Cabbage Roll Soup

5 from 1 vote

Cozy up with a warm, nourishing bowl of Cabbage Roll Soup! It's perfect with biscuits or a loaf of crusty bread on a chilly day!

Course Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine European

Keyword cabbage roll soup, cabbage soup, stuffed cabbage roll soup, unstuffed cabbage roll soup

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 50

Total Time 1

Servings - 8 servings (about 12 cups total)

Calories 176kcal

Author Blair Lonergan

In a large pot over medium-high heat, cook bacon until crispy, about 6-8 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove bacon to a plate; reserve drippings in the pot.
Add ground beef to the pot and cook over medium-high heat, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until meat is no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 more minute. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 more minute.
Stir in the cabbage, beef broth, tomato sauce, tomatoes, brown sugar and bay leaf. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low, and simmer until the cabbage is tender, about 15-20 minutes.
Stir in the rice, season with salt and pepper to taste, and simmer for about 5 more minutes. Remove from heat, discard bay leaf, and stir in parsley. Ladle into bowls and garnish each bowl with reserved bacon.

Save time and money by using leftovers in this soup. Leftover sausage or ground beef, any variety of leftover rice, or bits and pieces of leftover vegetables will all work here. It's a great opportunity to clean out the fridge!
Shortcut: If you don't want to boil a pot of rice for this soup, you can microwave a packet of Uncle Ben's Ready Rice in about 90 seconds. Each packet is approximately 2 cups of rice, so there's no waste.
Use bulk Italian sausage instead of ground beef in this recipe, or try a combination of half sausage and half beef. You can also make the soup using ground pork, ground veal, ground lamb, or ground turkey.
Any variety of cooked rice will work in the soup. I prefer long-grain white rice, but brown rice or basmati rice are both good options, too.
If adding uncooked rice to the soup, use ½ cup of uncooked long-grain white rice, increase the broth by about 1-2 cups, and simmer until the rice is tender.