Cabbage Soup

Name: Cabbage Soup
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1 cup diced yellow onion (½" dice); 1 cup sliced celery (¼" thick slices); 1 cup sliced carrots (¼" thick slices); 1 tablespoon minced garlic; ½ teaspoon dried rosemary; ½ teaspoon dried thyme; ¼ teaspoon black pepper; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 1 head of green cabbage (8 cups chopped); 14.5 ounces fire-roasted diced tomatoes (canned with juice); 15 ounce canned white beans (rinsed and drained); 1 ½ cups yukon gold potatoes (½" cubes); 6 cups vegetable broth (or stock); 1 teaspoon lemon juice (optional); 1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Each bowl of this healthy cabbage soup recipe is packed with fiber-rich vegetables in a savory tomato broth. It’s a nourishing, satisfying meal—and the leftovers taste even better the next day!

Recipe Science

Sautéing onions, celery, and carrots in oil before adding the broth triggers caramelization, enhancing the natural sweetness.
Sautéing the cabbage before simmering mellows out the sulfurous compounds from the raw vegetable while boosting sweetness.
A splash of lemon juice at the end preserves the soup’s bright, fresh flavor and balances its richness.

Why It Works

To make cabbage soup, we start by sautéing onions, celery, and carrots in olive oil until lightly browned, releasing their natural sweetness. Garlic, rosemary, and thyme add an aromatic boost, enhancing the savory base. Next, the cabbage is gently wilted, softening and soaking up the seasonings before the stock is added. This quick step ensures a well-balanced texture where the cabbage remains tender yet hearty.

Once the vegetables are prepped, the soup simmers with a medley of diced tomatoes, beans, potatoes, and vegetable stock, infusing the broth with rich, comforting flavors. A splash of fresh lemon juice at the end brightens the dish, balancing the richness with a subtle tang. It’s one of my favorite St. Patrick’s Day recipes, especially with any leftovers!

Ingredients You’ll Need

Ingredients needed to make this cabbage soup recipe.

Cabbage: I use green cabbage for its hearty texture and subtle sweet taste. As the chopped cabbage simmers, it releases natural glutamates, boosting the soup’s umami depth.
Tomatoes: Fire-roasted tomatoes add a smoky, charred flavor, while the acidity balances the natural sweetness from the carrots and cabbage.
Potatoes: Yukon gold potatoes have a buttery texture that holds up during simmering. They release just enough starch to add a slight thickness to the broth. Plus, it’s not an Irish recipe without some spuds!
White Beans: Cannellini beans’ creamy texture contrasts with the tender vegetables, which deliver protein and fiber.
Liquid: Vegetable broth or stock is a flavorful liquid that infuses the vegetables with more flavor as they cook.
Olive Oil: The veggies are sauteed in extra-virgin olive oil to develop surface flavors before simmering. It also helps release fat-soluble flavors from the aromatics and dried herbs.
Mirepoix: A classic French aromatic vegetable base for soups, I use diced yellow onion, celery, and carrots. When sautéed and simmered, they create a balanced blend of sweetness and savoriness.
Garlic: Minced garlic adds a pungent, savory punch. Briefly, sautéing releases its sulfur compounds, creating a rich, aromatic backbone for the soup.
Herbs: Rosemary adds earthy, piney flavors, while thyme has a woodsy, citrusy taste. I prefer dried herbs for their concentrated flavor, but fresh herbs work well, too.
Seasoning: Black pepper adds subtle heat and a sharp bite that balances the soup’s sweetness. Kosher salt ensures a well-seasoned stock.
Lemon juice: The acidity lifts the soup’s flavors, cutting through the richness of the potatoes and beans while making the dish taste brighter.
Parsley: A finishing touch of fresh parsley adds a pop of brightness.

See the recipe card below for all ingredients and measurements (US and metric).

