During the winter, soup is king, and this stuffed cabbage soup makes serving soup easy and delicious. A winner for everyone!
I remember my mom making stuffed cabbage – also known as cabbage rolls – every once in a while when I was growing up. But it was a pretty rare occasion. We really loved them, but for a family of ten, they were fairly labor-intensive.
What we found instead was that everybody loved stuffed cabbage soup just as well. It had all the great flavor and texture we loved but less than half the prep time. Similar to stuffed cabbage casserole, but in equally delicious soup form.
While chili, such as Instant pot turkey chili, is usually the first thing I think of, I love having a diverse selection of soups for cold weather. (I mean, we all know cold weather lasts longer than one meal.)
So while I think of creamy asparagus soup, and even butternut squash soup as lighter and more for mild weather, during the winter, soups like this one and quick chicken stew or clam chowder are more robust and satisfying.
One of the things I love about this particular recipe is that you can customize it pretty easily for your dietary needs by doing things like serving rice on the side (so grain-free or low-carb family members can opt out), and giving the option of topping individual bowls of soup with mozzarella cheese, rather than serving it by default so that dairy-free guests can opt-out.
The other thing I love about this is that it packs a veggie wallop. If you know me, you know that I do my best to eat close to half my food volume in vegetables, and soups like this make that so incredibly easy to do.
Stuffed Cabbage Soup
Some things to know about making this soup:
- Replacing the traditional ground beef with sausage makes for a great flavor twist! I personally love using crumbled breakfast sausage in this soup, and the kielbasa from our local meat processor is divine. You can also use ground turkey.
- Likewise, you can swap cheeses; while the mozzarella used in this recipe is definitely optional, you can also use shredded cheddar, Colby, swiss, or gouda for some interesting flavor additions.
- Another swap you can make is in the grain. I like to use white jasmine rice, but you can also use another variety of rice, such as brown rice or use quinoa.
- Green cabbage can be swapped for purple cabbage. It makes no difference in the flavor.
- You can also blend the diced tomatoes if you prefer not to have pieces of tomato in your soup.
- Garlic and onion are honestly not optional, no matter what your kids may tell you. 😉 Onion or garlic powder is simply not the same.
Stuffed Cabbage Soup
This simple and tasty stuffed cabbage soup is great comfort food during the cold winter months.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/2 head of cabbage, chopped
- 8 oz. petite diced tomatoes
- 1 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes, or tomato puree.
- 2 1/2 cups beef broth
- 1 Tablespoons Italian Seasoning
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 1/2 cups cooked rice
- 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- In a large pot, brown ground beef with onion
- Drain, and add garlic and cabbage
- Stir fry until cabbage begins to wilt. If beef or cabbage begin to stick to the pan, go ahead and skip to the next step.
- Add in crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and beef stock
- Simmer over medium heat until cabbage is tender
- Stir in rice
- When serving, top each bowl with a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese
- Enjoy!
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