This German cabbage soup is a hearty, soul-warming dish that showcases the robust flavors of tender, sautéed cabbage, and smoky bacon for a rich, savory depth.
A splash of white wine adds a bright, subtle acidity that cuts through the richness, while aromatic herbs like caraway and thyme infuse the broth with earthy warmth.
The result is a comforting, full-bodied soup with a perfect balance of textures—soft cabbage, chewy beef bacon, and a silky broth.
Serve it with a slice of crusty rye or pumpernickel bread for a cozy meal that’s pure German comfort.
To Make This Recipe You Will Need:
- bacon (beef or turkey)
- butter
- head green cabbage
- caraway seeds
- white wine
- beef broth
- dry parsley
- sea salt
- black pepper
- dry thyme leaves
- heavy cream
- russet potatoes
- Dutch oven or soup pot
- slotted spoon
- dish lined with paper towels
- wooden spoon or other utensil
Watch me make this German Cabbage Soup:
This soup all begins with some shredded cabbage. An entire small head of it.
But the magic happens in the pot as you sauté some diced bacon and butter, then cook the cabbage in the drippings until it begins to brown and caramelize. When that happens, the cabbage takes on an irresistible sweetness that melds right into the soup.
Before I married my husband, I had never had fried cabbage. But the first time I had it, I was in love. Now, I enjoy fried cabbage any time and this soup simply highlights that wonderful flavor.
To begin, sauté the cut bacon pieces in your Dutch oven (or other soup pot) with 2 tablespoons of the butter, until they are golden and crispy. Use a slotted spoon to scoop the cooked bacon out to a dish that is lined with a paper towel. Set it aside for now.
Add the shredded cabbage to the Dutch oven and cook over medium heat until the cabbage is cooked and slightly browned in some spots, about 10 minutes.
Add the remaining butter if you need to, but the butter-bacon drippings are often enough.
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Add in the white wine and scrape the bottom of the pot to loosen all of the “flavor bits” and de-glaze the pot.
Add in all of the remaining ingredients.
Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until the potatoes are cooked, about 15 minutes.
Top your bowl of soup with the cooked bacon or just stir it in if you like.
Enjoy!
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German Cabbage Soup
Ingredients
- 5 slices thick cut bacon, turkey or beef; cut into 1/2 – 3/4 inch pieces
- 3 Tb butter, unsalted, divided use
- 1 head green cabbage, thinly sliced, core removed
- 2 teaspoon caraway seeds, optional
- ⅔ c white wine
- 4 c beef broth
- 1 teaspoon dry parsley
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon dry thyme leaves
- 1 c heavy cream
- 3 russet potatoes, peeled & cubed
Instructions
- To begin, sauté the cut turkey or beef bacon pieces in your Dutch oven with 2 tablespoons of the butter, until they are golden and crispy. Use a slotted spoon to scoop the cooked bacon out to a dish that is lined with a paper towel. Set it aside for now.
- Add the shredded cabbage to the Dutch oven and cook over medium heat until the cabbage is cooked and slightly browned in some spots, about 10 minutes. Add the reaming butter if you need to, but the butter-bacon drippings are often enough.
- Add in the white wine and scrape the bottom of the pot to loosen all of the "flavor bits" and de-glaze the pot.
- Add in all of the remaining ingredients.
- Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until the potatoes are cooked, about 15 minutes.
- Top your bowl of soup with the cooked bacon.
- Enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
If nutritional values are provided for this recipe, they are an estimate and will vary depending on the brands of ingredients you use. The values do not include optional ingredients or when ingredients are added to taste or for serving. If nutritional values are very important to you, I suggest using your favorite nutritional calculating tool with the brands you use.
Unit Conversions:
Unit Conversion for measurements (if displayed), going from US to Metric is an auto-generated conversion. If you are using the metric measurements, please double-check to confirm that these are accurate with your favorite preferred conversion tool.
This recipe was originally published in 2020. updated in 2024.
This is a wonderful cabbage soup recipe! Thank you so much for sharing this!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Looking forward to making this. I don’t eat potatoes. Could I sub radish instead? Or something like turnip, rutabaga or celeriac?
I made this today for tonite dinner. It smelled delicious cooking. I just had to try it. It is AMAZING. They only thing I did differently was to saute a pound of keilbasain butter til it browned slightly and added it to the mixture. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
This looks so warm and comforting. I am a cabbage lover too! It is so versatile!
This sounds so delicious! I love soup season, and the cabbage and bacon with potatoes in this recipe sounds like a perfect way to shake things up and try something different!