Cabbage Meatball Soup

Looking for a cozy, healthy meal? Try this cabbage meatball soup—full of fresh vegetables, flavorful broth, and tender chicken meatballs, a quick, hearty twist on classic Slavic Shchi.

Cabbage Meatball Soup is a hearty, wholesome dish that combines tender chicken meatballs with a rich, flavorful broth. A twist on traditional Shchi, Russian Cabbage Soup, this soup is filled with fresh vegetables like cabbage, carrots, onions, and peppers, making it a nutrient-packed meal that’s both satisfying and delicious. Perfect for those cold, cozy nights or busy weeknights when you need something quick and comforting, this soup delivers on flavor, freshness, and filling goodness—without the long cooking time.

Not only is this soup healthy, but it’s also beautiful to look at, with its vibrant colors and hearty textures. And those chicken meatballs? They’re incredibly tender and full of flavor, adding the perfect touch of protein to make the soup extra satisfying. If you love meatball soup, try my Russian Chicken Meatball Soup or Tomato Meatball Soup.

Jump to:

• What You'll Love About This Recipe
• Cabbage Meatball Soup Video
• Ingredients:
• Substitutions and Flavor Variations
• How To Make Cabbage Meatball Soup
• Expert Tips For Making the Meatballs
• Meal Prep
• Serving Cabbage Meatball Soup
• Recipe FAQs
• More Delicious Soup Recipes
• Cabbage Meatball Soup

Cabbage Meatball Soup Video

Ingredients:

Cabbage Soup

• Aromatic vegetables: Onion, carrots, celery, and garlic—these form the backbone of the soup and give it that irresistible savory base.
• Tomatoes: Fresh tomatoes are the best, they taste so fresh and light and are also much less acidic than canned tomatoes.
• Peppers: A sweet bell pepper works perfectly, but feel free to experiment with other mild, sweet varieties of peppers.
• Potatoes: Russet or gold potatoes work great in this soup, though most potato varieties will do the job just fine. They’ll absorb all the flavors and make the soup even more filling.
• Cabbage: Green cabbage is the star here, giving the soup its signature texture and heartiness.

Chicken Meatballs

Ground chicken: It's my favorite protein for making meatballs. The chicken is so much more tender and juicy than other ground meat options.

The complete list of ingredients and their exact measurements can be found in the recipe card below.

Substitutions and Flavor Variations

• Simplify the Veggies: If you’re looking for a simpler version, you can cut down on the number of vegetables. Stick with the basics like onions, carrots, celery, cabbage, and potatoes, and leave out the tomatoes, bell peppers, or other extras. This will give you a comforting, flavorful soup without as much prep work.
• Add Some Heat: If you like a little spice, consider adding spicier peppers like jalapeños in addition to the bell peppers.
• Tomato Variations: If fresh tomatoes aren’t available, you can swap them out with canned tomato products. Tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, or even tomato paste (just use less since it's more concentrated) will work perfectly to add that rich, tangy flavor.
• Meatball Variations: While chicken meatballs are the star here, you can easily swap them out for other ground meats like ground beef, pork, or turkey.
• Broth Options: For even more flavor, consider using chicken or vegetable broth instead of water. If you're using the full array of vegetables and homemade meatballs, the soup will naturally develop a rich, flavorful broth on its own. However, if you're using fewer veggies or store-bought meatballs, adding broth will help bring everything together and enhance the flavor. I love to keep homemade chicken broth or homemade vegetable broth in my freezer to make soup prep even easier.

How To Make Cabbage Meatball Soup

Before you get started cooking the soup, prep all the veggies: Dice the onion, cut the carrots into matchsticks, slice the celery, shred the cabbage, dice the tomatoes, mince the garlic, chop the potatoes and shred the cabbage. Don’t forget to save the tomato juice to add to the soup later too.

Expert Tips For Making the Meatballs

Making the meatball mixture:

Making meatballs is pretty simple, and you can do it a couple of different ways. The ingredients and the preparation are very typical of making meatballs for other recipes too.

First, for the onion, you have two options:

• Grate the onion: This is the quick and easy way. When you grate the onion on a box grater, it gets super small and blends right into the meat, so you won’t even notice it in the finished meatball (and it cooks through really fast).
• Sauté the onion: If you prefer a sweeter, milder flavor, you can finely mince the onion and sauté it before adding it to the meat mixture. This step will give the onion a bit of caramelization, which adds a lovely richness to the meatballs.

Once your onion is ready, combine it with the ground meat mixture (along with your breadcrumbs, milk, sour cream, salt, pepper and seasoning).

Shaping the meatballs:

• Use moistened hands to form small meatballs, about the size of a small walnut or roughly ½ to 1 tablespoon each.

(I like to use a small portion scoop to form the meatballs first, then finish them off in my hands to give them a rounder, more compact shape.) Drop the meatballs gently into the simmering soup.

If you like a little extra flavor, you can also toss in some garlic or fresh herbs like parsley or dill into the meatball mixture.

Meal Prep

This soup is wonderful for meal prep. You can prep almost all the vegetables ahead of time, store them in the refrigerator until you are ready to prepare the soup.

You can also prep the meatball mixture ahead of time too. This makes the process so much faster.

Meal prepping is a game changer! Watch my free Meal Planning Workshop Video, where I share my best tips to save time in the kitchen.

Serving Cabbage Meatball Soup

Cabbage soup, just like most other Shchi (cabbage soups), like Sauerkraut Shchi and Traditional Borscht, are served with sour cream and bread. You can't go wrong with this Easy Homemade Bread. Absolutely delicious!

Recipe FAQs

More Delicious Soup Recipes

If you tried this Cabbage Meatball Soup recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating or a comment below. I love hearing from you!