The BEST Cabbage Soup Recipe (Healthy & Easy To Prep In Just 5 Minutes)

This cabbage soup recipe is absolutely delicious. It combines perfectly cooked cabbage with an assortment of fresh veggies, aromatics, and flavorful homemade broth to create a lip-smacking soup you won't be able to get enough of. Honestly, every slurp of this soup is just as good as the last, and what's even better than how it tastes is how easy it is to make. In fact, just 5 minutes of prep work is all you'll need to invest to make it. 

The Best Cabbage Soup

This cabbage soup recipe has been a favorite in my house for years, especially during the winter months. It just has the perfect balance of flavors, and it's so hearty too. I mean, it's filled with tons of fresh cabbage, onions, celery, carrots, and tomatoes, and the broth is seasoned to perfection.

Plus, it's so, so easy to make. Just one pot is all you'll need to make this cabbage soup recipe, and it comes together in a matter of minutes. And the entire cooking process is super passive. You basically just have to add all of the ingredients to a pot and let 'em simmer.

Also, since this is a one pot soup recipe, cleanup is a breeze as well.

By the way, since this soup recipe comes together so quickly, you'll have plenty of time to whip up a delicious side to go with it. I love serving this soup alongside this sweet potato cornbread or with a hearty serving of this turmeric rice. You can even add the rice to the soup to make it even more filling!

Ingredients

Another reason to love this cabbage soup recipe is that it's made almost entirely with kitchen/pantry staples. In fact, you probably have most of them on hand already.

Anyway, here's what you'll need to make the soup:

• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• ½ onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
• 1 tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. dried thyme
• Black pepper to taste
• 5 cups cabbage, chopped into 1 ½" chunks
• 2 cups carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 stalks of celery, sliced thinly
• 2 cups stewed tomatoes

Pretty simple stuff, right?

By the way, if you like cabbage, then you have to give this cabbage roll casserole or moo shu pork recipe a try next! 

Ingredient Substitutions And Suggestions

Now, I always make this cabbage soup recipe with the ingredients listed above, but there are plenty of changes you can make to the recipe, and it'll turn out just as delicious.

With that said, I'll give over some recommendations on how to switch things up below.

Switch Up The Broth

This recipe calls for chicken broth, but you can really use any kind of broth that you like. Vegetable broth, bone broth, or even beef broth are all excellent choices.

Add Protein

If you want to make this cabbage soup a little more filling, you can add in some protein. A few of my favorite protein options to add to this soup are cooked ground beef, Italian sausage, and even cooked shredded chicken breasts.

For what it's worth, my wife's favorite protein to add to this cabbage soup is the Italian sausage.

Swap The Stewed Tomatoes

As for the stewed tomatoes, if you don't have any on hand, then you can swap them for canned tomatoes or canned fire-roasted tomatoes. You could even use pure tomato juice, tomato paste, or even tomato sauce if you're in a pinch.

Experiment With Different Spices

I keep the spices simple in this recipe with just salt, pepper, and thyme. But, if you really want to ramp up the flavor, then you can add additional spices like red pepper flakes, chili powder, Italian seasoning, or even cayenne pepper.

How To Make Cabbage Soup

As I mentioned before, making this cabbage soup recipe honestly couldn't be more straightforward. You basically just add everything to your saucepot and let it simmer until the veggies are tender. It's really that simple!

So, let's stop wasting time and make some cabbage soup, shall we?

Step 1: Cook Onions And Garlic

First things first, you'll want to grab a large pot - or large dutch oven - and heat the olive oil in it over medium heat.

Then, when the oil is hot, you can add in the onions and garlic and sauté 'em until the onions become translucent and the garlic becomes fragrant. This will take about 3-5 minutes to happen, and you'll want to make sure that you stir the onions and garlic every so often so that they cook evenly.

Step 2: Cook The Soup

Once the onions and garlic have had their time to cook, you can add the cabbage, carrots, celery, thyme, stewed tomatoes, salt, and black pepper to the pot. Then, you'll want to mix everything up and continue to cook those ingredients on medium for about 2-3 more minutes.

Now, after that amount of time has passed, you can add the chicken broth to the pot and allow the soup to continue simmering for about 30 minutes.

Step 3: Serve The Soup

Once the cabbage soup has simmered, you can give the soup a taste and adjust any spices as necessary. At this point though, I think the soup is usually absolutely delicious, so I hardly do anything to it.

Anyway, now you can serve your soup warm and enjoy it!

How To Store Cabbage Soup

This recipe for cabbage soup will make 4 hearty servings, so it should be plenty for a big family dinner. And, if you're lucky, you might even end up with some leftovers!

Speaking of leftovers, if you do end up with any leftover soup, you can store it in an airtight container in the fridge for about 4-5 days.

Alternatively, if you want to store your soup for even longer, you can freeze it in an airtight container or a freezer-safe bag. Stored either of those ways, it'll last in the freezer for 2-3 months.

How To Reheat Cabbage Soup

Whenever you're ready to enjoy this delicious cabbage soup again, you'll definitely want to reheat it first.

To best reheat it, just transfer your leftover soup to a saucepot and set it over medium heat. Then, all you have to do is warm it up for a few minutes - stirring it frequently as you do.

Alternatively, to warm up your cabbage soup even quicker, you can microwave it in 30-second increments until it's hot. Just make sure you stir the soup between each interval so it can heat up evenly.

Wrapping It Up

Well, that's how to make cabbage soup from scratch.

This cabbage soup recipe is just so hearty and so darn good, your whole family is sure to fall in love with it. Atleast that's been the case at my house.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this easy cabbage soup recipe as much as I/we do.

As always, if you give it a try, leave a comment below and let us know how it went.

More Easy Soup Recipes

If you're looking for more easy soup recipes to make, you're in luck! We have a bunch on the blog that you can try next.

Here are some of our readers' favorites:

• Okra soup
• Shrimp soup
• Udon soup
• Potato leek soup
• Chicken tortilla soup
• Chicken and dumpling soup

Also, for even more deliciousness, don't forget to follow us on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. We post new recipes on them every single day.

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