Crockpot cabbage roll soup gives you everything you love about stuffed cabbage rolls without blanching a single leaf or rolling a single roll. Browned ground beef, tender cabbage, rice, carrots, and bell pepper simmer all day in a tangy, savory tomato broth, and the slow cooker does nearly all the work. It’s hearty enough to call dinner on its own, especially with a hunk of crusty bread.

The only hands-on step is browning the beef and onion, which takes about 10 minutes. After that, everything goes into the crockpot, uncooked rice included, and comes out 6 hours later as a thick, cozy soup that tastes like a pan of cabbage rolls that’s been in the oven all afternoon.

Bowl of crockpot cabbage roll soup with ground beef, cabbage, rice, and carrots in a tomato broth, topped with fresh parsley

Recipe Snapshot

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 6–8 hours on LOW or 4–6 hours on HIGH
Total Time: 6 hours 20 minutes–8 hours 20 minutes on LOW; 4 hours 20 minutes–6 hours 20 minutes on HIGH
Servings: 6
Difficulty: Easy
Perfect For: Comfort-food dinners, chilly evenings, and planned leftovers
Main Ingredients: Ground beef, cabbage, long-grain rice, tomatoes, carrots, bell pepper, and beef broth

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Cabbage roll flavor with less prep: Chop the cabbage and skip the blanching, filling, and rolling.
A full meal in a bowl: Beef, rice, and several vegetables make this a filling soup without needing much alongside it.
Mostly hands-off cooking: Once the beef is browned and the vegetables are chopped, the slow cooker takes over.
An option for better leftover texture: Cook the rice separately and add it to individual bowls if you’re planning meals for later.

Why This Recipe Works

Browning the beef and onion before they go into the crockpot is what gives this soup its depth. The browned bits add a savory, roasted flavor that raw beef simmered in broth never develops, and draining the fat keeps the soup from turning greasy.

The tomato base does double duty. Diced tomatoes bring texture, tomato sauce gives the broth body, and a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste deepen the color and flavor the way a long-baked cabbage roll sauce would. Worcestershire adds a savory backbone, and a teaspoon of sugar takes the sharp edge off the tomatoes. Over 6 hours, the rice cooks right in the broth and releases a little starch, which thickens the soup naturally.

The Ingredient Breakdown

Lean ground beef: Lean beef means less fat to drain and a cleaner-tasting broth. Ground turkey, chicken, or pork work too.
Green cabbage: Six cups is about half of a medium head. Core it and cut it into bite-size pieces rather than thin shreds, so the cabbage holds its shape through the long cook instead of disappearing into the broth.
Long grain rice: Use regular uncooked long grain white rice, not instant. Over a full day in the crockpot the rice gets very soft and soaks up broth, which is part of what makes this soup so thick and hearty. If you like your rice firmer, see the cook-it-separately option below.
Tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste: All three are used for different jobs: texture, body, and concentrated flavor. Don’t skip the paste; it’s what gives the broth that rich, cabbage roll sauce taste.
Beef broth: Start with the 4 cups and keep more on hand. You’ll likely want extra to thin the soup at the end, and again when you reheat leftovers.
Sugar: Optional, but helpful. One teaspoon won’t make the soup sweet; it softens the acidity of all that tomato. Taste your soup at the end and leave it out next time if you prefer it tangier.

How to Make Crockpot Cabbage Roll Soup

Step 1: Brown the Beef and Onion

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and onion and cook, breaking up the beef as it goes, until no pink remains and the onion is soft and translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds, until fragrant. Drain off the excess grease, then transfer the beef mixture to a 6-quart crockpot.

Step 2: Add the Vegetables, Rice, and Tomatoes

Add the carrots, bell pepper, rice, cabbage, diced tomatoes (with their juice), tomato sauce, tomato paste, and Worcestershire sauce. Don’t worry if the crockpot looks packed to the top. The cabbage cooks down a lot over the first couple of hours.

Step 3: Add the Broth and Seasonings

Pour in the beef broth. Add the sugar (if using), oregano, thyme, a pinch of salt and pepper, and the bay leaves. Give everything a stir, making sure the rice is down in the liquid rather than sitting on top of the cabbage.

Step 4: Slow Cook

Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 4 to 6 hours, until the rice is fully cooked and the carrots and cabbage are tender. A grain of rice should be soft all the way through when you bite it, and a piece of carrot should give easily when pressed with a spoon.

Step 5: Adjust and Serve

Remove and discard the bay leaves. Stir the soup, and if it’s thicker than you like, add more beef broth a little at a time. Taste and season with salt and pepper; a broth this full of tomato and rice usually needs a little more salt at the end than you’d expect. Ladle into bowls and top with fresh chopped parsley.

David’s Tip

Push the rice under. With 6 cups of cabbage piled on top, it’s easy for some of the rice to get stranded above the broth, and grains that never touch liquid stay hard. Stir it down into the broth before the lid goes on, and give it one more stir once the cabbage has wilted if you happen to be home.
If you’re making this soup mainly for leftovers, cook the rice separately and spoon it into individual bowls. That keeps it from soaking up the broth overnight and gives you more control over the texture.

Close-up of cabbage roll soup showing tender cabbage, rice, and ground beef in a thick tomato broth on a wooden soup ladle

Want Firmer Rice? Cook It Separately

Cooking the rice right in the soup makes it soft and starchy, and it keeps drinking up broth the longer the soup sits. If you want firmer rice and a brothier soup, leave the rice out of the crockpot and just cook it separately. You can simply spoon the soup over the rice.

