy Soups to Try
- Baked Potato Soup – Creamy and delicious, this soup recipe tastes just like a loaded baked potato.
- Creamy Seafood Chowder – A cream soup fully loaded with tender chunks of seafood!
- Roasted Cauliflower Soup – A vegetable soup with layers of flavor.
- Potato Leek Soup – A classic restaurant soup made easy at home!
- Ham and Corn Chowder – The best ever corn chowder recipe!
- Creamy Carrot Soup Recipe – Kids love this naturally sweet carrot soup recipe!
Awesome, I added a half more chicken broth. Didn’t have regular potatoes so I used sweet potatoes, and still really good. I used a whole onion. Family said it was the best soup I have made and it was easy,.
I am so glad that your family enjoyed this recipe!
Love this recipe! Easy to make, comfort food for these cold days.
I am so glad this recipe has helped to warm you up this winter!
This is great. I used half and half only and had some sweet Italian sausage on hand. Love it!
I want to make this so badly, but I need to know if I can substitute coconut flour for all purpose flour? Any idea how much I would need if I did? This looks amazing and can’t wait to try it!
I’ve have only made this as written. Let us know how it works out if you try it.
My son (10) has been loving a lot of your cabbage recipes. He enjoys helping me cook. 3 weeks ago we did your slow cooker cabbage roll soup. Last week cabbage and noodles. Today creamy sausage and cabbage soup. All amazing recipes!
My husband and I made this together and we both love it. He told me to save this recipe. It was so yummy the two nights we had It. Right now I am making another of your recipes.
So glad you enjoyed it!
What can I use instead of heavy cream as my daughter is lactose intolerant?
This soup is delicious and looks like the recipe photo. Love it.
I am so glad you liked this recipe Audrey!
Omg this soup is delish!!!
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
By far one of my favorite soup recipes! This will be added to our fall/winter meal rotation. Thank you for posting!!!
Very quick and easy hearty soup! Will definitely make a again the whole family loved it! I use Kabasa just because that’s what I had on hand! May try this with leftover ham next time too!
I am so glad you liked this recipe Pam!
I made this last week and it was AMAZING!! I was a little worried about the roux portion but it was a piece of cake. My husband and 2 year old gobbled it right up, definitely going into heavy rotation this winter. Thanks for sharing!
I’m so glad your family loved it as much as mine did!
Oh my this was excellent! My next batch will have some green beans and perhaps a few peas also. I am curious how chicken would work instead of sausage. A person could use rotisserie chicken. This was so good the next day also. Thanks so much!
So glad you loved it! Beans would be delicious in this recipe!
Can you make this in a crock pot?
I have only made this one the stove top. I do think this would work just fine in the slow cooker however the roux would still need to be made on the stove top and added in.
Could you recommend something to use in place of the meat in this recipe for those who don’t eat meat or meat products? It sounds like a great recipe if we can substitute something. Any other recipes without meat would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
You can leave the meat out if you’re prefer but it does add a bit of a smoky, salty and rich flavor. You will likely need to add additional seasoning such as salt.
Anything for Shepard’s Pie?
I had sausage and all the veggies in the fridge so thought what could it hurt to try this recipe? So I made a batch and my 21 year old twin grandsons said it was the best soup they’ve had in a very long time! Their girlfriends and myself got a small bowl and the rest was theirs.Will make this many times going into the winter months. So easy to make and oh so delicious.
I’m so glad you loved it!
Omgosh!! This soup is bomb. It is so creamy and flavorful. My husband is on blood thinner and I am always looking for cabbage recipes when it is too thin. Even our picky 6 yr old granddaughter loves it. Definitely making again.
Thank you
I”m so glad your family loved it Sharri!
This was simply amazing!!! My Partner said it was a home run. I love the creaminess of the broth. It was easy to make.
I’m so glad you and your partner loved it Kat!!
I REALLY ENJOY YOUR RECIPES. THIS WILL BE TOMORROW NIGHT`S DINNER.
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND AND THANK YOU FOR A LOT OF GREAT IDEAS.
JIM RUSSELL