This healthy detox cabbage soup is full of fresh veggies and beneficial antioxidants, plus it's vegan, inexpensive to make, and so tasty! Not only that, but this flavorful cabbage soup makes a wonderful light lunch or dinner! Did I mention it's low-fat, low-calorie, high-fiber, and you can eat as much of it as you want?
Healthy Detox Cabbage Soup
While the 'cabbage soup diet' was all the rage for a while, the magical instant weight loss that was promised was less than true. However, the detox cabbage soup itself is incredibly delicious, and while it might not miraculously melt off pounds, it does help your body to function in tip-top shape!
This flavorful vegetable soup is not only low calorie, but it is vegan and vegetarian friendly, full of beneficial antioxidants, and it's easy and inexpensive to make! My favorite thing, however, is that you can eat as much of it as you want, guilt-free!
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🍲 Why This Soup Works
Not only is cabbage soup light and healthy, but the cabbage itself has diuretic properties. That means the cabbage helps to rid your body of excess toxins and fluids!
This soup assists your body with cleaning out your colon because it's easy to digest. It helps your liver because cabbage is rich in sulfur which helps it to break down toxins!
While this soup is not intended for weight loss per say (though it is low calorie and making other healthy food choices with this soup may have that result), it is a great way to factory reset your body after the holidays, any time you're a little bloated, or just feeling overall less-than-great.
Replacing even one meal a day with cabbage soup is enough for your body to reap the benefits!
🥘 Ingredients
There are lots of fresh veggies in this cabbage detox soup! If you want to save time, you can always chop/dice them in advance (*see note).
- Olive Oil - 1 tablespoon, extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is preferred.
- Garlic - 1 teaspoon, finely chopped.
- Ginger - 1 teaspoon, finely chopped.
- Onion - ½ a cup, chopped.
- Celery - 2 ribs, diced.
- Carrots - 2 medium carrots, chopped.
- Red Bell Pepper - ½ a pepper, diced.
- Cabbage - 1 ½ cups, chopped (or roughly ½ of a small head of green cabbage).
- Diced Tomatoes - 14.5 ounce can, or petite diced, do not drain.
- Salt - 2 teaspoons or more to taste.
- Vegetable Stock - 6 cups.
- Bay Leaves - 2 bay leaves.
- Dried Basil - 1 teaspoon of dried basil or Italian seasoning.
- Red Chili Flakes - 1 teaspoon.
- Pepper - 1 teaspoon.
*Be sure to see the recipe card below for ingredients, amounts & instructions!*
🔪 Instructions
The most time-consuming part of this entire recipe is just chopping and dicing the veggies, after that it's a breeze! You'll need a knife and cutting board for the veggies, a large saucepan, and a spoon or spatula for stirring.
- Saute. In a large saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add 1 teaspoon of garlic and 1 teaspoon of ginger and saute for 30 seconds. Then, add ½ a cup of chopped onions and saute for an additional minute.
- Cook. Add 2 diced ribs of celery, 2 medium chopped carrots, and ½ a diced red bell pepper. Cook for 3-4 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add. Next, pour in a 14.5-ounce can of diced tomatoes with juices as well as the seasoning (salt, pepper, dried basil, and crushed red pepper flakes). Add the chopped cabbage and stir.
- Simmer. Pour in the 6 cups of vegetable stock and toss in 2 bay leaves. Bring the soup to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and let it simmer for 20 minutes.
- Serve. Remove from heat when done and stir to find the bay leaves. Discard the bay leaves and serve the detox soup while hot.
This soup is delicious chunky, but you may also blend it until smooth if you prefer. It makes a wonderfully light lunch or dinner any day of the week. Enjoy!
💭 Angela's Pro Tips & Recipe Notes
- To save on prep time you can chop your veggies in advance and refrigerate or freeze them (frozen cabbage should be used in 1-2 months max).
- If you want to add extra protein, you could add beans, cubed tofu, shredded chicken, ground beef, whatever your prefer.
- Storing: In the fridge, cabbage soup will last up to 5 days. Freeze individual portions in freezer bags for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge or in warm water and reheat on the stove-top or in the microwave before eating.
😋 More Tasty Soup Recipes!
- Best Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Crockpot Creamy Ham Potato Soup
- Hamburger Soup
- Albondigas Soup
- Italian Chicken Pastina Soup
- Chicken Noodle Soup
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📖 Recipe Card
Detox Cabbage Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tsp garlic (minced/finely chopped)
- 1 tsp ginger (minced/finely chopped)
- ½ cup onion (chopped)
- 2 ribs celery (diced)
- 2 medium carrots (chopped)
- ½ large red bell pepper (diced)
- 14.5 oz diced tomatoes (or petite diced, do not drain)
- 1 teaspoon dried basil (or Italian seasoning)
- 2 teaspoon salt (to taste)
- ¾ teaspoon ground black pepper (to taste)
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 ½ cups cabbage (chopped)
- 6 cups vegetable stock
- 2 whole bay leaves
- 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (optional)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice (optional)
(Note: 2x or 3x only changes the ingredient list)
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the minced 1 teaspoon garlic and minced 1 teaspoon ginger to the pan and saute for 30 seconds before adding the chopped ½ cup onion and sauteing for an additional minute or until fragrant.
- Add the chopped 2 ribs celery, 2 medium carrots, and ½ large red bell pepper to the saucepan and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes.
