How to Make Chef John's Polish Cabbage Roll Soup

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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.

Transcript

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!

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