Kohlsuppe — German cabbage soup — has a public relations problem: it sounds austere, and it is anything but. Done properly, it is a deeply savory bowl of tender cabbage and vegetables in a broth with real backbone, the kind of soup Germany has perfected over centuries of cold winters.
It is a classic of German home cooking: a humble-looking bowl of boiled cabbage that turns out to be deeply comforting on a cold day.
The quiet trick in this recipe is a splash of soy sauce — not traditional, but it gives the vegetable broth a savory depth that tastes like it simmered far longer than it did. Cheap, healthy, and endlessly adaptable.
German Cabbage Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound white cabbage, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 cup (5 oz) chopped celery
- 1 cup (5 oz) chopped carrots
- 1 cup (5 oz) chopped leeks
- 2 cups water
- 1 vegetable bouillon cube
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon liquid sweetener (or a pinch of sugar)
- 1 teaspoon canola oil
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat and sauté the onion until soft and translucent.
- Add the cabbage, bell pepper, celery, carrots and leeks, and sauté a few minutes more.
- Pour in the water with the bouillon cube and bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes.
- Stir in the soy sauce, pepper, salt, sweetener and diced tomatoes, and cook a few minutes more until heated through.
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