Crock Pot Cabbage Roll Soup is a simple twist on traditional Cabbage Rolls, a family favorite for years! Cabbage, onion, beef and bacon all tenderly prepared in a rich beef and tomato broth, slowly simmered in your crock pot.
This creates a nutritious and tasty soup that will warm your belly from the inside out! This is going to be your new family favorite meal!
Crock Pot Cabbage Roll Soup
I absolutely LOVE a good soup recipe. Soups are a great way to incorporate so many delicious flavors into one bowl. They’re easy to make and inexpensive, there’s good reason my Easy Hamburger Soup recipe is one of my most popular recipes on Facebook!
Crock Pot Cabbage Roll Soup contains several servings of veggies along with lean protein all simmered to perfection. We serve this alongside homemade Dinner Rolls for a meal that my family requests over and over again!
A Family Favorite
Growing up with Polish grandparents, cabbage rolls (and Cabbage and Noodles aka Haluski) were a staple in our family for both family gatherings and Sunday dinner. It was always one of my favorite things!
Traditional cabbage rolls are time-consuming – between preparing the filling, cooking the cabbage till tender and then there is the labour rolling them – whew! Of course, we make Cabbage Roll Casserole which is the lazy cabbage roll version with no rolling required.
As much as I love cabbage rolls (and unstuffed cabbage roll casserole), there really is nothing better than coming home to a meal ready to eat.
Easy Prep
Cabbage is easy to prepare and inexpensive (view more info in the The Ultimate Guide to Cabbage).This Crockpot Cabbage Roll Soup is the answer to rushed meal prep on busy weeknights!
Simply prepare your ingredients the evening before and quickly toss them into the crockpot before leaving the house for school or work or carrying on with your errands, soccer practice and swim lessons.
Dinner is ready when you are!
Easy Substitutions in Crock Pot Cabbage Roll Soup
- Ground Beef: You can substitute sausage, ground pork or ground turkey for half of the ground beef.
- Rice: To make this Cabbage Roll Soup lower in carbs, substitute the rice for Cauliflower Rice (this also lowers the calories or points if you’re following Weight Watchers).
- Diced Tomatoes: If you prefer whole canned tomatoes to diced, they also work great in this recipe.
- V8 Vegetable Juice: You Can use tomato juice in place of the vegetable juice or even canned tomato soup. (Do not substitute tomato sauce, it has a different flavor).
- Sodium: The low sodium/no sodium versions of all products in this soup work perfectly.
All the flavour and goodness of traditional cabbage rolls simmered together in one delicious bowl of crock pot cabbage roll soup! And the very best thing is it’s so easy!
Add the Bacon
Depending where you’re from, you may or may not add bacon to your cabbage rolls. It is used in this soup to add a slight smoky and salty flavor. We fry the bacon until crisp and then use a little bit of the bacon fat to cook the onion and beef. The bacon itself is stirred in just before serving (and used as a garnish) to keep it nice and crisp.
How to Freeze Cabbage Roll Soup
This Crock Pot Cabbage Roll Soup makes a HUGE batch of soup, perfect for feeding a crowd, eating a couple of nights in a row or taking for lunches. If you have leftovers, this soup also freezes well. I just simply spoon the desired amount in a freezer bag lay it flat to freeze (either large or individual servings).
If I’m feeding the family, I defrost it in the fridge the night before and dinner is ready to heat and eat in a flash!
Once you try it, I know for sure this Crockpot Cabbage Roll Soup is going to become a staple to your weekly menu plan. Warm, hearty and wholesome.
More Recipes from the Cabbage Patch
- Creamy Sausage & Cabbage Soup – 5 Star Recipe! Easy and so delicious!
- Cabbage and Sausage Foil Packets – Grill or bake!
- Cabbage Roll Soup Recipe (video)
- Braised Red Cabbage – Perfect side dish!
- The Best Coleslaw Recipe – Make ahead – great for potlucks or topping pulled pork!
- Colcannon Recipe (Cabbage and Potatoes) – Comfort food to the max!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound thick cut bacon diced
- 1 large onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- ⅔ cup long grain white rice uncooked
- 6 to 8 cups chopped green cabbage
- 28 ounces canned diced tomatoes with juices, 1 can
- 10.75 ounces condensed tomato soup 1 can
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 5-6 cups beef broth
- 1 ½ cups vegetable juice such as V8
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- salt and black pepper to taste
- chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
- In a skillet, cook bacon until crisp and drain on paper towels leaving about 1 tablespoon bacon grease in the skillet.
- Brown onion and beef in the bacon fat. Once browned, drain excess fat and add to a 6qt (or larger) slow cooker.
- Add all remaining ingredients to the low cooker and stir to combine (it will be very full).
- Cover and cook on high 3-4 hours or low 6-7 hours until rice is fully cooked.
- Stir in half of cooked bacon.
- Spoon into bowls, top with remaining bacon and parsley if desired.
Video
Notes
- This can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, and reheated on the stove.
- This will keep in the freezer for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
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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This sounds so good. But I am not sure of the diced tomatoes. It says 128 ounces but does it mean one 28 ounce can? Help. Thanks
It is one 28oz can.
it means one 28 ounce can. Trying the recipe tonight myself
I’ve got it cookin’ on the stove now. Tweaked it a little after reading the comments. I substituted the hamburger with keilbasa sausage, omitted the rice, added 3 1/2 cups
presoaked pinto, split pea, lentil beans. Added 2 stalks celery & 2 carrots & 1-2 cans green beans. Double up on the spices. Simmered it in a big stockpot on the stove for 45-60 min. Otherwise, everything else remained the same. Can’t wait to try it, it smells sooo good.
