Hearty and extremely delicious, this one pot hamburger cabbage soup recipe is easy to make and always a huge hit! Simple ingredients for a family favorite soup everyone loves!
I’m going to start out this recipe with an admission – I don’t love cabbage soup – which is sort of a funny thing to say at the start of a recipe for cabbage soup.
I like sautéed cabbage, and I LOVE fresh shredded cabbage on tacos and in salads – but the cabbage soups I’ve had (excluding some I’ve had in Ireland and Poland which were amazing) didn’t really leave me with warm and fuzzy feelings.
If I’m honest, most of the cabbage soups I’ve had are overly bitter and a bit thin – not something I crave on the regular.
But guys.
This soup.
It is so incredibly good – it’s made me a believer! Rich, full of flavor, and not the least bit bitter. And while I don’t usually put beans in non-chili soups, the addition of kidney beans make this soup’s texture fantastic – not too thick, not too thin.
Just take me to the One Pot Hamburger Cabbage Soup recipe already!
If you’d rather skip my (very helpful, i think) tips and tricks, essential cooking info, and similar recipe ideas – and get straight to the best easy cabbage soup with ground beef recipe ever – simply scroll to the bottom of the page where you can find the printable recipe card.
This cabbage soup has tons of meaty flavor, and the cabbage cooks down with the meat for a rich buttery taste, without the bitterness cabbage can sometimes have.
It is so easy and simple – seriously anybody can make this soup!
This soup can also be made in the slow cooker for an easy soup you can place in the crockpot and come home to after a long day – or can be made in big batches to be frozen as individual serving meals.
This is an incredibly versatile soup too – you can swap out the beans or vegetables if you don’t love them and try out other flavors you love to make your own delicious hamburger soup recipe that you’ll cherish for years and years.
I hope you love this hearty soup as much as I do!
Tips to Perfect Hamburger Cabbage Soup
Let the vegetables brown.
Cooking the meat, celery, and cabbage before adding stock helps give the cabbage a buttery, rich flavor and take away bitterness.
This is an extra step, sure, but the difference it makes on the flavor is what makes this soup so special and crave-able.
Take a few extra minutes to pre-brown your cabbage and don’t rush it – it really is worth the payoff!
How To Freeze Hamburger Cabbage Soup
If you’d like to make a big batch of this soup and save some for later – or you can’t finish all of this recipe, this soup can easily be frozen for later using some simple and easy tips and tricks:
-Place soup in ziploc bags that hold roughly the serving you’d like to reheat. If you can only eat about 1-2 cups of soup at a time, don’t put all of your soup in a huge gallon bag, since you’ll have to thaw and re-freeze some soup.
-Portioning out soup in smaller bags isn’t just convenient for managing your portion, it also helps prevent freezer burn and helps to thaw evenly.
-Freeze soup by laying plastic bags flat in your refrigerator so it doesn’t bunch up into a big “ball” shape – the soup will thaw more evenly if first frozen to lay flat, making it a longer and thinner shape.
-Let soup thaw naturally in the refrigerator overnight.
-Reheat soup by placing in a pot on the stove and bringing to a quick boil, remove and serve when piping hot.
Slow Cooker Hamburger Cabbage Soup
To make this deliciously easy cabbage soup in the slow cooker, I suggest browning all of the vegetables and the meat, and then tossing it in the slow cooker to cook. This will give your soup SO much more flavor and a better texture.
While it is an extra step to pre-brown vegetables and meat when tossing this soup in the slow cooker, it is totally worth the flavor that you get.
This can also be made in an Instant Pot, by browning everything then sealing and cooking about 5 minutes with a natural release.
Other One Pot Recipes You’ll Love:
The following easy, delicious one pot recipes are comfort food classics your family is sure to love!
Click to follow the links to the printable recipes for each easy one pot dinner!
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- Garlic Butter Pork Chops and Mushrooms
Spicy Sausage Vegetable Soup Recipe
Easy One Pot Cheeseburger Soup Recipe
One Pot Hamburger and Cabbage Soup Recipe
If you love this One Pot Hamburger and Cabbage Soup Recipe as much as I do, please write a five star review, and be sure to help me share on facebook and Pinterest!
Pinterest now lets you add reviews (with pictures!!) to your pins, and I LOVE seeing when people make my dish!
To see me make this recipe, click my video below:
One Pot Hamburger Cabbage Soup
Ingredients
- 1 lb beef, ground
- 2 Celery, rinsed well and diced
- 1/2 cabbage, diced
- 1 8 oz tomatoes, Can and diced, do not drain
- 1 8 oz kidney beans
- 8 oz beef stock or beer
- 4 cups water
- 2 tbsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp celtic sea salt
- 2 tsp pepper
Instructions
- In a large dutch oven, brown ground beef and cook into crumbles (about 8 minutes).
