Easy (keto-friendly) Cabbage and Kielbasa Soup

Easy Keto Cabbage and Kielbasa soup is a favorite soup that we make yearly as we have beautiful heads of cabbage coming out of the garden.

It’s one of our favorite ways to use the tasty garden cabbage!

We’ve made it for years now, and I make it steadily as the cabbage ripens during the late summer/fall and freeze the excess.

With some warm bread, it makes a comforting and hearty dinner for those cold winter months ahead. Plus, Cabbage is a healthy vegetable that we like including in our diet.

Beautiful Garden Cabbage

However, we have been trying to be more conscious about how many carbohydrates we’re consuming, and this is still reasonable as a choice for those trying to follow a keto or low carb. diet. Here’s the analysis:

How To Make Easy Keto Cabbage and Kielbasa Soup

The soup is easy to make, it just requires chopping the cabbage, onions, and garlic:

Chopping Cabbage for Cabbage and Kielbasa Soup

Adding the chopped cabbage, onions, and garlic to a soup pot along with olive oil:

Then you saute the chopped onions, cabbage, and garlic in the olive oil:

Sauteed Cabbage, Onion, and Garlic

Add the flour and stir to coat well:

Adding Flour To The Sautéed Vegetables

Add the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, and then simmer. The soup does have one unusual ingredient, juniper berries that give the soup a unique flavor. They’re the dark berries you see simmering in the soup below. 

Keto Cabbage and Kielbasa Soup Simmering

And here’s the final soup:

Easy Keto Cabbage and Kielbasa Soup

Easy Keto Cabbage and Kielbasa soup is a great way to use up the wonderful cabbage harvest and make easy future dinners too. I think the original recipe was by Jeff Smith (The Frugal Gourmet). Give it a try, I hope you enjoy it!

Cabbage and Kielbasa Soup

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Servings 10

Ingredients

  

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 medium onions (peeled and diced)
• 3 garlic cloves (optional, peeled and crushed)
• 1 head green cabbage (cored and chopped)
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 cups dry white wine
• 4 cups beef stock
• 4 cups water
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
• 10 juniper berries
• salt to taste
• ground pepper to taste
• 1 pound kielbasa or polish sausage (sliced)

Instructions

 

• Add the olive oil to a large non-stick stock pot and heat on low. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until they turn transparent. Add the cabbage and sauté it (covered) stirring periodically until well wilted.
• Add the flour and mix well.
• Add the wine and stir until the mixture begins to thicken a bit. Add the beef stock, water, tomato paste, paprika, and juniper berries. Stir to combine well. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat, and simmer for 30 more minutes to combine the flavors.
• Add the salt, pepper, and sausage and simmer for 20 minutes to heat the sausage.

Notes

I sometimes substitute some hot paprika for part of the sweet paprika to spice things up a bit.
 Don't eat the juniper berries, throw them out instead.

Another late summer/fall soup that we really enjoy is Chipotle Corn Chowder – it’s another soup with an awesome flavor!