A comforting and nourishing one-pot cabbage roll soup that’s vegan, delicious, and flavorful in all the right ways.
Try my roasted cabbage steaks or this warm and cozy brown rice soup next.
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If you’re a cabbage lover, this one’s for you.
Growing up, I always looked forward to my Aunt’s Ukrainian cabbage rolls (holubtsi) on Thanksgiving. It was my favorite part of our entire meal.
Cabbage rolls are one of my favorite meals, but I don’t always have the time to prepare them. So, as an alternative, I started making this vegan cabbage roll soup. It's a recipe I come back to again and again.
When I make this soup, I like to dice the veggies ahead of time for meal prep. It makes this soup come together fast.
- It’s satisfying
- Nutrient-dense
- Completely adaptable
- Delicious comfort food at its best
- Whole Food/plant-based
📖 Recipe
The Best One-Pot Cabbage Roll Soup
Equipment
- Dutch oven or a large heavy-bottomed pot
- Sharp knife
Ingredients
- ½ cup water, OR 2 tablespoons oil plus more water as needed
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 small carrots, diced
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tomato, diced
- 3 stalks celery, diced
- 2 turnips, shredded
- (2) 28-ounce cans crushed tomatoes
- (1) 6-ounce can tomato paste
- 7-9 cups water, depending on how much thick you like it (you can always add more)
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 2 teaspoons dried dill
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 bouillon cubes, or replace water with vegetable stock
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- ¾ cup bulgur
- ¾ cup uncooked white or brown rice
- 1 head of roughly chopped cabbage, about 5 cups
- ½-1 tablespoon sherry
- 1 tablespoon salt or to taste
- dried or fresh parsley to garnish
- A dollop of cashew sour cream
Instructions
- Heat the water or oil on medium-high heat in a large, heavy-bottomed pot or dutch oven.
- Add the next six ingredients (onion, carrots, garlic. tomato, celery, turnips) and sauté until softened. Add in more water as needed, ¼ cup at a time. You don’t want the vegetables to dry out. This usually takes 5–10 minutes.
- Add in the next twelve ingredients (Crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, water, onion and garlic powder, paprika, dill, cayenne, bay leaves, bouillon, Worcestershire sauce, and maple syrup). Stir to incorporate and bring to a boil.
- Lower heat to a simmering boil and let cook for 10 minutes, partially covered.
- Add in rice and bulgur. Cover partially.
- Cook for an additional 10 minutes.
- Add in cabbage.
- Cover partially and cook until rice is cooked and cabbage is tender (around 30 minutes in total).
- Add in sherry. Start with ½ tablespoon and add more if desired.
- Add salt.
- Taste and adjust to your liking.
- Garnish with parsley and cashew sour cream.
Notes
- I used white long-grain rice for this recipe. If you use brown rice, add an additional 15 minutes of cooking time. Wait to add cabbage until the last 10–15 minutes, depending on how tender you like your cabbage.
- Make sure to make the cashew sour cream for this recipe; it turns an already delicious soup into amazing.
- As cabbage roll soup sits, it will absorb the liquid. You can add more water or enjoy it more like a stew the next day. You may need to adjust seasonings if you add in more water.
- This makes a big pot, so there are plenty of leftovers.
Nutrition
Julie Gaeta is a plant-based recipe creator, certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach (INHC) with advanced training in hormone health, trained yoga instructor, former restaurant owner, and mom of nine who’s been plant-based for over 20 years. She’s cooked approximately 4,382 pots of beans and reinvented comfort food more times than she can count. She’s completed multiple half marathons and a Tough Mudder because she can’t resist a new adventure — and apparently, she can’t vacation without cooking either, since her juicer (beets and greens, too) and pasta pot always come along. Julie’s work has been featured in HuffPost, Yahoo, YourTango, Mamamia, MSN, Redfin, Better Humans, and The Good Men Project. Through her blog, coaching, and weekly newsletter, she helps others simplify wellness, build lasting habits, and feel good again — one grounded, delicious choice at a time.
Julie Gaeta says
This cabbage roll soup is a comfort food favorite. The bulgur and rice make it hearty and filling, and the cabbage roll flavors are so good. It makes a huge batch, so it's perfect for meal prep.