Beef, tomato, cabbage, and rice in one slow cooker. No rolling, no browning, no babysitting.
Quick Facts
- Raw ground beef goes straight into the crockpot, so there's no skillet and one less thing to wash.
- The rice goes in for the last 1½ to 2 hours, so it cooks through without turning to mush.
- Parboiled rice holds its shape in the tomato broth much better than regular long-grain.
- A splash of apple cider vinegar at the end wakes up the whole pot.
I make something in the slow cooker most weeks once the weather turns cold. If you're the same, I keep my favorites together in this slow cooker recipes guide, organized by chicken, beef, turkey, soups, and sides.
All the Comfort of Stuffed Cabbage, Without the Rolling
I love stuffed cabbage, but I only make it when I have a free Sunday and a lot of patience. Blanching leaves, rolling 14 little bundles, and lining them up in a pan is a project. On a Wednesday in November, I want the flavor without the project.
So I let the crockpot do it. Beef, cabbage, carrots, onion, and crushed tomatoes simmer together all day, and the whole kitchen starts to smell like the pot of cabbage rolls someone's grandmother left on the stove. The rice goes in near the end so it has time to cook and still holds its shape.
One thing to know up front: the beef goes in raw, so it won't have the browned, seared flavor you'd get from a skillet. I decided I was fine with that. The long simmer, the Worcestershire, and the paprika build plenty of savory flavor, and the dinner stays truly one-pot. Use thawed, lean ground beef and check that it reaches 160°F.
Last, the vinegar. Stir it in once the rice is tender. It makes the tomato taste brighter, not sour.
If you'd rather stand at the stove than wait nine hours, there are two good fast options.
- Beef Cabbage Soup sears ribeye cubes with cabbage, carrots, and a tomato broth and is done in 35 minutes. It also has a ground beef version. For a stovetop pot closer to this one,
- Cabbage Roll Soup with Ground Pork cooks the rice right in the soup. That one takes about 45 minutes of cooking.
Tips and Tricks
- Thaw the beef first: Frozen ground beef takes too long to heat through in a slow cooker. Thaw it in the refrigerator, not on the counter.
- Choose lean beef: The beef cooks right in the soup and isn't drained, so leaner beef keeps the broth from turning greasy.
- Break up the beef twice: Crumble it into small pieces going in, then stir and break it up again around the halfway point.
- Check with a thermometer: Ground beef needs to reach 160°F. Test a few of the bigger pieces, not just the broth.
- Mind the fill line: The cabbage takes up a lot of room before it wilts. If your cooker is smaller than 6 quarts, cut the recipe down. The slow cooker guide has more on keeping slow cooker meals from turning mushy or watery.
- Keep the lid closed: Every peek lets heat out and adds time.
- Check the rice early: Start tasting at about 90 minutes. Tomato broth can slow rice down compared to plain water.
- Season last: The broth changes as it cooks, so wait until the rice is tender before adjusting the salt and vinegar.
- Keep extra broth nearby: The rice keeps drinking the broth as the soup sits.
Crockpot Cabbage Roll Soup
Equipment
- 6-quart slow cooker
- Cutting board and knife
- measuring cups and spoons
- Wooden spoon or sturdy spatula
- Instant-read thermometer
- Ladle
Ingredients
Soup Base
- 1 pound lean ground beef thawed
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 2 medium carrots peeled and diced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 small green cabbage cored and chopped into bite-size pieces, about 6-7 cups
Tomato Broth and Seasonings
- 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 6 cups low-sodium beef broth
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
Added Near the End
- ¾ cup uncooked long-grain converted or parboiled rice
To Finish
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar plus more to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley optional
Instructions
Prep and Fill the Slow Cooker
- Prepare the vegetables and beef. Dice the onion and carrots, mince the garlic, and cut the cabbage into spoon-size pieces. Break the thawed ground beef into small chunks with your fingers or a spoon. Smaller pieces are easier to break apart once cooked.
