As we step into January 2025, many are looking for lighter, healthier options after the holiday indulgences of 2024. This hearty and wholesome ground beef cabbage soup is a perfect way to kickstart the new year. It's an easy and comforting one-pot recipe featuring tender beef, rich tomato flavor, and a variety of vegetables. This simple soup recipe is similar to the classic weight loss cabbage soup, but with a few changes to make it heartier and more flavorful.
Why This Soup?
This ground beef and cabbage soup is a tried-and-true weeknight meal, especially welcome in the fall and winter when cravings for something comforting and warming arise. Beyond its comforting qualities, it’s also budget-friendly and easy to make. The recipe is designed for meal prep; make a big batch on the weekend, and healthy lunches or dinners are ready to go throughout the week.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef (85/15)
- 1 tbsp olive oil (or avocado oil)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 4 cups beef broth (or bone broth)
- 4 cups cabbage, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 2 carrots, sliced
- 2 stalks celery, sliced
- 14 ounces canned diced tomatoes, do not drain
- Fresh tomatoes (optional, can substitute with canned)
- Italian seasoning
- Worcestershire sauce
- Fresh rosemary
- Garlic
Instructions
- Brown the Beef: Add the oil to a large pot or Dutch oven on high heat. Add the ground beef, chopped onion, salt, and pepper, breaking the beef apart as it cooks until browned, about 6-8 minutes. If using higher-fat ground beef, drain off any excess grease to avoid a greasy broth.
- Combine Ingredients: Stir in the tomato sauce, beef broth (or bone broth), cabbage, carrots, celery, and diced tomatoes. Stir well to combine.
- Simmer: Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cook for 20 minutes, or until the cabbage and carrots are tender.
Variations
- Ground Meat: If you don’t want to use beef, you can swap it out for ground turkey or ground chicken.
- Chuck Roast: Instead of ground beef, try adding chuck roast. Cut the beef into bite-sized pieces and brown them well on all sides for 2-3 minutes.
- Corned Beef: Make Leftover Corned beef and Cabbage soup for St. Patrick’s Day! Instead of the ground beef use shredded, cooked Corned Beef.
- Vegan Version: Omit the ground beef. You can add 1 to 2 cans of rinsed, drained beans at the end of cooking if you want to bump up the protein. Use vegetable broth or vegetable stock instead of beef bone broth.
- Beans: If you’re a fan of beans, toss in one to two cans of your favorite bean! Garbanzo beans and kidney beans would be particularly lovely.
- Bacon: If you’re a bacon lover, you can cook up 4 to 6 slices of bacon.
Seasoning Ideas
This simple cabbage soup is great for experimenting with different flavors and seasonings.
- Fresh Herbs: Rosemary, parsley, thyme, oregano, basil, and marjoram are all good options. If you don’t have fresh herbs on hand, you can use about half the amount of dried herbs instead. Be sure to lightly crush them with your fingertips to release their oils before adding to the soup.
- Spices: Celery seed, paprika (sweet, hot, or smoked for different flavors), cumin, coriander, curry powder, or Italian seasoning. Use fire-roasted tomatoes for a smoky flavor.
- Sauces: Worcestershire sauce, coconut aminos, tamari sauce, soy sauce, or even miso (but if you add miso, add it at the end along with the vinegar).
- Aromatics: Ginger, onion, garlic, shallot, etc.
- Acid: A touch of acid (in the form of vinegar or lemon juice) at the end of cooking a soup wakes up the flavor immensely.
Make It a Meal
- Make it stretch: One of the best things about soup is that it’s easy to get more servings out of it. Simply add more veggies or a starchy carb! Pasta or noodles are both great choices here; cook up to one pound of pasta or noodles to al dente, drain them, and add them to the soup at the end of cooking.
- Serve it up how you like it: You can top it with a dollop of sour cream, a sprinkle of fresh parsley, or a handful of shredded cheese. For crunch, pair it with crusty bread or crackers.
Storage and Reheating
- Store: Once the soup is cooked, enjoy it hot. Don’t leave it sitting at room temperature for more than 2 hours. Once the recipe cools, seal it in an airtight container and store it in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Freeze: This is also a great recipe to make a double batch and freeze some for a few months later. You can keep the soup in the freezer for 2-3 months, stored in a freezer bag or other airtight container. When you’re ready to eat it, let the recipe thaw in the fridge overnight.
- Reheating: Reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave until heated through.
The Origins of Cabbage Soup
So-called Weight Loss Cabbage Soup is the mainstay of the 7-Day Cabbage Soup Diet for Weight Loss that’s been around since at least the 1980’s. You’ll also hear this soup called fat burning soup, fat burning cabbage soup, weight loss cabbage soup, magic soup, wonder soup, miracle soup, zero points soup, Weight Watchers zero points soup, and Weight Watchers cabbage soup, to name a few. And to confuse the matter even more, the diet isn’t just called the 7-Day Cabbage Soup Diet! The interesting thing is that no one has claimed ownership of the original cabbage soup diet recipe! In fact, they all say that they didn’t start this fad. Advocates claim that you can lose up to 10 pounds a week by following this diet. Similar to any short-term “crash” diet where you’re restricting calories, people claim that this diet has helped them lose weight. It’s important to note that medical professionals say this weight loss is from losing water instead of fat, and that after you return to a normal meal plan you’ll likely gain back the weight lost. There are a ton of slightly different recipes that all claim to be the “original”, each with varying ingredients or ingredient amounts.
This recipe is loosely inspired by that fad soup; it’s really more of a hamburger cabbage soup with a variety of vegetables.
Read also: The Hoxsey Diet
Tips for the Best Soup
- Fresh Cabbage: For the best results, use fresh cabbage instead of coleslaw mix. The soup pot will seem overly full at first, but don’t worry, the cabbage will cook down.
- Don't skip the acid: Apple cider vinegar (added at the end of the cooking process) because it’s touted as having a host of health benefits.
Nutritional Benefits
Beef and cabbage soup is both wonderfully comforting and pretty healthy, full of nutritious veggies, plus protein from the beef. Adding carrots and celery keeps the soup gluten-free and low-carb while still being filling and hearty. Using beef bone broth bumps up the nutrition in this soup.
Read also: Walnut Keto Guide
Read also: Weight Loss with Low-FODMAP