This dish will feed a large family inexpensively and it's packed with health benefits.
Ham and any kind of meat you have on hand, really enhance the flavors of this broth and perfect for using up leftovers!
My mom made this often after a big holiday ham dinner using the bone and some meat off of it to make this soup,
I love comfort soups like this and you can add just about anything you like in the pot to make it even heartier so don't skimp on adding more vegetables your family likes.
I still make this in her memory but more often during the year, it's really a family favorite soup and so simple to make.
The soup can be made in an instant pot, slow cooker or stovetop.
A healthy rich soup that is perfect with a loaf of crusty bread of saltine crackers to sop up the delicious broth but fabulous just the way it is.
Mom made many kinds of soups all winter long and this was a family favorite along with Grandma's Chicken Soup, Lentil Soup, and Minestrone, and of course, a famous Italian Wedding Soup is always welcome on our table!
Scroll down and print out the recipe.
Meat or Meatless
This low-carb soup can be made without meat and all vegetarian.
Cabbage will make the tastiest broth and you really just need to season it to taste with salt and herbs.
This cabbage soup recipe is very basic and you can adapt it to your taste.
We love to add more flavor with garlic and occasionally even add a can of diced tomatoes,
Below are many suggestions to add or omit and make it your own style recipe.
Making the Broth
Let's take a minute to talk about the broth.
We used leftover meats to flavor the water with cabbage in it, usually ham or the bone from pork roast.
You can use canned chicken broth instead of water.
Also, start out adding boneless chicken to the water or leftover turkey to make a chicken/turkey broth.
The broth taste absolutely fine with just cabbage, however, if you want a richer broth, any kind of meat will enhance the broth.
Grandma would use rendered pork fat, bacon, even smoked meats or Italian sausage.
Whatever we had leftover from another meal would make soup, nothing went to waste.
Cabbage Health Benefits and Dieting
You may or may not know that cabbage is recognized as a healthy way to lose weight and is great for any dieter.
Of course, you will want to eliminate the meat in it and just make a vegetable cabbage broth.
The cabbage limits calorie intake and helps lose weight quickly and it's a healthy alternative to many other foods.
A cabbage soup diet is low in complex carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, and minerals, but it is written by health officials you should only stay on it a week at a time.
Cabbage is a good source of Vitamin C and Vitamin K.
Suggestions To Add to the Pot of Ham and Cabbage Potato Soup
- Whole or diced tomatoes
- Carrots
- Chopped Onions
- Chopped celery or fennel
- Whole cloves or cleaned garlic
- White Beans
- Cubed Zucchini
- Sweet Potatoes cubed
- Escarole
- Spinach
- Chicken
- Turkey
- Bacon
- Pork
- Steak
- Kielbasa
- Italian sausage sliced
- Meatballs
Tools and Cooking Methods For Making Cabbage Soup
(Can be made in any below vessels)
- Slow cooker
- Pressure Cooker
- Stovetop
- Large Oven Proof Soup Pot
- Instant Pot
A Comfort Soup
Mom would always have a house full growing up with friends and family coming over often.
She always made enough to feed an army and this soup was perfect to feed a large crowd!.
I have fond memories of mom with my school friends.
After school, my friends and I would walk home and they always wanted to stay for dinner.
Mom always had some kind of fabulous soup cooking like this huge pot of ham and cabbage with potatoes soup for those cold blustery days.
Living in Upstate Utica, New York, we had very long cold winters and mom made many kinds of the best soup recipes we all loved and continue to make them in her memory.
Ingredients You Will Need to Make Ham Cabbage and Potatoes
Scroll down for the recipe card for exact measurements
- ham bone with meat
- cubed potatoes only use russet if you freeze this soup
- regular or curly cabbage cut in halves and cored
- water
- cloves peeled whole garlic
- salt and pepper to taste
- cayenne pepper to taste
- freshly chopped parsley and a few basil leaves
- optional: 4 fresh diced plum tomatoes or use 28 - ounce can of diced tomatoes
- Optional: you can add celery, carrots, and onions if you like I don't add onions, just celery, and carrots around 1 cup of each or more.
- Note:: Onions tend to get more powerful if there are any leftovers and to me ruins the soup
Some of my other favorite soups:
Old Fashioned Chicken Soup
Best Split Pea Soup
Italian Minestrone Soup
Italian Red or White Seafood Chowder
Slow Cooker Potato and Bacon Soup
Pasta Fagioli
Tips For Making Ham Cabbage and Potato Soup
- For more fresh flavors use some herbs when possible like basil, parsley
- You can use any kind of potatoes however if you're going to freeze the soup, only russet is recommended
- Chop the cabbage into smaller pieces, it's easier to eat
- The best rich broth flavors come from the ham bone with meat, however, you can use bacon, pork, or any other kinds of meat you want to add for flavors
Ham Cabbage and Potatoes Pin for later
Ham and Cabbage and Potato Soup
Time to figure out what your family likes in their soup and add to the pot.
This basic soup recipe can be totally recreated in your kitchens and become the new family favorite.
If your family isn't a big fan of cabbage, replace it with another green they like, escarole and spinach are two additions I mentioned earlier.
No matter what you add to the pot this soup will hit the spot all year long and is a healthy addition to your dietary needs.
Let me know in the comments how you like mom's recipe!
Yield: 8
Ham Cabbage and Potato Soup
prep time: 10 Mcook time: 2 hourtotal time: 2 H & 10 M
Ham, cabbage and potatoes is an inexpensive delicious meal. The ham is perfect with cabbage and feeds a large family. The broth it makes is wonderful and pure comfort food.
ingredients:
- 1 leftover ham bone with meat still on it (or keep some leftover meat for the soup from your Holiday ham leftovers)
- Note: you can store the leftover bone and meat in the freezer until your ready to make the soup.
- 4 or 5 peeled and largely cubed potatoes ( we only use russet if you're going to freeze the soup)
- 1 large head of curly cabbage cut in halves and cored
- 1 large soup pot pan of water (5 quarts) or use a 7-quart slow cooker on high for 6 to 8 hours
- 4 cloves peeled whole garlic
- salt and pepper to taste
- cayenne pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley and a few basil leaves
- optional: 4 fresh diced plum tomatoes or use 28 - ounce can of diced tomatoes
- Optional: you can add celery, carrots, and onions if you like I don't add onions, just celery, and carrots around 1 cup of each or more.
- Note:: Onions tend to get more powerful if there are any leftovers and to me ruins the soup
instructions:
How to cook Ham Cabbage and Potato Soup
- Place everything in the pan except the herbs, ( add them at the end of cooking) and then fill the pan with water leaving around 3 inches from the top.
- Slow simmer this pot of soup with all ingredients and cook on low heat for around 2 hours on top of the stove or use a slow cooker for 6 to 8 on high.
- Cook until the meat falls off the bone and the cabbage is fork-tender. Stir in the fresh herbs and serve with Italian hard crusty bread.
Calories
165
165
Fat (grams)
17
17
Sat. Fat (grams)
8
8
Carbs (grams)
22
22
Net carbs
8
8
Ham Cabbage and Potatoes Pin for later
Cabbage Recipes to Try
Cabbage Chicken and Rice Skillet
Italian Cabbage Roll Casserole
Ham, Cabbage and White Bean Soup
Disclosure: This recipe was originally posted to this blog 2015. It was edited and re-published in 2020.