- Next, add in the canned 14.5 oz diced tomatoes (do not drain!) and seasoning (2 teaspoon salt, ¾ teaspoon ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon dried basil). Add the cabbage, then pour in the 6 cups vegetable stock, and add 2 whole bay leaves. *Add the optional apple cider vinegar and lemon juice at this point if desired.
- Stir then bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for 20 minutes.
- Remove from heat when done and remove the bay leaves before serving.
Notes
- To save on prep time you can chop your veggies in advance and refrigerate or freeze them (frozen cabbage should be used in 1-2 months max).
- If you want extra protein in your soup, you could add beans, cubed tofu, shredded or grilled chicken, ground beef, kielbasa, or whatever your prefer.
- In the fridge, cabbage soup will last up to 5 days. Freeze individual portions in freezer bags or freezer storage containers for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge or in warm water before reheating.
Kathy Hoffmeier says
Great favor! Added cooked ground beef for protein.
Phyllis says
Love this anything gluten free too
Angela Latimer says
Thanks Phyllis! We actually do quite a bit of gluten-free cooking, and will start noting modifications more often for everyone to enjoy the recipes.
Patrick says
I added turmeric everyone Loved it' Only added 1/2 tsp of pepper, it still seemed peppery
Karen Rodman says
This soup is really good! Im going to make it again!
Mary says
Please clarify the amount of basil for this recipe. In one place on this page the ingredients state 1 teaspoon basil yet the list of ingredients states 1 tablespoon.
Appreciate the info.
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
Sorry for the error, it should be 1 teaspoon of dried basil or Italian seasoning. Hope that helps, and thank you for pointing out the error so I could fix it! - Also, 1 teaspoon dried basil or 1 tablespoon fresh basil.
Shawanda Rhea says
So delicious the flavor is awesome.
John B. says
This soup is over-the-top delicious! I used a full head of cabbage, added an extra quart of broth, about three tablespoons of tomato paste and doubled everything else to make a double batch. I also added about eight ounces of andouille sausage (great smokey flavor) and a couple ounces of pancetta left over from another recipe, cooking that first and then adding the garlic and onions. Oh, and I diced up a left over shallot and tossed that in with the onions. What a great way to use up some of the aging stuff in the fridge. I only used half of the salt. There is so much flavor that I don't think you really need much of it and, if you do, you can always add it at the table. As I sit here in northern Alabama and watch the snow falling outside my kitchen window, I am so glad I made this soup. Thanks, Angela!
Chaty says
Delicious. I added kilbasa. Will make again. My new go to soup recipe. Thank you!
Jennifer says
Loved this soup. So simple and yummy. I used a large can of crushed tomatoes instead of the diced. Added the vinegar and lemon as well, leaving out the red pepper flakes( no spice for me). This will be a go to for me. I’ll add rotisserie chicken next time but loved it with just veggies. Thanks for sharing.
SayNoToCelery says
I am very picky with vegetables so I was wondering if I could blend celery with the tomatoes and carrots until liquefied and add that to the broth? The celery is the culprit here and I tend to, excuse my language but, gag when I eat celery. I would still use an extra portion of diced tomato and carrots in the soup but would doing so change the calorie count by a lot?
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
The calorie difference is negligible between celery and carrots, I say go for it! For reference, 1 cup of chopped tomatoes is 32 calories vs 14 for 1 cup of celery.
Dee C. says
This is such a delicious, simple and healthy soup! Even the meat-lovers love it! I added a teaspoon each of tumeric and oregano to the seasonings, and a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste because I love cabbage cooked in tomato sauce. Came out delish. This was my second time making it. Definitely a staple now! Thanks for sharing!
Helena says
Jag är mer hungrig efter jag har ätit en portion soppa. 🤔
"I'm more hungry after I eat a portion of soup."
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
Det är lågkalori, prova en andra portion. 🙂
"It's low calorie, try a second portion. 🙂 "
L Hep says
Love love love this recipe!!!
Even my teenage son loves it and my "Meat & Potatoes " Hubby loves it !
So that's sayin somethin for sure !
Joanne says
Really a great base recipe for detox soup, really yummy. I added half a small can of spicy Mexican tomato sauce. After doing that I didn’t need any crushed red pepper. I also added two large skinless chicken breast (for protein) to the soup for and after they were cooked I took them out, cooled them, shredded them and added them back into the soup.
I do have a question and maybe I totally over looked it. I see the nutritional info, but I did not see what you are using for the serving size. Would you please tell me what you are using as a serving size that leads you to the nutritional values. Thanks for the great recipe!
Anonymous says
Meant to give my comment 5 stars!
-Annmarie
Annmarie says
Delicious! I tried this recipe in my post-holiday reset and it did just the trick. I had been eating very heavy meals (and sweets) and wanted to cleanse my system a little and start fresh with good foods and gut healing ingredients.
Next time I’ll likely dial down the red pepper flakes. 1 tsp of red pepper flakes is quite spicy for me so I think 1/4 tsp would have been ideal. But it was delicious regardless and I even went for seconds despite the added kick!
Dana says
Yummy! I added the vinegar and lemon,like the extra zing it added!
Nulyfemunni2.0 says
I made this soup for the 1st time. It is so delicious and nutritious. I did exactly as the recipe called for. Since I will be the only one having the soup at this time I immediately put some in the freezer bags just as suggested (about 1/2) so I had no chance of wasting any. It tasted even better the next day. I added no meat because this week is my no meat week and the soup was a great idea to get full from one dish. Thanks for the recipe!
Barb says
Really tasty soup, I will see if it helps me lose weight and detox 🙂 Fingers Crossed!