Countdown to Thanksgiving: Spicy Cabbage Soup

Cabbage Soup is an easy dish with origins as a peasant food and a modern history of being used for the Cabbage Soup Diet. Recipes vary from a mostly cabbage, low-calorie version for the diet, to ones that include pasta, eggs, meat, or even cream depending on the heritage of the cook.

This isn’t a recipe my family usually makes for Thanksgiving, although there was usually cabbage on the table. Dad would make red cabbage sautéed with bacon every year. If I’d gotten a red cabbage in my CSA box, I probably would have made some myself because it’s delicious! However, I ended up with a green cabbage so had to come up with something else.

Prepped veggies in the Crock-Pot

It’s starting to get cold, so I will begin to eat a lot of soup. I love it in the winter and after making an initial batch, it’s an easy whole meal or part of a meal with a sandwich on the side. This particular soup doesn’t create much of a meal on its own. I top mine with lots of cheese and crackers. I’ve also cooked an egg into the soup when reheating it.

I have to warn you also, that this soup is very spicy. It would be too spicy for me to eat without some crackers in it. Next time, I think I’ll make it with just one chile. It is delicious and I’ve been happily eating it, but it’s easier to add heat at the table than take it away. If you cook this soup as written, you shouldn’t need to add any Tabasco at the table.

Spicy Cabbage Soup

1 cabbage, shredded or sliced

1 bunch carrots, peeled and chopped

3 bell peppers, seeds removed, chopped into slices

1 medium sweet onion, peeled and diced

2 T parsley, chopped fine

½ T frozen thyme leaves (fresh or dried are fine, too, I had some frozen from early in the CSA seaon)

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 chiles, stems removed

6 cups water

3 cups chicken broth.

Combine all ingredients in Crock-Pot. Cook on high for 5-7 hours. Remove the chiles before serving. Garnish with cheese, oyster crackers, herbs, and/or microgreens if desired.