This Keto Unstuffed Cabbage Roll Soup is a comforting, hearty, low carb meal made easily in your slow cooker, stove top or Instant Pot for any busy weeknight or a cold day!
WHAT IS CABBAGE ROLL SOUP?
Soup recipes are the epitome of winter in my opinion! This unstuffed cabbage soup has been a favorite since I first posted it in January of 2016!!
Cabbage roll soup is essentially deconstructed classic cabbage rolls in soup form!
You may or may not be a cabbage fan, but honestly you must try this great recipe which might just win you over!
One of the most comforting meals on a cold winter's day made in your slow cooker or just simmer in a large pot on the stove, but either way it's a hearty soup for the whole family with all the flavors of traditional cabbage rolls but lots less work.
Often cabbage roll soup has white rice or brown rice in it, but to make this keto friendly, I swapped it out with cauliflower rice.
You will love how thick the texture is because of using riced cauliflower and you'll love how much lower in carbs it is than traditional cabbage roll soup. In fact, I think you'll love it even more than traditional cabbage roll soup with rice!
Carbs in Classic Cabbage Roll Soup
One cup serving, according to Cronometer, has about 31 grams of carbs.
Carbs in our Keto Unstuffed Cabbage Soup
Our serving is actually 1.5 cups for just 8 grams of carbs!
CARBS IN MARINARA SAUCE
Tomatoes and tomato sauce can be enjoyed on a low-carb or keto diet. There is no food that is keto. Ketosis is a nutritional state your body is in when you lower the carbs enough to get into ketosis.
1 large tomato is about 7 carbs. Contrary to popular belief, you can enjoy a small amount of tomatoes within a recipe. Granted you may not be able to eat a whole tomato and stay in ketosis but, a small amount can be enjoyed.
½ cup of my homemade low carb marinara sauce is 6 total carbs. You can also purchase Rao's brand which is low carb if you don't want to make my recipe.
This unstuffed cabbage roll soup provides you a whole lot of servings so the total carbs per serving are 8 and if you follow net carbs just 6 grams per 1.5 cups of this delicious soup!
LOW-CARB Options for RICE
There are a many options for a low carb rice that you could use in this cabbage roll soup. I chose cauliflower rice but there are plenty of others if you aren't a fan.
Palmini rice is made from Hearts of palm and has about the same amount of carbs as cauliflower rice.
Miracle rice or Shirataki rice is another low carb option with the lowest amount of carbs, just 4 per serving.
If you choose to use rice instead of cauliflower then I would suggest 1 cup of cooked rice and eliminate the cauliflower.
You can eliminate the cauliflower in the recipe if you prefer. I feel it was a good substitute for rice which is usually in cabbage rolls. I think it thickened this slow cooker soup nicely without being very noticeable in texture.
I will tell you that not even my hubby noticed cauliflower was in this soup and everyone who was at our party raved about it and asked for the recipe and none of them are low carb!
SLOW COOKER VERSUS STOVE TOP METHOD
The slow cooker is great if you have the time in the morning to make before heading out to work. It will be amazing to come home to the aromas of an amazing cabbage roll soup.
But don't fret if you don't have a slow cooker or don't have the time. I've provided directions below for making this recipe in your stove top in about an hour.
Either cooking method will provide you a satisfying meal for the whole family and plenty of left overs!
HOW TO MAKE Instant Pot CABBAGE ROLL SOUP Recipe
Set your instant pot to saute mode and heat olive oil and garlic. Add onions and shallots and cook until softened.
Add ground beef and cook until browned and no longer pink.
Add seasonings to beef, marinara sauce and remaining ingredients (the riced cauliflower, broth and cabbage).
Stir to combine everything and cover. Set to manual mode on high pressure for 30 minutes. Quick release and carefully uncover once pressure seal has released.
Top with some fresh parsley and enjoy!
How to Store Keto Cabbage Roll Soup
Store this easy soup, once cooled, in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
How to Serve Easy Cabbage Roll Soup
I think this is a one-pot meal in itself and you may not want anything else, but here are some low carb keto bread options you might like:
This healthy soup can also be served with any of these low-carb vegetable side dishes.
LOW-CARB VERSUS KETO
If you've had a reluctant family member not ready to embrace a sugar free and/or low carb lifestyle, try comforting recipes like this that they won't even notice is grain free and healthy!
They will hopefully realize it's not that hard to give up processed carbs and sugar.
Unsure about the differences between sugar-free and low carb? I've cleared it up for you in this post as well as low-carb versus keto to help you figure out the best plan for you!
KETO UNSTUFFED Slow Cooker CABBAGE ROLL SOUP
Crock Pot Low Carb Un-Stuffed Cabbage Roll Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- ½ cup onion chopped
- ½ cup shallots chopped
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 16 ounces low carb marinara sauce
- 2 cups cauliflower riced
- 5 cups beef broth low sodium
- 8 cups cabbage sliced
Instructions
- Heat olive oil and garlic on medium high heat.
- Add onions and shallots and cook until softened.
- Add ground beef and cook until browned and no longer pink.
- Add seasonings to beef and marinara sauce.
- Add the riced cauliflower to the beef mixture and stir until coated.
- Pour the beef into the crock pot.
- Pour beef broth into crock pot and add cabbage.
- Stir to combine everything.
