This easy ham and cabbage soup is hearty, healthy, and tastes incredible! With only 20 minutes of simmering, this easy soup recipe is ready in about 30 minutes, making it perfect for busy nights.
Cabbage soup may not sound like the most exciting meal, but trust me, this version with ham, carrots, and onions is delicious! Much like many of our cabbage recipes, this soup is nutritious, low-calorie, and tastes fantastic!
Since cabbage shrinks and softens when cooked, you can add a lot to the pot. In this ham and cabbage soup, we call for eight cups of chopped cabbage, and you could probably stir in quite a bit more. It’s so good! For another soup with ham, try our easy split pea soup.
Key Ingredients
- Ham: I use a boneless ham steak for this soup. If you have bone-in ham, use it! Just cut it away from the bone, then add the bone to the soup as it simmers (it should add a bit more flavor). Remove it before serving.
- Cabbage: Use regular white cabbage for this soup. I like how it softens as it simmers. If you have leftover cabbage, consider using it in one of our other cabbage recipes!
- Veggies: In addition to the cabbage, we saute onion, carrots, garlic, and rosemary before adding broth to this soup. They create a flavorful base. Fresh or dried rosemary will work. I’ve given amounts for both in the recipe below.
- Tomatoes: I add a small can of tomatoes to the soup, but fresh tomatoes work fine. See the tip below the recipe for substituting fresh tomatoes.
- Broth: Any light broth or stock works in this cabbage soup recipe. My go-to’s are chicken stock, chicken broth, ham stock, and vegetable broth.
How to Make Ham and Cabbage Soup
Have you ever had ham in soup? It’s delicious. As the soup simmers, the ham flavors and seasons the broth, making it rich, hearty, and ultra-flavorful.
To make this soup, you’ll cook the onion, carrots, and ham in a big pot and then add the rest of the ingredients. It comes together quickly and only needs to simmer for about 20 minutes before you can dig in.
I love this soup with a side of crusty bread or homemade focaccia. Homemade garlic bread would be pretty amazing, too!
Easy Ham and Cabbage Soup
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
This ham and cabbage soup recipe is hearty, healthy, easy to make, and tastes fantastic. Before adding the ham to the soup, taste it to see how salty it is. You may not need to add salt to the soup, depending on the salt level. Taste and adjust the seasoning of the soup a few times during cooking.
You Will Need
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped, about 2 cups
4 medium carrots, chopped, about 2 cups
8 ounces boneless ham steak, cubed, about 1 ½ cups
1 tablespoon minced garlic, 3 cloves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Pinch crushed red pepper flakes
8 cups chopped white cabbage, about 1 ½ pounds
1 (15oz) can diced tomatoes with juices
6 cups (1.4L) low-sodium chicken stock, ham stock, or vegetable broth
2 bay leaves
Salt, to taste
3 lemon slices or more to taste
Directions
1Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat.
2Add the onions, carrots, and cubed ham. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables have softened and the onions are translucent, 8 to 10 minutes.
3Add the garlic, rosemary, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, for one minute.
4Stir in the cabbage, and then pour in the canned tomatoes and their juices, as well as the stock. Add the bay leaves.
5Raise the heat to medium-high and bring the soup to a boil. Taste and adjust the salt. The ham adds some salt to the soup, so you may not need much additional seasoning.
6Partially cover the pot with a lid, and then reduce the heat to maintain a low simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes or until the cabbage and other vegetables are tender.
7Remove the pot from the heat and remove the bay leaves.
8Stir in the lemon slices and the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Taste and season with more salt and pepper. Serve.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Storing: Place the leftover soup in an airtight container in the fridge and store it for up to 3 days or a month in the freezer.
- Why lemon slices? While we don’t actually eat lemon slices, adding them to the soup brightens up the flavors a bit. You can also squeeze in fresh lemon juice or use vinegar, such as apple cider vinegar or wine vinegar.
- Use fresh tomatoes: Substitute about 1 pound (5 to 6 tomatoes) for 1 (15oz) can of diced tomatoes.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
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I’ve made this soup twice. Used ham from a leftover bone. First time, took it to a pot luck at work. It was sooo good, 2 people asked for the recipe. I love the lemon freshness in it. Plus, it’s inexpensive to make. Totally a favorite!
Made your soup today. Absolutely delicious. Took some to aging parents who wanted it straight away. They loved it. Good job. I also used ham off bone and added a small handful of rice. Thanks for the great recipe.
Made this soup in the instant pot and it worked out awesome. Made a few slight modifications by using fresh cherry tomatoes as opposed to canned and 1 tsp garlic powder as I ran out of fresh garlic in my pantry. And it tasted great! My husband and kiddo didn’t like the sounds of ham and cabbage soup but ended up finishing up their bowls and with request for seconds. So bookmarking this recipe for sure!
So happy that your family loved it. Fresh tomatoes would be delicious!
Made this soup and it was fabulous. Minor changes, I switched to beef steak instead of ham steak and added a good dollop of fresh parmesan cheese(grated) to each serving. Thank you Inspired Taste.
This soup is so yummy. I’m keeping this recipe there will be no more looking for Ham Cabbage Soup from me or my family. While my soup slowly cooked the flavours build the aroma in my house was amazing. Putting the lemon in gave it a wow factor that I never imagined. I used left over ham with bone, not a ham steak. Took the bone out after while, and I put more then a pinch of red pepper flakes in, yes to many but still very very good. Put some sour cream in the bowl for my hubby as a little to spicy for him. Will make again and again. Thank you I LOVE THIS RECIPE.