Ingredient Substitutions

Now that you know how to make the best cabbage soup recipe, it is easy to customize! Try these tasty options:

Cabbage Swaps: Other types of cabbage, such as napa or savoy, can be used. Avoid red cabbage, as it will turn the soup a darker, muddy color.
Bean Choices: Try other types of beans, such as pinto, kidney, black beans, garbanzo, or black-eyed peas.
Tomatoes Swaps: You can use fresh tomatoes or other types of canned tomatoes, such as whole peeled, diced, sauce, or paste.
Potato Options: Try other types of potatoes like white, red, russet, or sweet potatoes.
Herbs: If using fresh rosemary and thyme, add 1 ½ teaspoons of the chopped herbs. Try adding oregano, bay leaf, basil, or homemade Italian seasoning.
Vegetables: Add additional vegetables like green beans, corn, mushrooms, peas, bell peppers, spinach, or kale.
Make it Spicy: Add diced jalapenos, red pepper flakes, hot sauce, sriracha, chili oil, chipotle, or cayenne to make it spicy.
Add Meat: To make the soup heartier, consider adding protein sources like shredded chicken, bacon, baked corned beef, ground beef, turkey, or sausage.

How to Make Cabbage Soup

Person slicing cabbage into small pieces on a white cutting board.

Step 1: Cut the Cabbage

Learning how to cut cabbage is simple! Remove any wilted or dirty leaves, then rinse and dry. Cut into quarters, then trim the white core as it can be tough to chew. Chop each piece into about 1-inch pieces. I use 8 cups of cabbage for the recipe, but you can add more if desired.

Slices of carrots, celery, and onion being mixed in a large pan.

Step 2: Saute the Aromatics

Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven or pot over medium heat to build a flavorful base. Once hot, add diced onion, celery, and carrots, then sauté until the vegetables soften and develop a light golden color. This enhances the sweetness of the vegetables.

Dried spices in a pot sauteing with carrots and celery.

Stir in the garlic, rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper. This quick step releases the essential oils in the herbs and aromatics, creating a rich, savory foundation for the soup recipe.

Slices of cabbage wilted in a large pot.

Step 3: Saute the Cabbage

Add the chopped cabbage and sauté until just wilted. This step enhances the soup’s depth of flavor by triggering the Maillard reaction, which creates subtle caramelized notes while reducing excess moisture in the cabbage. Sautéing also helps break down some of the cabbage’s fibrous structure, making it more tender before simmering.

Pot of white beans and roasted tomatoes being mixed with a spoon.

Step 4: Simmer the Soup

Adding diced tomatoes, beans, potatoes, and vegetable broth to the pot introduces acidity and starch. Bringing the mixture to a boil quickly increases the temperature, helping to distribute heat and breaking down the potatoes’ starches evenly.

Reducing to a simmer over low heat ensures gentle cooking, allowing flavors to meld while preventing the potatoes from breaking apart too quickly.

Tips for Perfect Execution: Covering the pot traps steam, maintaining moisture, and promoting even cooking. This ensures the potatoes become tender in about 15 minutes.

Cabbage soup in a white bowl served with slices of toasted bread.

Step 5: To Serve

Turning off the heat before adding lemon juice preserves its bright, fresh acidity, which would otherwise degrade with prolonged heat exposure. The acidity from the lemon balances the richness of the broth and enhances the overall flavor by brightening the dish. A garnish of fresh parsley adds color and a mild, herbaceous contrast to the savory broth.

Quick Substitution: You can omit the lemon juice or add another tangy ingredient, like apple cider vinegar. A little goes a long way!

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use a different type of cabbage other than green cabbage?

Savoy cabbage has a more delicate texture with crinkled leaves that soften quickly, making it ideal for soups. With its higher water content and softer leaves, Napa cabbage adds a subtle sweetness but will break down faster. Adjusting cooking time helps achieve the desired texture while preserving flavor balance.

What makes cabbage taste sweet?

Cabbage tastes sweet due to its natural sugars, like glucose and fructose. Cooking enhances this sweetness by breaking down sugars and mellowing bitter sulfur compounds, especially through sautéing or roasting.

How do you take the bitterness out of cabbage?

To reduce cabbage’s bitterness, start by cooking it. Heat breaks down the sulfur compounds responsible for bitterness, especially when sautéing, roasting, or boiling. Salt helps draw out excess moisture and balance flavors, while a splash of acid, like lemon juice or vinegar, brightens the taste and neutralizes bitterness. Choosing younger, fresher cabbage also helps, as it tends to be milder than more mature heads.