Caramelized Vegetarian Cabbage Soup
When the nights are chilly, and the fresh produce is limited, it’s the perfect night for this vegetarian cabbage soup. Most of the flavor of this soup comes from a slow caramelization process, that leaves your cabbage dark brown and savory-sweet. The result is a broth with a rich flavor, and tender cabbage that nearly melts in your mouth. Other flavor notes come from the white pepper, parsley, rosemary, and white wine. Perfectly satisfying with a crusty sourdough bread, or topped with cubes of roasted tofu.
And yes, it’s also vegan, but “vegetarian” happens to be a better search term in this case. Sorry if that’s a little too much information on how the proverbial vegan sausage is made.
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Cooking with Cabbage
I know that I can forget about cabbage when I’m trying to decide what vegetable to plan my meal around, but don’t fall into that trap! Cabbage is super versatile and can be used in lots of different dishes. There are tons of different types of cabbage, from napa cabbage to green cabbage to red (purple) cabbage. You can eat cabbage raw or cooked, hot or cold. It can be fermented and made into kimchi or sauerkraut. The leaves can be used as a wrap for other foods, both cooked and raw. It can be made into salads and slaws, or used as a crunchy topping. You can grill or roast cabbage in large chunks. It’s amazing as an accompaniment to vegan sausages, and works well in all sorts of stir-fries. Cabbage soup like this one is also a huge win. If you’re looking to play with your food, red cabbage can even be boiled, and the water used as a homemade PH indicator. But my favorite way to eat cabbage these days is caramelized. By cooking your cabbage down slowly, it becomes soft and browned, rich, buttery, sweet, and savory. For this recipe I’m using the browned, rich and savory flavors from caramelized cabbage to form a brothy soup, reminiscent of French onion soup but cabbage all the way.
Cabbage, like all vegetables, is wonderful in the nutrition department. It is low in calories, contains no fat, and minimal protein. Where it shines is in vitamins and minerals, as it has a lot of vitamin C and K, and smaller amounts of folate, manganese, vitamin B6, calcium, potassium, and magnesium. Another huge benefit is that cabbage tends to be a really inexpensive vegetable, and will last for a long time in your fridge. An excellent option for those wanting to save some money.
Looking for Vegetarian Cabbage Recipes? Try one of these!
- Vegan Stuffed Cabbage (Okara Recipe)
- Vegan Red Cabbage and Rhubarb Slaw
- Weeknight Caramelized Cabbage with Gnocchi
- Cold Weather Cabbage Soup with Butternut Squash and Turmeric
- Lazy Vegan Cabbage Rolls with Mung Beans
- Vegan Miso Napa Cabbage Slaw
- Wild Oyster Mushroom Tacos with Purple Cabbage Slaw
Looking for Rich Winter Soups? Try one of these!
- Cranberry Bean Zuppa Lombarda
- White Bean Creamy Vegan Artichoke Soup
- Cheesy Vegan Broccoli Soup with Poblano
- Warming Vegan Stew with Squash and Cardamom
- Spicy Jackfruit and Black Bean Stew with Bananas
- Easy Minestrone Soup with Beets
- One-Pot Green Curry Noodle Soup
- Classic New England Style Vegan Clam Chowder
- Kabocha Squash Soup with Sunflower Seed Cream
- Baby Bok Choy Christmas Lima Bean Soup
How to Make Caramelized Vegetarian Cabbage Soup
Many recipes (my own included) get most of their flavor from the ingredients- however this one gets a lot of the flavor from the technique and time. After prepping your vegetables, most of the time to make this soup comes from caramelizing the cabbage along with some parsley and onion for 45 minutes or so. You can start with the heat on medium, and as the cabbage wilts and shrinks, lower the heat so that it browns slowly, developing those sweet, browned flavors. Make sure you stir every few minutes, so all the cabbage cooks evenly.
After a long caramelization process, you can turn up the heat and add the spices and other ingredients. Coat all the cabbage in the spices, stirring, and allowing the garlic to cook a little. After your garlic becomes fragrant, it’s been long enough. Now deglaze the pot with a little white wine (I make sure the wines and beers I purchase are vegan using this website). Scrape the bottom of the pot to get any bits of crispy goodness, and cook for a few minutes to help the alcohol evaporate. In the last step we’re going to finally make this dish look like soup by adding 6 cups of water. Give it all a stir and bring the soup to a simmer. Let the flavors meld together for a few minutes, season with salt until it’s reached that perfectly personal saltiness, and serve warm and toasty.
Caramelized Vegetarian Cabbage Soup
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs. savoy cabbage (about half a large head)
- 1 large onion
- 1/2 cup parsley, packed
- 4 tbsp. vegan butter, divided
- 2-3 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp. nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp. brown sugar
- 1 tbsp. better than bouillon
- 2 tsp. dried rosemary
- 1/2 tsp. cracked white pepper
- 1/3 cup white wine
- Salt, to taste
Instructions
- Start by preparing all your vegetables. Remove the core from the cabbage and slice into thin pieces. Cut the onion into narrow half-moon shapes. Finely chop the parsley (both the leaves and stems). Mince the garlic.
- Heat to medium heat about 2 tablespoons of vegan butter in a large pot or skillet with high sides. Add the cabbage, onion and parsley, and stir to coat the vegetables in the melted butter. Cook for about 45 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so. As the cabbage looses moisture, lower the heat to avoid burning. After 45 minutes the cabbage should be a rich brown color.
- Return the heat to medium, and add the remaining butter, garlic, nutritional yeast, brown sugar, better than bouillon, rosemary, and white pepper. Stir to coat the cabbage, scraping the bottom to avoid burning. Cook for another 5 minutes until the garlic is fragrant.
- Add the white wine to deglaze the pan, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan again. After another couple minutes, add 6 cups of water. Bring to a simmer, and cook for about 5-10 more minutes to really meld the flavors together. Serve hot- delicious with a crusty sourdough bread.
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