Hamburger Cabbage Soup

5 from 1 vote

Hamburger Cabbage Soup is a hearty and healthy recipe everyone will love! This Stuffed Cabbage Soup is perfect for an easy weeknight dinner!

Prep Time10

Cook Time30

Total Time40

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cabbage roll soup, cabbage roll soup recipe, stuffed cabbage soup

Servings: 2 cup servings

Calories: 274kcal

Author: Liz Marino

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 lb ground beef
1 cup chopped onion 1 medium onion
½ tablespoon garlic
4 cups chopped cabbage cut in small squares (about 1 small cabbage, core removed)
1 14.5 oz can petite diced tomatoes
15 oz can tomato sauce
3 cups water
2 cups beef broth low or no salt
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
2/3 cup long grain white rice

Instructions

Stovetop Instructions

In a large pot, heat olive oil. Brown ground beef for 10 minutes.
Add garlic/onion to the ground beef. Sauté for an additional 5 minutes.
Once onions/garlic have sautéed, add all remaining ingredients EXCEPT cabbage and stir together.
Cover and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Once boiling, add cabbage leaves and reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes until rice is cooked to al dente, continuing to stir every few minutes.
The rice will continue to cook slightly when taken off the stove. Remove bay leaf before serving.
Serve with parmesan cheese and fresh parsley.
Note: the rice will absorb broth as it cooks. You can add more broth to the soup when enjoying leftovers if you like a broth-ier consistency.

Instant Pot Instructions:

Set the instant pot to sauté for 15 minutes. Brown ground beef for 10 minutes
Add garlic/onion to the ground beef. Sauté for an additional 5 mins.
Once onions/garlic have sautéed, add all remaining ingredients EXCEPT cabbage and stir together.
Make sure to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the instant pot so you don’t get a burn notice.
Cover the instant pot and set the vent to Sealing, High Pressure for 3 minutes.
It will take about 8-10 minutes for your instant pot to come to pressure. Once cooked, quick release the pressure valve. Stir in cabbage, and put the lid back on top of the instant pot for 2 minutes until the cabbage has wilted slightly. Remove bay leaf before serving.
Serve with parmesan cheese and fresh parsley.
Note: the rice will absorb broth as it cooks. You can add more broth to the soup when enjoying leftovers if you like a broth-ier consistency.

Crockpot Instructions:

In a pot, heat olive oil. Brown ground beef for 10 minutes.
Add garlic/onion to the ground beef. Sauté for an additional 5 minutes.
Once onions/garlic have sautéed, add the beef/garlic/onion mixture to the crockpot.
Add all remaining ingredients except cabbage to the crockpot and stir together.
Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 4 hours. (All slow cookers are different, check yours to make sure the rice isn’t over cooking.)
One hour before serving, add your cabbage to the slow cooker and stir to combine (you can add it in at the beginning, it will just be really soft if it cooks for that long!)
Remove bay leaf before serving.
Serve with parmesan cheese and fresh parsley.
Note: the rice will absorb broth as it cooks. You can add more broth to the soup when enjoying leftovers if you like a broth-ier consistency.
Slow Cooker Note: To avoid over-cooked rice, you can reduce the amount of water in this recipe by 1 cup, and cook your rice on the side. Stir in cooked rice when the soup has finished cooking

Notes

Tips for this recipe:

If necessary, drain the ground beef after cooking. We typically like to use an 85/15 blend of hamburger to make ground beef and rice recipes like this. But, you can use a higher fat blend. If you do, drain the grease to prevent the broth from being too greasy.

Don't skip sautéing the aromatics. If you plan to make the cabbage soup recipe in a crockpot, this step is optional, but we recommend it. You'll need to brown the hamburger anyway, so it isn't going to take any longer. Softening and sautéing the onion and garlic adds a ton of flavor to the soup broth.

Don't forget to remove the bay leaf! It always tends to sink to the bottom of the pot, so you may need to use a slotted spoon or ladle to find it.

Nutrition