I was first introduced to this Cabbage Soup recipe through the notorious cabbage soup diet. While I’m not a fan of that type of diet, I am a huge fan of this homemade Cabbage Soup recipe itself. Why? For one simple reason—it’s absolutely DELICIOUS. Yeah, I was surprised too. The first time I had the famed diet cabbage soup I was pleasantly surprised by how extremely flavorful and comforting the soup was. I actually ended up eating it over and over again just because I wanted to, not because I was trying to stick to the diet. And ever since, this recipe for cabbage soup has been one of my winter comfort food staples. 😅
Cabbage Soup Ingredients
The classic “cabbage soup diet” recipe has taken many forms over the years, but they all have one thing in common—they’re stuffed full of non-starchy vegetables swimming in a flavorful herb-filled broth. Here’s what you’ll need to make the BEST cabbage soup recipe you’ve ever had:
- Onion, Garlic, Celery, and Carrot: These four ingredients create the base for most of my soup recipes. It’s a basic mirepoix plus garlic, which gives the soup a deep flavor base.
- Cabbage: The start of the show! Cabbage makes this soup extra hearty, gives it volume, body, fiber and other nutrients, and all for pennies.
- Green Vegetables: I also add green bell pepper, green beans, and parsley to the soup to round out the medley of flavors and colors. You’re definitely getting your daily dose of veggies with this soup!
- Tomatoes: A combination of diced tomatoes and tomato sauce gives the soup a beautiful red color and even more texture to tempt your eyes.
- Vegetable Broth: Using a pre-made broth to fill out the soup ensures that every last drop is packed with flavor.
- Herbs and Spices: There’s already a lot of flavor going on in this soup but the addition of smoked paprika, oregano, thyme, and pepper really keeps the flavor exciting.
- Lemon Juice: this is the secret ingredient! A little bit of lemon juice at the end gives the soup a shot of brightness and keeps the flavors from being too heavy. Don’t skip this one!
Flavorful Variations
Soup recipes in general are very flexible, so there are so many options when it comes to making this cabbage soup your own. Here are some other great cabbage soup variations:
- Add beans (cannellini, chickpeas, kidney beans)
- Add meat: Ground beef (or check out my Beef and Cabbage Soup), Italian sausage, or shredded chicken
- Add cubed tofu (extra firm)
- Add potatoes to help bulk it up without adding a lot of cost
- Make it spicy: Add hot sauce or crushed red pepper to give the soup a kick!
How to Store Leftover Cabbage Soup
This cabbage soup recipe does make a really large batch, so it’s a good idea to freeze about half of it, just in case you can’t eat all of it within about five days. To freeze this soup, divide it into single-serving portions, chill it completely in the refrigerator first, then transfer to the freezer for longer storage. Keep in the freezer for up to three months.
Shown with Homemade Garlic Bread.
Cabbage Soup
Servings 6 2 cups eachIngredients
- 1 yellow onion ($0.32)
- 4 cloves garlic ($0.32)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 4 carrots ($0.57)
- 4 ribs celery ($0.50)
- 1 green bell pepper ($0.69)
- 1 28oz. can diced tomatoes ($1.00)
- 1 8oz. can tomato sauce ($0.34)
- 1/2 lb. frozen green beans ($0.67)
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley ($0.23)
- 1/2 Tbsp smoked paprika ($0.15)
- 1 tsp dried oregano ($0.10)
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
- 6 cups chopped cabbage (½ head) ($1.14)
- 6 cups vegetable broth ($0.78)
- 1 tsp salt ($0.05)
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice ($0.04)
Instructions
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Add the onion, garlic, and olive oil to a large soup pot and sauté over medium heat until the onions are soft.
- While the onion and garlic are sautéing, peel and slice the carrots, chop the celery, and dice the bell pepper. Add the carrot, celery, and bell pepper to the pot. Continue to sauté as you measure the rest of the ingredients.
- Add the diced tomatoes (with juices), tomato sauce, frozen green beans, chopped parsley, smoked paprika, oregano, thyme, and pepper. Continue to stir and cook while you chop the cabbage.
- Chop the cabbage into 1-inch pieces. Add the cabbage to the pot along with the vegetable broth and stir to combine.
- Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to medium-high, and allow the soup to come to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low and allow it to continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 40 minutes or until the cabbage is to your desired tenderness.
- Once the cabbage is tender, season the soup with salt, starting with ½ tsp and adding more to your liking. Finish the soup by adding the lemon juice and stirring to combine. Serve hot with crusty bread for dipping.
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Nutrition
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How to Make Cabbage Soup – Step by Step Photos
Start by mincing four cloves of garlic and dicing one large onion. Add them both to a large soup pot with one tablespoon olive oil. Sauté over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent.
While the onion and garlic are sautéing, peel and slice 4 carrots, slice 4 stalks of celery, and dice one green bell pepper. Add the carrots, celery, and bell pepper to the pot. Continue to sauté over medium.
