Do you like stuffed cabbage rolls but not the work and mess? Unstuffed Cabbage Soup is super easy and has all of the tastes you love. It is delicious! Serve a piping hot bowlful with cornbread if you like.
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Besides being a bowlful of scrumptiousness, unstuffed cabbage soup is extremely popular. It is our number two, all-time most popular post with almost 250,000 pageviews at the time of this posting.
Let’s get started making unstuffed cabbage soup
Begin by chopping the onion.
Then chop the cabbage. I like to do a large chop but make any size you like best.
In a Dutch oven or large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the ground beef and onion and cook, stirring, until ground beef is no longer pink and onion is tender.
Add the garlic and continue cooking for 1 minute. Drain off excess grease if there is any.
Add the chopped cabbage, tomatoes, tomato sauce and vinegar.
Stir in the cinnamon, nutmeg (grate with a microplane), pepper, and salt. Cinnamon and nutmeg in soup may sound a little unusual, but trust me, it’s what makes this recipe so good.
Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, or until cabbage is tender.
Cornbread is a great side in my opinion.
Others in our family prefer rice. You could even serve with buttered crackers, if you’d like. It is a pretty hearty bowl of soup.
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Unstuffed Cabbage Soup
serves 6
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 1/2 to 2 pounds lean ground beef
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 small cabbage, chopped
- 2 cans (14.5 ounces each) diced tomatoes
- 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon cider vinegar or wine vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- dash nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
DIRECTIONS:
In a Dutch oven or large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat.
Add the ground beef and onion and cook, stirring, until ground beef is no longer pink and onion is tender.
Add the garlic and continue cooking for 1 minute. Drain off grease if there is any.
Add the chopped cabbage, tomatoes, tomato sauce, vinegar, cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper, and salt.
Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, or until cabbage is tender.
Serving suggestions for unstuffed cabbage soup…
Savory Cheese and Spinach Muffins
And for dessert…
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I made this soup tonight and we all loved it! I used beef broth and added Worcestershire sauce and some Adobo seasoning for my own flair. I love the flavor of the nutmeg and cinnamon in this soup. I will make this again!
Hi Teresa,
Oh, so happy the soup was a hit! I love your tweaks too and I agree, the nutmeg and cinnamon really make it good.
I appreciate that you took the time to visit and leave your comment!
Kindly, Lorraine
I have made this many times, we love it my family loves it. I love the cinnamon and nutmeg, it makes this dish that much better than the others.
Hi Cheryl,
Happy to hear you and your family enjoyed the unstuffed cabbage soup. I do think it is the cinnamon and nutmeg is what makes it really tasty.
Thank you so much for taking the time to stop back and leave your comment!
Stay well and safe 🙂
Kindly, Lorraine
I am the only one who would eat it because of the cinnamon. Otherwise, tasty.
My son won’t eat tomatoes,if I omit them would I need to add more sauce?
Hi Dana,
I have not tried it, but you could see if substituting additional tomato sauce for the diced tomatoes works for you. It might make the soup a little thinner. Please let me know if you tweak the recipe and how it turns out.
Thank you for stopping by!
Kindly, Lorraine
I don’t like tomatoes either, so I have frozen vegetables, like peas and corn that will pick up other flavors easily. Also, a tbsp of rice to take up some of the liquids.
Dana,
How about crushed tomatoes? They are more like thick tomato sauce but you don’t “see” tomatoes. I used to make all my tomato based soups with crushed tomatoes for my children.
Hi, do you have a slow cooker/crockpot version of this recipe? Or can you recommend adjustments to the recipe to cook it this way? Thank you!
Hello Lee,
I did a little search for converting a recipe to a slow cooker/crock pot and have included a few links below for you to peruse if you like.
For what I gather, you will still need to brown the ground beef, onion and garlic and then drain off excess fat. After that, I am thinking you could proceed by adding it to a slow cooker. But at that point you only need to add the remaining ingredients and simmer on the stove 25-30 minutes.
You might consider making the soup ahead and reheating when desired (adding additional liquid if it seems a bit thick).
Here are a few links that you might find helpful:
https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/how-to-convert-just-about-any-recipe-into-a-slow-cooker-one/
https://www.justapinch.com/recipes/dessert/other-dessert/oven-or-stove-top-to-crock-pot.html
https://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/tools-test-kitchen/article/convert-recipes-to-slow-cooker
Thank you for your visit and comment. Hope some of this is helpful 🙂
Kindly, Lorraine
Esta receta esta deliciosa y la canela? Ni se diga, le dio buen gusto. Fácil, barato y deliciosísima!! Gracias.
Hello Nidia,
Thank you so much for your visit and your kind words! Happy that you have enjoyed this recipe:) Hope you will visit again soon!
Kindly, Lorraine
I made the soup today, I wish I would’ve have added the cinnamon or maybe less
Due to Lyme my daughter cannotvcook with beef. Can she just use sausage or Italian sausage. Ground turkey? Etc. Cant even be in the room if beef is cooking. Her husband loves cabbage rolls so I thought this might be a good substitute
Can definitely sub any ground meat. Sausage, chicken, turkey, venison, etc. any meat she can tolerate.
Wonderful recipe. I’ll add rice to the leftovers.
Thank you!!
Hi Linda, Thank you so much for stopping by and leaving your comment! I like the idea of adding rice to the leftovers.
I copied all the ingredients with their measurements into verywellfit.com because I need to know the nutrition. Calories are 326 carbs 22 protein 38 fiber 7 sugar 9.7
Hi Robert’s Mom 🙂
The calorie count is good to know! Thank you for sharing. So 326 calories for each of the six servings?
Kindly, Lorraine
I thought about using half ground beef and half country sausage n some but not much rice n if needed more tomato sauce and adjust seasoning as needed. What do you think
Hello Merry,
I think making it with both the ground beef and the sausage will work just fine. You could probably add some cooked rice to the pot but it might get a little complicated calculating the additional liquid to add. I just serve rice on the side and it can then be spooned on as each person desires.
Hope this helpful to you. Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving your comment!
Kindly, Lorraine
I made this tonight and it was super yummy! Thanks for a quick, easy and healthy dinner with left overs.
Hi Jannellg,
So happy you have enjoyed the unstuffed cabbage soup. Thanks so much for stopping back to leave your comment!
Kindly, Lorraine
Oh, that looks so good, and definitely easier than cabbage rolls! Now that the weather has finally cooled to non-summer temps, I can think about making (and eating) some nice hot soup!
I have been meaning to tell you that I have made your recipe of German Brats with Potatoes and Peppers (not sure if that is the title, but those are the ingredients) many times. It has become a favorite at our house!
Yes please! Comfort food at it’s best:@)
I love stuffed cabbage and I like it as soup too. Looks delicious.