This easy & delicious Instant Pot Cabbage Roll Soup has all of the flavors of traditional cabbage rolls without all of the tedious work! Toasted ground beef, tender pieces of cabbage, and a tangy tomato broth combine for an easy weeknight meal that my whole family loves.
This easy & delicious cabbage roll soup has all of the flavors of traditional cabbage rolls without all of the tedious work! Toasted ground beef, tender pieces of cabbage, and a tangy tomato broth combine for an easy weeknight meal that all my whole family loved.
Want to know a secret? This soup recipe is a tweaked version from The Big Book of Paleo Pressure Cooking.
It’s one of the recipes in the book without a photo and probably slid under the radar for most people.
This simple, unassuming Instant Pot Cabbage Roll soup ended up being one of my family’s favorites from the soup chapter, so I changed it up a bit, added some stovetop instructions and gave it a permanent home here.
What is cabbage roll soup?
Have you ever had cabbage rolls? They’re bundles of rolled up blanched cabbage leaves stuffed with a seasoned ground beef & rice mixture and the whole thing is cooked in a tangy tomato sauce.
They’re delicious. I love cabbage rolls. They’re also a lot of work.
Taking the components of cabbage rolls and reworking it into a soup allows you to have all of the delicious flavors of stuffed cabbage rolls without all the work! It’s also sometimes called Unstuffed Cabbage Roll Soup.
How to make cabbage roll soup
It’s super easy — just saute the ground beef and onions and put the rest of the ingredients in. Kind of a dump and walk away situation. My favorite kinds of recipes!
I know that looks like a lot of cabbage, but it’ll cook down nicely. This version of unstuffed cabbage roll soup is heavy on the cabbage. We love cabbage around here so that works for us.
Ingredients for the soup
I love this recipe because all of the ingredients are pretty simple and unassuming, but together….. *chef’s kiss*.
And don’t balk at the amount of vinegar used. It’s a key ingredient to make that broth extra delicious!
Here’s what you’ll need:
- ground beef
- onions
- crushed tomatoes
- garlic
- red pepper flakes
- honey
- tomato paste
- Worcestershire
- cabbage
- white rice
- beef broth
- red wine vinegar
Substitutions for white rice
Luckily this cabbage roll soup recipe is naturally gluten free! If you’re concerned about grains or are wanting a lower carb soup, you can leave it out (just omit the 2 cups of water, too.) The original recipe in my cookbook didn’t have rice.
If you’d rather use brown rice or wild rice, add 1-2 cups COOKED rice at the very end of the recipe.
You can also substitute uncooked quinoa or barley for the rice, too. (Keep the 2 cups of water if you do this.)
Can I use a different type of meat?
Sure! I love the rich flavor of ground beef and beef broth, but you can use any ground meat you like — chicken, beef, turkey, or pork.
If you use a meat other than beef, I’d recommend using chicken broth instead of beef broth.
Don’t have crushed tomatoes?
One hack that I use if I don’t have crushed tomatoes is to take an equal amount of canned diced tomatoes and pulse them a little in the blender.
Replacement for Worcestershire sauce
If you don’t use Worcestershire, you can use an equal amount of coconut aminos or omit it from the recipe.
Can you freeze cabbage roll soup?
Yep! Just let the soup cool to room temperature, then transfer it to a freezer safe container.
I like to use these freezer-safe deli containers for soups.
Dietary adaptations
Make it LOW CARB and GRAIN-FREE by omitting the rice (see above)
Make it WHOLE30 friendly by omitting the rice (see above) and honey. You can use a bit of date paste or fruit juice in place of the honey if you like. And the Worcestershire sauce can be omitted completely or replaced with an equal amount of coconut aminos.
Want more easy Instant Pot Soup recipes that your family will love?
More Easy Instant Pot Soup Recipes on Perry’s Plate
Instant Pot Buffalo Ranch Chicken Soup
Paleo Instant Pot Cheeseburger Soup
Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana
Creamy Southwest Chicken Soup
If you make one of my recipes, be sure to post it on social media and tag me at @perrysplate or #perrysplate so I can send you some love!
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon avocado or coconut oil
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 large sweet onion, diced
- 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/3 cup short or long-grain white rice
- 1 medium head cabbage (2-2 1/2 lbs), cored and chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 4 cups beef broth
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
- Fresh chopped Italian parsley, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- In a large 6-7 quart pot, heat the oil to high heat. Add the ground beef and cook, stirring to break it into small bits, until it becomes toasty brown and begins to stick to the bottom of the pan a little.
- Meanwhile, prep the onions and cabbage. When the beef has cooked, add the diced onion and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. If things start to get too browned and stuck on the bottom, add a splash of broth to loosen it up.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, honey, tomato paste, Worcestershire, garlic, rice cabbage, broth, salt, and 2 cups of water. Stir everything well.
- Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 15 minutes until the rice is tender.
- Stir in the vinegar and let it cook for another minute. Taste, and add more salt if you think it needs it.
- Ladle into bowls and add a sprinkle of fresh parsley if you like.
INSTANT POT INSTRUCTIONS: Use the Saute mode of a 6 or 8 quart cooker to do step 1 & 2. Turn the cooker off, and add the ingredients listed in step 3. Put the lid on, seal, and set the cooker to high pressure for 8 minutes. Let it naturally release for 10 minutes before manually releasing the rest of the steam. Stir in the vinegar and let it sit for a minute or two before serving.
Notes
- If you’d rather not include rice, omit it along with the 2 cups of water. If you’d rather use brown or wild rice, omit the water and add 1-2 cups of cooked rice at the end when you add the vinegar.
- Substitute the Worcestershire sauce for coconut aminos if you like.
- To make this Whole30 friendly, omit the rice, 2 cups water & honey. Also replace the Worcestershire with coconut aminos or omit it completely.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 10
Serving Size 2 cups
Amount Per Serving
Calories 206Total Fat 8gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 3gCholesterol 40mgSodium 1008mgCarbohydrates 19gFiber 2gSugar 10gProtein 16g
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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