A traditional Cabbage Soup recipe that will even have teenagers asking for more.
This recipe is a classic. When I put the word out that I was doing a cookbook, I got three versions of it and I rolled them all into one. We tested it on a bunch of 14-year-old boys and they were licking their bowls and asking for seconds.
It is a sweet recipe so you can use less sugar if you prefer and/or add a teaspoon of pepper for an extra kick.
Unstuffed Cabbage Soup
Servings
6 Servings
Ingredients
- 1 pound stew beef cubed
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil such as Colavita
- 1 16-ounce bag shredded white cabbage
- 1 15-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 2 cups tomato sauce
- 3 cups water
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Rinse meat and pat dry. In a 6-quart stockpot, heat olive oil and brown beef over medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring.
- Add cabbage, tomatoes and tomato sauce, water, lemon juice, vinegar, both sugars, onion powder and salt.
- Bring to boil. Skim off any foam and discard.
- Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for at least 2 hours. Longer is fine; you really want the flavors to mellow. Ladle into bowls and serve.
Delicious
Amazing soup I make it every rosh hashana and sukkos!
Great! Thank you so much. Looking forward to this on Purim!
If you use the pressure on an instant pot you can cut back on cooking time, the rest is the same.
Yes for sure, it will be great and quick.
Do you think I need to make any adjustments?
Can I make this in an instant pot (pressure cooker)?
Oh I am so happy you enJOYed thanks for letting us know. It’s my go-to soup for the Yom Tovim and Pesach.
this is a very tasty soup. made it for succos
it will be fine without the sugar (you may in the end decide that you just want to half the sugar or cut it down by 75% but perhaps not all) – as for the ground beef – if you go that route I would suggest meatballs
The soup was good but a bit too sweet for my family, if I make it without the sugar and use ground beef ii stead will it still come out nice?
bshmagin: Thanks so much for sharing your tip so happy you enJOYed and found the other comments helpful!
Made this for the second time, took the suggestion of chopping the stew beef into smaller cubes — found that not only did this distribute the meat more evenly, but also the meat was more tender without having to cook longer! Hooray! (As before, I added black pepper, used only 1/4 c brown sugar, and added 1 c. uncooked brown rice and extra 3 c. water for the last hour of cooking.) This is a perennial favorite!
YIPPPEEEEE!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for letting us all know!
AWESOME IDEA to bulk it up and give the leftovers a new look!
Such a good idea to cut the meat into smaller pieces! Next time I make this, if I have the energy to patchke with it, I’m going to do that!
This soup was a hit at my Shabbos table last week! I did follow the suggestion of browning the meat first and adding flour to thicken the broth. I also took out the meat after that step and cut it into very small pieces and removed extra fat. That spread the meat throughout the soup and ensured nobody got a piece that was too big or difficult to eat. A definite winner!
I made this for dinner the other night – it was so simple and I have plenty left over! It is a perfect wintertime one-pot meal. I think for the leftovers, I will add in some rice or potatoes, and let the meat cook down even a bit more, like was suggested above!
YAY and that was so the idea — the taste without the work.
Awesome add in with the rice and yes if you didn’t find the meat tender enough just keep it cooking longer. It also freezes beautifully and the process of rewarming it softens the meat as well.
I am thrilled you enJOYed it and SO totally agree I love how easy it is.
OH yay I am so happy! Thanks for sharing your adaptation with all of us.
Thanks Ann G for your feedback and suggestions!
awesome (although slightly more time consuming 🙂 tip!
LOL!!! and sure so happy to have your suggestions and thrilled you shared them with all of us here on this thread.
that’s a good start!
Tasted just like stuffed cabbage without all of the work of rolling them. Like others, cut the sugar a bit so it wasn’t too sweet. Otherwise, wouldn’t change a thing.
I took Batya_a’s suggestion of cooking without the veggies for the first hour – the cabbage was plenty soft after just the 2nd hour of cooking. I don’t like things too sweet so I used just 1/4 cup of the brown sugar. It came out perfectly. I did everything else as written (taking the suggestion of adding black pepper) except that I also added brown rice. For the rice, in the last 45 mins I added an extra 3 cups water and 1 cup raw brown rice, brought back up to a boil, then simmered (covered) for the last 45 mins. Delicious! One thing though, the stew beef wasn’t melt-in-your-mouth soft. It probably could have done well with an extra hour of cooking. I will make this one again and again!
I haven’t made this, but I am pretty confident that it will reheat well for Shabbos, I am not as sure about freezing, but I think it would work too. Hope you like it.
Hey Tzivia (LOL!) Tamar is totally right this will keep in the fridge for Shabbos and freezes BEAUTIFULLY!!!!
I’m so proud of myself just finished making this for supper and its only 1:15. Can’t taste it yet to a just seasoning because still need a few more cups of coffee. But it does smell good. Ok so here’s my question I sent my husband a txt telling him that for once super is ready early and guess what he reminds me that we have a wedding tonight go figure. My question is will this stay until shabbos in refrig (cuz tomorrow need to make dairy) or could I freeze it
This soup is so delish! I made no changes and it is so easy with ingredients you probably have in your house right now.
Since I can’t eat beef, I made the recipe replacing the beef with boneless turkey thigh meat. Instead of the lemon juice I used citric acid (a trick I learned from my grandmother). Also, a half hour before being done I added a half cup of raisins (another one of my grandmother’s additions to her sweet and sour recipes). With these two tweeks, the soup really “hit the spot”.
Good comfort food – a bit too sweet for my taste, but that is easily corrected by the individual. Rather than onion powder, I am a fan of lightly sauteed onions (add with the meat). This will increase the sugar – but again, it can be corrected at the end.
I made this with meatballs instead of the stew meat and it was a big hit!
Dare I even make suggestions on a JGeller recipe?
Here goes-
As the beef is browning, sprinkle on 2Tbsp flour. Adds some thickening and flavor to the broth.
To the browned beef, add the tomato sauce and the water, but hold back the other ingredients. Simmer for 1hr. Then add the veggies and rest of the ingredients. This will make the meat very soft, the broth very meaty, and the vegetables fully cooked but not mush.
Enjoy, this soup is delish!
liking what I see.