In this video, learn how to make Chef John's Polish Cabbage Roll Soup, a comforting and hearty dish inspired by traditional stuffed cabbage rolls. This easy one-pot recipe combines tender cabbage, ground meat, rice, and a flavorful tomato broth for a delicious, warming meal.
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00:00Hello, this is Chef John from foodwishes.com with Polish cabbage roll soup.
00:09That's right, I'm going to show you what to make when you want cabbage rolls, but you
00:13don't want to actually make cabbage rolls, which are amazing, but do take a little bit
00:17of time and effort.
00:18And not only did this satisfy my craving, it was one of the most delicious and comforting
00:23soups I've had in a while.
00:26To get started, we'll go ahead and prep up a nice big green cabbage, which we will start
00:30by cutting it in half.
00:32And of course, once we get our knife started, we will move any and all fingers above the
00:36blade, so that way as we slice down, there is zero chance we're going to cut ourselves.
00:42And then once halved, we'll go ahead and cut out the core at the bottom, using two cuts
00:46at about a 45 degree angle.
00:49And yes, I did luck out, since that was like the smallest core I've ever seen.
00:53And then once that's been removed, we can lay our cabbage down on the flat side, and
00:58then slice this into about one or one and a half inch strips, or you decide, but once
01:03you pick a size, try to stick with it.
01:06And that's it, we'll simply turn those strips and slice across into bite-sized pieces, whatever
01:11that means to you.
01:13But my general strategy with soup is that everything should fit on the spoon.
01:17And that's it, we'll cut the other half up the same way, which I won't make you watch.
01:22Alright, half is plenty.
01:24And what we'll do is set that aside, and head to the stove, where we will melt an entire
01:28stick of butter over medium-high heat in a soup pot.
01:32And once our butter's melted, we can go ahead and toss in a diced onion, and we'll also
01:36go ahead and toss in our salts.
01:38And what we'll do is cook these onions, stirring for about four or five minutes, or until they
01:43soften up and start to turn translucent.
01:46And once we're happy with how those are looking, we'll go ahead and transfer in one pound of
01:50ground beef, and then we'll take a spatula, or something similar, and we'll cook that
01:55meat stirring for about five minutes, while we break it up into small crumbles.
02:00And exactly what small means is going to be up to you.
02:03I mean, you guys are after all the Billy Joel's of this soup inspired by cabbage rolls.
02:08And speaking of New York, that's where my Polish cabbage roll recipe comes from, since
02:12that is where my grandmother Sophie lived.
02:15But anyway, like I said, we'll cook that meat for about five minutes or so, breaking it
02:19up fairly fine as we do, or at least that's my preference.
02:23And once things get to about this point, we will finish seasoning this up with some freshly
02:28ground black pepper, as well as a few shakes of cayenne, and then last but not least, one
02:34bay leaf.
02:36And then what we'll do is give this a stir, for no apparent reason, since it accomplishes
02:41nothing.
02:42But as you know, I do enjoy a good stir, and it's part of the ritual.
02:47And then what we'll do is turn our heat up to high, and we'll transfer in a couple cups
02:50of beef broth, which I'm going to use this big measuring cup for, so that it looks homemade.
02:57And then what we'll do is wait for this to come to a boil.
03:00And by the way, do not, under any circumstances, skim that fat off the top, since that is mostly
03:05butter and a little bit of beef fat, and we really do want that emulsified into our soup.
03:10And then besides definitely not skimming, we will wait for this to come to a rolling
03:14boil, at which point we'll add our chopped cabbage, and we'll go ahead and poke that
03:19down in, and we'll wait for that to soften up and become stirable.
03:23And I think one of the keys to this soup is to cook the cabbage for about 10 to 15 minutes
03:28first, before we add our tomato product, which is of course acidic, since sometimes that
03:33can toughen the cabbage, and it will not achieve that nice soft melt-in-your-mouth texture
03:37we want.
03:39So what we'll do is lower our heat to medium, and like I said, we'll let that cabbage cook
03:43for about 10 to 15 minutes, at which point it's probably gonna look something like this.
