Easy Cabbage Roll Soup

white bowl of cabbage roll soup on counter with silver spoon sticking out.

All the great tastes of cabbage rolls without the work, this Cabbage Roll Soup is so easy to make. With classic ingredients like cabbage, rice, and ground meat, this soup is a hearty and filling comfort dish!

Course Soups + Stews

Cuisine Eastern European

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 1 15

Total Time 1 25

Servings - 6

Author Eric Wychopen

Ingredients

1 medium onion
2 medium garlic cloves
1 pound green/white cabbage, about 1/4 wedge of cabbage
2 teaspoons oil
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, divided
28 ounces can diced tomatoes
6 cups vegetable broth, more if needed
1 cup long grain white rice
1/4 teaspoon salt, more to taste

Instructions

Peel and finely dice the onion and garlic cloves. Core and cut the cabbage into small pieces.
In a large pot, heat the oil on medium heat and fry the onions for about 5-7 minutes until they are translucent and starting to brown.
Add the ground pork and ground beef to the pot and cook until there is just a touch of pink left in the meat, breaking up the meat as it cooks. Add the black pepper and diced garlic, then cook until the meat is fully cooked through.
Add the can of diced tomatoes, most of the vegetable broth, and the chopped cabbage to the pot.
Simmer, covered, for about 40 minutes, then add the long-grain white rice and stir. Simmer the soup for about 20 more minutes, or until the rice and cabbage are soft. Stir occasionally and add extra vegetable broth as needed.
When the rice and cabbage are soft, season with salt and black pepper to taste.
Serve the soup right away.

Notes

If you want to add some bacon, you can use thick-cut bacon, pancetta or speck. Cut it into smaller pieces and fry it with the onions at the beginning of the recipe.
You can use brown rice instead of white rice. The cooking time will be longer for brown rice (about 40 minutes in our case, but check the packaging directions). Add the rice to the pot shortly after the cabbage, about 20 minutes later.
The rice will absorb quite a bit of the broth as it cooks so you may have to add more.
Go easy on the salt if the vegetable broth is quite salty already.

Nutrition

This nutritional information has been estimated by an online nutrition calculator. It should only be seen as a rough calculation and not a replacement for professional dietary advice.