Vegan Hungarian Cabbage Soup

Cabbage soup, a mainstay of N.Y. Jewish delis and a comforting soup that I’ve been making a vegan version of for years. I’m calling this Hungarian only because it uses Hungarian paprika and I associate it with that country although it very well may have origins elsewhere. It took me a while to perfect, but one ingredient made all the difference – a can of prepared tomato soup. Did you know Campbell’s condensed tomato soup is vegan? Well, it is! If you want to know of other vegan tomato soup options out there, visit this link.

Everyone has a different spice tolerance, so I would start out conservatively with the cayenne as you can always add more or leave it out completely if you want it mild. You can also control the sweetness level of the soup too so I’ve given a measurement of what I prefer, but you may find it sweet enough without adding anything. The soups I had growing up in New York were always sweet. I used agave syrup, but feel free to use any sweetener you prefer.

Use a good Hungarian paprika for this. The Pride of Szeged brand in the can is the one we’ve always used. They make both a sweet and hot version, but I’ve always used the sweet. There’s a little smoked paprika in this as well for some background smokiness. Trader Joe’s sells a good one at a good price.

I use plain green cabbage in this soup but I suppose you could use savoy or even red cabbage if that’s what you have (although they’re generally more expensive). I also make mine in an instant pot which is basically a pressure cooker. It’s quicker and adds a depth of flavor like it simmered for hours. I got mine at Costco of course because I know if anything ever goes wrong with it, I can bring it back!

There are so many Instant Pot models out there, but I bought the one with the yogurt function so I can make soy yogurt at home. You can find a similar model that I use at my Amazon influencer storefront by clicking the image at the bottom of this recipe. I hope you enjoy this soup! It’s one of my favorites I make again and again when the weather cools off. If you try it, please leave a rating and review. Thanks!

Vegan Hungarian Cabbage Soup

Recipe by Kreg

4.3 from 4 votes

Cuisine: Soup, vegan

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

45

minutes

A classic Hungarian cabbage soup rich with traditional flavor, but vegan!

Ingredients

• 1/2 large or one small green cabbage, sliced thinly (about 4 cups)

• 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced

• 1 large carrot, medium dice

• 1 large red or gold potato, medium dice

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1 tablespoon vegan butter

• 4 cloves fresh garlic, minced

• 1 tablespoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1 tablespoon sweet Hungarian paprika

• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

• 1 can of diced tomatoes with the juices, 14.5 oz

• 1 can of condensed tomato soup, approx. 10 oz

• 3 cups vegetable stock or broth

• 2-3 tablespoons sweetener of choice (see notes)

• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

Directions

• In a large soup pot or instant pot, heat the butter and oil over medium heat until melted. Add the onions and salt and cook for a few minutes until softened. Add the cabbage, carrots and potato and cook for a few minutes more. Add the garlic along with all of the spices and cook stirring constantly for 3 minutes.
• Add the tomatoes, tomato soup and stock and stir to combine. If cooking on the stove, bring to a boil then simmer on low heat and covered for 40-45 minutes. If using an instant pot, cover, seal and set to the soup setting.
• When done, add the sweetener and cayenne (if using) and adjust salt if needed. Depending on how salty your stock was, you may need to add more. Discard the bay leaf and serve with vegan sour cream if desired.

Notes

• I used agave syrup to sweeten this, but you could use any sweetener or none at all!
• I used Campbell’s tomato soup (surprisingly vegan!), but you could use another brand or just some canned plain tomato purée if you prefer, but you may need to adjust the sweetness.
  
• I used regular organic plain green cabbage, but Savoy or even red cabbage would work.
  
• I will sometimes stir in vegan sour cream to make the soup creamy before serving. I normally use Tofutti or Kite Hill brand, but use tour favorite.

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