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Instant Pot Cabbage Roll Soup

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Instant Pot Cabbage Roll Soup made with chopped cabbage, ground beef, pork, rice and tomato soup is quick and easy unstuffed halupki.

close up of instant pot cabbage roll soup in white bowl

So many of the Instant Pot recipes I’m making right now are soups and stews — like this Instant Pot cabbage roll soup. It’s definitely cold weather comfort food, and so much easier than traditional stuffed cabbage rolls. If you like cabbage rolls, you’ll love this easy unstuffed cabbage soup!

Growing up, my mom and grandma made traditional Russian/Ukrainian cabbage rolls — halupki or holubki. We even had them for Christmas dinner.  If you’re Polish, you may call them golumpki.

But no matter what you call them, they’re delicious — and definitely time consuming. But unstuffed cabbage rolls let you enjoy the same taste of authentic cabbage rolls without all the work!

Simple Ingredients

If you’ve never had a cabbage roll, it’s simply a mix of ground beef, pork sausage and rice all rolled up in cabbage leaves and cooked in tomato sauce or tomato soup. It’s really simple peasant food, but that’s the absolute best food — in my humble opinion!

Unstuffed cabbage rolls or lazy cabbage rolls use the same ingredients. The big difference is you throw everything in the pot and cook it. Quick and easy!

I should note that just about every village in Eastern Europe has their own version, so when you combine that with different family recipes, no two recipes for cabbage rolls or cabbage roll soup will be alike!

How to Make Cabbage Roll Soup in the Instant Pot

Unstuffed cabbage roll soup is so easy to make in the Instant Pot. First, you brown the ground beef and sausage with some chopped onions. And then, you season the mix with sea salt, pepper and garlic powder.

I sometimes like to add some smoked paprika for a little heat. This is optional, though. It adds warmth to the soup, but you can definitely leave it out.

cook ground beef and sausage in pressure cooker

Next, you add beef broth, rice, chopped cabbage, diced tomatoes and tomato soup. Yes, soup. It’s what my grandma used, and cabbage rolls don’t taste the same without it!

I used jasmine rice in this recipe because it’s what I usually make. You can use your favorite uncooked white rice here.

cabbage with tomato soup and diced tomatoes in instant pot

Pressure cook it, and you have amazing, delicious cabbage roll soup that tastes a lot like grandma used to make! I won’t say exactly, because like I said, everyone’s grandma had a different recipe!

This is a very thick soup — almost like a stew, but my family likes it this way. You can add more liquid if you like thinner soup. Fill up the empty soup can with water, once or twice, and add that in.

For even thinner soup, use a large 32-ounce can of the diced tomatoes. This will give you a normal soup consistency with more tomato flavor.

instant pot cabbage roll soup in white bowl with parsley

We like to eat cabbage rolls with mashed potatoes, so I like to serve this soup over Instant Pot mashed potatoes. Not necessary, but oh, so good!

Freeze Leftovers for Later

This makes a lot of food, and we always have leftovers. The soup will keep in the refrigerator for about 4 days.

For longer storage, freeze the leftover cabbage roll soup in a tightly covered freezer safe container or zip top freezer bags. It heats up perfectly well in the microwave or on the stove.

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close up of instant pot cabbage roll soup

Instant Pot Cabbage Roll Soup

Dee
Instant Pot Cabbage Roll Soup made with chopped cabbage, ground beef, pork, rice and tomato soup is quick and easy unstuffed cabbage or lazy halupki. An easy pressure cooker soup recipe.
5 from 18 votes
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 5 mins
pressure release 10 mins
Total Time 25 mins
Course Main
Cuisine European American
Servings 10
Calories 215 kcal

Equipment

Ingredients
  

  • 1 yellow onion, diced
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • ½ pound Italian sausage
  • 1.5 teaspoons sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground pepper
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon smoked paprika or regular paprika optional
  • 1 medium head of cabbage, chopped
  • 1 32-ounce carton low sodium beef broth
  • ½ cup uncooked jasmine rice or any long grain rice
  • 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 1 10 ¾ ounce can tomato soup
  • 1 soup can water optional for thinner soup

