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This is the best Cabbage Roll Soup recipe with ground beef, pork, cabbage, and rice in a tangy tomato broth. It's a cozy, one-pot meal that delivers all the rich, savory flavors of traditional cabbage rolls without the fuss.
Cabbage Roll Soup is healthy comfort food, and I'm here for it!
Cabbage Roll Soup is healthy comfort food, and I'm here for it!I love eating old-fashioned cabbage rolls, but they’re definitely a labor of love and this cabbage roll soup recipe gives me all those nostalgic, cozy flavors without spending an hour rolling cabbage leaves! It’s hearty enough to please my meat-and-potatoes crew, and I love that it makes a big pot with plenty of leftovers for lunches the next day.
Try my other soup recipes, like Homemade Chili, Hungarian Goulash, Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup, or Creamy Zuppa Toscana!
How to make Cabbage Roll Soup:
Cook Meat: Heat a Dutch oven or large soup pot over medium-high heat. Cook ground beef and pork, breaking it up into small pieces, until browned.
Sauté Vegetables: Add onion and cook for 2 minutes then add garlic. Add carrots and cabbage and cook 2 minutes.
Add Broth and Seasonings: Add beef broth, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, Worcestershire, paprika, oregano, thyme and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer. Stir in rice. Cover pot, reduce heat, and simmer for about 25 minutes, stirring once or twice during cooking, until rice is cooked through. Add additional beef broth if you’d like to soupier. Taste soup and season with additional salt and pepper if needed. Remove bay leaf. Stir in lemon juice and parsley. (I enjoy this stuffed cabbage soup recipe with a few dashes of crushed red pepper flakes on top, too).
Cabbage Roll Soup
Equipment
- Soup Pot or
Ingredients
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- ½ lb ground sausage
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 large yellow onion, , chopped
- 2 medium carrots, , quartered and sliced
- 5 cups chopped cabbage, , (packed)
- 4 cloves garlic, , minced
- 5-6 cups low-sodium beef broth
- 2 8 oz cans tomato sauce
- 1 14.5 oz can petite diced tomatoes
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 3/4 cup dry jasmine or long-grain white rice
- Juice from ½ of a small lemon
- 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Brown meat: Heat a Dutch oven or large soup pot over medium-high heat. Cook ground beef and pork, breaking it up into small pieces, until browned.1 lb lean ground beef, ½ lb ground sausage
- Saute Veggies: Add onion and cook for 2 minutes. Add garlic. Add carrots and cabbage and cook 2 minutes.1 large yellow onion, 2 medium carrots, 4 cloves garlic, 5 cups chopped cabbage
- Finish soup: Add beef broth, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, Worcestershire, paprika, oregano, thyme and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer. Stir in rice.5-6 cups low-sodium beef broth, 2 8 oz cans tomato sauce, 1 14.5 oz can petite diced tomatoes, 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, 1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, ½ teaspoon dried thyme, 1 bay leaf, ¾ cup dry jasmine or long-grain white rice
- Simmer: Cover pot, reduce heat and simmer for about 25 minutes, stirring once or twice during cooking, until rice is cooked through.
- Taste and serve: Add additional beef broth if you’d like to soupier. Taste soup and season with additional salt and pepper if needed. Remove bay leaf. Stir in lemon juice and parsley. (I enjoy this soup with a few dashes of crushed red pepper flakes on top, too).Salt and freshly ground black pepper, Juice from ½ of a small lemon, 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Do you have to use sausage? Can I just use the ground beef? What about using instant rice which cooks faster than regular rice. I make cabbage rolls all of the time. This looks delicious especially for this time of year. Thanks for the recipe.
You don’t have to use sausage—ground beef works totally fine on its own (the sausage just adds a little extra seasoning and richness). If you skip the sausage, you may want to bump up the spices a touch (a little extra paprika/oregano/thyme and a pinch more salt/pepper to taste). For the rice: instant rice will work, but don’t simmer it for the full 25 minutes or it’ll get mushy—just add it near the end and simmer about 5 minutes (or cook it separately and stir it into each bowl so the soup leftovers don’t soak up all the broth).
Need some clarification as to what you mean by ground sausage … do you mean ground pork, ground Italian sausage , or ground breakfast sausage? I ask cause it could affect the taste of the soup . Thanks
It’s meant to be ground pork sausage, like mild or Italian sausage. Mild is most common. Breakfast sausage would change the flavor, so I wouldn’t use that.
Such a delicious soup. I didn’t have carrots on hand so subbed in celery. Served it with fresh biscuits and the whole family, myself included, loved it. A great hearty soup for a colder night with a bit of jambalaya flavor. Will definitely be making often.
Lovely !
We subbed the sausage for ground pork but otherwise made this as is, and it came out AMAZING. We’ve been trying to do a new recipe every week this year, and this is definitely the best new recipe we’ve tried. Will be making again and again!