- Add diced celery and cabbage, cook until soft (about 10 minutes), stirring occasionally to prevent burning.
- Add salt and pepper.
- Add diced tomatoes (with the liquid from the can- don't drain it off!) and kidney beans (go ahead and drain these off).
- Stir to incorporate.
- Add garlic and paprika, mix.
- Add beer or stock and water, stir.
- Let simmer on low until soup has thickened and turned a darker red, 1 hour (or 4 hours on low in a slow cooker).
- Serve immediately, soup tastes even better the next day!
Nutrition Information
Amount Per ServingCalories 219 Saturated Fat 4g Cholesterol 40mg Sodium 122mg Carbohydrates 14g Fiber 4g Sugar 3g Protein 14g
Stephanie
April 10, 2019 at 7:00 pmYEP…HUGE HIT!! Made it to bring to work but had my mother try some (she loves cabbage), she loved it! That’s saying something! She wanted to make sure I left her a bowl.
My coworkers all agree it was delicious, as well! Too bad we didn’t have some cornbread today.
Really good, hearty soup! The only thing I would change is not simmering it for an hour. The cabbage was a bit mushy but that is it! We will definitely be making it again.
Lemmonee
April 8, 2019 at 3:29 pmReally great recipe, you can tweak accordingly to your pantry. I only added 1 tablespoon of garlic, used a little bacon grease to sautee the vegetables. I replaced can beans with a hefty 1/2 cup dry blackeyed peas (quick soak) method then added to simmer for couple hours with soup. My crock pot too small so I cooked stove top. Great with some corn bread. Thanks for sharing.
Cindy Harvill
March 15, 2019 at 6:10 pmI have been making this recipe for years! Sometimes I will use ground turkey instead of beef. I also blanch my cabbage before adding to soup and makes it much more tender and cuts cooking time. I usually throw in a few extra spices I may have in hand like Mrs Dash or Italian season. And for those who don’t like kidney beans you can try black beans!
Dee
March 8, 2019 at 6:39 pmDelicious soup. I did change it up a bit. I cooked the celery, ( added one onion chopped), cabbage in a very small amount of olive oil. Also added a small amount of orzo and put in a bay leaf. It is a keeper! Thanks for sharing!
Melanie
February 22, 2019 at 4:48 pmI made this for my family tonight. I used ground turkey and chicken stock. Everyone loved it! I will definitely make this again.
Anita W.
January 29, 2019 at 3:00 pmMade a similar soup without meat and beans back in 2003 while on popular diet plan. Along came Hurricane Isabel and power was out for a week. All I had was the soup and I lost 30 pounds that week. This tastes even better with ground chicken and low sodium chicken stock (I’m not a beef eater). This tastes really good!
Sue Thompson
January 14, 2019 at 9:00 pmLove this soup! I made it last week and now I am making it for a luncheon tomorrow. Thanks for the recipe.
Chris
January 13, 2019 at 6:46 pmThank you for such a great recipe! made this twice already. This one is a keeper.
Cris
January 9, 2019 at 4:02 pmEasy recipe, great tasting. Shared some with the people at my sisters place of work now everyone wants the recipe. Your site is my go to for wonderful recipes, thanks so much.
Glenna
January 6, 2019 at 1:15 pmSounds great. I need to get the ingredients to make this. I’m alone, so will freeze it in servings. Adding some onions and green peppers sounds like a good idea too (reviews). I’m sure it will be fantastic.
Tara
January 4, 2019 at 11:53 amSoup in crockpot right now!
Used onion, fresh garlic, added extra can of tomatoes & added some turkey sausage with the beef! Just tasted it! And can’t wait for dinner 🙂
Thank you for sharing!!
Hope Laura has a Happy New Year! Please try & be nicer, you will be happier!!!
Barbara G Gregg
December 29, 2018 at 6:36 amCan you substitute meatless ground meat for the ground beef?
Courtney ODell
December 29, 2018 at 10:19 amThat should be just fine Barbara – but I would brown it in the pan and then remove from the pan and set to the side until a bit later, since it might get a bit soggy if you let it cook in the broth as long as the hamburger beef.
Carrie
November 28, 2018 at 4:24 pmI had 14 oz cans of kidney beans and diced tomatoes, so I just used the whole cans, it worked out well because my half head of cabbage was pretty big. I also added some onion. TIP: I also added about a TBSP of bacon grease to the beef, celery, onion and cabbage mixture as it cooked down. It immediately added wonderful aroma and HAS to enhance the flavor. It’s all simmering now and smells delicious…can’t wait to try it!
