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Hearty and extremely delicious, my one pot hamburger cabbage soup recipe is easy to make and always a huge hit!
I use simple, budget-friendly ingredients for a family favorite soup everyone loves – I designed this to be perfect for meal prep, big family meals, and it’s even great frozen and pre-portioned for a neighbor or new baby meal!
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At Sweet C’s, I add lots of tips in all of my recipes – because I am a home cook without any formal training, and I find I am more confident making dishes when I understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe – my goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.
I want each reader to walk away with a solid knowledge of each recipe, with all of the tips I’ve gathered from extensive testing of each recipe. I also answer questions my friends and family have asked about my recipes, to help everyone better understand the processes we use – and why!
Table of contents
Beef and 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 this soup? So good. It is so incredibly good – it’s made me a believer!
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. 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!
Hamburger Cabbage Soup Ingredients
To make this recipe, we will need the following ingredients:
- Ground Beef: Adds a hearty, meaty base, and tons of flavor.
- Celery: Provides a crunchy texture and earthy taste.
- Cabbage: Adds bulk and nutrients, as well as a mild sweetness.
- Canned Tomatoes: Offers acidity and sweetness, while the juice adds depth to the broth.
- Kidney Beans: Adds fiber, protein, and a contrasting texture.
- Beef Stock: Deepens the meaty flavor and richness of the soup.
- Beer: Imparts a unique depth and slightly bitter notes.
- Water: The liquid base for the soup; dilutes the stronger flavors.
- Garlic Powder: Infuses the soup with a robust garlic kick.
- Paprika: Provides a smoky, sweet note.
- Celtic Sea Salt: Enhances all the flavors; this particular type also adds trace minerals.
- Pepper: Adds a slight heat and rounds out the flavor profile.
How to make Cabbage Soup with Ground Beef
Once you gather your ingredients, we will use the following process:
- Brown ground beef. In a large dutch oven, brown ground beef and cook into crumbles (about 8 minutes).
- Brown vegetables. 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.
- Simmer. Let simmer on low until soup has thickened and turned a darker red, 1 hour (or 4 hours on low in a slow cooker).
- Enjoy! Serve immediately, soup tastes even better the next day!
Slow Cooker & Instant Pot Method
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.
Instant Pot: This can also be made in an Instant Pot, by browning everything then sealing and cooking about 5 minutes with a natural release.
Tips to Perfect Hamburger Cabbage Soup
Let 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!
Meat Quality: Use good-quality ground beef for more flavor.
Sauté Veggies: Sauté the celery and cabbage before adding liquids for extra flavor.
Tomato Paste: For a richer tomato flavor, add a tablespoon of tomato paste when sautéing the veggies.
Beer Choice: Pick a beer that complements the beef, like a stout or amber ale.
Bean Rinse: Rinse kidney beans if you’re not a fan of their canned liquid.
Spice Level: Feel free to adjust spices like paprika or even add a pinch of cayenne for heat.
Simmer Time: The longer you simmer, the more the flavors meld. Just don’t let it reduce too much!
Taste As You Go: Always taste and adjust the seasoning, especially before serving.
Fresh Herbs: A sprinkle of fresh parsley or thyme before serving can add a fresh twist.
Storing: This soup stores well and often tastes better the next day as flavors meld overnight.
How to Freeze Beef 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.
Cabbage Hamburger Soup FAQ
This recipe was designed to taste great with or without the beans – we often skip them when trying for lower carb meals, and it still tastes fantastic.
Of course! This recipe doesn’t call for fresh garlic because it’s an old family recipe and powder was often easier. For fresh, add 2-4 cloves garlic, minced, then cooked and softened to fragrant when cooking cabbage for soup.
Yes! This soup is super adaptable – you can add other vegetables or meat to this soup.
Absolutely! Ground turkey is a leaner option but will change the flavor profile slightly.
Yes! Swap the beef for a plant-based ground meat substitute and use vegetable stock instead of beef stock.
Green cabbage is usually the go-to, but feel free to experiment with Savoy or Napa cabbage.
Skip the kidney beans and use a keto-friendly beer or more beef stock, and you’re good to go!
What to Serve With Hamburger Cabbage Soup
Crusty Bread: Perfect for soaking up that delicious broth.
Green Salad: Light and refreshing, it balances the meatiness of the soup.
Grilled Cheese Sandwich: Because who doesn’t love a soup and sandwich combo?
Cornbread: Adds a slightly sweet contrast to the savory soup.
Mashed Potatoes: For when you’re in ultimate comfort food mode.
Pasta Salad: A cold pasta salad could provide a nice texture contrast.
Fruit Salad: A simple fruit mix can cleanse the palate and is a light way to end the meal.
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Beef Cabbage Soup (with Hamburger)
Ingredients
- 1 lb beef, ground
- 2 Celery, rinsed well and diced
- ½ cabbage, diced
- 1 8 oz tomatoes, Can and diced, do not drain
- 1 8 oz kidney beans
- 4 oz beef stock
- 4 oz dark beer, or your favorite beer
- 4 cups water
- 2 tbsp garlic powder
- ½ 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!
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I followed your recipe but found that I could probably cut back on the amount of water added by 1 1/4 cup or simply stick with the beef stock. It was good though! And soo simple to make! Thank you!
That is a good note to make – I am at high altitude and tend to have a lot of boil off. I’ll add it to the notes, thanks!
I made this, but changed it a bit…I used different measurements as we don’t have 8oz cans of stuff, we have 14oz (or larger) cans. I used two lbs of meat, used Fennel instead of Celery (which I always do when a recipe called for Celery), I used fresh Chicken of the Woods instead of beans (I’m eat Low Carb) and two cloves of fresh garlic instead of powdered and finally added 6oz of cream cheese in the last 15 min of cooking for a creamy slightly thicker base. It is AWESOME. Thanks for the basic start!
I put lots of other vegetables in mine! Delicious!
My family loved it! I have several recipes for Cabbage soup but I believe that this may be their favorite. I added fresh garlic and onions,did saute everything and really liked the flavor of them.
I used spicy pork sausage instead of ground beef. Yum !!
I found your recipe for cabbage hamburger soup. It is simmering now. I have doubled everything. I took the extra time needed to brown all the veggies. Hoping to share with family and neighbors. It smells amazing! I did add just a teaspoon of ketchup to cut the acidic taste of the tomatoes. Wow, I can’t wait to eat it. Thanks for sharing.