If you love traditional cabbage rolls but don’t love the cooking time and rolling involved to make them then this Cabbage Roll Soup recipe is just for you! It packs the same irresistible flavors and textures as cabbage rolls and can be enjoyed with a side of garlic bread, homemade biscuits, or grilled cheese.
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❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- This easy cabbage roll soup is gluten-free and dairy-free!
- Turn classic cabbage rolls into a hearty and filling family meal with the same flavors and no hassle or time spent rolling!
- You can easily make this soup on the stovetop or in your slow cooker by adjusting the cooking time.
Cabbage Roll Soup is an incredibly comforting soup recipe, loaded with rich flavors and textures that’ll have you coming back for seconds or thirds!
🛒 Ingredients
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Note: The full list of this recipe ingredients with their amounts and options are listed in the recipe card below.
🗒 Instructions
Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.
- In a large Dutch oven or pot, add the ground beef and cook over medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes. Then add in the diced onion and minced garlic.
- Allow cooking for another 2-3 minutes.
- Add the cabbage, carrots, rice, bay leaf, and brown sugar to the soup pot.
- Add the tomato sauce and beef broth to the pot.
- Season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste.
- Bring the ingredients o a simmer and cook for 25 minutes or until rice is tender.
- Remove from the stovetop and discard the bay leaves.
- Serve with a sprinkle of chopped Italian parsley.
🔪 Equipment
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You’ll need the following items to make this recipe successfully.
- Dutch oven or soup pot
- sharp knife for cutting the veggies
- cutting board - we like using a non-skid one
- measuring spoons
- dry measuring cups
- liquid measuring cup
- ladle
🤔 FAQs
These are the questions we are most frequently asked about making the Unstructured Cabbage Roll Soup recipe.
Galumpkis (otherwise known as Polish cabbage rolls) consist of cabbage leaves that are stuffed with a mixture of ground meat, rice, and spices that have been baked in a tomato sauce.
Cabbage rolls are very similar to Galumpkis. They are made by stuffing cabbage leaves with a mixture of rice, sauteed onion, and ground pork or beef. Some cabbage roll recipes also call for the use of pickled sauerkraut leaves or grape leaves with layers of bacon, smoked ribs, or smoked sausage.
Cabbage rolls can be enjoyed with side dishes or main meals such as light green salads, roasted vegetables, soup, or macaroni and cheese.
Yes, it does. Cabbage freezes very well in soup and is a great way to store this cabbage roll soup for an extended time.
👩🏻🍳 Tips
- Reheat leftover cabbage roll soup on the stovetop over medium-low heat until heated.
- If you cook your white rice separately, add it to the soup just before serving otherwise, it will become too soft and mushy.
- Make sure to remove the bay leaves from the soup before adding garnish and serving.
- The brown sugar in this soup helps to tenderize the ground beef. You don’t have to worry about the soup being sweet in any way!
📚 Variations
- You can easily make this cabbage roll soup in the slow cooker instead of on the stovetop. You can cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 7-8 hours.
- For a low-carb meal, simply omit the rice. The soup will still be super delicious!
- You can use brown rice instead of white rice in this soup, but then you’ll need to add about 20 minutes to the cooking time.
- If you don’t enjoy ground beef, make this cabbage roll soup with ground turkey instead.
🥫 Storage
Once completely cool, store leftover cabbage roll soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Reheat single portions in the microwave or larger portions on the stovetop.
📗 Related Recipes
Love soup? So do I! Here are some of my favorite soups that add a tasty twist:
🍽 Serve with
This cabbage roll soup recipe is a complete meal on its own but can also be enjoyed with a side of cornbread, grilled cheese sandwich, buttered dinner rolls, or homemade biscuits.
📞 Chiacchierata (chat)
If you love the textures and flavor of classic cabbage rolls but don’t have the time or energy to cook and assemble the rolls from scratch, then this cabbage roll soup is the perfect solution! It’s super easy to make in one pot and provides a hearty meal for a large family!
Tutti a tavolo, è pronto!
What's new? Check out my All Our Way Store on Amazon. We'll be adding more items we love and use or wish we had to make cooking fun and easy.
📝 Recipe Card
Unstuffed Cabbage Roll Soup boasts the same delicious textures and flavors as traditional cabbage rolls but without the extended recipe time or rolling! It’s a hearty and comforting soup that the whole family will love!
If you love a beefy soup, next time try our Classic Beef and Barley Soup Recipe. This is an old fashioned soup that is still popular today because it tastes so good and withstood the "taste" of time.
If you like cabbage and are wanting a "lighter" soup, you've got to try our Ultimate Cabbage Soup Recipe. It is the perfect solution when you're looking for a satisfying dish but don't want a lot of heavy ingredients.
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.
📖 Recipe
Unstuffed Cabbage Roll Soup Recipe
Equipment Needed
- Dutch oven soup pot
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 16 ounces Ground beef Use lean 90 to 95%
- 1 Medium sized yellow onion finely diced
- 2 teaspoons garlic minced
- 4 cup green cabbage coarsely chopped
- 2 carrots washed, quartered and sliced
- 4 cups beef broth
- 24 ounces tomato sauce 3(8-ounce cans)
- ½ cup long grain rice uncooked
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Italian parsley chopped
- Kosher salt and Black pepper
Instructions
- In a large Dutch oven or soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.
- Add the ground beef and season with the Kosher salt and black pepper to taste.
- Cook the beef until it is browned, about 4-5 minutes, breaking up the meat with a silicone spatula.
- Add the diced onion and minced garlic. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.
- Add the cabbage, carrots, beef broth, tomato sauce, rice, bay leaf, and brown sugar to the soup pot.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Bring to a simmer and cook for 25 minutes or until rice is tender.
- Remove and discard bay lear.
- Sprinkle with chopped Italian parsley and serve.
Notes
- Reheat leftover cabbage roll soup on the stovetop over medium-low heat until heated.
- If you cook your white rice separately, add it to the soup just before serving otherwise, it will become too soft and mushy.
- Make sure to remove the bay leaves from the soup before adding garnish and serving.
- The brown sugar in this soup helps to tenderize the ground beef. You don’t have to worry about the soup being sweet in any way!
- You can easily make this cabbage roll soup in the slow cooker instead of on the stovetop. You can cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 7-8 hours.
- For a low-carb meal, simply omit the rice. The soup will still be super delicious!
- You can use brown rice instead of white rice in this soup, but then you’ll need to add about 20 minutes to the cooking time.
- If you don’t enjoy ground beef, make this cabbage roll soup with ground turkey instead.
