Easy Stuffed Cabbage Soup with Ground Beef

Stuffed cabbage soup with ground beef, cabbage, and rice, all in a savory tomato broth is a hearty soup that comes together in minutes. All the flavor of traditional stuffed cabbage rolls, but none of the hassle!

When it’s cold outside, there’s nothing better than a steaming bowl of soup and some homemade bread. We have soup at least twice weekly during winter at my house. So comforting!

Truth be told, I have never even tried actual stuffed cabbage rolls. They seem like so much work that I’ve never attempted to make them.

But after making homemade runzas, I had leftover green cabbage that needed to be used up. I found a recipe for unstuffed cabbage roll soup at Simply Stacie.

Hers cooks in a slow cooker, but it was dinner time, so I adapted it for the stovetop. It was ready in about 30 minutes, and that is always a win in my book.

I was a little nervous that my kids would balk at the cabbage, but they gobbled the soup right up. We will definitely be adding it to our regular rotation!

RECIPE FOR STUFFED CABBAGE SOUP

1. PREP – Wash the vegetables. Dice the onion.
2. SAUTE – Heat a soup pot over medium-high heat. Brown ground beef with the onion until there is no pink left. Use a paper towel to drain the fat. Add the garlic and cook for about a minute.
3. CHOP – While the meat is cooking, peel and dice the carrot. Wash the cabbage leaves and chop them into 1-inch pieces.
4. COMBINE – Stir the tomato sauce, beef broth, chopped cabbage, diced carrots, rice, brown sugar, Italian seasoning, Worcestershire, salt, and pepper into the pot.
5. SIMMER – Bring the soup to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 15-20 minutes, or until the carrots and cabbage are tender.

If you have leftover soup, it will keep for 4-5 days in the refrigerator. I recommend letting it cool a bit, then transferring it to an airtight container.

PRO TIPS:

• The liquid will reduce quite a bit as the soup cooks. If you prefer more broth in your soup, you can leave the lid on, or even add an additional cup of beef stock or broth.
• Don’t leave out the brown sugar! It may seem like a strange ingredient in soup, but it helps cut the acidity of the tomatoes and balances the flavor. If you are completely opposed to using processed sugar, try a tablespoon of honey or molasses instead.

VARIATIONS:

• You can use brown rice instead of white. You will need to add an additional cup of beef broth or water, and simmer for 45-50 minutes.
• If you don’t have beef broth, you can use chicken broth or even vegetable broth.
• For a lower-carb soup, you can use cauliflower rice.
• If desired, garnish the soup with a dollop of sour cream.
• Swap out the lean beef for ground turkey or ground chicken.
• If you want to use leftover rice instead, simply add it during the last 2-3 minutes of cooking so it heats through.
• Need to feed a crowd? You can easily make a double batch of this soup!

MORE COZY SOUPS

• Sausage Potato Soup
• Chicken Taco Soup Recipe
• Instant Pot Beef Stew
• Keto Chicken Enchilada Soup
• One Pot Lasagna Soup
• Chicken Gnocchi Soup
• Keto Hamburger Soup
• Ravioli Soup

This unstuffed cabbage soup is a great way to get your family to eat cabbage! It really does have great flavor, and is such an easy dinner that you can make it even on the busiest of evenings!