This easy cabbage roll soup is a hearty soup that the whole family will love for busy weeknights! This recipe takes the idea of traditional cabbage rolls and turns it into a soup form, consisting of delicious ingredients such as lean beef, yellow onion, cabbage, sodium beef broth, and uncooked rice, to name a few.
Serve this unstuffed cabbage roll soup as an easy dinner and hearty meal any time of year alongside garlic bread.
If you love cabbage recipes, check out this delicious collection of 40+ Best Cabbage Recipes (featuring both green and red cabbage recipes).
Ingredients
- Olive oil - For cooking ground beef. You can also use vegetable oil or canola oil.
- Salt and pepper - To taste. Feel free to add in cayenne pepper for a slight kick of heat.
- Ground beef - I’ve used 90% lean ground beef for this cabbage roll soup to reduce the fat in this dish, but you can also use regular ground beef if you prefer. When using regular ground beef, I recommend draining excess fat from browning the meat before adding other soup ingredients to the pot. Italian sausage, ground pork, or ground turkey can also be used.
- Vegetables - I’ve used onion, green cabbage, carrots, crushed tomatoes (preferably fire-roasted), and red bell pepper. You can make easy adaptations to the choice of veggies added to your soup, such as using a combination of green and red cabbage, using regular canned tomatoes or Ro-Tel tomatoes, or adding yellow or green bell peppers.
- Spices and seasoning - Italian herb seasoning, smoked paprika, and 2 teaspoons of minced garlic. Use different seasonings, spices, and aromatics, such as cajun seasoning.
- Beef broth - Vegetable broth, chicken broth, or savory tomato broth can also be used.
- Rice - Uncooked long grain rice. Wild rice can also be used, or you could even use cauliflower rice (added just before serving) as a low carb meal.
- Tomato paste - Use a good quality paste that’s dark red.
- Bay leaf - Ensure to remove the bay leaves before serving the soup.
- Sugar - Brown sugar is added to the soup mixture to tenderize the beef and balance flavors. Light brown sugar is also suitable.
- Parsley - Fresh or dried parsley can be used.
- Sour cream - You can also use unsweetened plain Greek yogurt.
👩🍳 You'll find the complete list of ingredients below the recipe card.
✅ Craving more soup? You'll love this Italian sausage soup and chicken gnocchi soup and pasta fazool.
How To Make Cabbage Roll Soup
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef.
Cook, breaking up the meat with a spatula until beef is browned, approximately 4-5 minutes. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 2 minutes.
Add smoked paprika, Italian seasoning, salt, and black pepper. Stir to combine and cook for 1 minute.
Lower the heat to medium-low. Add the cabbage, carrots, beef broth, bell peppers, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, rice, bay leaf, and brown sugar to the pot.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Bring to a simmer and cook for 20-25 minutes or until rice is tender and taste again for salt and pepper. Remove bay leaves before serving.
Sprinkle with parsley and serve with sour cream and a hearty potato side dish.
Tips
- If you use leftover cooked rice for this soup, only add it to the soup mixture before serving otherwise, it will become overly soft and mushy.
- Have more leftover cabbage? Make this Cabbage Casserole Pie or Cheesy Cabbage Bake next!
- This cabbage roll soup can also be made in a slow cooker. Cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 7-8 hours.
- If you need this soup to be low-carb, omit the rice and increase the veggies.
- Brown rice or white rice can be used instead of long grain rice. Brown rice typically takes 20 minutes longer than white rice, so keep this in mind if you switch types of rice.
- Don’t enjoy ground beef? Use ground lean turkey or ground chicken in this cabbage soup - it’s just as delicious!
- When preparing the cabbage, cut it into 1-inch cubes but no thinner otherwise, it will soften too quickly.
- For a thinner consistency to your soup, add an extra 2 cups of broth or boiled water.
- For a kick of heat, add a pinch or two of red chili flakes.
Freezing and Storing Instructions
Store any leftover Cabbage Roll Soup in the fridge for 2-3 days. Reheat over medium heat until warmed through.
You can also freeze it in a freezer-friendly container for up to 2-3 months. Let thaw in the fridge overnight and reheat on the stove.
Frequently Asked Questions
Galumpkis (also known as Polish cabbage rolls) consist of cabbage leaves stuffed with ground meat, rice, spices, and tomato sauce.
Yes, you can. Frozen cabbage can be placed directly into the soup mixture without being defrosted.
Cabbage rolls are similar to Galumpkis in that they consist of cabbage leaves stuffed with a mix of rice, veggies, and ground meat. Some recipes also call for pickled sauerkraut leaves or grape leaves, bacon, smoked ribs, or smoked sausage.
Cabbage rolls, much like this cabbage roll soup, can be served with a side salad, garlic bread, or roasted vegetables.
Cabbage rolls is a traditional Romanian dish that is varied with different fillings. In Romania, these delicious cabbage rolls are called “sarmale.”
Easy One-Pot Recipes
Make sure to go through our Recipe Index for more delicious recipes.
