This popular and easy Italian Sausage and Cabbage soup recipe is a delicious meal-in-a-bowl that only has 10 minutes of prep time and freezes great for future meals!
This sausage and cabbage soup was born out of convenience and the onset of chilly weather!
This past weekend, we had pretty much no groceries left in the house except for a head of cabbage, some carrots, and a couple of packages of Italian Sausage in the freezer. Since I always have garlic, onions, and canned tomatoes of some sort in my pantry, I am not counting those.
I had the idea to make this soup a while ago but I always imagined fresh parsley as part of the equation. When I realized that all I had left in my house were these ingredients (except for the parsley!), I decided to go for it anyway.
This is a hearty winter soup, loaded with vegetables and sausage in every bite. Mild in flavor but with a nice balance from the tomatoes, this will please everyone in the family and is kid-approved!
Since I prefer a bit of heat, I like to sprinkle some crushed red pepper flakes on mine but that is totally optional. If everyone you are serving likes a bit of heat, I highly recommend using spicy Italian sausage in place of the mild sausage!
Sausage and Cabbage Soup Ingredients:
- Mild Italian Sausage
- Olive Oil
- Yellow Onion
- Garlic
- Carrots
- Green Cabbage
- Spices (Salt, Pepper, Crushed Red Pepper Flakes)
- Canned Unsalted Diced Tomatoes
- Chicken Stock or Broth
Recipe Tips:
- What is Bulk Sausage? Bulk sausage is another way of saying “loose sausage” or sausage outside of casings. If you can only find Italian sausage in casings, make sure that it is uncooked. Use a paring knife to slice a slit down the length of the uncooked sausage, remove the casings and crumble into a bowl. On that note, whatever type of sausage you buy, make sure it is gluten-free, MSG-free, and free of anything artificial.
- To save time, buy already shredded green cabbage!
- You can substitute red cabbage but just know that the color of the soup will be purple.
- Substitute Spicy or Hot Italian Sausage for a kick and omit the optional crushed red pepper flakes.
- If you want to use Italian seasoned Chicken or Turkey Sausage, I suggest adding an additional Tablespoon of olive oil and using it for sauteeing the Chicken Sausage.
- This sausage and cabbage soup freezes and reheats GREAT.
- To reheat: place defrosted OR frozen soup in a pot, cover, and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until warmed through.
More Gluten-Free Cabbage Recipes:
Roasted Vegetable Soup with Cabbage
Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating below!
This popular and easy Italian Sausage and Cabbage soup recipe is a delicious meal-in-a-bowl that only has 10 minutes of prep time and freezes great for future meals!
- 1.5 pounds bulk mild Italian sausage crumbled
- 1.5 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion halved and thinly sliced
- 6 medium garlic cloves finely chopped
- 4 medium carrots peeled and cut into 1/4" rounds
- 2 pounds green cabbage core removed and shredded
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt plus a few pinches for cooking
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes unsalted
- 6 cups chicken stock or broth
- crushed red pepper flakes for serving optional
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Crumble sausage into a bowl and set aside.
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Peel, halve, and thinly slice onion. Finely chop garlic. Peel carrots and cut into 1/4" rounds.
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Remove core from cabbage and shred. I used the food processor with the shredding blade inserted. Alternately, you could cut the cabbage into very thin slices.
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Heat a large soup pot over medium heat. Once hot, add crumbled sausage. Cook, stirring occasionally, mostly to break up the sausage with a wooden spoon, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until most of the pink is gone.
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Remove sausage from pot and set aside.
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Keep the pot over medium heat and add olive oil. Once hot, toss in sliced onions along with a pinch of kosher salt and a couple turns of freshly ground pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 6 to 8 minutes, until onions are soft.
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Add in garlic and carrots, stir continuously for 1 minute until garlic is fragrant.
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Raise heat to medium-high and add in cabbage along with 2 teaspoons of kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. Toss to combine and continue cooking for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until cabbage begins to wilt and release some moisture.
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Add cooked sausage back in along with diced tomatoes and broth. Bring to a boil.
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Once boiling, cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, remove from heat and adjust seasonings if necessary. Serve with a sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes and Enjoy!
- What is Bulk Sausage? Bulk sausage is another way of saying "loose sausage" or sausage outside of casings. If you can only find Italian sausage in casings, make sure that it is uncooked. Use a paring knife to slice a slit down the length of the uncooked sausage, remove the casings and crumble into a bowl. On that note, whatever type of sausage you buy, make sure it is gluten-free, MSG-free, and free of anything artificial.
- To save time, buy already shredded green cabbage!
- You can substitute red cabbage but just know that the color of the soup will be purple.
- Substitute Spicy or Hot Italian Sausage for a kick and omit the optional crushed red pepper flakes.
- If you want to use Italian seasoned Chicken or Turkey Sausage, I suggest adding an additional Tablespoon of olive oil and using it for sauteeing the Chicken Sausage.
- This sausage and cabbage soup freezes and reheats GREAT.
- To reheat: place defrosted OR frozen soup in a pot, cover, and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until warmed through.
Did you make this recipe? Tag @EverydayMaven on Instagram with the hashtag #EveryDayMaven and please give a star rating below.
UPDATE NOTES: This sausage and cabbage soup recipe was originally published in February 2014 and was most recently updated in September 2024.
Oh I wish it was winter right now, this looks like a real comfort heart warming soup.
I’ll trade you! I’ll give you soup if you give me summer lol 😉
Ground meat is indeed a timesaver and delicious! I love that you shredded the cabbage here. I usually just slice it, but shredding it must infuse it into the soup so you get some in every bite. This is such a delicious, satisfying soup and even better since it uses pantry and fridge staples.
It is and you could make this soup with chicken sausage or turkey sausage – I think any of them will give it a great flavor!
I did not know there is MSG in Italian sausage. Thanks for the alert. Really need to read all food labels.
With grounds completely snow covered, not to mention the cold temp, a big bowl of your yummy soup would be very comforting.
You really do Norma. It’s a sad reality but our food supply is pretty contaminated.
Alyssa, do you take photos of every meal you make in the hopes of sharing it with us? You are a good woman. Thanks again for an accessible meal.
Not even close! If there is still good light and I know the recipe is ready to share, I’ll take photos otherwise if it’s something I know I want to share, I’ll make a point to remake it when I think there will be some light. It is a challenge though because I don’t cook “for the blog”, I cook for my family and then share what I am cooking, which doesn’t always coincide with good light (especially in this season!).
Alyssa,
Your soup looks delicious. I’m a fan of ‘born of desperation’ soups, as those are frequently memorable. I nearly always have onions on hand, and though I’m emptying quart jars of crushed tomatoes weekly there’s still plenty in the pantry. Thanks!
So true Kirsten, those are often the best soups!
This soup looks delicious! I am going to make it this week for sure as I have all the ingredients. The only thing I would change is I would not shred my cabbage but cut it into 1/2″-1″ cubes for a more rustic feel. One less item to clean in the kitchen 🙂 I do believe they sell pre-shredded cabbage in bags at the grocery store for those who do not want to chop or do not have a food processor.
They do Mary! In fact, Trader Joe’s has a nice size bag of already shredded cabbage for $1.19 (at least here). Enjoy!
This looks delicious! I’ve been making a lot of soup lately, too. We’re just having the kind of weather than calls for tucking into a big bowl of something warm and homey.
Seriously! It hasn’t been as cold here as most of the US but I like to have soup almost everyday in winter no matter what!
We use ground meat all the time too. Last night it was bison!
I love Bison – especially for Chili. It is just so convenient and such a time saver to use something crumbled 🙂