Add one 28oz. can diced tomatoes (I used petite diced), one 8oz. can tomato sauce, ½ lb. frozen green beans, ¼ cup chopped parsley, ½ Tbsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp oregano, ½ tsp thyme, and ¼ tsp pepper. Stir to combine.
Chop 1/2 head of cabbage into one-inch pieces (about 5-6 cups once chopped). Add the chopped cabbage to the pot along with 6 cups of vegetable broth.
Stir everything together, place a lid on the pot, and turn the heat up to medium-high. Allow the soup to come to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Let the soup simmer over medium-low, stirring occasionally, for about 40 minutes, or until the cabbage is to your desired tenderness.
Once the cabbage is tender, season the soup with salt, starting with 1/2 teaspoon, then adding more to taste (I used 1 tsp total). Next, add one tablespoon of lemon juice, which really helps brighten the flavors.
And then slurp down all that vegetable-y goodness! I garnished the cabbage soup with a little more fresh parsley, but it’s not needed for extra flavor.
This cabbage soup recipe goes great with some crusty bread (garlic or not) to soak up that delicious broth!
I love a simple, uncomplicated soup, especially when I am beginning to feel under-the-weather. The Soup Starter is idea is brilliant, I will definately use it.
Easy vegan recipe that smells and tastes amazing. I added some kale for extra greens. This soup is pretty heavy on the tomatoes so if they aren’t your cup of tea, I’d replace the diced tomatoes with extra broth or something. It’s the perfect end to my night especially after the holidays when I have been thinking I need to eat more veggies. This recipe makes it painless!
I make this soup and add white beans, kale, andouille sausage, and 1 lb of cod loins. I know that bumps up the calories some but also the flavor (spicy sausage) and protein.
Could I chop up and freeze the other half of the cabbage like you suggest for the carrots and celery? Thanks!
If you plan to use it in a soup where it will get soft from cooking anyway, yes. :) It’s just not good for using fresh in salads and things because freezing and thawing makes the cabbage limp.
Is it possible to make this in the crock pot?
I haven’t tried it, but it seems like it would work. :)
This wasn’t delicious! I didn’t have enough broth or any boullion so I used water and added a teaspoon of harissa to ensure lots of flavor and oh man! It turned this into a delicious kimchi-esque soup. Highly recommend!
I used some tomato paste in lieu of tomato sauce (didn’t have any on hand). Also used a frozen mixed veg that had corn, carrots, peas and green beans. Great base recipe with tons of flavor to build on!
Wow! This recipe is absolutely wonderful! If I could have given it 10 stars, I would have. I made it for dinner yesterday, and even my 11 year old Son loved it. My wife said it reminded her of a Panamanian dish that her Mom makes, just without the meat. I pretty much followed the recipe to a ‘T’, including the Better Than Bullion broth. Sooooo good. I highly recommend trying this one out. I’m gulping down leftovers as I write this comment…
Best base for cabbage I have come across. Mahalo!
Delicious!
I pureed a portion of this soup for my little one and it worked so well that I ate a few pureed bowls for myself too!
Does anyone know how many calories there are in each cup?
I know this is late and not 100% the recipe, but I make a cabbage soup in a crock pot with:
Large cabbage (~300cal)
4-5 yellow potatoes( ~ 550cal)
A can of veggie broth (40cal)
3 (small) cans of fire roasted diced tomatoes (187.5 cal)
1 onion (60 cal)
Cup of carrots ( 50 cal)
Roasted bell pepper ( 100cal for jar)
Various spice
Total = ~1,300 calories for the WHOLE pot. It easily makes about 8-15 servings for me. 8 servings = 163/ serving. This is probably a bit less though and very filling :)
Can you tell me how you made your vegetable broth?
I use Better Than Bouillon, which is a broth concentrate. You mix one teaspoon of the concentrate with water to make one cup of broth. :)
I just made this recipe for the first time and I’m absolutely in love! This soup is so comforting and delicious! Definitely going to be a go-to recipe!
Im currently in the process of making this soup! The aromas are taking over my house. So much so that My dad keeps coming downstairs sneaking sips of the broth! Mmmm this IS the perfect autum soup!
I love that Better Than Bouillon. it is just the handiest thing to have around when you cannot make your own stock and when I see someone else knows about it as well, it is like-Oh yeah this person knows what they’re doing! I bought this huge head of cabbage a day or two ago and I am going to make a big pot of soup today, and look forward to freezing some as well! Your recipe just confirmed that I have everything I need and now I can get going with this!
I used this recioe with weight watchers cabbage soup recipe. I also added a can of white kidney beans, and canned green beans rinsed off well. Used italian stewed tomatoes, and tomatoe paste instead of sauce. I love mixing this recipe with the weight watchers recipe because not only am i getting something thats really good for me, but also something i llove eating, and could eat everyday till its gon!