- Cook on high 3 hours or low 6 hours. If you don't have a crock pot, simply cook ground beef in a dutch oven or heavy soup pot, follow recipe and simmer on low, covered for about an hour until cabbage is tender.
Video
Notes
- This recipe was first published in January 2016 and updated with video in October 2018.
- You can subscribe for free by email so you won't ever miss any recipes I share on social media.
Tammy
You had said that the first time you served this was a New Year's Eve party for over 50 people. I would like to make it to take to a wake. Could you tell me please the amounts you used for the 50 people?
Brenda
I doubled the recipe and used 2 crock pots. Everyone enjoyed a small bowl.
Darcy Smith
The carb count for a half cup seems really high. Any idea why?
Michelle
I am trying to prepare to start the THM lifestyle. What would this recipe be considered?
Thank you
Brenda
I don't follow the THM lifestyle so I really don't know which it would be.
Pam
Can you just use tomato sauce instead of the marinara?
Brenda
yes
Anna
I wonder if you can sub miracle rice in this recipe? If so only add at the end or can you add it at the same time as the other ingredients?
Brenda
Yes just rinse it off first then add that last few minutes you are ready to serve. Not sure if it will get mushy though over time in the soup.
Linda
Hello All. I made this today , I cooked it for around 1hr and 1/2 in my Dutch oven on low. I added a little extra seasoning as well as a little red pepper it was delicious, gave is a little kick. My girlfriend had surgery this
weekend, I am taking a pot for her and her family. This is great comforting food and also good on a cold day.
Gloria
Hi, help I made this today and plugged in the macros into my fitness pal ,the macros are waaaaaay off. Ended up with 16 eight oz servings, 173 cal. 7 g fat, 17.8g. Carbs, 9.8g protein. I thought this was low carb. I followed the recipe exactly, it tastes great but oh the carbs.
Sandy
Brenda,
I have made this soup twice. It is delicious!! Thank you for the recipe.
Brenda
Glad you like it!
Satah
Made this today. Very tasty! This recipe was much better than some other recipes I've tried, and the seasoning was perfect. Doing a low carb diet, and in combination with fall, this is a great dish. I used water instead of broth (thought I had some but didn't) and used ground turkey. Still tasted wonderful, but I'll see how broth does next time :).
Brenda
Thank you!
Kassie
This looks delicious and I'm so anxious to try it out! I do have one crazy question though....
What size crock pot did you use to make this? I have a 5 quart and I didn't want to start making it and run out of room.
Thanks in advance and keep up the great work! 🙂
Brenda
The one I used is a 6 quart.
Pam
Brenda,
I am thrilled for some low-carb recipes. keep up the good work!
keep em coming.
Pam
Trish
Can this be frozen?
Krystal
This has become one of my go to recipes. Everyone in the house actually likes it, lol. Recipes that everyone will eat are hard to find. Even my 10 year old eats it and takes leftover for lunch! Thanks so much for a great one!
Nicole C
Can I substitute marinara with the passata, seasoned and a tad bit of arrowroot flour to thicken?
I'm really excited to make this. Looks and sounds delicious, thinking I'll try ground pork!
Thank you for posting this.
Brenda
sounds good!
jen
Where can you buy rice cauliflower?
Brenda
They do sell it packaged at Trader Joes but it's easy enough to make yourself if you have a food processor.
Miranda
Can I use an Italian sauce? if i can't find a marinara sauce?
Brenda
yes
Lacey
I'm sorry but I'm confused. Where does it say how much marinara to add?
Angie Jernigan
I want to make this today and I see in instructions you have to add marinara but in the ingredients you don't say how much marinara to buy or how much to use. Or do you mix in into the crock pot or with the beef mixture while cooking?
Thanks
Brenda
glitch in the recipe plug in working on fixing it
Berry
I know this is a stretch, but do you know how the nutritional content would change if you used organic ground turkey and low sodium veggie broth?
Brenda
I'm sorry I don't. Best bet is to just add ingredients into myfitnesspal.
Marcey
Question: how is the protein count so high??
Brenda
I use myfooddiary.com and pay a monthly fee for what I believe to be an accurate measurement of nutrition. It's been double checked. If you are unsure it is accurate you can also use a calorie counter and input the ingredients into it.
Karen
I absolutely loved this and thank you so much for posting this recipe. I did use ground turkey, double the spices, added a hefty pinch of crushed red chilies,tbsp. of worchestershire sauce, tomato sauce instead of marinara, 1/2 cup red wine to deglaze and 1/2 cup of chopped fresh parsley and basil in the last 10 minutes as I simmered mine on the stove. Just goes to show you how you can improvise with what you have on hand and end up with an amazing product. ?❤️
Karen
not a fan of marinara sauce, how would you substitute?
Brenda
Well it does help thicken it but maybe something spicy like salsa instead?
Bethany
Made a double batch of this in a big stockpot tonight. It's tasty!
Genevieve
Made this tonight; DELICIOUS!!! I will put this in my keeper recipe pile for sure! Thank you for sharing.
Brenda
thank you!
Charlene
Brenda, does this freeze well? It sounds delicious, but we would have a lot of leftovers. Thanks!
Brenda
We've never had it long enough to freeze LOL! Each time I've made it it's been gone quickly. I bet it would be fine though.
Wendy Allen
You could make a vegetarian version of this recipe, with chick peas instead of beef
Brenda
great idea!