Cabbage Soup

This recipe is for an amazingly delicious cabbage soup, complete with plenty of hearty vegetables and a rich tomato base. It's an easy, old fashioned recipe that's comforting soul food on a cold day!

About This Recipe

This recipe is for a classic, delicious cabbage soup. Cabbage soup is famous for the 'Cabbage Soup Diet' trend that peaked several years ago. The diet was based on the idea that you could eat as much cabbage soup as you wanted (and only cabbage soup) for a week and you would lose weight.

While I wouldn't recommend that diet, I would recommend trying this tasty soup! There's something so satisfying about the hearty mix of vegetables and tomatoe-y, broth-y base. It's flavorful in all the best ways.

This recipe also makes a lot of soup (about 6 servings). So bring out the biggest soup pot that you have and get ready to become a little bit obsessed with the star of this soup: cabbage!

Dietary Note: this recipe is very allergy + diet friendly! It's naturally gluten free, dairy free, paleo, keto, Whole30 compliant and vegan.

Cabbage Soup Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion
• 3 carrots
• 3 stalks celery
• 3 garlic cloves
• 4 cups coarsely chopped green cabbage
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

How to Make Cabbage Soup

Step 1: Cook Onions, Carrot & Celery

Add 1 tablespoon of oil to a large pot or dutch oven over medium high heat. Saute the onion, carrot and celery for 8 - 10 minutes, until the carrots and celery are tender. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more.

Step 2: Add Remaining Ingredients

Add the cabbage, broth, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, bay leaves, paprika, salt and pepper to the pot and stir.

Step 3: Simmer

Bring the pot to a boil and then simmer for 20 - 30 minutes, uncovered, until the cabbage is tender. Stir occasionally.

Step 4: Serve & Enjoy!

Remove the bay leaves and stir in the lemon juice. Serve warm, optionally topped with chopped fresh parsley.

Ingredient Notes

• Vegetables: carrots and celery are a classic combination that's used in this recipe; however, you could also add green beans, peas, or potatoes. Use frozen or fresh vegetables.
• Lemon: the recipe calls for fresh lemon juice but you can swap this out for white vinegar.
• Beans: add beans to make this soup even heartier! I'd recommend white beans (navy or Cannellini).
• Meat: ground beef, turkey, or sausage are all popular additions to this recipe. Brown and crumble the meat it in your soup pot before continuing the rest of the recipe (adding the onions, carrots, celery, etc).
• Broth: you can use vegetable, chicken, or even bone broth as the base of this soup.

Storage

Here's how to store any leftovers:

• In the fridge: cool and store in an airtight container for up to 4 - 5 days.
• In the freezer: this soup freezes really well! Simply let it cool and then store it in an airtight container in your freezer (I love Souper Cubes for this) for up to 3 months. The texture remains nearly the same after freezing, making this a great freezer meal or meal prep recipe.

Frequently Asked Questions

Print