This Cabbage Roll Soup is so much faster than making traditional cabbage rolls yet it tastes just as good! It’s a hassle-free, cooked in one pot recipe!
You have a quick prep of ingredients, veggies are sauteed, then everything is just simmered until the cabbage and rice are tender. And during that time all those delicious herby, beefy, tomato-y flavors meld together perfectly.
It’s a soup that is made with basic ingredients, it’s incredibly hearty, and I think you’ll agree it’s just super satisfying comfort food. It’s made up of an abundance of veggies, the rice will help fill you up, and you get a fair amount of protein from the beef so it’s an all around win!
This is so delicious that you’ll likely find yourself converting from the traditional, more labor intensive cabbage rolls to this easier soup method from here on out instead!
Cabbage Roll Soup
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 large yellow onion chopped (1 3/4 cups)
- 2 large carrots chopped (1 1/4 cups)
- 5 cups packed chopped cabbage 16 - 19 oz
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 4 cups low-sodium beef broth then more to thin if desired
- 3 8 oz cans tomato sauce
- 2 14.5 oz cans petite diced tomatoes
- 1 Tbsp* packed light brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp dried paprika
- 1 tsp dried oregano or 1 Tbsp chopped fresh
- 3/4 tsp dried thyme or 2 1/2 tsp chopped fresh
- 2 bay leaves
- 3/4 cup dry long-grain white rice
- 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.
- Add beef, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring and breaking up beef occasionally, until browned. Transfer beef to a plate lined with paper towels while reserving 2 Tbsp of the rendered fat in pot.
- Add onion and carrots to pot and saute 2 minutes, then add cabbage and garlic and saute 3 minutes longer.
- Pour in beef broth, tomato sauce, tomatoes, brown sugar, Worcestershire, paprika, oregano, thyme and bay leaves. Return beef to soup mixture.
- Season soup with salt and pepper to taste and bring to a light boil, then add rice, cover pot and reduce heat and simmer until rice is cooked through, stirring occasionally, about 25 minutes.
- Stir in more beef broth to thin as desired (it will thicken as it rests and become almost like a stew), then stir in lemon juice and parsley. Serve warm.
