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. 😅
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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.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
- Dutch Oven
- Measuring Cups Spoons
- Chef’s Knife
- Garlic Press
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!
For a little added protein, I stirred in a spoonful of Greek yogurt. It was good!
I meant
black pepper when I said peppers. Also I add smoked paprika and season to taste. I like plenty of seasoning but you can use less or more easily. Just please yourself.
Using the ingredients and quantities which I do, mine tends to turn out more of a stew than a soup but its all good and it’s very easy to add more liquid as desired.
I thought the same, but a vegetable soup is good, no? I prefer a soup that is more solids and less broth.\
This is such a great base recipe. So flexible in terms of both quantities and ingredients. I’m on my second batch using tomato juice as the main liquid, a couple cans of fire roasted and rotel tomatoes, frozen mixed vegetables, cabbage, taco, Italian, and lemon pepper seasoning besides onion, garlic, and plenty of peppers. Used some btb last week. Experimenting with omitting it this time since last week’s batch was a little salty. Added two cans of pinto beans this time. I’m trying to start cooking more whole grains and plan on adding some to the bowl at mealtime. Very filling and good both warm and cold. Very useful for using up leftovers and vegetables which need to be used up.
I substituted the frozen green beans and used fresh snow pea pods, delush
This is a wonderful recipe. My fiance made it today. I had major surgery on March 31 and many of my lifestyle habits required change. Very tasty and filling.
This soup is the “Bomb” I used a 28oz. can of crushed San Marino tomatoes, 14oz can diced tomatoes and 8oz of tomato sauce also added 1 cup of beef broth with the vegetables broth, it’s really so good one bowl of it won’t do. Per instructions be careful when adding salt it doesn’t need much.
This came out so amazing! It really tastes like a cheat meal! Yum!!
This reminds me of my mom’s vegetable soup, only she used tomato juice instead of the tomato sauce and canned tomatoes combination. She also shreds the cabbage thinner, adds in corn and lima beans (maybe something else?), and doesn’t use green pepper. Oh, and she uses chicken broth and seasons only with salt and pepper. Despite those changes, there’s a pretty similar taste. I guess vegetable soup is pretty versatile and most veggies can be tossed in based on what you have!
I LOVE the tangy spice of hot sauce so I also add a few dashes to the top of each bowl (both soups). :) And I added a little beef bouillon to this one because I ran out of vegetable broth. Healthy and filling!
Any thoughts on throwing in some diced red potatoes? How would that alter the cook time? Thanks!
As long as they aren’t huge chunks I feel like they should soften within the time that this soup simmers. If not, just let it simmer a bit longer. It won’t hurt this fool-proof soup. :)
Can someone tell me how many calories per serving there is?
About 110 per serving which is 1/8 of the recipe. Potentially less because I think I overestimated when entering it into MFP. it is very healthy and filling and you don’t feel guilty having more than one serving
I just made this soup and it is killer. Take the few minutes to make this dish. You won’t be disappointed. I’m headed back for my third bowl. Enjoy!
I loved this recipe. So easy, healthy, satisfying and cheap! The seasonings really make it a tasty soup. A few variations- used petite chopped tomatoes, no celery (don’t like celery), and red pepper instead of green. I added about a tablespoon each of kosher salt, sugar, and lemon juice. Also used vegetable ‘better than bouillon’. Next time I might add some corn.
We just made two pots and it is delicious. The lemon juice gave it extra zing to. Thanks for sharing. Sonya and Jeff
My whole family loves this! We swapped out the green beans for Portobello mushrooms. The smoked paprika really makes it so I went heavier with it, and added a dash of red pepper flakes (no lemon juice). I basically threw everything through the food processor so it took no time to make, putting in the cabbage absolute last. Now my picky 7yr old is on his 2nd bowl, and my 4yr old is tucking in. Thanks for posting this awesome cabbage tomato soup recipe!