Are you a fan of cabbage soup?
I love him! It’s hearty, abundant, and full of all the good stuff. You can make a giant jar and eat it all week and it’s the best thing to do after being outside in the cold. This cabbage soup is super flavorful, a little spicy, with tender chunks of cabbage, meaty sausage, and sweet carrots. This cabbage soup will warm you up!
Cabbage is one of those underrated vegetables. It’s not trendy like kale or sexy like heirloom tomatoes. Chuck is right. He walks around the refrigerator section of the grocery store, doing his job day in and day out. Cabbage is an unsung hero! It’s cheap, it keeps forever and it’s very versatile. Can you imagine a life without cabbage, cabbage or kimchi? ! Would we be living? This soup celebrates cabbage for all that it is: silky and sweet, tender and moist.
This is not your classic cabbage soup.
It is based on the Korean Jjigae and is a bit spicier and much more addictive. It gets its flavor from a good amount of kimchi – great for adding flavor (and more cabbage) and probiotics. This soup also includes farmhouse sausage (or any other smoked sausage), onions, carrots, and cabbage of course! It’s tasty, healthy, and comes together incredibly fast. Make a pot and food for the week.
How to make cabbage soup
- Optional: Start by browning a few slices of smoked sausage, they will add a lot of meaty flavor.
- blown apart a few onions, garlic and ginger to add layers of warm flavor.
- add cabbage and vegetables with broth, kimchi and seasonings.
- simmer until everything is tender and cooked and all the flavors have blended.
- Enjoy!
Ingredients
The ingredients for this cabbage soup are pretty standard with a few extras to make it even more special. You’ve got the usual suspects: green cabbage, onions, garlic, and carrots. Next, we’ll add kimchi for some tartness and spice, gochujang, soy sauce, and toasted sesame oil.
- kimchi – now they sell kimchi everywhere and no wonder: it is healthy, sour, addictive and spicy. When you cook it, the flavors of the kimchi soften and make it slightly spicy and much sweeter.
- gochujang – a savory, sweet and spicy fermented paste made from chili powder and glutinous rice. It adds sweetness and heat and a ton of flavor. Traditionally, it came in tubs, but these days you can find it in squeeze bottles in the Asian aisle of literally any grocery store (or online, as always).
- Soy sauce and toasted sesame oil – the soy sauce adds umami and saltiness, while the toasted sesame oil adds a round nutty kick that will have you craving bowl after bowl of this soup.
vegetarian cabbage soup
The photos of this soup show sausages, but you don’t need them. It is also very good as a vegetarian soup! To make this vegetarian soup, omit the sausage and replace the broth with vegetable stock, and be sure to use vegetarian kimchi as well.
Kimchi is traditionally made with small shrimp or fish, so by default it is not vegetarian/vegan. Many popular brands, like Chongga, color-code their capsules—green is traditional and red is vegan—but that’s not always true, so be sure to check the ingredients.
instant cabbage soup
To make this soup in the Instant Pot, set the Instant Pot to high sauté and brown the sausage, if using. Add the onions, ginger, and garlic. Add remaining ingredients and run Instant Pot on high pressure for 15 minutes. Quick release when ready, taste and season.
Slow Cooker Cabbage Soup
To make this soup in a slow cooker, simply add all the ingredients to the slow cooker. If using, brown the sausages in a skillet on the stove beforehand. Cook for 8 hours on low heat or 4-5 hours on high heat. Taste and season before eating.
How to prepare and cut cabbage
- fountain the entire end and peel the first layer of leaves, which are usually older and tougher.
- Difficult question cabbage side down on a cutting board, cores down. Cut the cabbage in half with a large knife, cutting right through the core.
- Place cut sides down on cutting board and slice in half again, vertically so you have quarter cabbage.
- Cut the core (it’s the solid part in the middle) at a slight angle.
- Cut cabbage hollowed out into bite-sized pieces.
What to serve with cabbage soup
storage and freezing
You can keep this soup covered in the fridge for up to five days (hello, meal prep!) or you can freeze it in an airtight container for up to three months. Reheat on the stove or in the microwave.
Happy soup season!
steph-xox
Cabbage Soup
Super flavorful low spice cabbage soup with tender cabbage chunks, meaty sausage and sweet carrots.
To serve 4
- 1 kg sausages slicedfarmers or kielbasa preferred, optional
- 1 medium onion chopped up
- 4 cloves Afflict chopped up
- 1 thumb Ginger chopped up
- 8 cups chicken soup no sodium preferred, no vegetable broth
- 2 cups kimchi juice included
- 1-2 Soup gochujang optional, see notes
- 1 Soup soy sauce
- 1 coffee spoon toasted sesame oil
- 1/2 head chou cut into 1 inch pieces
- 2 carrots peeled and diced
- 2 Soup Green onions slicedto end
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In a large saucepan, heat a little oil over medium-high heat. If using sausage, add sliced sausage and cook until lightly browned on both sides, 3-4 minutes.
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Add onion, garlic, and ginger and cook until onion is soft, 2-3 minutes.
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Add chicken broth, kimchi with juice, gochujang, soy sauce, sesame oil, cabbage, and carrots. Bring to a boil and cook for 30 to 40 minutes, or until cabbage is tender to your liking. Taste, salt and pepper and enjoy hot!
Gochujang can be quite spicy, about half as hot as sriracha, so use according to your own spice tolerance.
Estimated nutrition does not include sausage or gochujang.
nutritional intakes
Cabbage Soup
Amount per proportion
calories 177
Calories from fat 13
% Daily value*
big 1.4g2%
saturated fat 0.2g1%
Cholesterol 0.01 milligrams0%
Sodium 1993 milligrams87%
Potassium 1346mg38%
The carbohydrates 30.9gdix%
Fiber 12.6g53%
Sugar 5.8g6%
Protein 6.2g12%
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
