Our Cabbage Roll Soup Recipe is simple comfort food that feeds a crowd! Less work than traditional cabbage rolls with all of that same delicious, hearty flavor.
![Cabbage roll soup recipe in white dutch oven.](https://www.bunsinmyoven.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/cabbage-roll-soup-1.jpg)
It’s officially soup season in our house.
I mean, if I had my way, we’d eat soup all year long, but my husband exists and he gets a little huffy about soup in the summer. I suppose if I was doing yard work in 100 degree heat all day and then came inside to a bowl of soup, I’d probably be confused too.
Anyway! It’s soup season and that means this Cabbage Roll Soup is on repeat, right alongside our taco soup recipe and cheeseburger soup. Allll the soup, please.
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We love cabbage rolls, but I never make them myself…too much work! Cabbage roll soup just so happens to have all the same flavors without all of the rolling!
What is a Cabbage Roll?
A cabbage roll is a mix of ground meat (usually beef) with other ingredients like tomatoes and rice that is wrapped in cabbage leaves.
This is an unstuffed cabbage roll soup recipe, which is basically just a deconstructed cabbage roll with all the same ingredients in a savory soup!
I’m using lots of ground beef, diced tomatoes, garlic, onion, rice, and of course plenty of chopped cabbage! It’s all cooked in a savory mix of beef broth and tomato juice.
You’re going to love this cabbage soup with hamburger meat!
Cabbage Roll Soup
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 sweet onion minced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 medium cabbage chopped, core removed
- 3 cups beef broth
- 2 ½ cups tomato juice
- 2/3 cup long grain white rice
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 28 ounces canned tomatoes with chiles
- 1 teaspoon salt more to taste
- Grated parmesan for topping
Instructions
- Add the ground beef to a large stock pot or dutch oven and brown over medium heat, breaking the meat up as it cooks.
- As the meat is beginning to brown, add the onion and garlic to the pan and continue cooking and stirring until beef is cooked through.
- Add the cabbage, beef broth, tomato juice, rice, Worcestershire sauce, tomatoes with chiles (undrained), and salt to the pot and bring to a boil.
- Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 25 minutes or until rice is tender. Taste and season with additional salt, if desired.
- Serve immediately, topped with grated Parmesan, if desired.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Ingredient Notes:
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Ground Beef – We love beef cabbage soup so I’m using a whole pound of ground beef! You can use a lean or fattier blend if you prefer. You could also switch things up and use a different meat like ground chicken, turkey, or pork!
Cabbage – You’ll need some freshly chopped cabbage for this soup. It’s filling and nutritious and it’ll soak up all the savory flavors in the soup.
Broth & Tomato Juice – I’m using beef broth and tomato juice to make up the majority of the liquid in this homemade soup recipe. Use a good quality beef broth and tomato juice to get the best flavor! V8 works well here, too.
Rice – Along with the cabbage this filling ingredient will bulk up the soup and soak up all the savory flavors in the beef broth and tomato juice. I prefer to use a long grain white rice. Do NOT use instant rice.
Ro*Tel: We like a hint of spice in our soup, so we use canned tomatoes with green chiles. If preferred, you may use plain canned diced tomatoes, but the soup won’t have quite as much flavor.
Seasonings – A few additional ingredients you’ll need to add flavor include minced garlic and onion, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and grated parmesan for topping.
What We Love About CABBAGE ROLL SOUP:
- Filling: This is the best cabbage soup recipe because it is so filling! Loads of ground beef, cabbage, and rice mean that this soup will fill you up in no time.
- Budget Friendly: This soup recipe will go a long way and feed a crowd! Plus the ingredients are budget friendly making this a great choice for weeknight dinners!
- Easy: Cabbage rolls are a favorite, but they can be a bit time consuming due to the rolling of the filling in cabbage leaves. This soup has all the same flavors without all of the work.
How To Make Cabbage Roll Soup:
Beef: To start, you’ll want to brown some ground beef in a dutch oven or stock pot.
Onion & Garlic: Once the beef is starting to brown and has broken up a bit, stir in the onion an garlic and cook those for about 5 minutes or until the beef is cooked through.
Cabbage: Next, you’ll want to chop up a head of cabbage and add that to the pot along with the beef broth, tomato juice, rice, Worcestershire sauce, and my secret ingredient – Ro*Tel!
The Ro*Tel adds a little kick to the soup without making it spicy. Just gives it a zing. We love it!
Simmer: This soup is so easy! Just bring it to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and then cook for about 25 minutes.
Serve: Once the rice is cooked through, you’re ready to serve.
We like to top ours with a little freshly grated Parmesan. Serve it up with some easy air fryer dinner rolls or a salad!
