This easy sweet and sour cabbage soup is a delicious meatless soup made with tons of fresh veggies and a rich and unique beef and tomato based broth. Sweetened with brown sugar and maple syrup and balanced with lots of fresh lemon juice for a fantastic sweet and sour flavor you'll love. Serve with warm, fresh bread for a healthy dinner and freeze the leftovers for a quick meal another time.
PREP TIME 15 minutesminutes
COOK TIME 1 hourhour30 minutesminutes
TOTAL TIME 1 hourhour45 minutesminutes
YIELD 12servings
Ingredients
2tablespoonsolive oil
2onions, chopped
3celery stalks, chopped
2large or 3 medium carrots, chopped
1head of green cabbage, cored and chopped
2cupsV8 juice
16cupswater
4heaping tablespoons of Better Than Beef BouillonOR Substitute 16 cups beef stock for the water above
1 (12 oz) can diced tomatoes
3/4cupgolden raisins
1 1/2cupbrown sugar
1/4cupmaple syrup
3lemons, juiced
1tablespooncaraway seeds
1/4cupfresh dill, minced
Instructions
In a very large stockpot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions, celery, and carrots. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper, and stir. Cook for 5 minutes.
Add the chopped cabbage to the pot. It will seem like a LOT, but it will cook down. Stir and cook for 5 - 10 minutes or until the volume of cabbage has reduced.
Add the V8 juice to the pot and stir. Then add either the water & bouillon OR beef stock. Add the entire can of tomatoes, raisins, brown sugar, maple syrup, lemon juice and caraway seeds to the pot and stir. Bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer the soup for 1 hour and 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste the soup and adjust the seasonings as needed to get the right balance between sweet and sour.
Stir in the chopped dill right before serving.
Recipe Notes
Crockpot Instructions
If you want to turn this into a slowcooker soup, you just need an easy tweak.
Start by softening the vegetables in a large pot on the stovetop. Then pour them into the bowl of your Crockpot. Add all the broth ingredients to the bowl and stir.
Cover and cook for 6 - 7 hours on LOW or 4 hours on HIGH.
Freezer-Friendly
You can make this sweet and sour cabbage soup and freeze it in smaller containers for easy lunches or dinners another time. Simply thaw in the fridge overnight and heat in the microwave or on the stovetop.