Confession – I’ve made this Cabbage Soup three times in the last two weeks. It’s really good, really filling, and really healthy. The perfect combination!
If you watch our live show, you know I’m maybe a touch obsessed with my instant pot. This cabbage soup is my new favorite recipe.
Not only do I love it because it’s tasty, but also because the kids like it too. And if you have kids, you know what a huge win that is. Sometimes I like to toss a scoop of cauliflower rice in too, other times I’m a little naughty and soak up the broth with some fresh made beer bread!
Cabbage Soup
Our easy cabbage soup is made with just a few simple ingredients. But don’t let that fool you, it’s rich with flavor! And I love that it comes together so quickly. You can make this on the stovetop or in the slow cooker too!
In the instant pot the cabbage soup only takes about 45 minutes of pressure, for a total cook time of about an hour. And you end up with the most tender and delicious stew meat.
How do you make cabbage soup?
Cabbage soup is made by cooking vegetables and stew meat for a long period of time, until the meat is tender. Then adding cabbage and cooking for a short while longer.
A basic cabbage soup is very simple to make, but can include many variations.
What is cabbage soup good for?
Cabbage soup can be a great option for weight loss. This cabbage soup is full of healthy vegetables, and lean protein from the stew meat.
If you’re trying to keep low on carbs, you could add less potatoes, or even skip them altogether.
What are the ingredients for cabbage soup?
We use a combination of cabbage, potatoes. carrots, green beans, tomatoes, and stew meat to make our cabbage soup. Cabbage soup is a super versatile dish though.
A kitchen sink style soup, if you will! So if you have some other veggies hanging around, go ahead and add them.
How long can you keep cabbage soup in the refrigerator?
Cabbage soup will be good stored in an air tight container in the refrigerator for about three days. If you’re my dad, you’ll eat it after five days, but I don’t suggest following his lead.
If you want too keep the soup longer than three days, then go ahead and pop it in the freezer!
What spices to add to cabbage soup?
We add very few spices to our cabbage soup – just seasoned salt, and beef bouillon or beef stock. It doesn’t sound like much, but sometimes simple is best. You can also salt and pepper to taste after it’s done cooking.
If you prefer yours fancier, garlic or onion would be great additions.
How can cabbage help you lose weight?
I don’t claim to be a scientist, but in the most basic sense, cabbage can help you lose weight by being a vegetable that is both low in calories and filling.
Sometimes I like to cut my cabbage into thin slices so they’re more like noodles!
More Like Cabbage Soup
What to serve with Cabbage Soup
Instant Pot Rice Pudding Recipe
Cabbage Soup Making Tools
- Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker – This is the model I have, and you’ve seen me use it dozens of times on our live cooking show. It’s very very (very) awesome!
- White ceramic dishware – I love white dishes because you can tell with a glance whether they’ve been cleaned. With five kids, this is a real thing.
- Ceramic soup bowls – there is literally no such thing as too many bowls. I heart bowls. So much.
- Colorful cotton bandanas (we use them as napkins!) – sometime around 2012 I decided I’d had enough of paper napkins and paper towels. We were going through such a ridiculous amount and it felt like I was just throwing money directly into the trash. So, I ordered 100 (yes!) bandannas and here we are five years later still using them! It’s perfect.
- Stainless steel soup ladle – my soup ladle is constantly going missing. Does this happen at other people’s homes?
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How to Make Cabbage Soup
Cabbage Soup
Ingredients
- 1 - 1.5 pounds stew beef
- olive oil for browning meat
- 1 can diced tomatoes 14 ounces not drained
- 1 can green beans 14 ounces drained
- 1 can plain tomato sauce 14 ounces
- 2 large russet potatoes small diced
- 2 cups carrots small diced
- 2 - 3 beef bouillon cubes or we used Better than Bouillon during the live show
- 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
- 1 small/medium head of cabbage rough chopped
- water to cover meat and vegetables
Instructions
- Turn instant pot to saute mode and brown the stew meat with a small amount of olive oil.
- Add the rest of the ingredients except the cabbage and water.
- Stir everything up, and add enough water to cover the meat and vegetables. Make sure there's still some room at the top to eventually stir in cabbage.
- Cover the soup and turn instant pot to manual mode for 45 minutes.
- When timer is done, pressure release quickly or naturally (it's not generally recommended to QR with soups, so be very careful if you do, it may splatter.)
- Stir in the cabbage, and cover for an additional 5 minutes.
- Enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
If you love cabbage recipes, make sure to try our deconstructed egg roll recipe next! And if you love instant pot recipes, try our pork ribs made in the instapot!
1.25.18
I want to make this soup. I’m sure my husband won’t eat it. As soon as I say “cabbage” soup, he will make a face. 🙂 He likes coleslaw, which is cabbage, but I guess he doesn’t like it cooked. That’s okay, there will be more for me. 🙂 I’ll let you know how it turns out.
hope you love it!
OMG, yum! Going to make this for my lunches next week!
I have to make this this week!! It looks amazing and we love cabbage!!
Do you have to use an Instant Pot for these recipes?
Nope! You can absolutely do it on the stove top or in a slow cooker. It will just take longer 🙂
How much longer on stove top?
I added u on Facebook thsnkbyou, my maname very sick with a cold so I’m going to make him cabbage soup for dinner
What size instapot did you use? I have an 8 quart and wondering if I can double the recipe. Thanks!
I have a 6 quart 🙂
My first instapot meal and it was one of the best soups I have ever made. I didn’t have beef bouillon cubes so I used beef broth instead of water. Thank you for the inspiration. now to figure out the air fryer…
so glad you enjoyed our cabbage soup recipe! it’s one of my favorites as well 🙂
can you use chicken instead of meat.
or vegan? no meat at all?
any of those options would work. if you did vegan you’ll want to use a good vegetable stock or broth to make sure you still have a lot of flavor.
can this be made in a pressure cooker?
Hi Glenda, The Instant Pot is a pressure cooker, so yes. 🙂
Made this soup with a little variation. Didn’t add green beans and subbed turnips for potatoes. Potatoes get mushy, turnips hold their shape, and my kids think they are potatoes. I also put half of the cabbage into the pot with the rest of the ingredients and added the other half after. I would add red pepper flakes next time too. My son and I finished off this soup in 2 days. Delicious!
I made this today and it hits every spot of comfort and flavor so thank you for sharing! I agree in the seasonings department. At first I was surprised that I didn’t see any added but other than some salt and pepper, there is plenty of depth and flavor. I used some of my own beef bone broth that I made last weekend and it made for a beautiful dark colored broth. I used petite potatoes whole and the same with carrots so there was no cutting or dicing, other than an easy chop on the cabbage.
awesome! i’m convinced this is the best cabbage soup! glad you love it too 🙂
When you put the cabbage in do just leave it on low or do you have to pressure cook.it again?
Just leave it – the liquid will be plenty hot to soften the cabbage 🙂