Ruth
November 26, 2018 at 6:43 pmWhat a wonderful soup. Great recipe. Had no trouble reading the recipe at all. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
Josh
October 29, 2018 at 2:50 pmSo I have this cooking in the Crock-Pot as I write this. Didn’t have paprika so I used chili powder as a sub. I would like to thank you for sharing this healthy recipe. It smells amazing.
William
October 25, 2018 at 12:38 pmThis was perfect for my rainy day blues, on the couch with a blanket, and my favorite show. Thanks for making my day awesome with this recipe!! So delicious!
Jill
October 21, 2018 at 2:47 pmSimmering right now. Added onion like some others, smoked Paprika and I didn’t have diced tomatoes on hand so I used leftover spaghetti sauce. It smells amazing, hope it tastes even better! Thanks for a great fall soup on a cool day!
Katie
October 15, 2018 at 7:51 pmI usually don’t leave reviews, but this is absolutely delicious! I literally could not stop eating it. I did adjust the garlic, but I saw she stated to adjust to your taste. So yummy!! Running to the store to make a bigger batch to freeze and to eat! Go out and make today you won’t regret it!!!
Sam
October 1, 2018 at 9:49 amThis was so delicious I can’t believe I had never thought of a hamburger soup before, hit my burger cravings perfectly! Thanks for sharing!
JEANETTE LALOR
September 29, 2018 at 9:03 pmWOW! laura must have had a bad day. However, YOU, YOU AND YOU were so gracious and KIND in your response. Perhaps Laura should proof read her message (misspelled words, etc.) Now she must carry through with her last line. It’s women like HER that makes me appreciate YOU even more! The cabbage soup was so yummy, I am going to make it again for my sister, Marie, who just turned 100!! My love, Jeanette
Lora
July 11, 2018 at 6:30 pmWell, this recipe nailed it! This was my first soup recipe, mostly because we aren’t big soup fans, especially if its healthy. I made homemade bone broth, used fresh garlic, added onion and a rehydrated, fancy mushroom blend to replace the beans. My family loved it! The mushrooms stole the show and made it feel more meaty. Will definitely make again!!
Thank you for the great recipe.
Lotus Food Gallery
June 30, 2018 at 3:16 amAmazing recipe. Absolutely wonderful.Thank for sharing keep it up dear…
Christian
April 18, 2018 at 6:34 pmOoooops… Just realized I posted in probably the wrong spot… I apologize for that!!! AMAZING recipe!!! Absolutely WONDERFUL!!!! Thank you again!!!
Ray
February 6, 2018 at 10:50 amYour recipe calls for 8 oz can of beans and 8 oz can of diced tomatoes. I only see 14.5 oz cans and 28 oz cans of those items at the store. So I should reduce to 8 oz of each per recipe??
Courtney ODell
February 7, 2018 at 10:11 amRay, I’d just go ahead and add them in as-is – my recipe card widget got a little messed up and changed some of my amounts. Use a regular can size for now, as I am sure that one got messed up and I haven’t had a chance to review it yet!
Lisa
January 22, 2018 at 9:58 amMade this and left off the beans to reduce carbs. Don’t have an instant pot so I did in my Dutch oven. Delicious and I will make again!
Courtney ODell
January 22, 2018 at 12:55 pmLisa, that’s awesome! We’ve started a low carb diet too, I need to try it without!
Theresa E Beard
May 22, 2018 at 1:48 pmIm eating the cabbage soup now.It is so good and hearty..I added black beans and hamburger and ground turkey.Yum
Randy Jorgensen
December 10, 2017 at 4:14 pmCould you please tell me what you mean by browning the cabage. Thanks!
Courtney ODell
December 11, 2017 at 2:31 amHi Randy – the cabbage will get browned when cooked, which means its sugars are caramelizing and it will have a lovely, rich, buttery and slightly sweet flavor. You’ll see the cabbage get noticeably darker in color, as well as shrink a bit in size!
Rachel
December 8, 2017 at 12:12 pmHi the recipe sounds amazing but I don’t have kidney beans? Do you have a suggestion for a different kind of beans?
Courtney ODell
December 11, 2017 at 2:30 amRachel – I love the hearty, earthy flavor of kidney beans – it’s not a perfect swap, but I’d try a navy bean or hearty white bean!
Donna
November 13, 2017 at 8:38 amI need sub for beans can not have then maybe add carrots and sweet peppers
Courtney ODell
November 13, 2017 at 9:08 amDonna, you can sub out carrots, peppers – anything that is lower in starch. One tip though, the beans to break down and give out their starches to thicken this dish, so you might want to add some cream to it if it is too thin. Remove it from heat and then stir in the cream, whisk it vigorously, and then return to heat and bring to a boil to get more thickness without starch.