- Add the soup ingredients. Put the ground beef, onion, carrots, garlic, cabbage, crushed tomatoes, beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, oregano, paprika, salt, pepper, and bay leaf in the slow cooker. Stir gently so the beef is distributed through the liquid and vegetables. The crockpot will look very full at first; the cabbage will shrink as it cooks. Keep the ingredients below your slow cooker's fill line.
Cook the Soup
- Cook the soup base. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours. The soup should be gently steaming, the cabbage softened, and the beef cooked through. Around the halfway point, stir and break the beef into smaller pieces with a spoon. Check that the beef reaches 160°F in several places.
- Add the rice. Stir in the converted or parboiled rice and make sure it's submerged in the liquid. Cover and cook on high for 1½-2 hours, until the rice is tender. Check it near the 90-minute mark. Slow cookers vary, and the tomato-rich broth can make rice take longer than it would in plain water.
- Check the texture. Taste a few grains of rice; they should be soft all the way through, with no hard center. The cabbage should be tender and the broth should smell savory and tomato-rich. If the soup is thicker than you like, stir in hot broth a little at a time.
Finish and Serve
- Finish the soup. Remove the bay leaf. Stir in the apple cider vinegar and parsley, if using. Taste and adjust with more salt, pepper, or vinegar. The vinegar should brighten the tomato flavor, not make the soup taste sour.
- Serve. Ladle into bowls while hot. The rice will keep absorbing broth as the soup sits, so have extra broth nearby for second helpings or leftovers.
Notes
- Cut the cabbage into 1-inch pieces. I know a bag of coleslaw mix looks like a shortcut. Finely shredded cabbage cooks down to almost nothing over a full day, and you lose the cabbage-roll feel.
- If you do want browned beef, brown it in a skillet first and drain it. You get a deeper flavor and less fat in the pot. Add it to the slow cooker with the rest of the soup base and still check that it reaches 160°F. The cook time stays about the same.
- Adding other vegetables? A diced bell pepper, a zucchini, or a potato all work. Extra vegetables soak up broth, so check the liquid before you add the rice and top up if it looks low.
- For a smoky version, stir in about 4 slices of cooked, crumbled bacon during the last hour.
- If the tomatoes taste sharp even after the vinegar, a teaspoon of brown sugar rounds them out. Add it in small pinches and taste between each one
Easy Tweaks and Variations
- Other rice: Regular long-grain white rice cooks faster and gets softer, so start checking at about 1 hour on high. Brown rice takes much longer, so cook it separately.
- Leftover cooked rice: Stir in about 2½ cups during the last 15 to 20 minutes, just long enough to heat through.
- Add beans: Stir in a drained can of white or kidney beans during the last hour.
- Make it meatless: Use vegetable broth, add beans, and stir in cooked rice near the end.
- Make it gluten-free: Check that your broth and Worcestershire sauce are labeled gluten-free.
- Add heat: A pinch of red pepper flakes or a few dashes of hot sauce at the table.
- Pasta instead of rice: If you want a cheesier, saucier pot, the slow cooker lasagna soup uses ground beef, tomatoes, and broken lasagna noodles. The noodles go in for the last 30 minutes or so, the same idea as the rice here.
- Switch the protein: For a different beef dinner, try slow cooker pot roast or brisket in BBQ sauce. For something lighter, there's boneless turkey breast.
Serving Suggestions
- Crusty bread or dinner bread rolls
- Rye bread or buttered toast
- A simple green salad
- Roasted green beans
- A spoonful of sour cream or plain yogurt
- Extra parsley and black pepper
Make-Ahead, Storage, and Freezing
- Make ahead: Chop the vegetables and measure the seasonings a day early, and refrigerate them separately. Keep the raw beef covered and add it right before cooking.
- Soup base ahead: Cook the soup without rice up to 3 days ahead. Reheat it, then add cooked rice near serving time.
