Mum’s Cabbage Roll Soup

All the flavours of my favourite cabbage roll recipe, without out the fuss of rolling!

Cabbage Rolls are one of life’s most comforting meal, in my humble opinion.  It always evokes seeing my mum wrapping the delicate leaves around the filling in the most elegant way. Hearty, filling, with that wonderful combination of meat, rice, aromatics and spices, all wrapped up tightly, and simmered in a flavourful seasoned tomato broth.  Add some mashed potatoes on the side, and this dinner is like a big bear hug.

Let’s Turn Cabbage Rolls into a Soup

It’s really quite easy to transform all the ingredients into a flavour-packed, hearty soup, perfect for soup season, all winter long.

Let’s start with sautéing the meat, along with the aromatics (onion and garlic) After the meat is browned, you will add in the shredded cabbage, diced carrots, crushed caraway seeds, paprika, nutmeg, white pepper, and bay leaf.  Let the vegetables soften just a bit and then add in stock, and tomato purée or sauce.  You will let it all cook together till the cabbage and carrot are perfectly tender.  Season with salt and pepper.  But where is the rice?

Adding the Rice

As with any of my soups that have pasta in them, I cook the rice in a separate pot.  You can also use a rice cooker, or your preferred method of prepping rice.  I do this so that any soup that isn’t eaten the first day won’t thicken up unnecessarily with the remaining rice as it sits in the fridge overnight.  The rice then starts to break down and turns into a texture that really isn’t appealing.

Better to have the rice separate, even if you have leftover rice.  Just store the rice in a separate container where it will retain it’s texture, and then use it the next day when enjoying the soup on Day Two.

Either way, you will spoon some rice into each bowl, and then ladle the cabbage soup over it.  Stir to combine, and you have the best soup, with the best textures.  Finish with chopped parsley or even dill.  Feel free to add a spoonful of sour cream on top as well!  All you need is some crusty or rye bread on the side.

Of course, if you are going to eat all the soup in one sitting, you can cook the rice right in the soup, you will just need to add more stock to make up for the liquid that the rice soaks up.  Or still cook the rice on the side, and stir the cooked rice into the soup before serving.

Final Thoughts

Yes, my original cabbage rolls don’t have carrot in the recipe.  But I do feel like carrots adds some bulk, nutrients, colour, and flavour to this soup.  You could also add chopped celery for the same reason.  Or, as I mentioned at the onset, since mashed potatoes are often the side to classic cabbage rolls, why not add cubed potatoes instead of rice.  Make sure that if you add bite-sized cubed potatoes, that you use a waxy potato like Yukon Gold, and only them when you add the liquids, or else the potatoes will also fall apart and become mealy in the soup.

Feel free to swap out ground turkey or chicken or even ground pork for the ground beef. 

You can use vegetable or chicken broth instead of beef broth. To intensify the umami nature of broth, add a few good dashes of Worcestershire sauce or Better Than Beef Bouillon paste.

Use diced tomatoes and their juices or whole tomatoes with their juices instead of purée.  Just break up the whole tomatoes with your fingers as you add them to the pot.

Replace the rice with small pasta like ditalini or pastini.

Store leftover soup in a sealed container in the fridge for up to three days.

You can freeze the soup (without the rice) for up to a month.

If you want to enjoy the inspiration for this soup, you must check out my Cabbage Rolls, Like Mama Used to Make!

For other Winter Soups check out Gulaschsuppe, aka German Goulash Soup, Butternut Squash Soup with Turkey Meatballs and Tortellini, Lentil Sausage and Kale Soup, North African Harira Soup, Chicken Soup from Scratch.

If you make this Cabbage Roll Soup, please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! It’s always lovely to hear from you guys, and I always do my best to respond to each comment or question. And of course, if you do make this recipe, and you post it on Instagram, don’t forget to also tag me so I can see! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is such a treat.

Love Jen