By Melissa Clark
- Total Time
- 1 hour 20 minutes
- Rating
- 5(3,404)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Here's a warming, economical soup that combines cabbage with leeks, potatoes and plenty of black pepper. The potatoes melt slightly into the broth, making the texture silky, lush and even a bit sexy (at least as far as cabbage goes).
Featured in: A Good Appetite: Cabbage Flexes Its Muscles Three Ways
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- 6tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3medium leeks, white and light green parts, thinly sliced
- 8cups shredded cabbage
- 2garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced
- 2cups chicken or vegetable stock
- 2½teaspoons kosher salt
- 2thyme branches
- ½teaspoon black pepper
- Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, to serve
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
360 calories; 19 grams fat; 11 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 42 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 10 grams sugars; 8 grams protein; 1065 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Step
1
Melt the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat, add the leeks and cook until soft and golden around the edges, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the cabbage and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until cabbage begins to caramelize, about 10 minutes.
Step
2
Stir in potatoes, stock, 4 cups water, salt and thyme. Bring soup to a simmer and cook, partly covered, until potatoes begin to fall apart, 45 to 50 minutes. Add more water, as needed, to reach the desired consistency. Season with black pepper and serve, topped with cheese.
Ratings
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out of 5
3,404
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Cooking Notes
A. Cleary
I've made this 2x & could never get the cabbage to caramelize. 8 cs. of cabbage crowds even my biggest pan, leading to steaming, not caramelizing. Working in batches helps, but it's prohibitively time-consuming.
Here's a what I do now: toss the shredded cabbage with olive oil until lightly coated. Add S&P, spread in a lg. sheet pan, pop into 400 deg. oven . Check every 10 minutes & remove when it's caramelized. Then proceed with the recipe as written.
Cameron
Delicious. Allowing the potatoes to break down gives it the texture of a creamy, pureed soup without blending or adding any cream. I like to add 2-4 tablespoons of good-quality red wine vinegar after I take the soup off heat--it gives it a nice little bite. I highly recommend that.
ler
Yummy and comforting. I Threw in a parm rind with the broth which added a nice depth of flavor.
eileen
Have made this several times with olive oil instead of butter and it's wonderful.
Donna
This is really yummy! I followed the advice of one commenter and put the cabbage on a spreadsheet, tossed with olive oil and S&P, and roasted at 400 for 20 minutes, stirring at the 10 minute mark. Perfect, and way better than trying to caramelize all that cabbage in the pot. Also, used fresh dill added at the end, in place of thyme. This soup is cheap, healthy, low mess, requires minimal prep time, and is easy to make vegan. I will repeat.
C Davis
Fantastic, simple weeknight soup. Because I prefer thicker soups and stews, I used only 2 cups of water in addition to the broth, then pureed after cooking, which worked wonderfully.
Erin
Just made this -- delicious! I cut the butter in half and used olive oil for the rest. Added carrots and mushrooms, as well as white beans, using the liquid I used to cook the beans as a water substitute (although I eventually needed to add water because of the other additions). Threw in a parmesan rind as suggested. Very tasty, so healthy!
Chris Bradshaw
The parmesan is important. Carmelizing the leeks and cabbage takes more like an hour. Don't rush this, as the extra flavor is worth it. Tripling the recipe makes a full soup pot.
Lars
Great soup. Use onions in place of leeks if you don't have them. Gruyere or Cheddar can be used in place of Parmesan.
SLR
Use oil instead of butterAdd Parmesan rind to soupCarmelization takes longer than stated.Can add white beans and carrots
Mary
It is a rainy day in Athens Greece and this soup is just what I needed! The only thing I changed was the butter. I used olive oil and water as I had no broth.
It is a truly hardy and very tasty soup and definable I am going to make it again. Thank you for a great soup.
Terry
Needs bacon...
K
Add salt when cooking cabbage to help it carmelize
sarah
I made this exactly according to recipe, using homemade veggie stock. I will use less butter next time because it was slightly too rich for me. Otherwise, it had great comfort food flavor.
Lars
@A.Cleary
You need to cook the cabbage a lot longer than 10 min to get caramelize. Use a large skillet at first, then put everything in a stock pot.
avb2
made as directed, included parm rind in simmer. Still kinda disappointing. Made me think of depression era soup. But the overcooking made me regret using the fresh veggies for this. Seems like this should be reserved for the about-to-be-sent-to-compost, bottom of the bin stuff.
Carol
Kind of bland.
JenB
I added two cans of cannellini beans along with the potatoes, which adds sone protein and rounds it out into more of a hearty meal.
Sue
This was pretty good, but I personally like the ingredients involved on their own: like chopped cabbage in a long saute with sausages, or just plain mashed potatoes with almost anything, and onions on their own in onion soup. To me, with this meal here, the sum was less than the parts.
JG
Tossed a small rind of Parmesan ( in food processor to pulverize. Added it to top of the soup along with red wine vinegar as garnish. Also added 8-10 garlic cloves and tied a batch of fresh thyme together using butcher string and let it cook inside the soup. Added two thinly sliced organic Italian sausage (not spicy) and three carrots to boot. The wife said it was tasty. I’d agree.
Toni
Delicious! This recipe lends itself well to modifications, substitutions, and additions. Freezes well- potatoes get mushier after thawing, but just thickens the soup.
Jane
Loved the flavor! Roasted potatoes separately and used them as croutons.
iamacheezit
I’m confused as to why this is a five-star recipe. It is good enough for what it is, salted cabbage and potatoes in broth, but it’s far from being remarkable. It’s cabbage and potatoes people how is this FIVE STARS?
Deirdre
Delicious soup! Thank you. We've made it twice. First time no caramelization of cabbage and leeks.The soup was very tasty. Second time caramelized only the cabbage a little bit in the oven. and the leeks on the stovetop. Even tastier! Next time will keep the cabbage in the oven for a half hour, not 20 minutes.
Linda J
Added 1tsp smoked paprika
Erin
Highly recommend. Additions include celery, Aleppo pepper, additional garlic, garbanzo beans, parm rind, bay leaf, dried shiitake to enhance broth. Remove after cooking. Leaves you wanting more. I will cut the butter next time. While it brings a glistening shine and beautiful flavor, decreasing a bit shouldn’t impact.
Lisa
A delicious soup. I followed the suggestion of A. Cleary and cooked the cabbage in the oven on a sheet pan. I also used a 3 cups broth to 3 cups water, for a slightly richer soup. The potatoes, which were yellow Finn rather than Russet, didn't really dissolve so I crushed some of them.It would be perfectly reasonable to add caraway, which goes well with cabbage (yes I am of Hungarian descent) or sausage to this soup. Or both!
Lynn
Toss cabbage with olive oil, salt, pepper. Place on sheet pan at 400 degrees. Check every 10 minutes remove from oven when cabbage caramelizes, continue with recipe
Cheryl
Really good! I caramelized leeks and cabbage in a dutch oven (not too daunting). I cooked per the recipe and added a can of rinsed cannellini beans along with 4 cups vege broth. I simmered all about 90 mins. Next time I will add come chunky carrot slices.
R
Used what I had on hand: Red cabbage, sweet onion instead of leeks.Added parmesan rind Added fennel seeds, a bit of thyme, and smoked paprika.Very satisfying
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