Best vegetarian cabbage soup

A white pot full of vegetarian cabbage soup.

5 from 7 votes

Best vegetarian cabbage soup

With less than 150 calories per serving, this healthy warming vegetarian cabbage soup is packed with flavor, texture, and plenty of vegetables cooked in a rich and spicy tomato broth.

Serving size: 1 ¼ cup

Prep Time5

Cook Time30

Total Time35

Course: Soup

Cuisine: vegan, vegetarian

Keyword: vegetarian cabbage soup

Servings:

Calories: 135kcal

Author: Katia

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced or chopped
2 celery ribs, diced or chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon chili flakes (aka crushed pepper flakes)
14 oz (400 grams) tomato passata (or canned tomatoes)
1 (23oz/650 grams) head of green or red cabbage, chopped
½ lb (220 grams) cauliflower or potatoes, cut into chunks* (optional)
4 cups (960 ml) Low-sodium vegetable broth (add more for a thinner consistency)
3 bay leaves
salt & pepper, to taste
2 tablespoon Fresh Italian parsley, chopped
4 Lemon wedges, to serve

Instructions

Warm the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Once the oil shimmers, add the onion, carrots, and celery. Cook, stirring often, until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes.
Stir in the garlic, chili flakes, paprika, and ground coriander and cook for an extra minute until fragrant.
Add the tomato passata, the chopped cabbage, the cauliflower florets or potato (if using it), broth, and bay leaves.
Raise the heat and bring the mixture to a boil, then cover the pot, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes.
When the soup is cooked remove the pot from heat, let it cool slightly, then remove the bay leaves.
Blend about ⅓ of the soup with a blender or a stick blender and return it to the pot. Be careful; the soup is hot. Try to blend mainly the cauliflower (or the potato chunks, if you use potatoes).
Taste and season with salt and pepper. (I usually add a pinch of salt at the beginning + ½ tsp at this stage). You might want to add more seasoning or more broth to make a thinner soup, according to your personal preferences. See notes)*
Stir in the fresh parsley before serving, and enjoy with crusty bread and a touch of fresh lemon juice to add freshness and acidity. Enjoy!

Notes

Seasoning: If you use a broth that tastes quite salty on its own, it's important to adjust the seasoning at the end rather than at the beginning, as you never really know how strong the salt from the broth is. I would start only with a good pinch of salt.

Nutritional values: The nutrition values are for one serving and are based on an online nutrition calculator. They are estimates only, and they should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. Please see my disclosure policies.

Nutrition