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!
Hey!  I’ve made this twice now. The first time was with the beans and the second time with beyond ground beef that I browned off.  This is the best anytime soup I have ever had. I’ve shared it with many friends and strangers as well
Good job 🤟. The next one is the lentil soup. Will keep you posted
Excellent soup. Very tasty and versatile. This is likely to become a regular dish in my household.
When it comes to cabbage soup, the more vegetables, the merrier! I’ve eaten cabbage soup with only the cabbage in it and was disappointed. It looks delicious and just as good as any restaurant!
I added shredded chicken for protein and left out peppers because I don’t believe they belong in soup.  Really tasty!
Ha! Been making this all of my life. Doesn’t the state of Mississippi have a patent on this? Recently I’d forgotten that I sometimes use V-8. Thanks for the remiinder. Also, I need to get some frozen green beans. I’ve always used fresh or none. Frozen can have more nutrition than fresh, due to processing immediately after harvesting. Thanks for bringing that idea. Almost always have fresh thyme and oregano, I dry my own.. I use only dried oregano for salads. Dried is often better than fresh in some ways. I’ll use fresh and dried as they do have some differences. The oregano must be Greek.
Sometimes my homemade broth is made with corn cobs with the corn cut off. The starch makes it thicker, and it taste very good.
It has just come to my attention that when I “shop” online for recipes, I almost always choose yours as a reference. Your emails always have good suggestions too.
Thanks for all that you do.
I really liked this recipe. It was simple to make and tasted good. I added some white beans to bulk it up. Lovely.
I only have 2 cups of vegetable broth can water be substituted for the other 4 or something else , I have a child that is a vegetarianÂ
Also can can green beans be substituted for the frozen
I wanted to bulk out the soup a bit and added 2 cups of  broth and 1 cup of quinoa. Definitely a winner! My husband kept saying over and over it’s the best soup I’ve made.Â
I have made this soup before and added pasta , broken into small pieces ,, it is Awesome !! My Girlfriend is Vegetarian , and she loves it ! I find it gives you energy and yes , you lose weight ,, Win Win Right !!!
How do you all store this if not eaten on the day?
You can store it in glass or plastic food storage containers.
Wow. Seriously delicious! I added up the calories for everything that went into the pot, and it was well below 1000 calories for the entire pot. FABULOUS “diet” food that tastes fantastic.
Thank you!
Ps. I used diced tomato and green chilies… (Rotel) in place of the straight diced tomatoes and got a really nice “zip”. Will make a second pot with the “regular” diced tomatoes for comparison purposes… but this potful was delicious!
I made a few changes:
-Used dried parsley instead of fresh
-Regular paprika instead of smoked
-Added a cup of frozen corn
-Used half a green pepper, half a yellow pepper and a whole red pepper
-4 cups of chicken broth instead of 6 cups vegetable broth
-1 can of diced tomatoes instead of 2 (I didn’t read oz size apparently. :) )\
-Annnddd…I left out the cabbage. (I know I know it’s in the title….)
I lot of changes were because it was what I had on hand or didn’t have on hand.
This was PHENOMENAL. It tasted okay last night after making it but today for lunch…after the flavors had blended in the fridge last night…outstanding. Thank you so much for this recipe!
sorry but without the cabbage it just isn’t cabbage soup..i believe you should checkout veggie soup….
I’ve renamed this Apocalypse soup 😕
Why???
You were ahead of the curve on this! Making this tomorrow in isolation.
Followed the Recipe to the tee, thought I’d add 6 hot sausage links and some ground beef for extra protein!
Wow the added Ingredients pushed my taste buds over the top !!Simply delicious !!
So far Ive finished 2 Pot fulls and going to start Making my third pot full!!!
I made this yesterday. My husband loved it. I liked the smoked paprika flavor. Recipe is really versatile. I will be making this on a regular basis. Thanks for sharing!!