Make It Your Own

Change the ground meat: Ground turkey, chicken, or pork can replace the beef. Brown it with the onion before adding it to the slow cooker.
Add some sausage: Replace part of the beef with mild or hot ground sausage for a more seasoned soup. Taste before adding extra salt.
Use another broth: Chicken broth gives the base a lighter flavor, while beef broth keeps it more robust.
Add mushrooms: Sliced mushrooms can go in with the vegetables for another savory element without changing the basic method.

Storage and Reheating

Fridge: Refrigerate leftovers promptly in shallow, sealed containers and use within 3–4 days. If you prepared the rice separately, keep it in its own container.

Reheating: Warm the soup in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally until heated through. Add broth as needed to loosen it, especially if the rice was cooked in the soup.

Freezer: For better texture, freeze the soup base without rice and add freshly cooked rice when serving. Leave room in the containers for expansion and thaw in the refrigerator before reheating. Rice frozen in the soup will be softer after thawing.

What to Serve with Cabbage Roll Soup

Crusty bread is plenty alongside this hearty soup. My Italian Parmesan bread is a good option for soaking up the tomato broth.

For another bread project, try my rosemary basil Crock Pot bread. Make it ahead or use a second slow cooker so the soup has its own space.

Cabbage Roll Soup Questions

No. Add it raw after removing the core and chopping the leaves. It will soften in the broth during slow cooking.

The rice absorbs liquid as it cooks and continues absorbing it afterward. Stir in additional broth until the soup reaches the consistency you like. This is especially helpful when reheating leftovers.

I recommend keeping that step. Browning lets you break the meat into even crumbles, build flavor, and drain excess grease before it ends up in the soup.

Cabbage shrinks as it cooks, but the slow cooker still needs to be filled within its recommended limit at the start. Don’t force the lid down or rely on the cabbage shrinking to make an overfilled cooker work. Use a larger slow cooker if needed.

More Soup Recipes to Try

Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice Soup: Another comforting rice soup to add to your dinner rotation.
Slow Cooker Sausage Tortellini Soup: A hearty option when you’re in the mood for sausage and pasta.
Instant Pot Vegetable Soup: A vegetable-filled soup made in the pressure cooker.
Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe: A hearty and brothy soup to warm the soul.

If you make my Crockpot cabbage roll soup, leave a rating and a comment below. Tell me whether you cooked the rice in the soup or kept it separate, and don’t forget the bread for dipping!

David Murphy

Crockpot Cabbage Roll Souop

Ground beef, cabbage, rice, and vegetables slow cook in a savory tomato broth for a hearty soup inspired by stuffed cabbage rolls. Brown the beef, add everything to the Crockpot, and cook until the vegetables and rice are tender.

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Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Calories: 1586

Ingredients

1 pound lean ground beef
1 onion chopped
3 garlic cloves minced
3 carrots chopped
1 green bell pepper chopped
¾ cup uncooked long-grain rice
6 cups cabbage cored and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 can diced tomatoes 28 ounces, undrained
1 can tomato sauce 15 ounces
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
4 cups beef broth plus more as needed
1 teaspoon sugar optional
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and black pepper to taste
2 bay leaves
Fresh chopped parsley optional, for topping

Equipment

Large skillet
6-quart Crockpot, or larger if needed to stay within the recommended fill level
Spoon or spatula
Ladle

Instructions

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and onion. Cook, breaking the beef into crumbles, until browned and the onion has softened.
Add the garlic and cook briefly until fragrant. Drain excess grease and transfer the beef mixture to the Crockpot.
Add the carrots, bell pepper, uncooked rice, cabbage, diced tomatoes with their juices, tomato sauce, tomato paste, and Worcestershire sauce.
Pour in the beef broth. Add the optional sugar, oregano, thyme, salt, pepper, and bay leaves. Stir gently to combine and moisten the rice. Keep the contents within the slow cooker’s recommended fill level.
Cover and cook on LOW for 6–8 hours or HIGH for 4–6 hours, until the rice is cooked and the cabbage and carrots are tender. Begin checking at the shorter end of the range to avoid overcooking the rice.
Remove and discard the bay leaves. Stir in additional broth as needed for a thinner soup, then taste and adjust the seasoning.
Ladle into bowls and top with chopped parsley, if desired.

Nutrition

Serving: 1ServingCalories: 1586kcalCarbohydrates: 203gProtein: 133gFat: 28gSaturated Fat: 12gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 2gCholesterol: 281mgSodium: 5156mgPotassium: 5206mgFiber: 28gSugar: 49gVitamin A: 32462IUVitamin C: 319mgCalcium: 604mgIron: 24mg

Notes

Separate rice option: Omit the uncooked rice from the Crockpot. Prepare the ¾ cup dry rice separately according to package directions, then divide the cooked rice among bowls and ladle the finished soup over it.
Rice texture: Rice cooked in the soup will continue absorbing broth and softening as it sits. Avoid holding the finished soup for an extended period if you want more distinct grains.
Storage: Refrigerate promptly in shallow, sealed containers for 3–4 days.
Reheating: Warm on the stovetop over medium heat until heated through, adding broth as needed.

Freezing: For better texture, freeze the soup without rice and add cooked rice when serving.

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Crockpot Cabbage Roll Soup