Cabbage Roll Soup with Beef and Rice

Name: Cabbage Roll Soup with Beef and Rice
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 55 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 pound ground beef; 1 small head green cabbage, cored and roughly chopped; 1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes; 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes; 6 cups beef broth; 1 cup cooked white rice; 1 small onion, diced; 3 cloves garlic, minced; 2 tablespoons tomato paste; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/2 teaspoon black pepper; 1 teaspoon paprika; Fresh dill or parsley, for serving

Published by Fork Around & Find Out Kitchen — presented in the Lila editorial voice. Editorial standards

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Cabbage rolls are excellent, but they do ask you to stand there wrapping individual parcels of beef, rice, and cabbage as if dinner has assigned you seasonal warehouse work. Cabbage roll soup keeps the same basic comfort-food combination and removes the folding. Ground beef browns with onion, garlic, tomato paste, and paprika build the savory base, and crushed plus diced tomatoes join beef broth before the chopped cabbage goes in to simmer until truly tender.

Cooked white rice is added only during the last five minutes, and that timing is worth protecting. Raw rice would drink up too much broth as it cooks and push the whole pot toward stew; already-cooked rice warms through while leaving the tomato-beef broth where it belongs. Finish with fresh dill or parsley and you get beef, cabbage, tomato, rice, and paprika in every spoonful—the recognizable flavors of cabbage rolls without requiring a single leaf to cooperate with your folding technique. Ground beef should reach 160°F, and after that the only thing left to roll is probably yourself toward the couch.

Prep20 minutes

Cook35 minutes

Total55 minutes

Serves4 servings

DifficultyEasy

Ingredients

Servings

1 pound ground beef
1 small head green cabbage, cored and roughly chopped
1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes
6 cups beef broth
1 cup cooked white rice
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
Fresh dill or parsley, for serving

Instructions

1Brown ground beef with onion in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, 6 to 7 minutes. Drain excess fat.
2Add garlic, tomato paste, and paprika. Cook 1 minute until fragrant.
3Pour in beef broth, crushed tomatoes, and diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil.
4Add cabbage, salt, and pepper. Reduce heat and simmer 20 to 25 minutes until the cabbage is very tender.
5Stir in cooked rice. Simmer 5 more minutes to let everything meld. Cook ground meat until it reaches 160°F on an instant-read thermometer.
6Ladle into bowls and top with fresh dill or parsley.

Nutrition Information

Estimated per serving: 1 of 4 servings.

460Calories

30 gProtein

29 gCarbohydrates

25 gTotal Fat

10 gSaturated Fat

5 gFiber

10 gTotal Sugars

1950 mgSodium

85 mgCholesterol

Estimated from the ingredients and quantities in this recipe using standard food-composition values. Brand choices, trimming, cooking loss, optional ingredients, and actual portion size can change the numbers. How we calculate nutrition estimates.

Pro Tips

Use cooked rice added at the end. Raw rice cooked in the soup absorbs too much liquid and turns the soup into a stew.
This soup is basically deconstructed cabbage rolls without any of the tedious rolling.
Paprika and tomato are the classic Eastern European flavor combination here — don't skip either one.

Substitutions

ground beef → ground pork or a mix of both Traditional cabbage rolls often use a beef-pork mix.

white rice → brown rice or cauliflower rice for lower carb Brown rice has more chew; cauliflower rice keeps it lighter.

crushed tomatoes → tomato sauce Slightly thinner consistency but the same flavor.

Storage Instructions

Refrigerate for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months. The rice will absorb liquid as it sits — add broth when reheating. The rice will absorb liquid as it sits — add broth when reheating.