A savory vegetable soup full of onions, carrots, celery, tomatoes, and cabbage, this cabbage soup is a healthy and hearty meal for any time of the day. It’s perfect when it’s cold out and you need something cozy or just craving a veggie-packed meal. It also keeps really well, making leftovers wonderful throughout the week.
This cabbage soup is also one of my favorite soups to make because it is truly such a simple recipe. All you have to do is cut up the vegetables and then simmer them in broth. It even comes together in one pot, so cleaning up is a breeze. I love serving this soup with some dinner rolls or garlic knots to soak up all the flavorful broth. You’ll want to make this again and again. If you want another cozy soup recipe, then try my lentil soup recipe, tomato soup recipe, or black bean soup recipe.
What You Need to Make This Recipe
Mirepoix — a key component in many soups, a mirepoix is made of a mix of aromatics, mainly onions, carrots, and celery. These three ingredients add a ton of flavor to your soup.
Cabbage — make sure to use green cabbage as it’s tender and sweet. Savory cabbage will become too soft, so I don’t recommend using it.
Chicken broth — you can use vegetable broth instead if you want to keep this soup vegetarian.
Diced tomatoes — this cabbage soup uses regular diced tomatoes, but you can also use fire-roasted diced tomatoes for a smokier flavor.
How to Make Cabbage Soup
1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic. Cook until tender, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes.
2. Add the cabbage.
3. Add the broth, thyme, salt, and pepper.
4. Add the diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer until the cabbage is tender. Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving.
Pro Tips for Making This Recipe
- While this cabbage soup uses 4 cups of chicken broth, you can add more to make the soup more brothy.
- For a heartier soup, you can add chopped potato with the vegetables or stir in cooked rice at the end.
- If you have extra vegetables hanging out in your fridge, add them to the soup! Peas, green beans, bell peppers, zucchini, or leafy greens such as kale or spinach make for a great addition this soup.
- If you prefer to use fresh thyme, you can swap the 1½ teaspoons of dried thyme for 1½ tablespoons of fresh thyme.
- Don’t have any fresh or dried thyme? You can use oregano, basil, or rosemary instead.
- You can add protein to the soup by adding cannellini beans, kidney beans, or chickpeas. Just make sure you rinse and drain the legumes first.
Frequently Asked Questions
Store the cabbage soup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. You can even freeze the soup for up to 6 months in a freezer-safe container. If you have a ton of cabbage, make a double batch of the soup to freeze for another day.
You can reheat leftover soup in the microwave or on the stovetop.
This soup is full of nutritious vegetables, which everyone can have more of! While it’s not recommended to go on a “cabbage soup diet” as it is a fad diet, this soup is low in calories while full of fiber, vitamins, and good-for-you ingredients!
If you love this recipe try these out!
If you’ve tried this Cabbage Soup recipe, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Cabbage Soup
Equipment
- Large Pot
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 carrots chopped (325g)
- 2 celery stalks chopped (105g)
- 1 onion chopped (260g)
- 4 garlic cloves minced (19g)
- 1 small head cabbage chopped (about 1.5 pounds/675g)
- 4 cups chicken broth (907g)
- 2 (14.5-ounce/411g) cans diced tomatoes
- 1½ teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- Chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic. Cook until tender, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes.
- Add the cabbage, broth, tomatoes, thyme, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil.
- Cover, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer until the cabbage is tender, about 25 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving. The soup can be stored in airtight containers in the fridge for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 6 months.
Notes
- While this soup uses 4 cups of chicken broth, you can add more to make the soup more brothy.
- For a heartier soup, you can add chopped potato with the vegetables or stir in cooked rice at the end.
- If you have extra vegetables hanging out in your fridge, add them to the soup! Peas, green beans, bell peppers, zucchini, or leafy greens such as kale or spinach make for a great addition to cabbage soup.
- If you prefer to use fresh thyme, you can swap the 1½ teaspoons of dried thyme for 1½ tablespoons of fresh thyme.
- Don’t have any thyme? You can use oregano, basil, or rosemary instead.
- You can add protein to the soup by adding cannellini beans, kidney beans, or chickpeas. Just make sure you rinse and drain the legumes first.
