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.
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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!
I was wondering about using this soup as a way to get more daily vegetables, so thank you. Question: would red bell peppers mess up the flavor much? My housemate doesn’t like green pepper.
I think red bell peppers would be great in this. :)
The “Cabbage Soup Diet” [which also includes eating fruits and veggies as well as an occasional “heavy carb” (i.e., a potato) plus a few proteins tossed in — towards the end of the week – for good measure] is ALIVE and WELL! And this Soup made our7-day adventure to the tip of the abyss not only bearable, but actually quite pleasant (IOWs, it’s as DELICIOUS as a Cabbage Soup can be!) My adult-Daughter and I have a Wedding we’ll be attending mid-next month and, for whatever reason (???) Keto just wasn’t “dong it” for us :( . But THIS SOUP — in coordination with other of “The Cabbage Soup Diet” directives caused ME to lose 9 lbs. in a week and my Daughter to lose 12. We’ll be going back onto our Keto regimen starting 2morrow and then (after 2weeks) doing the “Cabbage Soup Diet” once again for another week. While the immediate objective is that the Dresses will fit, I can see myself using this recipe to make THIS Cabbage Soup many times during the current Autumn and upcoming Winter seasons. It really IS that GOOD! Thank you, Bth, for this delightful recipe.
This is great stuff!
Can you recommend what I can substitute for the tomatoes and tomato sauce? I am allergic to them unfortunately.
Unfortunately, the tomato ingredients are a big part of this recipe, and replacing them would change it quite a bit. So I’d need to reformulate and test options before offering a suggestion.
I made this soup tonight and it was very delicious!! It’s very comforting and hearty, the only think that I did differently was to add some cooked tofu to the soup to add some protein to it.
Love this healthy soup. I make a double batch in a huge pot and then freeze it in individual containers for future meal portions. This soup plus the Budget Bytes freezer garlic bread is a real treat on a chilly day. This soup has saved my wallet and waistline from fast food on many occasions – why do drive through when this takes less than 10 minutes to heat in the microwave and is full of delicious veggies. Modifications I make:
1. I add chicken for protein. While I’m cooking the soup, in a separate pan with a lid, I poach chicken breast to shred and then add to the soup. ( I put a portion of shredded chicken into each of the containers for the freezer portions, and then fill them up with soup.
2. Instead of the tomato sauce, I just replace the liquid with more broth instead, for my personal taste.
3. I add sliced mushrooms and whatever else I have such as zucchini. Bring on the veggies.
4. It adds a pan to wash, but I use Better than Bouillion and I just find it easiest to boil up a separate pot of water and make the broth and then pour the hot boiling broth into the pot of veggies. It adds a pot to wash, but no scrubbing so this is not a big deal.
5. I add a few pinches of shredded Romano cheese (or Parmesan or even a little shredded mozzarella).
Not related to this recipe, but want to tout the freezer garlic bread again, it just makes meals scrounged from leftovers, bagged salad kits, or whatever you defrosted that was lurking in the back of the freezer between zoom calls on a work from home day suddenly seem like an intentional meal.
I like okra in this soup, it thickens it a little and it tastes great! But y’know what would REALLY give it a wonderful kick? — half of a small or 1/4 of a large preserved lemon, flesh and all, minced and mixed in near the end. Oh yeah, that’s what I’m gonna do.
Can this be frozen in batches?
Yes, absolutely. :)
I used the recipe as a base and did my own thing. Added roasted garlic (lots), mushrooms (cuz I had some), hot paprika (cuz I like heat), canned diced tomatoes (again had it on hand) and doubled (maybe tripled) the (meyer) lemon – it was awesome! I think you can add anything you want. Loved the lemon and the fresh parsley. The cabbage is a great filler and tastes great in the soup. I didn’t use any onion in this batch…so I didn’t have to do the first step w oil. So basically zero fat!
Have made it a ton of times and always a hit. I have served with a little protein on the side (sausage, chicken) and with fresh french bread for a bigger meal.
LOVE LOVE LOVE the soup and makes you feel like you’re loving your body and soul!
Hi I’m thinking of making this soup,can I add zucchini? I have a lot that needs to be used 😐
Thank you!
Absolutely. :) That’s what I love about this soup–you can add just about any vegetable! Flexible recipes are the best.
Recipe looks easy and great to follow. Family loves different types of soup especially during the harvest season. Hope to make this soup this week and offset it with a delicious grain bread. Yum…….
Why is sodium count so high ? Recipe sounds great !
Probably because all the canned tomatoes and the broth. Be sure to read our nutrition disclosure to understand why calculated nutrition data is only a broad estimate and should be taken with a grain of salt (pun intended).
Perfect for cleaning out the fridge! Even threw in some zucchini that needed used up. Used v8 instead of canned tomatoes, and added some more seasonings. Overall very delicious! Will be making this again, great for using up cabbage.
Really good and super filling!
Absolutely love this soup! I’ve made it twice in the last month (mainly because my dad gave me a cabbage bigger than a bowling ball 😂 ) but it’s so good! I add ground beef & barley to it to beef it up a little but it’s just packed with flavor in general. Thank you so much for this recipe