Chicken and Cabbage Soup

A loaded and hearty chicken and cabbage soup full of healthy ingredients. A satisfying and delicious soup that makes a complete meal, perfect for this time of the year.

When the weather gets cold, I start craving soups. This nourishing chicken and cabbage soup is one of my favorite winter soups; it’s filling and comforting yet low in calories, easy, quick, cheap to make, and adaptable.

You can cook the chicken before starting with the soup or use leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken. You can make it with breasts, but also with chicken legs. Or, just after Thanksgiving or Christmas, you can make the cabbage soup using turkey leftovers.

And if you like soups as much as we do, check out the Panera Black Bean Soup (Copycat Recipe), this easy 4-Ingredient Potato Soup Recipe, or the Easy Carrot Pumpkin Soup.

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• Recipe ingredients
• How to make cabbage soup with chicken and potatoes?
• Expert Tips
• Recipe FAQ
• More Soup Recipes
• 📖 Recipe
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Recipe ingredients

Chicken:

• I made the soup with chicken breasts this time. But I often make this cabbage chicken soup with thighs or (even better and cheaper) with chicken quarters.
• You will need about 1 lb of meat. If you are using thighs, four of them should be enough. When using quarters, you will need 2 large ones.
• If you make the cabbage soup with leftover or rotisserie chicken, use more or less the same amount. It will be fine if you have a bit more or less leftover meat.

Cabbage:

• Either white, sweetheart, or green cabbage. 5 cups chopped cabbage (or about 400 g/ 14 oz) are about ½ a smallish cabbage.

Chicken stock or broth:

• If you start the soup from scratch and cook the meat, use the broth (about 2 cups) needed to cook the chicken and 5 additional cups of chicken broth.
• If you use leftover or rotisserie meat, you will need 7 cups of chicken broth (stock).

Other vegetables: One onion, two celery stalks, one red pointed or bell pepper, two medium carrots, two garlic cloves, one cup frozen peas, and about 2 ½ cups chopped potatoes.

Spices: Bay leaves, marjoram, fine sea salt or Kosher salt, and black pepper. Also, some balsamic vinegar and fresh parsley at the end.

Other ingredients: Olive oil, tomato paste, and all-purpose flour.

How to make cabbage soup with chicken and potatoes?

• Cook the chicken: Place the breasts in a single layer in a large saucepan. Cover with about 2 cups of the stock, enough liquid to cover them. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat, and simmer until cooked through about 10-12 minutes. Shred or cut the cooked chicken into smaller pieces (1).

• Prepare vegetables: Chop all the vegetables and place them in a large bowl (1). Keep the minced garlic separated as you will add it later to the pot.

• Saute: Heat the oil in a large pot or a Dutch oven and saute all the vegetables except the garlic for about 10 minutes on medium heat, occasionally stirring (2).
• Add garlic, dried herbs, the stock you used for cooking the chicken breast, and the remaining stock required by the recipe - a total of 7 cups (3).

• Cook: Bring to a boil, then simmer on low heat for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are almost done.
• Add peas and the chicken meat (4), and simmer for another 4-5 minutes (5).

• Thicken the soup: Mix the tomato paste and the flour in a small bowl. Scoop about ¾ cup of liquid from the simmering soup and slowly whisk it into the flour mixture until smooth (6).
• Slowly whisk the slurry into the simmering liquid. Simmer for another 3-4 minutes until slightly thickened (7).
• Adjust the taste with salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Expert Tips

Time management:

• Start cooking the chicken and prepare all the veggies while the chicken is cooking.
• To save time, use rotisserie chicken or leftovers. They will only need to be shredded or chopped and reheated in the almost-finished soup.
• Use pre-shredded cabbage and frozen vegetables for a speedy meal.

• If you use chicken thighs or quarters, cook them for 20 to 30 minutes until cooked through. Check out How to Boil Chicken Legs for detailed instructions for cooking these cuts.

Additions:

• Add other vegetables like green beans, broccoli or cauliflower florets, kale, spinach, and so on. Take a look in your crisper and use what’s there.
• Replace the potatoes with a can of white beans or some rice. If using leftover rice, add it at the end of the cooking time, together with the chicken.
• Add some cayenne pepper, sriracha, or another hot sauce if you like the meal to be spicier.

Recipe FAQ

More Soup Recipes

• Leek and Potato Soup (No Cream)

📖 Recipe