Description
Hearty Ground Beef and Cabbage Soup – the perfect comfort food for cold days! Ready in 50 minutes with simple ingredients. Hearty, healthy, and perfect for meal prep. Family-friendly comfort food!
Ingredients
The Soup Base:
- 2 Tbsp oil (avocado or olive oil work fine)
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 3 large carrots, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lb ground beef (80/20 is good)
The Flavor Builders:
- 4 large ripe tomatoes, chopped (or 2 cans diced tomatoes)
- 4 cups broth (chicken or beef – whatever’s cheaper)
- 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- Sea salt, to taste
The Star:
- 1 large head green cabbage, chopped (about 6-8 cups)
Instructions
Heat oil in your heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrots, and garlic, stirring occasionally until they soften – about 3-5 minutes. Don’t rush this part. The kitchen starts smelling good right here.
Push vegetables to one side and add ground beef. Here’s the key – let it brown undisturbed for 3 minutes before you touch it. Then flip and brown another 2-3 minutes. Break up the meat with your spoon and mix it with the vegetables. This browning step is what makes it taste like restaurant soup instead of cafeteria soup.
Stir in tomatoes, broth, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Mix everything together well. This is when your family starts wandering into the kitchen asking what smells so good.
Stir in all that chopped cabbage. Your pot will look ridiculously full. Do it anyway. Cabbage shrinks down to almost nothing as it cooks, so what looks like way too much becomes just right.
Bring everything to a boil, then reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Cover the pot and cook about 30 minutes, stirring every now and then, until the cabbage is tender and wilted. You’ll know it’s done when you can easily cut through a piece of cabbage with your spoon.
Taste your soup and adjust salt and pepper. You’ll probably need more salt than you think – cabbage soaks up seasoning like crazy. Don’t be shy about it.
Ladle into big bowls and serve hot. Crusty bread and grated Parmesan cheese make it even better, but it’s perfect on its own too.
Notes
Get 80/20 ground beef – enough fat for flavor without ending up with grease pools floating on top
Don’t stir the meat right away when you add it – let it get that brown crust first
Season as you go through each step, not just at the very end
Fresh tomatoes are great in summer but canned are more reliable and consistent year-round
If you double the recipe, you might need to cook it a bit longer for everything to get tender
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American