Cabbage Soup

close up of a pot of cabbage soup, title text at the top

Close up of a bowl of cabbage soup, title text at the top

Close up of a bowl of cabbage soup, title text at the bottom

Do y'all remember the cabbage soup diet? It was one of those crazy fad diets where you were supposed to swallow every bit much as you lot want of just i thing (in this instance cabbage soup) and you lot'd supposedly lose weight without trying. While I'm non a fan of that type of diet, I am a big fan of the cabbage soup recipe that the diet featured. Why? For i simple reason—information technology's absolutely Delicious.Yeah, I was surprised likewise. The first time I had the famed diet cabbage soup I expected it to be boring and bland, merely I was pleasantly surprised by how extremely flavorful and comforting the soup was. I really ended up eating it over and over once more merely because I wanted to. And it became a winter comfort food staple for me always since. 😅

Originally published i/xv/2018, updated i/eight/2022.

Overhead view of a pot of cabbage soup with a ladle

Is Cabbage Soup Healthy?

I'grand not going to tell you this cabbage soup will "detox" you or make you lose weight, but this soup is chock-full of a lot of the 1 thing that almost all of us are guilty of non getting enough of—vegetables.

I'yard nicknamed this soup All You Tin can Eat Cabbage Soup as a natural language-in-cheek reference to the one-time fad nutrition, but seriously, eat as much as yous want. The more the better, actually. You'll just be getting more of the good stuff. And guess what? This cabbage soup is insanely inexpensive, also! And then even more reason to feel free to swallow as much as you desire!

What's in Cabbage Soup?

The archetype "cabbage soup diet" cabbage soup has taken many forms over the years, simply they all have one matter in common—they're stuffed total of non-starchy vegetables pond in a flavorful herb-filled goop. I like my broth a bit more tomatoey, and then I added some tomato plant sauce to thicken it up. Some people use V8 instead, simply tomato sauce is much less expensive, peculiarly when only a small corporeality is needed. I also added a flake of smoked paprika (considering that's my fav), and a splash of lemon juice at the end to brighten it upwards.

How to Shop Leftovers

This recipe does brand a really large batch, so it's a good idea to freeze about half of information technology, just in case you can't eat all of it within near v days. To freeze this soup, divide information technology into single-serving portions, chill it completely in the fridge first, then transfer to the freezer for longer storage. Continue in the freezer for upwardly to three months.

Add More Protien

Soup recipes in general are very flexible, so you could always add a piddling extra protein to this soup to arrive more filling. Here are another neat ingredients you can add:

  • Beans (cannellini, chickpeas, kidney beans)
  • Footing beef (or check out my Beef and Cabbage Soup)
  • Italian sausage
  • Cubed tofu (actress house)
  • Shredded chicken

a bowl of cabbage soup with a spoon and garlic bread on the side

Shown with Homemade Garlic Staff of life.

Cabbage Soup

Forget the cabbage soup diet, you'll want to swallow this super good for you vegetable-filled cabbage soup only because information technology tastes incredible!

Prep Fourth dimension: 10 mins

Cook Time: 1 hr

Total Time: 1 hr ten mins

Servings: 6 2 cups each

  • one xanthous onion ($0.32)
  • four cloves garlic ($0.32)
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
  • four carrots ($0.57)
  • 4 ribs celery ($0.50)
  • i light-green bell pepper ($0.69)
  • 1 28oz. can diced tomatoes ($1.00)
  • ane 8oz. tin can tomato sauce ($0.34)
  • 1/two lb. frozen green beans ($0.67)
  • i/four cup chopped parsley ($0.23)
  • 1/two Tbsp smoked paprika ($0.15)
  • 1 tsp stale oregano ($0.10)
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme ($0.05)
  • i/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
  • half-dozen cups chopped cabbage (½ head) ($1.14)
  • six cups vegetable broth ($0.78)
  • 1 tsp table salt ($0.05)
  • ane Tbsp lemon juice ($0.04)
  • Die the onion and mince the garlic. Add together the onion, garlic, and olive oil to a large soup pot and sauté over medium heat until the onions are soft.

  • While the onion and garlic are sautéing, peel and slice the carrots, chop the celery, and die the bell pepper. Add the carrot, celery, and bong pepper to the pot. Continue to sauté as you measure the rest of the ingredients.

  • Add the diced tomatoes (with juices), tomato sauce, frozen light-green beans, chopped parsley, smoked paprika, oregano, thyme, and pepper. Continue to stir and cook while you lot chop the cabbage.

  • Chop the cabbage into one-inch pieces. Add the cabbage to the pot forth with the vegetable broth and stir to combine.

  • Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat upwards to medium-high, and allow the soup to come to a eddy. One time boiling, reduce the heat to medium-depression and allow information technology to continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 40 minutes or until the cabbage is to your desired tenderness.

  • Once the cabbage is tender, flavor the soup with salt, starting with ½ tsp and adding more to your liking. Finish the soup past calculation the lemon juice and stirring to combine. Serve hot with crusty staff of life for dipping.

See how we calculate recipe costs hither.


Serving: ii cups Calories: 133 kcal Carbohydrates: 26 thousand Poly peptide: 4 one thousand Fat: three thou Sodium: 1783 mg Fiber: 7 g

Nutritional values are estimates only. Run into our total nutrition disclaimer here.


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A ladle full of cabbage soup held over the pot

How to Make Cabbage Soup – Step by Step Photos

Onion and garlic in a soup pot

Start by mincing four cloves of garlic and dicing one large onion. Add them both to a large soup pot with one tablespoon olive oil. Sauté over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent.

Celery, carrot, and bell pepper added to the pot

While the onion and garlic are sautéing, peel and piece 4 carrots, slice 4 stalks of celery, and dice one greenish bell pepper. Add the carrots, celery, and bell pepper to the pot. Continue to sauté over medium.

Tomatoes, spices, parsley, and green beans added to the pot

Add together one 28oz. tin diced tomatoes (I used petite diced), one 8oz. can lycopersicon esculentum sauce, ½ lb. frozen green beans, ¼ cup chopped parsley, ½ Tbsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp oregano, ½ tsp thyme, and ¼ tsp pepper. Stir to combine.

cabbage in soup pot, broth being poured in

Chop 1/2 head of cabbage into one-inch pieces (nigh 5-vi cups one time chopped). Add together the chopped cabbage to the pot forth with 6 cups of vegetable broth.

Cabbage soup before simmering

Stir everything together, place a lid on the pot, and turn the oestrus upwardly to medium-high. Allow the soup to come to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Let the soup simmer over medium-low, stirring occasionally, for nigh 40 minutes, or until the cabbage is to your desired tenderness.

Salt being added to the soup

Once the cabbage is tender, season the soup with common salt, starting with 1/2 teaspoon, and then adding more than to taste (I used 1 tsp full). Side by side, add one tablespoon of lemon juice, which really helps brighten the flavors.

close up of the pot of cabbage soup

And then slurp down all that vegetable-y goodness! I garnished with a trivial more fresh parsley, but information technology's non needed for extra flavor.

close up of a bowl of cabbage soup

This soup goes great with some crusty staff of life (garlic or not) to soak up that succulent broth!