This delicious chicken cabbage soup is an easy recipe made with minimal ingredients, including onion, carrots, thyme, and cooked chicken. No tomatoes needed!
One day, instead of my usual lunch salad, I was in the mood for soup.
Being that I'm half Czech, I very often have cabbage in my fridge. This day was no different, and my cabbage's destiny was to be used as soup!
I wanted to avoid using tomatoes in my soup, as in this Low Calorie Cabbage Soup already on the blog.
Sometimes, I avoid tomatoes. If I don't, I find myself eating them nearly every day! Which is fine, if you're not a hyper-allergic individual, such as myself.
In addition to being sans tomato, I wanted to use as few ingredients as possible.
Initially, I limited myself to four. I was thinking...cabbage, carrot, water, thyme. This was not going on the blog at this point, mind you, so I just wanted fast, simple, healthy.
But!...after a few additions and tweaks, I came up with something rather delicious!
My daughter, Natalie, the queen of 'I don't like soup', even dug this one, so I had to share it here.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Olive oil and butter - I like the combination of these fats. It adds a delicious richness to the soup, especially if you use water as the base.
- Yellow onion
- Garlic
- Carrot
- Green cabbage
- Red pepper flakes
- Bay leaves
- Fresh thyme
- Water - Or broth
- Sea salt
- Cooked chicken - I use my Shredded Chicken recipe.
Directions
This section is just an overview. Please see the recipe box for full instructions!
Begin by sauteing the harder vegetables until softened. Next, add in the cabbage and cook until slightly soft.
Stir in the remaining ingredients and bring the pot to a boil.
Lower the heat to a simmer and cook 20-30 minutes or until the cabbage is softened to your liking.
Recipe tips
The first time I made this soup, I didn't add the chicken and was definitely hungry again soon after. After making it a second time, I stirred in some cooked chicken breasts that were in desperate need of moisture, and the soup tasted phenomenal!
Try this with my Instant Pot Bone Broth!
Chicken Cabbage Soup (NO Tomato!)
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- ¾ cup yellow onion chopped
- 3 large garlic cloves minced
- ¾ cup carrots (about two medium carrots) chopped
- pinch red pepper flakes
- 5 cups green cabbage shredded
- 7 cups water
- 10 fresh thyme sprigs (or a big pinch of dried thyme)
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon sea salt plus more as desired
- 1-2 cups cooked chicken as desired
Instructions
- Add the oil and butter to a large pot and set the pot over medium heat.
- Add in onion, garlic, carrots, red pepper flakes, and a good pinch of sea salt.
- Saute 3-4 minutes until softened.
- Add in the cabbage and cook another 2-3 minutes until it softens.
- Add in the water, thyme, bay leaves, and one teaspoon of sea salt and give it a good stir.
- Bring soup up to a boil, then lower it to a simmer.
- Cook 20-30 minutes, uncovered, until cabbage is very soft.
- Stir in chopped cooked chicken, as desired.
- Taste for seasoning and serve!
Notes
Nutrition
If you have a chance to try this recipe, please leave a star rating and a comment below letting me know how you liked it!
Lauri
Delicious water-based cabbage recipe! I made this for my dad, who has stage three kidney disease. I left out the salt. I included a bit more thyme than called for and added a scope of white rice to thicken the broth a bit. Thanks for such an easy recipe.
Lauren
Thanks, Lauri! I'm happy your dad enjoyed it. 🙂
Greg
Quick and easy meal. There were no leftovers! I added a small amount of Bok choy with the cabbage, used Moose bone broth, and substituted Wasabi for the pepper flakes. I will definitely make it again.
Michael
This is a super easy recipe to make with awesome results. My only change was leaving out the garlic (my wife is not a fan). I ended up with a large pot of soup which I served with homemade socca. This recipe goes into my keeper file.
Lauren
Thanks, Michael. Love the idea of serving it with socca, yum! 🙂
Helen
Really delicious! I didn't have chicken so added a smidgen of hamburger. Will definitely make again.
Rocci
Delicious as written. Yet customize it yourself. I added a bit of tumeric and ginger for a sinus infection that's chronic. Added chicken to each bowl as SO preferred ham in theirs. A keeper for delicious base recipe. Will checkout the other recipes.
R
I love this dish!