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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.
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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!
I keep coming back to this recipe during this cold, snowy winter! It’s one of my favorite Salt and Lavender recipes! My only change was to add 1, 14 oz can fire roasted tomatoes and 1, 14 oz can of regular diced tomatoes. The fire-roasted flavor from the canned tomatoes was a little overpowering for my personal taste so this made it perfect!
I’m so happy to hear that! Stay warm! 🙂
I made this and it was enjoyed by all of us here in the Philippines. Don’t really have all the ingredients on the list like lean beef since this is not a very beefy place so recommend definitely browning the meat alone and draining the fat off. If it were truly lean I would prefer to brown with the chopped onion and garlic. The fire roasted tomatoes I did myself fresh tomato under the broiler. My buddy in Pittsburgh makes great Galumpki’s and uses V8 and sliced keilbasa over the top. I added celery leaf and a little bit of green pepper for a V8 like flavor and no keilbasa here so used what they call here Hungarian sausage. Going to make this again tomorrow but this time going to make some pseudo sour cream to add as a topping, why not
I’m so glad you were able to make it work!! 🙂 That’s so awesome you tried it.
I’ve been meaning to try this recipe for a while and I’m sorry I didn’t make it sooner. Easy, hearty, delicious soup. Thank you, this one is a keeper!
You’re very welcome!! 🙂
This was excellent! Perfect for a cold winter night. I followed the recipe exactly, but added a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce as another reader recommended.
Awesome!!
Hi! I know this is quick but can I make it in the slow cooker? It’s just nice to have it ready to go when I come home.
Hi! I think you probably could do that. The usual 6-8 hours on low. You may want to do the sautéing steps in a skillet first before adding to the slow cooker.
Thanks!
I added more cabbage and less rice. This is delicious! Thank you.
You’re welcome!!
If I want to make this with some leftover cooked rice I have, should I decrease the amount of broth that goes in? Looks delicious, can’t wait to make it! Thank you!
Hi Sharon! Yes, I think that would probably be a good idea since you don’t want to cook the rice for too long. Let me know how it goes!
I’m usually not a fan of deconstructed recipes. I’m Polish and grew up with golubki. But this is pure genius. I made it but did the rice separate so we could control the density of the portion! Excellent!
So glad you liked it, Gary!!
Love this super easy and yummy recipe! My 3 boys and hubby all had seconds. I used ground bison and added some Worchestershire sauce, a touch of smokey/spicy paprika and it was delish. It was a bit more watery than I wanted it so next time I will reduce water.
Yay that’s awesome! So glad it was a hit.
If I make with turkey, is beef broth still ok or should I use chicken broth?
I’d probably use chicken broth, but both would turn out fine I’d say 🙂
Thank you! I’m making it according to your recipe tonight and next time, I’ll try ground turkey and chicken broth 😁
Awesome, hope you like it!