Easy Cabbage Meatball Soup

All the deliciousness of cabbage rolls in a soup! This cabbage meatball soup is an easy and quick alternative with all the flavors of this favorite dish!

Unstuffed cabbage soup is a hearty and nutritious comfort food for the whole family to enjoy. It's one of those dishes that make you feel so cozy, that you're almost glad it's cold outside because you get to enjoy it even more! Especially if you add a pinch of cayenne pepper on top like I do!

Table Of Contents

• Lighter Than Cabbage Rolls
• How To Make
• The Meatballs
• Storing
• Recipe

Even though traditional Greek cabbage rolls are cooked in an egg-lemon sauce, when we cook cabbage in stews or soups in Greece, we usually add tomatoes. Like in Lahanorizo (cabbage and rice stew) for example.

This unstuffed cabbage roll soup with rice is cooked with tomatoes and lemon. Plus, healthy vegetables and fresh herbs. It's one of the best recipes for cabbage soup as it's both nutritious and very tasty!

Lighter Than Cabbage Rolls

The flavor of unstuffed cabbage rolls soup is lighter than that of cabbage rolls. Since it is not as saucy and it's soupy and liquidy. But, lighter doesn't mean blander. On the contrary, this simple cabbage soup recipe is packed with herby and lemony flavors and natural sweetness, served with tender beef meatballs and rice.

If you want a thicker sauce, with a stronger tomato flavor, you can add more tomato sauce than fresh tomatoes. Use ⅓ less fresh tomatoes and add passata (tomato sauce) in its place instead. So if you divide the 450 grams of fresh tomatoes this recipe calls for by 3 it's 150. Therefore, use 150 grams of passata and 300 grams of fresh tomatoes.

How To Make

Here's how to make this unstuffed cabbage roll soup recipe in a few simple steps.

• Mix all of the ingredients for the meatball mixture in a bowl.
• Shape into round meatballs and refrigerate for an hour.
• Saute the fresh tomatoes and garlic in olive oil.
• Add the tomato paste and tomato sauce.
• Add water or stock and bring to a boil.
• Dip the meatballs in one by one. Cook for a few minutes.
• Add the cabbage and vegetables. Cook for a few minutes more.
• Add the rice and simmer until fully cooked.
• Mix in the fresh herbs, cook for a minute, and then remove from the heat.
• Ideally, let the cabbage meatball soup stand for 30 minutes for the rice to swell and give a light gelatinous thickening to the soup.

The Meatballs

For cabbage meatball soup, the meatballs are made with ground beef. But you can use any type of meat you like for this recipe. You can use pork instead or a mixture of half beef and half pork. Even ground chicken or ground turkey works well in this unrolled cabbage soup. If using chicken or turkey use some stock as well to enhance the flavor of the soup. Since both types of meat are not as strong in flavor as red meats.

You can make the meatball mixture up to 3 days ahead of time and leave it to marinate in the fridge. Just make sure to shape them into meatballs when you are about to cook them. If you shape them and keep them in the fridge for hours, they will start to release moisture.

Storing

You can keep meatball cabbage soup in the fridge for up to 3 days. Or you can place it in an airtight food container in the freezer. To thaw place it in the fridge overnight and reheat the next day.

Recipe