Versions of this healthy soup have been around for decades for good reason.
Cabbage soup is light in calories with big flavor. Chopped cabbage and a handful of simple ingredients simmer together to make a delicious healthy soup.
Chock full of goodness, it’s nutritious, simple, and tasty. This soup makes a great starter, side dish, or light lunch or dinner.
Why We Love This Cabbage Soup Recipe
- It needs just a handful of ingredients.
- It’s low cal, low fat and has great flavor.
- We enjoy this soup before meals as a healthy start. Enjoying a lean soup is a great way to balance a meal and cut calories overall.
- Different from “cabbage roll soup,” this recipe skips the meat and rice making it lean and healthy!
- Make this soup as a base and add in shredded chicken, whole grains like brown rice or quinoa, or even lean ground beef to make it a heartier meal.
Ingredients in Cabbage Soup
This healthy soup has been a staple for veggie lovers and even dieters alike. It’s know by other names like zero point soup, WW soup or vegetable soup. The great things is that you can add your own favorite veggies and flavors.
Cabbage
Cabbage is an easy and inexpensive veggie that’s low in calories. It adds a lot of bulk to this soup. I chop it into 1″ pieces but you can change it up or even swap out a bag of shredded coleslaw to make it even faster (reduce cooking time for coleslaw).
Broth
We find beef broth gives the best flavor but just like with our weight loss vegetable soup, you can use chicken or vegetable broth. The diced tomatoes (with juices) add a zesty flavor along with some simple seasonings.
Vegetables
To keep it quick, there are just a few ingredients in this recipe but you can add almost any vegetable you’d like. I usually enjoy this as a lower carb option so other favorites for me include cauliflower, celery, and diced turnips.
How To Make Cabbage Soup
- Saute onion in olive oil (or bacon grease if you have it.) Add cabbage per the recipe below and saute.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer until the cabbage is tender.
- Remove the bay leaf and discard.
Try a dollop of sour cream on top of each serving, or a sprinkle of parmesan or some fresh herbs!
Other Additions to Cabbage Soup
This cabbage soup recipe is a great base for meals, you can add almost anything to it.
- Vegetables: Diced potatoes, cauliflower rice, celery, broccoli, tomato sauce.
- Protien: Browned ground turkey or lean Italian Sausage, or mini meatballs. For some fiber add in a can of drained kidney beans.
- Grains: Add couscous, rice, quinoa or whole wheat pasta.
- Seasonings: Add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, fresh garlic, herbs like basil, oregano, fresh parsley, or thyme.
Can You Freeze Cabbage Soup?
Most non-dairy based soups and stews can be frozen and this quick cabbage soup is no different.
To freeze, once cooled ladle it into zippered bags or an airtight freezer container and label with the date. It will stay fresh in the freezer for about two months. (Keeping it longer may make it lose flavor.)
To thaw, let it come to room temp and reheat in the microwave or in a pot on the stovetop. Add some extra diced tomatoes for color, or reinvent it entirely and add some drained canned corn or some diced bell peppers or green beans. Let your imagination run wild!
Tasty Cabbage Recipes
- Easy Cabbage Rolls
- Fried Cabbage – sweet & tender!
- Corned Beef and Cabbage Slow Cooker Recipe (Video)
- Colcannon – delicious cabbage and potatoes
- Unstuffed Cabbage Roll Casserole
Quick Cabbage Soup
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- ½ onion diced
- 6 cups cabbage
- 14 ounces diced tomatoes with juice
- 6 cups beef broth or chicken broth
- 1 carrot shredded
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon parsley fresh
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 bay leaf
Instructions
- Cook onion in olive oil until tender, 3-4 minutes.
- While onion is cooking, dice cabbage into ½" pieces. Add cabbage to the pot and cook over medium heat until it starts to soften, about 8 minutes.
- While cabbage is cooking prepare other ingredients. Add all ingredients to the pot, bring to a boil and simmer uncovered 15 minutes or until cabbage is tender.
- Discard bay leaf, season with salt & pepper to taste and serve.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner, Lunch, Soup
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Just made this soup today, we love it. Took your suggestion, and added some extra vegetables that we had on hand: cauliflower, celery, and zucchini. We love that it makes a big pot and we can freeze some. Will definitely make it again. Delicious.
Hi Holly, I do feel that you have one of the better food blogs around. I can see that
you have made your recipes quite east to follow with an eye on ingredient expense.
Your recipes clear and easy to follow. Keep up your winning work that you appear
to love, as I enjoy it immensely.
Thank you, Johnny! We appreciate that and are so happy you are enjoying our recipes!
Yum! This will be a regular in this house!
That is great, Can! We love this recipe too.
Question:
I can never understand why you mix measuring by volume with measuring by weight. Fine, to give the volume of the stock , but to give tomatoes by weight, and then cabbage by volume ? Why not just weigh the cabbage as well?
Great question David. At times, with ounces being the measure for volume and weight, it can be confusing. The tomatoes are canned diced tomatoes and are sold by volume, and this is a 14 ounce can with juice. Hope that helps.
This is a great, healthy and quick recipe. I added some Honey Crisp Apple Chicken Sausage I had in the fridge to add a bit of protein, and it fit well. I used Better than Bullion Beef for the broth. Made cheesy green chilies corn muffins to make it a meal. Will definitely make this again.
Corn muffins would be perfect with this soup, so glad you loved it!
That looks delicious!
Thank you Lisa!
Hey MizHolly. I’ve been having all kinds of soup for breakfast since I was a little boy. I like bacon and eggs but soup is my usual go-to for breakfast. I made this cabbage soup and it is delicious all by itself. Later I ladled some of it into a smaller pot, added a can of great northern beans, got it simmering and then dropped in a frozen cod fillet. When the fish was done, oh my! What a nourishing and delicious pot of soup. On some days I have this soup for breakfast, dinner and supper. With toasted ciabatta rolls and butter, what’s not to like. Thanks for showing me an easy way to make a really great pot of soup. Another friend for life! P.S. I added the whole little can of tomato paste.
Soup sounds like the perfect way to start your day!! I love your additions to this soup, what a great way to change it up! Thank you for sharing your ideas!
This is incredibly delicious! I had some leftover spinach that was wilting, so I added that. I also doubled the amount of Italian seasoning. So flavorful and great, I’m happy to have discovered your blog, I think I’ve made the healthy blueberry cobbler about five times already. This soup is terrific!
Thanks Tom! Your additions sound yummy. Glad you enjoyed it!
Love it ! I made a good batch for the two of us. Two days later, using it for left overs, I stir fried some diced chicken, diced carrot and mushrooms. Fabulous ! A new staple.
WHY does your recipe always disappear when I’m in the process of reading the recipe, or when I’m attempting to comment?
Also, I just want to say that I like to add some good quality Kielbasa slices from our Polish Deli (not from a cryovac pkg. from the supermarket0 to Cabbage Soup.
Sounds delicious! We do have a similar cabbage soup with sausage here as well!
I can’t say for sure as we haven’t had the same problem.
Looks delicious!
Looks so delicious. Will have to try it.
I just made this with homemade chicken stock. Delicious, healthy and simple recipe I will make again.
Can I use chicken or vegetable broth? We don’t eat beef of any kind.
Thanks Holly. I love your recipes (except those with beef, pork, lamb,etc!)
Sure, chicken or veggie broth would work.
This soup is delicious but it can’t be 467 calories and 35 g fat per serving ???
You are so right Sherry. The recipe has been corrected to reflect the appropriate nutrition information!