This soup has come a long way since I was inspired years ago by a delicious spiced cabbage soup I enjoyed at a soup and sandwich stand.
I’ve been tinkering with ingredients, amounts and I’m finally content with the flavour, aroma and colour of this soup. I was never satisfied with the outcome of this soup until this past weekend.
This cabbage soup can certainly be made into a vegetarian one but I doubt one will achieve the same great flavour as this version. Were it not Lent, I would add some finely diced Chorizo into the mix but as a vegetarian and Lent-friendly, soup…it eats like a meal.
Another aspect of this soup I’d like to underline is the use of Motts vegetable cocktail. This veggie juice is a great way to pack flavour into a soup and it’s also a time saver. You might not have Motts brand available but you can use that other vegetable cocktail that’s found in most markets.
This soup was ready in 45 minutes. If you take a look at the progression of photos…I went back into the pot for a generous refill!
Spiced Cabbage Soup
1 small white cabbage, cored and sliced (about 3 cups)
1/4 cup olive oil
3 medium onions, diced
1 large carrot, quartered and sliced
1 stalk of celery, diced
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1 dried chilli
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2-3 bay leaves
1 tsp. fresh thyme
1 jarred red pepper, diced
2 tsp. cracked black pepper
1 small can of white navy beans (rinsed)
1 1/2 cups of Motts vegetable cocktail
7 cups of chicken/vegetable stock
2 zucchinis, halved lengthwise then sliced
salt and pepper to taste
- In a large pot, add your olive oil over medium-high heat. Add your onions, carrots, celery, bay leaves, peppers and saute for 7-10 minutes to soften.
- Add your smoked paprika, cabbage, thyme, garlic, black pepper, red peppers and beans and stir to coat all the ingredients with the paprika for a couple of minutes.
- Add your Motts cocktail juice, stock, chili and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce to a simmer on medium heat for 40-45 minutes.
- Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Add your green zucchini and simmer for 5 minutes to cook. Serve hot.
THE SOUP LOOKS PACKED WITH GOODNESS AND i CAN SEE YOU KNOW HOW TO MAKE A PROPER HAN SANDWICH….
THE SOUP LOOKS PACKED WITH GOODNESS AND i CAN SEE YOU KNOW HOW TO MAKE A PROPER HAN SANDWICH….
THE SOUP LOOKS PACKED WITH GOODNESS AND i CAN SEE YOU KNOW HOW TO MAKE A PROPER HAN SANDWICH….
THE SOUP LOOKS PACKED WITH GOODNESS AND i CAN SEE YOU KNOW HOW TO MAKE A PROPER HAN SANDWICH….
THE SOUP LOOKS PACKED WITH GOODNESS AND i CAN SEE YOU KNOW HOW TO MAKE A PROPER HAN SANDWICH….
THE SOUP LOOKS PACKED WITH GOODNESS AND i CAN SEE YOU KNOW HOW TO MAKE A PROPER HAN SANDWICH….
THE SOUP LOOKS PACKED WITH GOODNESS AND i CAN SEE YOU KNOW HOW TO MAKE A PROPER HAN SANDWICH….
Yum – healthy and delicious and lent friendly! Now I just need some of your bread…
oh my gosh, this is my kind of soup !!!
thank you for posting !
That looks wonderful. I’m a soup person and this is definitely calling my name!
The smoked paprika must add so much good flavour to the soup!
I can see where Mott’s and Clamato juices would give added flavour to soups. If I used the spicey Clamato juice in my watermelon gazpacho it would give it a welcome kick and easily control the heat.
Great idea to use a veggie juice in the soup and I love the flavour of smoked paprika…delicious yet again Peter!
Great as a soup, but pretty heavy for my sensitive stomach!
This looks wonderful. I’ve used V-8 juice for soups, which I imagine is about the same as your Mott’s. It really adds to a soup.
I’m on a mission to learn to like cabbage. What can i say? It hasn’t come naturally. But I do love the soup – I love everything in it and sort of like the cabbage (I am putting cabbage in everything).I love the idea of using vegetable juice an kicking myself for not having thought of it. It would be good with sausage – but it is welcoming just as is.
I love cabbage but m wife..? Not so much. This might be a good way for me to sneak in some cabbage without her knowing it. Is that bad?
Now that does look like a nice bowl of soup!
I’ve made this soup for tonight, and it’s excellent. I’m going to put some haddock fillets in it to make a piquant psarosoupa like the one I used to order at the Filipou taverna in Kolonaki, which had the same vegetables in it. However, this will be far better, because of the smoked paprika and chilli.
The smoked paprika is one of those tastes I wish I can find in Greece (ίσως σε κανÎνα delicatessen στο Κολωνάκι!!), nevertheless, the πιάτο Ï€ÏÎπει να είναι νοστιμότατο και ειδικά με μια γενναιόδωÏη κουταλιά παÏμεζάναs, tops it all!!
I have had a damn cabbage in my fridge for 10 days and then I boiled it and then I looked at it for 4 days and then I stuffed it; its a miracle nobody got food poisoning (yet); I should have made soup like you! great idea to dump that veggie juice in it.
Were on for that grand banquet! I wont touch the meats though!
I had to look up ergonomically. vatizzat?
WOW! What a great winter soup this is. Cabbage can be a boring vegetable, but in such a combination it is boring no more. What can I substitute Motts vegetable cocktail with? Thanks.
Ioanna, this Motts garden cocktail mix reminds me of a loose Gazpacho in flavour. Throw some garden vegetables and then mix in with tomato juice to emulate the Motts cocktail. This soup eats like a meal.
I am bookmarking this one for sure. It seems in fall we always end up with extra cabbage.