Hearty and extremely good, our one pot hamburger cabbage soup recipe is easy to make and always a huge hit! This recipe has been a fan favorite on Avdaye since 2012 – and has recently been updated with a shorter simmer time, so you can make it on busy weeknights, and it works fabulously as a meal prep meal all week long. Pop it in the microwave with some Honey Butter Cornbread for a hearty from-home lunch!

We use simple, budget-friendly ingredients for a family favorite soup everyone loves – we designed this to be suited to meal prep, big family meals, and it's even great frozen and pre-portioned for a neighbor or new baby meal!

At Avdaye, we add lots of tips in all of our recipes – because we are a home cook without any formal training, and we find we are more confident making dishes when we understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. Our goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.

Why this soup works

One pot. Brown, simmer, serve. Only one thing to wash.
Cheap. Cabbage is one of the cheapest vegetables in the store and a little beef goes a long way.
Gets better overnight. Seriously. Day two soup is the best soup.
Freezer friendly. Make a double batch and stash half.
Browning the veggies first. Letting the cabbage and celery get a little color before adding liquid makes the soup taste sweet and buttery instead of bitter.

What you need

Ground beef. We like 85/15. Enough fat for flavor but not a greasy soup.
Cabbage. Half a head of green cabbage, chopped. Savoy works too.
Celery. Two stalks, diced. It adds that classic soup flavor.
Diced tomatoes. Don't drain them, the juice is part of the broth.
Kidney beans. Drained. They make it hearty and stretch it further.
Beef stock, dark beer and water. The beer is our secret. Any stout or porter works. Not a beer house? Swap it for more beef stock.
Garlic powder, paprika, Celtic sea salt and pepper. Simple, but it's plenty.

How to make hamburger cabbage soup

Brown the Beef

In a big Dutch oven over medium-high heat, cook the ground beef, breaking it up, until browned and crumbly, about 8 minutes. Drain some of the fat if there's a lot.

Brown the Veggies

Add the celery and cabbage. Season with the salt and pepper and cook about 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until softened with a few golden edges.

Let Brown

Let cabbage brown until its golden on the edges.

Add the Cans

Stir in the diced tomatoes with their juice and the drained kidney beans.

Simmer

Turn it down to low and let it simmer about 1 hour, until it thickens up a little and turns a deeper red.

Serve

Taste for salt and ladle it up. Or let it cool and eat it tomorrow when it's even better.

Our best tips For solid Cabbage Soup

Let the cabbage get some color. That browning is where all the flavor comes from and it keeps the cabbage from tasting bitter.
Taste at the end. Canned tomatoes and stock vary a lot in salt so adjust right before serving.
Want it thicker? Simmer it uncovered for the last 20 minutes.
Want it brothier? Add another cup of stock or water.
Use good beef. Ground beef is basically the whole flavor base here, so get the good stuff if you can.

Slow Simmered Version

This recipe has been re-tooled from a longer, slowly simmered version that originally appeared on Avdaye – our original post called for an hour of simmering time, and now we're calling for 20 minutes.

What changed? Why less time? Well, honestly – not many people have time to have a soup simmering for an hour on a busy weeknight. If you're making this soup on a weekend, or a day with an extra forty minutes to spare, increase the simmer time to 40-50 minutes.

Slow Cooker Hamburger Cabbage Soup

Brown the beef and the veggies on the stove first (please don't skip this, it's where the flavor is!!). Then dump everything into the slow cooker, stir, and cook on low for 4 hours. Suited to busy days.

Instant Pot Hamburger Cabbage Soup

Use the sauté setting to brown the beef, then the cabbage and celery. Add everything else and stir, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom so you don't get a burn warning. Pressure cook on high for 10 minutes and let it naturally release for 10 minutes.

Low Carb and Keto Version

The soup is already pretty low carb. To make it keto, skip the kidney beans and swap the beer for more beef stock. Add a little extra cabbage or some diced zucchini to keep it hearty.

Variations

Unstuffed cabbage roll soup. Stir in a cup of cooked rice at the end and add a spoonful of tomato paste. Tastes like cabbage rolls without all the rolling.
Sausage and cabbage soup. Swap half the beef for Italian sausage.
Extra hearty. Add 2 diced potatoes or carrots with the cabbage.
Bacon. Cook 4 slices of chopped bacon first and brown the beef in the drippings. Oh our goodness.
Ground turkey. Works great, add a little olive oil when browning.

Freezer Meal Prep

Let the soup cool completely, then ladle it into freezer bags or quart containers, leaving an inch of space at the top. Freeze flat so they stack. It keeps up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and warm it on the stove. This is exactly how we make soup to drop off for neighbors and new parents.

Keeping leftovers

Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Reheat on the stove over medium heat or in the microwave. Add a splash of stock if it thickened up overnight.

Cabbage Hamburger Soup FAQ

Do we have to add beans to the soup?

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.

Can we use fresh garlic?

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.

Can we add bacon or other vegetables?

Yes! This soup is adaptable – you can add other vegetables or meat to this soup.

Can we use ground turkey instead of beef?

Absolutely! Ground turkey is a leaner option but will change the flavor profile slightly.

Can we make it vegetarian?

Yes! Swap the beef for a plant-based ground meat substitute and use vegetable stock instead of beef stock.

What's the best cabbage to use?

Green cabbage is usually the go-to, but feel free to experiment with Savoy or Napa cabbage.

Is this soup keto-friendly?

Skip the kidney beans and use a keto-friendly beer or more beef stock, and you're good to go!

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

Method

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 (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!