03:48And once that's been accomplished, we can go ahead and transfer in some crushed tomatoes,
03:52or a tomato puree, or a plain tomato sauce, and then we'll also take a cup and a half
03:57of water, and use that to rinse out our measuring cup, and we will add that in as well.
04:03And we'll wait for this to start simmering again, and once it does, I like to let it
04:07cook for about 15 minutes before we add our rice.
04:10Okay, the rice is not gonna take that long to cook, so we want to make sure we've given
04:14this soup enough time for those pieces of meat to get nice and soft and succulent, and
04:19for our cabbage to basically melt into the soup, or at least that's what I like.
04:23Okay, if you want your cabbage to retain some color and texture, you'll just simply not
04:27cook it as long, and once we are happy with it, we'll go ahead and add the last couple
04:32ingredients, which will include a whole bunch of freshly chopped Italian parsley, but not
04:37all of it.
04:38I'm only putting in about half at this point, and then after that, we can add our rice,
04:43and I'm using basmati, but I think any long grain rice will do.
04:48And what we'll do is stir that in, and we'll cook this for another 20 minutes or so, or
04:52until the rice is done to our liking, which can be anywhere between just barely cooked,
04:57to where the grains get so soft, they actually start to fall apart.
05:00Okay, so you're gonna have to decide when the soup is done.
05:04I know that is a lot of responsibility, but relax.
05:08As long as you cook your rice until it's at least tender, you're gonna be fine.
05:12Alright, once you get to that point, it will just get softer, and your soup will get thicker
05:16and thicker, which is totally fine to do on purpose, and there are a lot of rice soups
05:21that are cooked exactly like that.
05:24And while this is simmering, if you feel like it's getting too thick, and your rice is not
05:27cooked fully yet, you can always toss in another splash of water, like I'm doing here, or of
05:33course, some more beef broth would also work.
05:35Okay, I do want this to be very thick, but I still want to be able to call it a soup,
05:40and keep a straight face.
05:42So if we do need to add liquid, we'll do it a little bit at a time.
05:46And that's it.
05:47Like I said, when you're happy with your rice, your soup is officially done, which means
05:52we have to taste it one last time for seasoning.
05:55And I decided to add a little more salt, and don't be surprised if you need to do the same.
06:00And we can also stir in the rest of our parsley, and then we'll turn off the heat.
06:05And that's it.
06:06We can go ahead and ladle that up, into a nice cabbage-colored bowl.
06:10And then I finished very simply, with another pinch of freshly chopped Italian parsley.
06:15And then I grabbed a spoon and dug in, and that, my friends, tasted exactly like Polish
06:20style cabbage rolls.
06:23Which is not surprising, since I used literally the same ingredients I put in my cabbage rolls.
06:28Which I'm pretty sure is the first recipe I ever memorized.
06:31Which was not that hard, since it's one of everything.
06:34One head of cabbage, one stick of butter, one pound of beef, one bunch of parsley, one
06:39cup of rice, and one jar of tomato.
06:42So other than a little bit of additional liquid, this is the exact same thing.
06:47And I could not have been happier with how it came out, except for one major thing.
06:52Okay, it was right about here when I realized, I totally forgot the garlic.
06:57I know, Sophie would not be pleased.
07:00And if that ever happens to you, all we have to do, is melt a little bit of butter in a
07:04pan, and then we'll add our minced garlic to that.
07:08And we will sizzle that for about 30 to 60 seconds, before we pour in a little bit of
07:12beef broth.
07:13And we'll bring that up to a simmer, and let it cook for a couple minutes.
07:18At which point we'll simply stir it into our soup.
07:21And that's going to be exactly the same, if we had added it at the appropriate time.
07:25Which would have been when we stirred in our black pepper, and our cayenne, and our
07:28bay leaf.
07:30So to summarize, we never, ever let the food win.
07:34And now let's just forget that ever happened.
07:36But anyway, no matter when you add your garlic, if you're craving cabbage rolls, but don't
07:41have the time or energy to do them properly, this incredible soup is a great solution.
07:46And yes, I mean that both ways.
07:47And I really do hope you give it a try soon.
07:51So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts, a printable written recipe,
07:55and much more info, as usual.
07:57And as always, enjoy!