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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.
- 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, 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!
Outstanding winner! Made this last night to feed six people, but with a few minor modifications based on several recipes. I do that often, where I take things I like from various recipes. To this recipe I modified the following: added a bunch more cabbage (a whole head), 6 cups broth (no water), added 1T brown sugar to balance tomato acidity, add 2T cider vinegar (my mom used to add a can of sauerkraut on top of her cabbage rolls when they were simmering on the stove, and always gave the rolls a nice zing), and I added 2 chopped carrots (mostly for the color and I try to get as many veggies as possible in my meals). At the end, I threw in some dried parsely, and also server with fresh chopped parsely for topping. The next time I think with all the extra cabbage and broth, it could use another 1/2 lb of ground meat (perhaps pork to add another flavor profile).
Sounds good to me, Vera! Thanks for your review!
This is a very hearty and tasty soup! I make a double batch and share with the in-laws.
I love that!! Thank you, Leslie!
Wow! Total winner of a recipe. I do not say that lightly. I am VERY picky about recipe sites because I don’t get to cook much anymore due workload. So, I only rely on tried and true sites, namely NYT Cooking. But this popped up somewhere on my social media verse and it was cold yesterday, so I went for it. OMG. So fabulous. Wonderful flavor. Incredibly quick and easy with huge payoff. Having for breakfast on this 29-degree morning. You have a new fan. (My only beef with your site are those awful and deceitful (the advertiser not you) “print recipe” ads. But your recipes, if like this one, are worth dealing with those ads. Bravo.
I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Melissa!! 😀 Appreciate your review.
I love this cabbage roll soup. I cook a whole instant pot of rice in beef broth, then freeze in sandwich bags in 1 cup portions. I freeze soup in 2 cup portions in quart size ziplocs, since it’s low in calories. I add in the beefy rice when I reheat the soup, in a 4 or more cup bowl. I too add in any leftover vegetables as I cook this. Frozen veggies work too. I always keep a bag of frozen rolls in the freezer so I can bake 1 or 2 up in the toaster oven while soup heats. Another pantry/fridge staple of mine is garlic butter. Kerry Gold has a wonderful one sold by the stick. Freeze it for half hour, then slice into serving sizes, wrap the stick in waxed paper to use as needed. Hot rolls and garlic butter are a great side for this soup.
So glad you like this one, Denise! 😀 Thanks for your review!
Made this tonight and it was amazing! Absolute perfect for a cold Alaskan winter night!
I’m thrilled to hear that, Heidi!! Stay warm!
Delicious!! I added 1 Tbl Worcestershire sauce. So yummy and perfect in cold weather!
Yay!! Glad you enjoyed it, Laura!
Really good! Added some brown sugar tastes like my grandmothers stuffed cabbage!
Love that idea! Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Natasha!! A winner recipe, especially for winter. Easy to make and delicious!
It might not be strictly in the cabbage roll tradition, but I added sliced cremini mushrooms, about 6 large mushrooms (it might have been a couple more…I’m not an exacting cook.)
The other great thing about this recipe, is we could freeze leftovers. That’s always helpful when we cook for only the two of us.
Thanks for the great work you do and the many awesome recipes you offer.
Looking forward to your cook book.
Cheers!
I’m thrilled you enjoyed it, Paula!! 😀 Thank you so much for your 5-star review! XO
This is a favorite of mine with 2 added ingredients that really make it special. 1 TBS Worcestershire and 2 Tbs apple cider vinegar. Try it