Cabbage Roll Soup

I turned 33 this month. July birthday, which means the middle of summer heat, which means the celebration has always been something outdoors and casual. Hannah made a peach cake this year using the last of the peaches we'd put up in August—they'd been in the freezer since then, waiting for the right occasion. She pulled them out on my birthday morning and the kitchen smelled like August for about an hour and a half while the cake was in the oven.

Wait—I'm getting ahead of myself. That was last summer. It's January 2020 now. I'm 32 still, turning 33 in July. The days have been so similar lately that time compresses.

What actually happened this week: I finished reading a book about traditional Southeastern plant use that Lily sent me from Fayetteville. She'd found it in the university library and knew I'd want it. It covers medicinal and food plants across the region with enough specificity to be actually useful, and I've been reading it slowly the way you read a book you want to keep. Folding corners on the pages about plants I recognize, making notes in the margins.

There was a chapter on hickory nut oil that I kept returning to. The old preparation—cracking and boiling the nuts, skimming the oil off the top—is something I've read about but never tried. The oil is supposed to be rich and nutty in a way that store-bought nut oils don't approach. I'm going to try it this fall when the hickories drop.

Made a simple soup this week with the last of the venison scraps, some dried hominy, and the dried wild onions. The kind of meal that costs almost nothing and tastes like it costs everything.

That soup I made this week — venison scraps, dried hominy, wild onions — reminded me of something I’ve been thinking about since reading Lily’s book: that the most satisfying meals are almost always the ones built from what’s already in the house, without a plan, without ceremony. This cabbage roll soup carries that same spirit. It’s everything a stuffed cabbage roll wants to be, deconstructed into a single pot, the kind of thing you make on a Tuesday in January when the days are compressing and you just need something that tastes like it was made with intention.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 45 min | Total Time: 1 hr | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef (or ground venison)
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups green cabbage, roughly chopped (about 1/2 a medium head)
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
4 cups beef broth
1/2 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp dried thyme
Salt and black pepper to taste
Fresh parsley, chopped, for serving (optional)

Instructions

Brown the meat. In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, cook the ground beef (or venison), breaking it apart, until no longer pink, about 6–8 minutes. Drain excess fat if needed.
Soften the aromatics. Reduce heat to medium. Add the diced onion to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more until fragrant.
Build the broth. Stir in the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, smoked paprika, and dried thyme. Bring to a gentle boil.
Add cabbage and rice. Stir in the chopped cabbage and uncooked rice. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 25–30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the rice is cooked through and the cabbage is tender.
Taste and adjust. Check seasoning, adjust salt and pepper as needed. If the soup has thickened too much as the rice absorbed liquid, add a splash of broth or water to reach your preferred consistency.
Serve. Ladle into bowls and top with fresh parsley if desired. Good with crusty bread or on its own.

Nutrition (per serving)

Cabbage Roll Soup — A Simple Pot for a Slow January Week