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old-fashioned cabbage soup

How To Make Old-Fashioned Cabbage Soup

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Last Modified: January 7, 2024
Published: January 7, 2024

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Cabbage Soup With Sausage And Potatoes

old-fashioned cabbage soup

Winter is upon us, and a snowstorm is coming. What a perfect time for some old-fashioned cabbage soup! Homemade soup is the greatest gift of winter; nothing chases the cold like cradling a warm mug of soup in your hands!

Here's an easy old-fashioned cabbage soup you can put together quickly and ladle into bowls in under an hour. There are so many layers of flavor, and the broth is amazing. It tastes like it simmered all day in an Old World kitchen.

Like so many old-fashioned recipes, this delicious soup starts with simple ingredients. The way you bring them together gives it a fantastic flavor that makes you want seconds!

This soup begins with sausage. I chose Hillshire Farms Beef Polska Kielbasa. One twelve-ounce ring sliced thin is enough to give the whole pot of cabbage soup a deep, rich flavor.

The vegetables are also simple and wholesome. Cabbage, leeks, carrots, celery, red potatoes, and garlic provide a colorful and flavorful combination of flavors and textures to the soup. Leeks are related to onions but have a milder flavor and are often easier on your tummy if onions bother you.

Slice and dice all those yummy veggies. This step will take about the same time as it takes for the soup to cook! I always think vegetables are a thing of beauty! All the vivid colors remind us how nourishing they are!

The seasonings you use are simple and readily available, too. I wasn't sure about Italian seasoning, but it is absolutely perfect! You can buy it in the spice aisle, and here's a recipe to make homemade Italian seasoning! I would take it easy on adding any salt until you have the soup put together, but this soup can take a lot of pepper; it seems to enhance all the flavors a lot.

How To Make Old-Fashioned Cabbage Soup

Begin by putting olive oil in a soup pot and lightly brown the sliced sausage. As you can see, some of my slices got a little browner than others, adding extra flavor. Remove and set the sausage aside for the next step.

Saute the leeks, celery, garlic, and carrots for about five minutes in the oil remaining in the soup pot. The vegetables should soften and begin to get fragrant. I did not have fresh garlic that day, so I used some from a jar, and it works well, too, but fresh is always even better!

Now add your broth to the pot and stir up all the tasty browned bits of the bottom of the pot into the broth. I use a wooden spoon with a flat, straight edge.

You can use prepared vegetable broth or even chicken broth, but for the best flavor, I insist on Knorr brand vegetable soup base or bouillon cubes mixed with water.

I use this product in many things; I buy it in the restaurant pack that makes eleven gallons of broth! It has a long shelf life, and I share it with friends and family!

Add the bay leaf, potatoes, and cabbage to the broth and let it simmer until the potatoes are tender. It took about fifteen minutes, and the fabulous old-fashioned cabbage soup was ready to eat! Add back the browned sausage, and remove the bay leaf before serving the soup!

The Verdict Is In On Old-Fashioned Cabbage Soup

My husband had been looking warily at the pot and wasn't sure about it at all. I think it was all the cabbage. He didn't say a word, but he was skeptical about it. After his first spoonful, he said, "Wow, I am pleasantly surprised! This soup is absolutely wonderful!"

Almost all soups taste even better the next day when you reheat them because the flavors have time to really get to know each other. This yummy cabbage soup is no exception!

PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD

Yield: 8 servings

Old-Fashioned Cabbage Soup

old-fashioned cabbage soup

Here's a hearty soup that you can make in less than an hour with simple ingredients. So packed with yummy flavors, this is a great comfort food!

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

  • One 12-ounce ring of Hillshire Farms Beef Polska Kielbasa
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 2 medium size leeks, thinly sliced. Use only the white and pale green parts.
  • 3 carrots, scraped and sliced. About 2 cups.
  • 6 small red potatoes (about one pound), scrubbed, skin-on, diced. About 2 cups
  • 2 stalks of celery, sliced
  • One small head of cabbage, shredded and cut into short pieces. About 4-5 cups
  • 2 quarts of water
  • scant 1/4 cup of Knorr Vegetable Flavor Base or 4 large cubes of Knorr Vegetable Bouillon
  • 2 tsp minced garlic from a jar or equivalent
  • 2 tsp Italian seasoning
  • One bay leaf
  • Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Slice the polska kielbasa sausage about 1/2" thick. In a large soup pot, brown it lightly in the olive oil and set it aside.
  2. Add the leeks, carrots, and celery to the oil in the soup pot and saute it for four or five minutes.
  3. Add the cabbage and garlic and continue to saute for another four or five minutes.
  4. Add the water, potatoes, vegetable bouillon, bay leaf, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper to the pot and simmer until the potatoes are tender.
  5. Add black pepper if desired. This soup can take a lot of pepper. Add the sausage back to the pot and remove the bay leaf before serving.

Here are some of our most popular soup recipes. Lasagna Soup, Split Pea and Ham Soup, Hamburger And Vegetable (Comfort) Soup. Hungry for more? Type "soup" in the search bar on the home page for more tasty recipes. What is your family's favorite soup?

Soup makes such a wonderful meal on a cold, dark evening! It makes the world seem brighter, doesn't it?

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5 comments on “How To Make Old-Fashioned Cabbage Soup”

  1. Sounds delish and uses simple, down-to-earth-ingredients that I usually have on hand. I LOVE a good soup, no matter what the weather!

    1. Thank you Janet! Simple is how I think mealtime should be, but loaded woth flavor! Thanks for taking time to comment and have a great day!!

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