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This simple cabbage roll soup recipe is a hearty and inexpensive soup that will keep you cozy all winter long! The bright tomato broth is bursting with savory flavors.
Try my Easy Egg Roll in a Bowl or Easy Chicken and Cabbage Stir Fry next if you’ve got cabbage to use up.
Why you’ll love it
Making this easy stuffed cabbage roll soup takes a lot less effort than cabbage rolls, but it has all the classic, comforting, and wholesome flavors you’re craving. We’ve got tender ribbons of cabbage, juicy ground beef, and plenty of rice in a richly seasoned tomato broth.
This has similar ingredients to Polish cabbage rolls. Cabbage is a staple in a number of European cuisines, and my Czech mom served it for us all the time in soups when I was little! It’s affordable and so delicious when cooked, much like in my Simple Sautéed Cabbage.
What you’ll need
- Ground beef – we’re using lean ground beef
- Onion and garlic – I like sweet (Vidalia) best
- Cabbage – green cabbage is what I use, but any variety is fine
- Tomato sauce – for concentrated tomato flavor
- Diced tomatoes – using fire-roasted tomatoes is a game changer for the taste. I like Muir Glen brand.
- Beef broth – the base of the soup and for more savory goodness
- Paprika – this is what adds that distinctive, signature flavor to many European dishes
- Italian seasoning – it’s a convenient blend of dried herbs that comes in one jar
- White rice – I use jasmine
Pro tip
This soup will soak up the broth the longer you leave it, so feel free to cook the rice separately if you anticipate a lot of leftovers. That way, you can add it in as you need it. It’s tasty as a thicker soup as well, though!
How to make cabbage roll soup
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
Brown the beef and onions in a large soup pot, then stir in the garlic, cabbage, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, broth, water, paprika, Italian seasoning, and rice. Bring the soup to a boil, then simmer until rice is cooked. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Easy!
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- I like to use this Le Creuset Dutch oven for many of my soup recipes.
- Store the other half of your onion in this onion saver, mince the garlic effortlessly with a garlic press, and open up the tomatoes with my favorite can opener.
- The ladle pictured is this OXO ladle. It’s very sturdy and has fewer spills!
Substitutions and variations
- Swap the ground beef for ground turkey, ground pork, or even sausage meat.
- If you want to use brown rice, cook it first because it’ll take longer.
- Feel free to throw in other veggies from the fridge if you’ve got some that need using up.
What to serve with cabbage roll soup
- It’s a nice and filling soup, so round it out with a dinner roll or a slice of fresh bread. Try sourdough. Craving Garlic Bread? Sounds like a plan to me.
- A salad is always a good idea. Easily throw together my Creamy Balsamic Dressing (Easy, No Blender!) with spring mix and your favorite salad vegetables, Homemade Ranch Dressing, or try this Easy Lemon Tahini Dressing to change it up.
Leftovers and storage
- Store leftovers of this cabbage soup in the fridge for 3-4 days in an airtight container. The rice will absorb the broth over time, so add in extra broth if needed. Reheat in a saucepan slowly over a low heat.
- You can freeze it, but the rice can get a little mushy when reheating. If you’re planning on freezing the whole batch, I’d make it without the rice and then add cooked rice when thawing.
More cozy soup recipes
Will you give this stuffed cabbage roll soup a try? Please leave a star rating and review below! If you’ve made one of my recipes, tag me #saltandlavender on Instagram.
Cabbage Roll Soup
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1/2 medium onion chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 3 cups chopped cabbage
- 1 (14 ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1 (28 ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes with juices
- 4 cups beef broth
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2/3 cup uncooked white rice (I used jasmine)
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the ground beef and onion to a large soup pot and cook it over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the beef is browned (about 8 minutes). If there's a lot of excess fat, spoon most of it out.
- Stir in the garlic, followed by the cabbage, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, broth, water, paprika, Italian seasoning, and rice.
- Increase the heat to high and bring the soup to a boil. Once it's just started to boil, give it a good stir, then reduce the heat and cover the pot with the lid slightly open. Let it simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the rice is cooked. Stir it occasionally to make sure the rice isn't sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Season soup with salt & pepper as needed and serve immediately.
Notes
- You may need to add more beef broth to leftovers as the rice tends to soak liquid up.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
© Salt & Lavender Inc. Content and photographs are copyrighted. Sharing this blog post is much appreciated, but copying and pasting full recipes without authorization to social media is strictly prohibited.
This recipe was originally published on November 16, 2019. It’s been updated with new photos and better instructions but is the same great recipe!
Do you think this would be okay with chicken broth over beef?
I do!
Made this tonight for me and my husband. I rarely ever cook so I’m super pleased it turned out perfectly, we both had seconds! Thanks so much for this delicious and easy-to-follow recipe!
I am so happy you enjoyed it, Jane! 🙂
Delicious. We love cabbage rolls. A yearly fall favorite. Made a batch of your soup for Sunday football. It’s delicious & the Seahawks won
So happy you enjoyed it, Laura!! 🙂 Thanks for letting me know!
I loved everything about this soup! It was exactly the comfort food I’ve been wanting without feeling guilty about it. I’m hooked!! My 10 year old loved it too! XO
Yay!! I am so happy you two liked it!! Thanks so much for leaving me a comment!! 😀
I love your recipes! Made your sausage tortellini soup last week and it was such a hit! Making this soup now and noticed it didn’t mention when to add the onion so just added it at the end. Have it simmering now and looking for forward to trying it 🙂 thank you!
Hi Bridget, thank you!! Sorry about that… for some reason I totally missed it when writing up the recipe. I did fix it a couple of hours ago. I added the onion in while browning the beef, but it won’t make or break the soup adding it in later. Hope you enjoy it! 🙂
In the midst of making this (with ground prom instead of beef bc I don’t have beef right now). Might need to update – there’s no direction on when to add onions.
Hi Ann! I did update the recipe about 30 minutes ago. My apologies – sometimes despite proofreading recipes multiple times I miss things. It’s fixed now. 🙂
Hi! Add the onions when you add the garlic?
Hi Kate! Sorry… just updated the recipe to fix it!
Soooooooooooo yummy that I actually forgot it was healthy! This will definitely be a make again on repeat for me.
Thanks so much for leaving me a comment, Chrissy! So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
I think kielbasa would be delicious instead of the ground beef. What do you think?
Hi Donna! Sure, I mean it’s not what cabbage rolls are traditionally stuffed with, but I love the stuff and I don’t see why it wouldn’t taste yummy in a soup. 🙂
This looks good but you don’t say when to add the rice – ??
Step 2. My apologies – will update!