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.
haven’t made the soup yet, but intend to.
with addition of white beans.
but, RIDICULOUS amount of sodium. Will be eliminating that!
No need to salt shame. We all adjust accordingly to our taste. Wonderful recipe.thank you for sharing, EDM. By reducing the broth the result is more of a stew.
Well said Sheila! Hope you love it!
I’m going to make this tomorrow, looks delicious! Do you discard the fat from the sausage after browning or is it used in the soup?
Hey Scott! I don’t unless the sausage is SUPER fatty!
Just made this tonight. Absolutely gorgeous! Thank for this delicious soup that goes so well with a snowy winter night in northern Canada. Mmmm.
Love it!!! It’s another crazy cold night here – I need to make a batch asap!
This soup sounds amazing! Any idea whether or not it could be prepped and cooked in the crockpot? Any idea how long in crockpot? I didn’t know if the cabbage was more mush or crisp in the soup so unsure how long to trial in the crockpot if I go that route? Thanks in advance!
Hey Jenny – YES! I have made this in the slow cooker and it’s excellent. I would do 4 hours on low (but recommend browing the onion / meat first to add a layer of flavor)
I have made this soup before… I’m sure I modified it in some way because I am a bit impulsive and would in the kitchen but I want to say I found it so memorable I have spent the past hour digging around the internet to find it again! This soup is absolutely fantastic! Everyone I feed it to last winter was head over heels for it!
Yay Laila!! So glad you found it again. Make sure you subscribed to recipes so you are on my list. There is a box to sign up on my homepage 🙂
This is my go to recipe, it is delish! The leftovers are amazing! Although it is paleo, I serve it with a crusty baguette & pasture butter!
This is on my menu for later this week – can’t wait!!!!
I never comment on recipes, but this is my absolute favorite soup recipe ever. Best Paleo recipe that I’ve found too. This is delicious and hearty, it feels like a cheat. I do add mushrooms to mine. Amazing!!!
Wow! What an amazing comment Stace! DAY MADE and thanks for taking the time to let me know 🙂
A heartfelt thank you for sharing this awesome soup, which has become a true staple in our home. Now, instead of dreading the arrival of cabbage in our CSA – which comes early and often – we both look forward to it.
I use spicy chicken sausage and add a squirt of Sriracha at the end, which gives it a great kick. Thank you for this glorious (and easy) recipe!
Love an extra kick with Sriracha! So glad you love this 🙂
I was reading another blog post yesterday (Peanut Butter Fingers) and came across a link to this recipe. It was perfect timing since it was a cold and rainy day here in Boston. I had a a bag of coleslaw I needed to use up as well as some ground beef and ground sausage in the freezer which went in. It was a delicious soup and we froze the rest for a couple of other meals (after my husband went back for seconds!). Thanks for a great recipe!
Fantastic Amanda! So glad you loved it and nothing better than a stocked freezer 🙂
I made this for dinner for my husband and I, and we both loved it and will definitely be making it again! He doesn’t like tomatoes in soup so I added some potatoes instead, and increased the stock to make up the needed liquid. Also used Italian hot sausage. It was delicious, hearty and filling and very tasty. Thanks for the great recipe!
Love this with hot sausage. So glad you both liked it Michelle!
Wize! I added small red potatoes, cut in quarters and partially cooked in Chicken Broth, which I’ll add back as needed.