Teri
October 26, 2017 at 9:53 amYum! Making this for the second time now. I added some carrots and onion. I am not a fan of beans of any kind so I have left these out. The aroma is amazing, I can’t wait for dinner! Thanks for your recipe.
Betty
October 30, 2017 at 12:18 pmDo I drain the grease off the meat before adding the cabbage and celery?
Courtney ODell
October 30, 2017 at 6:36 pmBetty,
I only drain it off if there is a ton – a little is great to cook the veggies in without adding any other oil!
pakistani recipes
October 23, 2017 at 11:08 amWinter is here and everyone is searching for soup recipes. I love soup please share corn soup recipe as well.
Barbara
September 19, 2017 at 3:53 pmLoved it !! Did add onions, my personal preference. Please don’t let people like Laura upset you. Some people are just never happy. I thought the font was plain and easily readable. Thanks for taking the time to post this. I doubled the recipe so I could take it to work.
Loretta
September 14, 2017 at 3:00 pmHi making this for dinner tonight and there is no celtic salt where i live . What do you recommend that i use in place of the celtic salt and how much .
Thanks
Courtney ODell
September 18, 2017 at 5:45 pmYou can use regular salt or kosher salt – I do find celtic sea salt tastes saltier, without the extra sodium, but table salt works fine!
Linda
September 9, 2017 at 7:49 pmI didn’t have any trouble reading your recipe. Can’t wait to try!
Linda
September 9, 2017 at 7:48 pmI didn’t find your recipe hard to read at all. Can’t wait to try!
LAURA
September 2, 2017 at 10:52 amTERRIBLE FONT- NOIT ONLY IT IS NOT BLACK, IT IS UNREADABLE!! SO SMALL AND LIGHT GREY. YOU HAVE NO CONSIDERATION FOR YOUR FOLLOWERS, BECAUSE IT IS ALL ABOUT YOU, YOU AND YOU, WHO CARE ABOUT THE READERS?
NOT WANTING TO FOLLOW YOU LIKE THIS.
Courtney ODell
September 3, 2017 at 9:57 amHi Laura,
So sorry to hear that – I am trying to fix some format issues on my site and definetely want to consider your feedback. Is it the regular post font, or the recipe card font that is worst – the recipe card does show up in a smaller font because its meant to be printed – but I can try to make it bigger. The post font is something I have my developer fixing.
Christian
April 18, 2018 at 6:30 pmWow!!! I did some tweaking as anyone would but, I LOVED your SUPER EASY recipe!!! My Mom was German and made some out of this World cabbage dishes… Before she expired I didn’t get the chance to get her recipe that resembled yours alot… I had been craving it and found yours… All I can say is WOW WOW WOW!!!! Brought me back and soooooooooo good!!! Thank you so much for putting this out here!!! Keep up the Fantastic work and recipes!!! Super Wonderful!!!! Thank you!!!
Dianne
July 17, 2018 at 7:34 pmWHAT?????
I had no problem what so ever!!!
Josh
October 29, 2018 at 2:43 pmShe did not have to share this recipe with YOU. Maybe get YOUR eyes checked, and think learn how to be great full.
Charles
November 4, 2018 at 12:41 pmLaura: Having a bad day??????
Janis Webb
August 13, 2017 at 7:44 amHello…I want to make your recipe right away…..but in the ingredients, are the amounts for kidney beans and tomatoes for 18 oz.
Or for 1- 8 oz cans? Thank you so much for posting ?
Courtney ODell
August 14, 2017 at 2:37 pmHey Janis!
I just looked at the recipe, and wow does the font look hard to tell. I need to figure that formatting out! It is one 8 oz can.
Cathy Carter
July 7, 2017 at 11:56 amGetting ready to make this. Is the 2 Tbsp of garlic powder the right amount? Seems like alot.
Courtney ODell
July 10, 2017 at 6:56 pmI like things very garlic-y – you can always adjust if you like less!
Julie
June 25, 2017 at 10:00 amThis is amazing soup!!! I make when I have guests and they always want the recipe. My husband gets all excited when I say I’m making this soup. And it extremely simple. ??
I do add onions and green peppers, because I add onions to everything, and in my opinion it makes the soup just that much better.
Courtney ODell
June 25, 2017 at 9:38 pmI am so glad you love it Julie! It is one of my favorites. And the additions sound AMAZING!!!
Maha Khan / sooperchef.pk
May 15, 2017 at 8:40 amWow This Is great recipe.I love Your Way of making Recipe.I am going to make this recipe for my family now.
JessB
February 22, 2017 at 10:34 amThis is simmering on the stove right now. Thanks for the recipe.
2pots2cook
October 11, 2016 at 6:10 amLove it ! Great spoon eating, warm, healthy dinner ! Thank you !