📖Recipe
Cabbage Roll Soup
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- salt and black pepper , to taste
- 1 pound ground beef, I use 90% lean
- 1 onion, medium diced, makes about ¾ cup
- 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
- 4 cups green cabbage, coarsely chopped
- 2 carrots , peeled, quartered and sliced, makes about ¾ cup
- 4 cups beef broth
- 2 15 oz cans crushed tomatoes, fire roasted will be great!
- ½ cup uncooked long grain rice
- 1 cup red bell pepper, medium dice into cubes
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste, good quality, dark red
- 1 teaspoon Italian herbs seasoning
- 1 ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 bay leaf
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar, any regular one will do
- 2 tablespoons parsley
- Sour cream or unsweetened plain greek yogurt for serving
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the ground beef.
- Cook, breaking up the meat with a spatula, until beef is browned, approximately 4-5 minutes. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add smoked paprika, italian seasoning, salt, black pepper. Stir to combine and cook for 1 minute.
- Lower the heat to medium low. Add the cabbage, carrots, beef broth, bell peppers, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, rice, bay leaves and brown sugar to the pot. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Bring to a simmer and cook for 20-25 minutes or until rice is tender and taste again for salt and pepper. Remove bay leaves before serving.
- Sprinkle with parsley and serve with sour cream.
Rita
Delicious and easy ground beef and cabbage soup!
Deborah Rossnagel
Does this soup really use 1 1/2 cups of smoked paprika?
Rita
of course not! it's a typo, thank you! 🙂
liz
so what is the correct amount of paprika and when do you add the crushed tomatoes?
Rita
1 1/2 teaspoon paprika. Crushed tomatoes go together with the rice.
Angela A SCHWARTZ
Your pictured ingredients show tomato pasta. I don't see it in the instructions. I've never even heard of it. Lol
Rita
tomato paste, it is very common ingredient 🙂
Joe
Very good. Hearty.
Cold weather soup.
Does not remind me of cabbage rolls at all but still damn good.
Dessy
What is the nutritional info. of soup if you use ground turkey or Italian turkey sausage, omit the rice and pasta ? And what healthy low sugar alternative can I use instead of brown sugar ?
Rita
Dessy, please use the verywellfit.com nutrition calculator for the moment or any other popular one. For the sugar, I'm not sure but you could try maple syrup or liquid sweeteners. Coconut sugar.
Kevin Walsh
I have been eating stuffed cabbage since a young boy. My Grandmother was the cook of the delicious recipe. I can remember helping along.
I do a variation of your recipe. Not as soupy. I will go a little Asian with rice vinegar, little ginger and soy sauce. I love bean sprouts so they wind up in the mix. My Grandmother used a mixture of crushed tomatoes, Campbell's tomato soup and chicken broth.
Rita
i love this, thank you Kevin!
Sue Ellen
hi there, just wondering if the ground beef could be swapped out for a plant-based alternative? trying to cut down on meat in our family meals. thanks!
Rita
I love to use white beans instead of meat 🙂
RJ_2023
I added double the amount of beef for extra protein. Great way to make this more macro-friendly for those on a high-protein diet.
TaraLovesCooking
Absolutely in love with this Cabbage Roll Soup recipe! The perfect blend of flavors. I tossed in some smoked paprika for an extra kick. Yummy!
ChefBob
Good base recipe. I recommend sautéing the onions and garlic before adding the ground beef to enhance the flavors. Additionally, consider a splash of red wine for depth.
Heather a.
Is there a specific type of cabbage that works best for this soup? I have some savoy cabbage at home and was wondering if that would be suitable.
Mitch
For those who enjoy a thicker soup, try blending a portion of the soup before adding the rolls. It adds a wonderful creaminess without cream!
Karen
Great tip Mitch, thank you!
Lucas_theExplorer
This recipe took me straight back to my travels in Eastern Europe, where cabbage rolls are a staple. I've tasted many versions, and this soup encapsulates all those flavors wonderfully. Made it for my family, and they loved the nostalgic journey as much as I did.
Georg
Just harvested a bunch of cabbage from my garden and this recipe was a perfect way to use some of it up! The fresh taste really shines through. Next time, I might throw in some carrots and zucchini too.
Rita
Love hearing that! Adding more garden veggies sounds like a fantastic idea. Enjoy!
Tricia B.
Hi Rita. I have just found your blog, looked over your recipes and I must admit I'm interested in making quite a few - especially this Cabbage Roll Soup! I love Cabbage Rolls but it takes a lot of preparation to make them so consequentially I have NOT made them for some time (perhaps years)! I plan on making this Cabbage Roll soup real soon now that cooler weather is coming.
Thank you Rita for some very interesting recipes. I also go to another site where the lady is from the Ukraine... really love here recipes, too. I'm pretty sure yours will be as well!!
Rita
Thank you Tricia! I get my recipe inspiration from my Ukraine roots indeed, our recipes are delish, simple and made with good-for-you ingredients 🙂