- Refrigerate: Cool leftovers and refrigerate in airtight containers within 2 hours. They keep 3 to 4 days, and the soup will be thicker after chilling.
- Reheat: Warm in a saucepan over medium-low heat, adding broth or water a little at a time, to 165°F. For one bowl, microwave in short bursts and stir between them.
- Freeze: Freeze the base without rice for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then stir in freshly cooked rice. A finished soup with rice also freezes, but the rice and cabbage will be softer.
Troubleshooting
- The beef cooked into big clumps: Break it up smaller going in, then stir and crumble again at the halfway mark.
- There's a greasy layer on top: Skim it off, and use leaner beef next time.
- The rice is still hard: Your cooker may run cool, or the rice may not be submerged. Stir, check the liquid, and keep cooking on high in 20 to 30 minute increments.
- The rice is mushy: It cooked too long or sat on warm. Check earlier next time, or stir in cooked rice right before serving.
- The soup is too thick: Stir in warm broth or water.
- The soup tastes flat: Add salt in small pinches, then a little vinegar.
- The cabbage is still firm: Keep cooking. Big pieces and thick ribs take longer.
- The broth is too acidic: Add a little broth and a small pinch of sugar, and change one thing at a time.
- The soup is too salty: Add unsalted broth or water before adding anything else.
- It seems undercooked: Check the beef for 160°F, and check the rice separately for tenderness.
FAQs
Can I put raw ground beef straight into the crockpot?
Yes, as long as it's thawed. Break it into small pieces, stir partway through, and check that it reaches 160°F. It won't taste like skillet-browned beef, but the method stays all in one pot.
Why not add the rice at the beginning?
After a full day in hot broth, rice goes soft and soaks up so much liquid that the soup turns thick. Adding it near the end gives you tender grains that still hold their shape.
Why use converted or parboiled rice?
It's partially cooked before packaging, so it holds up better in slow-cooked dishes. It still needs time to finish, so begin testing at the early end of the range.
Can I use regular long-grain white rice?
Yes. It cooks faster and gets softer, so start checking after about an hour on high. Don't leave it on warm once it's tender.
Can I use frozen ground beef?
No. It can stay in the unsafe temperature range too long and won't cook evenly. Thaw it in the refrigerator.
Will the cabbage turn to mush?
It gets very soft, which suits this soup, but it shouldn't disappear. Cut it into bite-size pieces, and check early if your cooker runs hot.
Can I cook this overnight?
Cook the base overnight on a reliable low setting, but don't cook the rice overnight. Refrigerate the base in the morning, then add the rice during the final cook before dinner. Don't leave the finished soup on warm for many hours.
Can I make the base ahead and add rice later?
Yes. This gives you a brothier soup. Add cooked rice to the bowls or to the reheated pot just before serving.
How do I know it's ready?
The beef is at 160°F, the cabbage is tender enough to cut with a spoon, and the rice is soft with no hard center. The broth should smell savory and tomato-rich.
Can I use ground turkey or chicken?
Yes. Use 1 pound, thawed, and cook it to 165°F. These meats are leaner, so add a little extra broth seasoning or a spoonful of olive oil if the soup tastes thin.
Does it freeze well?
It freezes safely, but the rice and cabbage soften after thawing. Freeze the base without rice, and add fresh rice later.
Can I double it?
Only in a larger cooker with the ingredients below the fill line. Watch the beef temperature, cabbage, and rice rather than the clock.
Notes
This is for the days when you want cabbage rolls but not the rolling. The beef goes in raw, and the rice gets its own shorter stretch at the end. Keep broth nearby for serving, because the rice keeps soaking it up. And taste before you serve it: a little salt or vinegar pulls the whole pot together.
More Slow Cooker Dinners
More beef
Chicken
- Slow Cooker Butter Chicken
- Slow Cooker Chipotle Honey Chicken
- Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Chicken
- Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Thighs
- Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs with Apricot Glaze
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