Red Cabbage Soup - Sweet, Sour & So Delicious!

This red cabbage soup recipe is sweet, sour, and super delicious. It's loaded with red cabbage, carrots, onions and some everyday pantry staples. It's a great hearty vegetable stew that's packed with flavor, nutrients and color! 

What is Red Cabbage Soup?

When I was younger, I would always order the sweet and sour red cabbage soup from Lenny's which was our local Jewish deli in Clearwater. 

It was unlike any soup I had growing up. It was chunky and hearty with a sweet and sour flavor. To me, it was the best soup in the world.

Fast forward to pregnancy and guess what? I still think it's one of the best soups of all time!

I love how it's so filling yet pretty healthy... minus the whole brown sugar part but, hey, that's ok with me.

And although this is not an Irish recipe, I always crave it around St. Patricks Day. Maybe it's because of the cabbage? I don't really know.

But what I do know is that when it's paired with my favorite beer cheese bread recipe, it's a match made in heaven!

I toast up the salty, craggily, yeasty bread and smear it with the best salty butter I can find.

Then I dunk it in the soup and gobble it down.

And you know what else I love about this soup? The color!

It's bright and vibrant and it just makes you feel like you're doing something right!

So enough of me talking about it, let's get to it. Shall we?!

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Onion - white, yellow, red or sweet will work just fine.
• Olive Oil - feel free to swap this for any neutral oil.
• Carrots - If you don't like carrots, you could swap them for turnips, sweet potatoes or even butternut squash.
• Red cabbage - No real sub for red cabbage in a red cabbage soup!
• Canned Diced Tomatoes - You could also used fresh diced tomatoes if you wanted to.
• Chicken Stock - Feel free to swap for vegetable stock.
• Brown Sugar - Brown sugar gives the most depth but you could swap it for white sugar if that's all you have.
• Red Wine Vinegar - You could also use apple cider vinegar, champagne vinegar, or even White wine vinegar but the taste will be slightly altered.
• Raisins - These are optional but I love them. You could also swap for bacon.

How to make Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage Soup

Making sweet and sour cabbage soup is souper easy - get it?!

First, begin by adding olive oil to a big soup pot and then add chopped yellow onion and a pinch of salt. Cook the onion down for a few minutes until it begins to caramelize.

Next, add the carrots and stir again - making sure to scrape up any leftover onion bits.

After that, it's time to add the cabbage. Cook it down until it starts to turn bright purple.

Once it's super vibrant, add the can of tomatoes and stir.

Next, add the stock, vinegar, brown sugar, salt and raisins and turn the heat down to a simmer.

Simmer the soup for at least 30-45 minutes to soften the cabbage and to develop as much flavor as possible.

What goes with cabbage soup?

If I were making this for lunch, I'd pair it some of this beer cheese bread but I'd be sure to toast it and smear it with some salty butter.

If you wanted something a little heartier, try these tasty funeral sandwiches with this romaine wedge salad.  Or maybe this smoked mac and cheese with this some easy english sausage rolls.

And if you're like me and are making it for St Patricks Day, try this beer cheese mac and cheese, this roasted root vegetable shepherd's pie or these extra cheesy reubens. 

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Recipe

Red Cabbage Soup

This red cabbage soup recipe is sweet, sour, and super delicious. It's loaded with red cabbage, carrots, onions and some everyday pantry staples. It's a great hearty soup that's packed with flavor, nutrients and color! 

4.53 from 82 votes

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Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 medium yellow onion diced
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 carrots skinned and diced
• 4 cups red cabbage shredded
• 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
• 4 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup raisins

Instructions

 

• Add onion, olive oil, and ¼ teaspoon salt to a large soup pot and turn the heat to medium. Cook onions for about 10 minutes or until they’re beginning to caramelize.
• Next, add carrots and cook for 3 minutes - scraping up any bits the onion has left.
• Add shredded cabbage and another ¼ teaspoon salt and cook for a few minutes or until it turns bright purple.
• Add in diced tomatoes, chicken stock, brown sugar, vinegar, remaining salt, and raisins and turn the heat down to medium-low.
• Simmer soup for 45 minutes. Season with more salt and pepper before serving if needed.

Did you make this recipe?Tag me on instagram @grilledcheesesocial so I can see it!