My Favorite Dutch Oven!
This gorgeous Dutch oven is perfect for making soup, pot roast, and more. It goes from stove to oven as needed and looks pretty enough to leave out on your stovetop as decoration.
FAQ’s:
You can use straight tomato juice if you like, but I always reach for the V8. It packs in some extra vegetables without really altering the flavor so I feel good about feeding it to my kiddos.
You can keep any leftover soup stored in an airtight or covered container in your fridge for up to 4 days. This soup is great for leftovers and will reheat well on the stove or in the microwave.
Yes, this soup recipe will freeze well. Let the soup cool completely before transferring to a freezer safe container or bag. Freeze for up to 3 months.
MORE HOMEMADE SOUP RECIPES!
- Crockpot Potato Soup: So cheesy and so easy!
- Cauliflower Soup: It’s a healthy low carb alternative to potato soup!
- Chicken Pot Pie Soup: I top this with little bits of pie crust in place of crackers and it’s SO GOOD!
- Homemade Tomato Soup: Perfect with a grilled cheese for lunch.
- Ham and Bean Soup: The perfect way to use up any leftover ham!
This recipe was originally published in October 2018. It was updated with new text and photos in November 2023. Original photo below.
Joann says
Hi Karly, This looks delicious and I can’t wait to try it. I do have a question; ย What kind/type of rice do you use? Would minute rice work? Thanks for any help you can give me. Have a wonderful and blessed day. Congratulations on your son graduating, and good luck to him in the future. ๐
Karly says
Hi Joann! I just use long grain white rice…not minute rice. ๐
bbishop says
Can you use Chicken broth vs the Beef broth?
Karly says
Sure!
Tania Sheff says
Great soup! I make a very similar one and my whole family loves it!
Hani says
Looks delish! I will try to cook it this week. ๐
Inger @ Art of Natural Living says
Looks delicious Karly! And BTW, I learned (at my daughters 90 something degree U of MN orientation a few years back) that Minneapolis is actually hotter in the summer than Milwaukee while colder in the winter!
Adina says
Wow! Cabbage rolls are one of my favorite dishes in the world, but I have never had them in the form of a soup. Congratulations to you and your son for the graduation. Homeschooling sounds so scary for us here in Europe, it is not allowed, so we know nothing about it. I cannot imagine being able to do that, especially when it comes to maths and science. Impressive!
Karly says
Hi Adina! I didn’t realize it wasn’t allowed in Europe. Interesting! I can’t take a whole lot of credit for their education once they hit middle school – most of the curriculum we use is online/computer based and someone a bit more knowledgeable than I am teaches them. ๐ I was there for K-6th grade, but after that it’s all a foreign language to me. ๐
ALFRED BEAVER says
SOUNDS GOOD I KNOW WHAT THE WIFE AND I ARE HAVING FOR SUPPER SOME NIGHT THIS MO. AND CONGRATULATIONS ON THE GRADUATION .
Andi says
Does the rice get gooey in the leftovers?
I’m just over here feeding myself, so trying to eat the whole pot of soup in the first try would be…a fun experiment but probably not the best idea.
Laura says
Karly, this soup looks and sounds amazing! I love soup this time of year, and of course, anything with Rotel is fabulous! ย Thanks for the recipe!
Kelly | Foodtasia says
What an awesome graduation gift! My son graduated this year as well and he would so love to drive a tank! This soup looks so warming and delicious. I loved my grandmother’s Hungarian cabbage rolls and to have it in soup form would be so great. I can taste it now!
Deb says
the video shows beef broth being added but the recipe does not mention it at all…
Jean says
Deb yes it does its 3 cups of beef broth
Freda says
Congratulations on your son’s graduation, Karly! This sounds like my kind of soup. Although it is almost 90 degrees here ๐ I could still do with a bowl of that soup! Looks so good!
jude says
hmmm………….looks good but how much rice?
Karly says
Whoops – 2/3 cup. ๐
Carissa Nelson | Spoonful of Easy says
We must be in different parts of Illinois, because it is still jungle sauna season where I am. I am so ready for soup weather — we’ve just been eating it inside in the a/c. This will definitely be on our list for fall though! And as a mom of boys, I definitely see a tank driving excursion in our future at some point. Congrats on having a college student!
Karly says
Jungle sauna season! Ha! It’s been going back and forth between chilly and hot here. 80 today, but 50’s later this week! I’m right outside Peoria – how about you?
Bill (Suppertime Blues) says
This is how good soup is made! And, “you canโt make soup without onion and garlic” is a mantra we share. Congratulations on the graduation, I remember how good that felt :).
Karly says
Thanks, Bill!