Instructions
 

  • Hit SAUTE on the Instant Pot, and when it reads Hot, add the olive oil, onion, ground beef and sausage. Stir and break up meat with spatula or wooden spoon, stir in sea salt, pepper and garlic powder, and cook until no longer pink
  • Hit CANCEL, then add rice, beef broth and chopped cabbage.  Pour diced tomatoes and tomato soup on top, but do NOT stir. 
  • Place lid on pressure cooker, turn vent knob to Sealing position and hit PRESSURE COOK for 5 minutes
  • Pot will take several minutes to reach pressure, then begin counting down and cook. Allow a 10 minute natural release, then turn vent knob to venting for to quick release remaining pressure
  • When pin drops, open lid, stir well, and serve immediately

Notes

Recipe can be made in the 6 or 8-quart Instant Pot electric pressure cooker, but ingredients fit better in the larger 8 quart.
Soup is very thick. For thinner soup, fill the empty soup can with water, and add before pressure cooking, or add more liquid after pressure cooking. Can also use a larger 32-ounce can of diced tomatoes for more liquid.
Smoked paprika adds a depth of flavor and gentle warm heat. You can leave it out if you prefer.
For a meatier version, use 1 pound each of beef and pork. Can use all beef if desired.

Nutrition

Calories: 215kcalCarbohydrates: 14gProtein: 14gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 45mgSodium: 562mgPotassium: 398mgFiber: 2gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 90IUVitamin C: 34.5mgCalcium: 50mgIron: 1.9mg
Keyword instant pot cabbage roll soup
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Cabbage Roll Soup recipe in bowl over mashed potatoes

Recipe was first published in 2018 and updated in 2020.

instant pot cabbage roll soup over mashed potatoes in a white bowl with bread

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. Jim says

    5 stars
    Great recipe. Was going to make stuffed cabbage rolls but ran out of time. This was easy for a cold winter day. The kids loved it too!

    Reply

  9. Chris F says

    5 stars
    Really excellent. I went with the extra can of water (glad that I did) and added some oregano, dill, parsley, Aleppo pepper and a bay leaf, as I saw these associated with other (Grandma’s) more conventional cabbage roll variants and I like my food to have a bit of spice (though not necessarily ‘heat’). This is now going to enter my annual winter rotation of hearty meals! Thanks for sharing 🙂

    Reply

  11. Laura says

    5 stars
    Hello Dee! It’s Laura again. I have a question about this recipe. If I wanted to increase the volume, would that be safe in the 8 qt. IP? If so, do I just increase all of the ingredients by the same ratio? (like 1 1/2 times the beef stock, the diced tomatoes, canned soup, rice and meats?)
    Thanks in advance to your advice!

    Reply

    • Dee says

      Hi Laura! It should be safe as long as everything is below the max fill line. I haven’t tried to double this one, but I usually do double the ingredients exactly as you said. Let me know how it goes.:)

      Reply

      • Laura says

        5 stars
        Hi again! I made this last night with 1 1/2 times all of the ingredients except I doubled the rice using one cup instead of 1/2 cup. It turned out great and now I have enough leftovers to share with my parents. I try and cook extra of most things to give them so that my mother doesn’t have to cook as often. The next recipe I’m going to try from your site is the ribs 🙂

        Reply

        • Dee says

          That is so sweet of you to help your parents out! Thanks for sharing with us, and let me know how you like the ribs. 🙂

          Reply

  12. Laura says

    5 stars
    Dee, I cannot tell you how happy I am that I found your blog! I have had an IP for many months and have been intimidated by all the buttons, etc. I grew up eating cabbage rolls made by my Polish grandmother, but haven’t mastered the art of rolling cabbage. When I saw this recipe it sounded just like hers so I dragged out that IP yesterday and made it. I am in love!!!! I love this recipe and now I love my Instant pot! I’ve read through all of your recipes and I’m on a mission! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge on your blog! P.S. My 11 year old daughter won’t eat cabbage rolls, but she ate two bowls of this soup last night 🙂

    Reply

    • Dee says

      Thank you so much, Laura! I am so happy to hear this. My picky eaters loved it, too. If you have any questions, just let me know! 🙂

      Reply

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