This pot happens when you dream of food magically getting ready while asking very little out of you. This pot happens when the weather or your mood craves a cozy bowl of comfort. It has very simple ingredients, mainly some meat and cabbage. How can it be so “slurp worthy”? Somehow it is, cooked low and slow for hours with few flavor enhancers. You end up with a delicious bowl of meaty cabbage goodness.
WHY CABBAGE? Well it is so good for you. It’s considered low carb and detoxes the body. In fact, there was such a thing as the “cabbage soup diet” in the 80’s and 90’s. It lost its popularity like any other fad diet. For one thing, it just used plain cabbage soup with no meat, so it was bland and boring.
If only they would have thought to spruce up their soup maybe it would have lasted a few more decades… 🙂
So let’s take all the goodness of cabbage and mix it with meat. How about two kinds of meat? Yes, this is where my soup gets flavorful. It not only has hamburger meat, but I’m adding in some yum pork sausage. That really elevates the flavor of this simple soup.
We are going to give you not one, not two, but three methods to cook this, depending on what the day demands or what you feel like. There is the crockpot method, which takes longer, but once everything is in the crockpot you are carefree to do whatever you want. Just forget it till dinner time.
There is the instant pot method for an instant meal on some hectic days.
And I will give you a regular stove top method, for people who might not have access to crock or insta.
This is you need for this low carb soup
- Meat – We are using equal amounts of ground beef and pork sausage.
- Aromatics – Onion and garlic.
- Herbs and spices – Oregano, thyme, cumin and red chili flakes.
- Cabbage
- Tomatoes – canned.
- Beef broth
- Salt and pepper
Just regular pantry staples. Easy ingredients… Easy peesy methods..
Crock Pot method
Sauté chopped onion and garlic in a little oil in a skillet. Once onion is translucent, add in meat and cook until it is no longer pink, about 4-5 minutes, breaking it up a bit with a spoon as you go along.
Browning the meat adds amazing flavors to the soup, so please don’t skip it, even on the days when you feel lazy. That extra few minutes of work is worth it when you dig into that bowl later in the evening.
Now the easy part. Thrown in the cooked meat in your lightly greased crock pot. Add in the herbs and spices along with canned tomatoes. Give it a stir. Add in beef broth and top it with chopped cabbage.
Put on the lid and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 7-8 hours.
While it’s cooking, be sure to check out my roundups of the 35 BEST Crockpot Soup Recipes and Sausage Recipes!
Stove top method
You will cook the meat the same as above. Then season it with all the herbs and spices along with diced tomatoes and chopped cabbage. Mix well. Add in beef broth and bring to a low boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 25-30 minutes, until cabbage is cooked and tender. Taste and adjust for salt and pepper.
Instant Pot method
Set the instant pot to Saute mode. Once it’s hot, add in oil and sauté onion and garlic till onion becomes translucent.
Stir in meat and sauté till it is no longer pink in color. Next add in tomatoes along with all spices and herbs and beef stock. Mix well. Add in cabbage on top.
Seal the lid and cook on high pressure for 20 minutes. Once the cook time ends, allow the steam to naturally release for 5-10 minutes. Once all the steam is released open the lid and serve hot.
Whatever method you use to make this easy yet delicious soup, you can garnish it with a little sprinkling of parsley. Some days top it with heaps of shredded cheddar, it goes really well with all the rest of the flavors.
What to serve this tasty soup with
This is very hearty meal in itself, most of the time it’s all you need for a comforting, cozy evening. You can always supplement this with some salad like my Spanish pipirrana or Israeli couscous salad. That adds a rainbow of colors and more veggies to your table. Sometimes we like to dip in some breadsticks, a toasted baguette, or my favorite no knead bread.
Variations
- Play it with seasonings. Instead of just thyme and oregano, you can add Italian seasoning. Even my homemade Montreal seasoning can be added in for different flavors. Or how about some taco seasoning? So many interesting ways this soup can vary.
- If you want some Caribbean or Latin flavors, replace the regular salt with adobo or all purpose seasoning. You wont regret the flavors. I can see sazon seasoning doing wonders in the end result too. Sometimes life is all about having varied yum flavors from all over the world. That’s what GypsyPlate is all about.
- You can certainly add in more veggies. If you’re not looking for a low carb option, try some carrots or even potatoes. Bell peppers or zucchini can give it more veggie power. I can even see some corn in there… all yum.
- There is stuffed (or unstuffed) cabbage roll soup. It’s basically the above ingredients plus some rice and carrots.
