This hearty soup is filled with vegetables and amazing traditional flavors. Traditional Sarma, or cabbage rolls, are deconstructed and made into a rich and filling soup. It is so much less work than rolling cabbage rolls!
Course Easy Dinner
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutesminutes
Cook Time 1 hourhour
Total Time 1 hourhour10 minutesminutes
Servings 12people
Calories 345kcal
Author Nicole Johnson
Ingredients
3tablespoonsbutter
2largeonionpeeled and diced
3stalkscelerydiced
3largecarrotspeeled and diced
1largered bell peppercored and diced
3poundsshredded cabbage*approx weight. I used 1 medium head. Shredded, it filled a 6 quart dutch oven to the top.
Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven or stock pot. Place the onion, carrots, celery, and bell peppers inside, and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.
Add in the cabbage, and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the cabbage has started to soften and become pliable.
In a separate pan, put the ground beef, ground pork, and the chili flakes, salt, pepper, oregano, and seasoning salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until the meat is cooked through. Drain off any excess grease, and place the meat into the dutch oven.
Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and water to the pot. This is going to completely fill a 6 quart pot. If you have a 7 or 8 quart, I'd recommend using it! If you need to add a little less water, feel free.
Reduce heat to low or medium low. Just enough to keep the soup at a simmer.
Notes
RICE
Most versions that I've seen of this include rice right in the soup. I prefer to make the rice in my rice cooker, and keep it separate until you serve it. This prevents your leftovers from having soggy overcooked rice the next day.
SALT
The amount of salt you need will vary according to taste, and also what brand of tomato sauce you use. Some are much saltier than others! Taste the soup at this point, and add in some additional salt/seasoning salt as needed.
HEAT
This isn't spicy at all with the amount of red pepper flakes. I'd add in some additional if there weren't any sensitive palates eating.