A simple recipe for cabbage soup

This Cabbage Soup recipe is easy to make and loaded with vegetables, lots of cabbage, and the perfect blend of spices. I love it so much that I honestly wanted it.

Whenever we want a little reset or a dish that makes us feel good, this easy cabbage dish is where we turn. It’s brimming with vegetables, quick to make, and tastes amazing.

This recipe is a riff on our favorite vegetable soup, but with more cabbage and a slightly richer broth. It’s honestly delicious, whether you’re looking for a healthy soup recipe or not.

Essential ingredients

• Vegetables: This cabbage recipe uses a lot of veggies, but feel free to use what you have. I love onions, carrots, potatoes, and of course, cabbage. You can also customize with your favorite seasonal vegetables. In summer, add zucchini or fresh corn. In winter, try hearty root vegetables like parsnips or turnips.
• Tomato paste and tomatoes: This creates a rich, flavorful base for the broth. Half a tomato adds a huge amount of flavor, and if you can find them, roasted tomatoes bring a wonderful tangy flavor to the soup.
• Garlic, Italian seasoning, and bay leaf: These all smell good in the soup. I love fresh garlic and alternated between Italian herbs and herbs de provence for this recipe, and both worked well.
• Broth: Use whatever broth you enjoy the most. Our homemade broth is amazing here and keeps the soup vegan or vegetarian. Chicken broth or chicken stock works well, too. You can even use bone broth for extra protein.
• Parsley and Parmesan (Optional): This touches my favorite finish. Chopped parsley adds a pop of fresh color and flavor, and the partigiano-reggiano on top is always delicious. Another option is a spoonful of basil pesto!

Get the full recipe with the measurements below.

How to make cabbage soup

Tip 1: Cook onions and carrots. We want a strong base for this soup, so give the onions and carrots to start in the soup pot with a little olive oil. When the onions become soft and fragrant, you can move on to the aromatics. It takes about 6 minutes.

TIP 2: Toast the Aromatics. To chop garlic and tomatoes that taste green like goat, you want to give them some time in a pot with olive oil. You will know they are ready when they are fragrant and the tomato paste turns orange rather than bright red.

Tip 3: Make the soup. Now the onion is sweet and the aromatics have been found, you can enter everything else: canned tomatoes, broth, potatoes and cabbage. It will look like a very large cabbage at first, but it cooks down. Trust me. After 20 minutes of cooking, your delicious cabbage soup will be ready.

Recipe variations

One of the things I love about cabbage soup is that it’s so versatile, which means you can really feel free to make it your own. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Change vegetables: Use what you have. Swap potatoes for sweet potatoes, add zucchini in the summer, or try parsnips, turnips, or celery root in the winter. You can also add chopped kale or spinach in the last few minutes of cooking.
• Add the beans: For extra protein and fiber, stir in a handful of drained beans. White beans, chickpeas, and kidney beans all work well. Lentils are lovely, too!
• Add protein: Try hot cooked chicken, cooked Italian ham, browned ground turkey, or colored ham (like cabbage soup).
• Make it a backup: Add red pepper, a pinch of cayenne, or add chopped fresh jalapeño to the garlic and tomato paste at the beginning. A drizzle of hot sauce at the end goes really well, too.
• Change the cabbage: Green cabbage works best, but you can use napa cabbage or savoy cabbage. Red cabbage works fine, but remember it will change the color of the soup.
• Add cereal or pasta: Add the dry quinoa to the pot with the cabbage. Or, add some pasta jams (such as Ditaliden) about 5 minutes before cooking.

Many cabbage recipes