- You can make the same soup with ground turkey or chicken.
How long can you store it?
Like any soup, it just ages so well in your refrigerator up to 4-5 days. All the flavors get more intense when they mingle for a few days. It’s a great meal prep option. So make a giant batch and you are set with easy lunches or dinners for the next few days.
This soup freezes well for a couple of months in an airtight container. Just thaw and reheat it on the stove top.
So guys, soup’s ON!! Whatever the method, we need these easy, simple yet delicious things in our lives. If you have that head of cabbage in your kitchen, throw this easy soup together in no time. Cuddle up with your family over a bowl and enjoy an easy evening.
Meaty Cabbage Soup, in my Gypsy Bowl… enjoy!
Try these other great soup recipes!
Zuppa Toscana
Loaded Cauliflower Soup
Bahamian Boiled Fish
Grilled Cheese Tomato Soup
Moroccan Lentil Soup
Korean Ground Pork Soup
Yakamein
Meaty Cabbage Soup
This hearty, meaty cabbage soup is the perfect one pot dinner. It's loaded with protein and healthy veggies. Cook it in the crock pot, instant pot or on stove top, it'll turn out great every time.
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp oil
- 1lb ground beef
- 1lb pork sausage
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 4-5 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 15oz can diced tomato
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp red chili flakes
- 6-7 cups cabbage, shredded or chopped
- 4 cups beef broth
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
Crockpot method
- Heat the oi in a pan over medium high heat and sauté onion and garlic till onion gets translucent. Add in ground beef and pork sausage. Cook for 4-5 minutes, breaking the meat with a spatula till the meat is no longer pink.
- Add browned meat into slightly greased crockpot. Add in all the herbs and spices, salt, pepper along with diced tomatoes. Combine well. Add in beef broth and top with shredded cabbage.
- Close the lid and cook for 4-5 hours on high or 7-8 hours on slow.
Instant pot method
1. Put the instant pot on Saute mode and wait till its hot. Heat oil and sauté onion and garlic for a couple of minutes, till onion is soft and translucent. Add in meats and sauté for 4-5 minutes, breaking with a spatula, till meat is no longer pink. Add in all the rest of the ingredients.
2. Close the lid, set the valve to sealing and cook on high pressure for 20 minutes. Once the cook time ends, allow the steam to naturally release for 5-10 minutes. Once all the steam is released, open the lid and serve hot.
Stovetop method
1. Heat oil in soup pot on medium high heat and sauté onion and garlic. After 2-3 minutes, stir in meats and cook for 4-5 minutes till they become brown.
2. Add in spices and herbs along with diced tomatoes. Combine well. Add in broth, salt, pepper and cabbage and stir well. Bring it to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 25-30 minutes, till cabbage is soft and tender.
Nutrition Information
Yield 6 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 554Total Fat 39gSaturated Fat 12gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 23gCholesterol 132mgSodium 1343mgCarbohydrates 13gFiber 4gSugar 6gProtein 39g
Nutrition information calculated by Nutritionix.
Welcome to GypsyPlate! I'm Alpana, former wordwide tour manager and professional caterer, now full time blogger. I love exploring cuisines from around the world, and my recipes have been featured on sites such as MSN, Parade, Brit + Co, CNET and AOL. You can explore my entire collection of sortable recipes in my Recipe Index or learn more about me here.
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I made this soup yesterday in my slow cooker. Subbed small, small pieces of chicken breast for the meat. Otherwise, followed your recipe exactly. So good. I’m going to make another batch this week, and double up on the diced tomatoes and a touch more broth. thank you for the recipe!
This was delish! I made it exactly as recipe except I used 1lb of ground chicken and 1lb of garlic and cheese chicken sausage in place of hamburg and pork sausage. Served w/a dollop of sour cream and cilantro! Def a keeper!
This is good, especially when you warm it up the next day.
I used the pressure cooker, so some adjustments with cooking time. Cut it to 15 minutes and let it come down (naturally) for 10 minutes.
Serve with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil over the top with fresh parmesan.
Do you drain the fat off the meat after browning it or do you leave it in the soup? Thanks!
I don’t, a little fat adds flavor to the soup. That being said, I use 85/15 ground beef. If using something real fatty, like 73/27, you would probably want to drain some off.
How can the sugar amount be reduced? I’m on KETO and low this recipe but the sugar amount is high.
You could use tomato paste instead of diced tomatoes, even forgo the tomatoes altogether. The same goes for the onion, maybe use onion powder instead.