Name: Polish Cabbage Roll Soup
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 8
Cuisine: Eastern European
Ingredients: 1/2 cup unsalted butter; 1 yellow onion, diced; 2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt; 1 pound ground beef; 3 cloves garlic, crushed; 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; Pinch of cayenne pepper; 1 bay leaf; 2 1/2 cup beef broth; 3 cups crushed or puréed tomato; 1 1/2 cups water, plus more as needed; 2 1/2 pounds green cabbage, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces; 1 cup white long grain rice; 3/4 cup chopped Italian parsley, divided

Polish Cabbage Roll Soup

Chef John's cabbage roll soup tastes exactly like Polish-style cabbage rolls, because it has all the same ingredients. This delicious and comforting one-pot soup satisfies the exact same craving, but involves a fraction of the work.

1 hr total 10 min prep 50 min cook 8 358 cal

Instructions

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1 Set a soup pot over medium-high heat and melt butter. Add onion and salt, and cook, stirring, until onions turn soft and translucent, 4 to 5 minutes.
2 Add ground beef and cook, stirring and breaking up large clumps, until meat is browned and broken into small crumbles, about 5 minutes.
3 Season with garlic, black pepper, cayenne, and bay leaf; cook and stir for 1 minute. Pour in beef broth, increase heat to high, and bring to a boil. Stir in cabbage, reduce heat to medium, and cook until cabbage is just tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
4 Pour in tomatoes and water, and continue to simmer, 10 to 15 minutes more. Stir in rice and half the parsley; simmer over medium heat until rice is tender and soup thickens, about 20 minutes. If soup becomes too thick as it simmers, add a little more beef broth and/or water. Season to taste with salt.