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.
Creamy Sausage & Cabbage Soup
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!
This recipe is amazing!! My family absolutely devours it each and every time! It great especially when you are tired of the same old standbys and are craving something with lots of flavor but off the beaten path!
So happy you are enjoying this recipe, Shannon!
Fantastic soup. Instead of the milk and heavy cream, I used 2 cups of half and half. I didn’t have smoked sausage so I used Kielbasa as a substitute. (Don’t add salt)
Making my 2nd batch right now.
Absolutely delicious and so easy to make. I will make it again and again.
Holly, I am so grateful to the time you put in to creating these recipes. I’ve been a fan of every dish I have made from you, and this might be my favorite!! Like another commenter I only had dried herbs, but found it to be perfectly flavorful. The roux gave the soup the most incredible mouth feel! I used red cabbage so the entire dish was purple but it didn’t even matter because it was SO GOOD!!
Thank you so much, Corrine! We love being able to share these with you ❤️ So happy to hear this recipe was another favorite!
Awesome, I’m not a tweaker with recipes, but decided to get a little brave and added a smidgen of red pepper flakes…….this was such a comforting soup, it was like a nice warm hug on a cold snowy day!! Thanks so much for sharing!!
Such a great addition, Deb!
I love this recipe! I have made it 4 times! Buuuut….
I have some family that are gluten intolerant, is there a way to make it gluten free and keep the delicious creamy consistency and flavor?
I would swap out the flour for gluten-free all-purpose flour. I hope that helps, Kim!
How would this be with sweet potatoes instead of potatoes?
That should work well, Kristin. You will have to let us know how it turns out!
This soup came out absolutely delicious! Great recipe! Everyone wanted the recipe
Hello, This recipe looks like what I had at a restaurant, which I am trying to replicate.
The only thing is, it had a tinge of a sweetness to it. Does your soup recipe taste sweet? Or perhaps add 1-2 Tablespoons of Brown Sugar. Thanks.
I do not find this recipe sweet but you could always add a touch of sweetness (to taste) if you prefer.
This soup is DELICIOUS! Thank you so much!
I made this soup last night and it was great. I read all of the reviews and doubled the recipe. I also browned the sausage before adding it, added several bay leaves, red pepper flakes, thyme and a sweet potato. I served it with sweet cornbread. So yummy, will definitely add to the soup rotation.
Have made a lot of soup this winter and for such a simple soup absolutely great! This is now my favorite cabbage soup (I love soups with cabbage) used savoy cabbage .
Really good! I’ve made this 2-3 times & my hubby loves it! It’s a keeper! I used only a single “stalk” of celery, not a “bunch”! I don’t know the proper terminology but after reading a previous comment I can’t imagine a whole “head”. I always thought a “stalk” and “rib” was the same thing. Anyway, it was delicious and cooking is not an exact science to my mind. But now I don’t know if I should put more in…….I’m confused….
You’ll need one rib for this recipe.
Perfect! I was happy with it the way the recipe read and the way I made it!
So glad you love the soup Sandra!
I add sauerkraut for a bit of tang and it is so delicious! I make this every year now with the extra cabbage when I make sauerkraut
Having not ever watching my mother cook growing up has really made me wish I had. Fortunately I have found some wonderful recipe’s on various websites like “Spending with Pennies” which is my favorite go to site.
My most favorite soup is Holly’s Sausage and Cabbage soup. I have had many friends and family members tell me how it is so creamy, rich and tastefully done. At times I feel somewhat embarrassed as there is sometimes not enough for more servings.
You need to try this recipe and really enjoy a terrific soup. It will be one of your new favorites like it is mine.
I’m so glad you’ve found a love for cooking and have enjoyed this soup! Thank you so much for your kind words. <3
This was amazing! My kids and husband loved it as well as my mother and grandmother ❤️ This will be going on our recipe books and will be enjoyed all the time! Thank you so much for sharing
Very delicious! I made it today and the taste is wonderful! I didn’t have the carrots, but everything else I had on hand. The directions were spot on. I will make this again and look forward to trying your other recipes. Thank you!
By most definitions, a whole head of celery is a stalk and a single “stick” from the stalk is a rib. I like correct terms as now most young women are not skilled in cooking and might end up with a very large amount of celery in the cabbage soup recipe.
Why would you feel it necessary to post such a negative and ridiculous comment. Just keep scrolling.
I’m 62 and been cooking most of my life. Never knew this! It’s not ridiculous at all!
From the University of Wyoming Extension Service:
“According to the USDA, a “stalk” means the whole bunch or head and a single piece or stick is called a “rib.” This does not reflect common usage, however, so use caution in interpreting recipes! “Celery stalk,” in American English, is commonly used to mean one piece/rib/stick of celery.”
Since recipes found on the internet may be used anywhere in the world, I agree that there could be some confusion. Also the size of the rib of celery makes a difference; that is why I like recipes that read: “1 rib of celery (approximately 1/2 cup or X numbers of grams)”
I found this helpful
My mom always made something we called boiled dinner had alot of the same ingredients. Cabbage, carrots, potatoes, and kielbasa. I’m not a big soup eater, but this reminded me of the boiled dinner from my childhood. I have since made it several times and my mom and dad are both in agreement one of the best soups we have ever had.
I stumbled upon this recipe on Pinterest today and decided to make it on a whim since I had all the ingredients on hand. It really turned out fantastic! My kids are home doing remote learning and they were so excited to come down for a nice hot bowl of deliciousness for lunch! Thank you so much for sharing this lovely recipe :)
So happy your family enjoyed the soup Nancy!