Cabbage and Sausage Soup

Hearty and filling Cabbage and Sausage Soup with bacon and vegetables.  Slow cooked with aromatic spices, this hearty soup is delicious comfort food no matter the time of year. 

The next time you’re looking for a hearty meal to satisfy the soul on busy weeknights, whip up a big pot of this cabbage and sausage soup! 

It is one of those easy recipes that results in so much flavor that it’s a winner for putting on repeat.

Similar to my Crock Pot Sausage and Cabbage Soup, this easy soup features similar ingredients but is even bigger in flavor due to the heavy presence of bacon. Plus, it is made on the stove top instead of the slow cooker.

The Inspiration For This Recipe:

When I first tried the paleo diet back in 2011, I made this Transylvanian Stockpot from Mark Sisson’s The Primal Blueprint Cookbook. I instantly fell in love! Paleo or not, the soup is incredibly flavorful and so cozy.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made this stew ever since! It’s super filling and comforting and is worth the time it takes to prepare it! If you have a ginormous stock pot, you can even double the recipe to have enough food for the whole family for several days.

The first time we made Transylvanian stockpot, we made a double batch, which meant we used an entire package of bacon. So you know it was a great time 😉 

We ended up eating stock pot for a week and a half straight. Breakfast included.

Gluten-free and paleo friendly, this lower carb meal is ideal for those looking for a clean meal that is also packed with delicious flavors.

Let’s discuss the simple ingredients for this hearty cabbage soup.

Ingredients for Cabbage and Sausage Soup:

Avocado Oil: Used to sauté the onion and brown the meat, we need a quality cooking oil. I prefer using avocado oil but olive oil works too.

Onion and Garlic: Yellow onion and fresh garlic make this cabbage roll soup taste so inviting by providing a big boost of flavor.

Bacon: Thick cut bacon gets chopped up and added in to bring so much delicious flavor and richness to the soup.

There are many quality brands of bacon available that are nitrate-free, sugar-free and contain all natural ingredients.

I don’t recommend skipping this ingredient unless absolutely necessary because it brings such a unique experience. 

Italian Sausage: Pick a brand of Italian sausage you’ve used in the past and love. I use Italian ground turkey sausage that doesn’t include any funky ingredients and is nitrate-free.

Be sure to read the label on any sausage you use to ensure you’re fine with all of the ingredients.

There are a lot of brands of quality sausage available, but there are also many brands that contain unnecessary ingredients like sugar and nitrates.

Diced Tomatoes: Bringing a zesty acidic flavor to cut through the richness, we add diced tomatoes. 

Chicken Broth: Making up much of the liquid, we need some form of broth. Chicken broth, chicken stock, or bone broth are delicious here.

Green Cabbage: A head of green cabbage gets chopped up and added to the big pot of soup to bring hearty texture. The fiber in cabbage makes for a filling and satisfying meal.

While red cabbage and savoy cabbage work, I prefer the taste and texture of regular head of cabbage.

Paprika, Cinnamon Stick, Sea Salt, Black Pepper: The seasonings here. It may sound strange to add a cinnamon stick, but trust me: it adds such beautiful warmth! You can also add in some fresh parsley if you have it on hand.

I love adding a dollop of whole milk Greek yogurt to top the soup, and I often stir yogurt into the soup to make it nice and creamy. If you’re dairy-free, ignore these words.

Recipe Customizations:

• Use smoky sausage like polish sausage, kielbasa sausage, or andouille sausage works great too. Chicken sausage and ground beef are also great options.
• Add in any additional fresh vegetables you enjoy, like carrots, green beans, peas, cauliflower, hearty potatoes or zucchini.
• Swap out the canned tomatoes for chopped fresh tomatoes.
• Bean lovers, add a can of white beans, kidney beans, or garbanzo beans. 
• Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of tomato paste for more tomato flavor.
• For some spice, add 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes.
• This recipe can also be prepared in a crock pot instead of a large stockpot.

Now that we’ve covered the basic ingredients, let’s make this sausage cabbage soup recipe.

How to Make Sausage and Cabbage Soup: 

In a large pot or Dutch Oven, heat the oil over medium heat on the stove top. Sauté the chopped onion until very fragrant and nearly translucent, about 5 to 8 minutes.

Add the chopped bacon and continue to cook until the bacon fat begins cooking out. Add the minced garlic and sausage.

Cook just until sausage is browned on one side, then add the paprika, diced tomatoes, chicken broth, the cinnamon stick and sea salt and bring to a full boil over medium-high heat.

Once soup hits a boiling point, add the chopped cabbage. If you’re using a 6-quart Dutch oven, this will fill up the entire pot. Fear not. Cabbage cooks down quite a bit and you can push the cabbage down into the soup if need be.

Cover the pot and allow the soup to simmer over medium-low heat for about 45 to 60 minutes, until the cabbage is very soft and the soup is incredibly fragrant.

Remove the cinnamon stick and discard. Serve big bowls of soup with plain yogurt on top.

How to Store Soup:

Store leftover soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

You can also freeze soup for up to 3 months. To do so, allow it to cool off completely (if it isn’t already cold) and transfer it to a large freezer bag. Seal the bag and place it inside another freezer bag so that it is double bagged. Store in the freezer for 3 months or less.

With simple ingredients and a large soup pot, we’re left with a delicious hot bowl of soup to impress the taste buds!

The perfect soup with great flavor for a cold day or chilly evening. This great recipe is one of those family favorites that we make on constant rotation during the fall and winter months. 

This cabbage sausage soup recipe can easily be customized to your personal taste using any type of sausage and fresh vegetables.

If you enjoy hearty soup recipes like this one, also try out these reader favorites.

More Healthy Soup Recipes:

• Ground Turkey Curry Soup  
• Sausage 15-Bean Soup  
• Easy Vegetable Soup Recipe  
• Crock Pot Steak and Potato Soup  
• Albondigas Soup  
• Crock Pot Italian Meatball Soup  

Stock up!

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