Thank you for sharing your tweaks Ronda! Enjoy!
Tried this today in my new instapot,it was Amazing,cooked in 25 mins,cabbage was so tender and flavor was Great!!!❤️Will make this again
I am so glad you loved it Patricia!
Waste of my time and money, could not even eat this mess..!!! Had to throw it away.
I looked at 2 different recipes and chose this one, what a mistake.
Sorry this didn’t work out for you, it’s one of our favourites. What kind of problem did you have with the recipe as most readers have had great success with it.
Made this according to the recipe yesterday. Had good flavor and I like it, however it is nothing like a soup. It is so thick my spoon will stand up in it on its own. Can I add more broth or vegetable juice now that it is already cooked as I heat it up to eat it?
Yes you can most certainly add more liquid. Did you use long grain white rice?
For the cabbage soup how much is a serving? It does not tell you and am on WW.
This recipe is based on 12 servings. The size can vary based on the amount of cabbage added.
I made this today and it is amazing! Didn’t add the V8 or tomato paste, and it still tasted so good! My hubby couldn’t stop eating and my daughter picked up 2 servings for her and her girlfriend and the loved it too! Thanks for this great recipe!
You’re so welcome :) So glad to hear everyone loved it so much Marjolein!
For additional seasoning, I added a packet of Liptons Beefy Onion Soup powder, a little more Worcestershire Sauce and I sautéed the cabbage and extra onion in the bacon grease before adding to slow cooker. Everything else was by the original recipe. Pretty good!
Yummy additions, thank you for sharing!
I hate having left over ingredients as they never seem to get used. So, instead of tomato soup and V8 I used the remaining 5 oz of tomato paste (comes in a 6 oz can) and all of the 2nd box of beef broth (comes in 32 oz box – recipe calls for 48oz) No partial containers of stuff to clutter up the fridge!
Love the soup and that it’s made in the crock!!
Great additions, thank you for sharing!
My soup is cooking and smells delicious! As far as the odd amounts needed for the recipe—we will drink the V8 juice and freeze the extra broth but my best hack is I put spoonfuls of tomato paste on a plate and freeze. When frozen I put them in a bag and label. I always have tablespoons ready for chili, stew, or sauce as needed.
Thank you for sharing Mary!
I have been wanting to make this soup for a long time and was happy to see in on FB. Thanks a bunch.
You’re welcome Carole!
To make it even better, after frying the bacon, make a roux by adding flour slowly, equal parts. We just save breakfast bacon grease in a cup. Cook slowly until the roux is dark brown. Let it cool; it will be like putty. Add chunks to the crock pot. Really gives a great depth of flavor.
Great idea Julia! So glad you loved it.
I love this recipe. I make it exactly as stated. This is my third time making it, and it turns out perfect every time!
So glad to hear you love it Thomas!
This recipe is amazing!!! I find though as I have a small slow cooker only 4 quart that I have to adjust the amounts of liquid. So I omitted the v8 juice. I’ve made this numerous times. Tastes exactly like cabbage rolls and very easy and cheap to make. I highly recommend it
Excellent recipe, but should crockpot on high for a min of 5 hrs to get the cabbage past al dente texture (or maybe steam the cabbage prior to adding). Can’t wait to have the leftovers for lunch today. It’s delicious with sweet buttered cornbread.
Yes, very full crockpot whereas it was tasty the thyme was a little over powering. Cut back to 1/4 teaspoon. The smell really got my juices going as it filled the kitchen divine. Could hardly wait to try. Needs more liquid too maybe short the tomato soup and more beef stock. Yummy nonetheless.
I’m finishing this up right now. Entering it in a family contest tonight. Because I worked today (8-3:30) I set it on low (minus the cabbage, bacon and rice) at 7:30am. At 3;00 I had my daughter turn it on high. When I got home it was bubbling. At 4:15 I added the rice and at 5:15 I will add the cabbage and bacon. I don’t want the cabbage overdone so I hope adding the last ingredients later will illiminate. I need it all done by 7:00. We’ll see how it turns out. It’s 4:30 now.
OH fun! Good luck at your contest!
Hello, greetings from Poland. I’ve made this soup yesterday with few changes: used only salt, pepper, sugar and paprika from spices, omitted tomato soup, used mix of beef and pork mince. I’ve tried to make it taste like our traditional cabbage rolls :) It is wonderful, thank you for the recipe and the inspiration. I’ve recently bought my crock pot, they’re not that popular in Poland, so I think I’ll be frequent guest on your website.
So glad it worked well for you Aleksandra!!
God bless the Poles and Ukies! Im making borscht next
Delish! I ended up making mine stovetop, I would say it took about and hour and a half. I agree with the others that mentioned it needed more spices. I ended up doubling all the spices…Maybe a bit more to taste, including the Worcestershire. I also cooked the rice separate and added it when I dished up. Really yummy! Next time I will plan better and make it in the crockpot!
I am so glad you were able to make this recipe work on the stove top!
I really liked this soup.
After a hour of prep time and 8 hours of cooking. This soup is amazing. I used 2# of ground meat, 6 cups of chopped cabbage and a entire bag of Sucess rice. No bacon. It cooked up very hearty and filling! Husband loves it so much, he’s on his 2nd bowl! This is a keeper for us! THANK YOU
Yay, so glad your family loved this Michele!