Have you already heard about the many nutritional benefits of cabbage?
Cabbage is rich in antioxidants, anti-inflammatories compounds, fibre, folates, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin B6, calcium, magnesium, manganese, …
Given the fact that oxidative stress and chronic inflammation are risks factors for cancer, the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory richness of cabbage in a healthy and balanced diet help to keep you at a lower risk for cancer and other chronic diseases.
Red cabbage is even richer in antioxidants that white cabbage, however all types of cabbages are rich in polyphenols that provide the anti-inflammatory benefits.
Cabbage also has health benefits for the stomach and the digestive system as a whole, as well as for the cardiovascular system.
Its detoxification properties can enhance immune system health when regularly eating red cabbage.
All these nutritional benefits of the cabbage make it easy for us to understand why it is considered a super food!
I had recently shared with you a vegan recipe using white cabbage, my “Mediterranean warm cabbage salad”, and today I am sharing with you this vegan soup recipe where I use red cabbage in order to create a super healthy and tasty soup full of colour and goodness!
If you try this tasty and healthy vegan Mediterranean diet recipe of red cabbage soup, please let me know, leave a comment and rate it. I would love to know what you come up with. Enjoy!
- 2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
- ½ Red cabbage, cut into slices (Aprox. 600g or 6 cups of sliced red cabbage)
- 1 Leek, sliced
- 1 Onion, peeled and chopped
- 1 Small potato, peeled and diced
- 1l (2 pints) Vegetable stock (or water)
- 100ml (3.4 fl oz) Almond milk
- 1 Teaspoon sea salt (or salt to taste)
- Have all the vegetables well washed and prepared as indicated in the ingredients description.
- Heat the EVOO in a large saucepan over moderate heat. Add the leeks and onion and a pinch of salt and sauté for about 3 minutes until soft. Add then the diced potato and 2 tablespoons of the vegetable stock (or water if not available) and sauté for about 10 minutes until the potatoes are cooked. Add then the sliced red cabbage and sauté for 5 minutes. Cover with the rest of the vegetable stock, bring to a boil over medium heat and when it has reached a boil remove the saucepan from the heat.
- Add the almond milk, one teaspoon sea salt (or salt to taste) and with the help of a hand mixer (ideally a powerful one of at least 450 watt) mix it all well until perfectly combined.
- Serve hot.
Debbie Easley
This recipe for purple cabbage soup was delicious my family loved it. Great recipe.
I used a immersion blender made it very smooth and creamy.
I love Mediterranean food so healthy.
Thank you ,
Debbie Easley
Margarita
I’m glad you like it Debbie 🙂 Enjoy and happy healthy cooking!
Dorothy
This is my daughter’s favorite soup, she often asks for purple soup! It’s only 1 potato but the potato flavor really comes thru and reminds me of a mild potato leek soup, Super easy to make and tastes great. I’ve doubled it successfully, use my Vitamin blender to make it smooth, and use whatever milk i have on hand: cow ,hazlenut or almond, but usually cow’s milk. It always turns out great with a beautiful purple color.
Margarita
Hi Dorothy, I’m glad my soup is your daughter’s favorite soup 🙂 Enjoy and happy healthy cooking!
Janet
How many net carbs in 1 cup of this recipe?
Margarita
Hi Janet, apologies for my late answer. My baby girl was born at the end of November and I’ve been very busy since then.
I am of the opinion that counting calories keeps you from enjoying food. This is a very tasty and nutritionally balanced recipe, I would encourage you to simply enjoy it and forget about its nutritional data ? Enjoy and happy healthy cooking!
Nic
Don’t worry about the carbs. Focus on the diversity of plants you have, per meal, and everything will work itself out, and you’ll feel fab 🙂 this soup has plenty of excellent, gut-loving plants, and potatoes are a good source of fibre!
Sara Lurie
I have a red cabbage and leeks and was googling to find a recipe. This looks amazing and I will make it tomorrow. I don’t have use almond milk (my daughter is allergic to almonds) but I do have unsweetened soya milk and I also have tins of coconut milk. Which do you this would work better? Can’t wait to try it! Thank you x
Margarita
Hi Sara, apologies for my late answer. My baby girl was born at the end of November and I’ve been very busy since then. I’d suggest you use soya milk, because coconut milk will change a lot the flavour of this soup. Enjoy and happy healthy cooking!
Rhonda
Thank you! Thank you!
One of our family favorites!
Margarita
I’m glad you like it Rhonda 🙂 Enjoy and happy healthy cooking!
Kristi
Have you tried freezing this soup?
Margarita
Hi Kristi, yes you can freeze this soup 🙂 Enjoy and happy healthy cooking!
Donna Benjamin
So good!
Thank you.
Margarita
Hi Donna, I’m glad you like it 🙂 Enjoy and happy healthy cooking!
Erin
SO GOOD! Beautiful and delicious!
Margarita
I’m glad you like it Erin 🙂 Enjoy and happy healthy cooking!
DvorahQ
Masked and gloved, my husband went out to procure some groceries. With mostly empty shelves, one must grab what one finds. He came home with all sorts of disparate things, including a red cabbage. I love German style sweet and sour red cabbage, but I just wasn’t in the mood for it, and as this lovely purple ball didn’t seem to be an obvious pair with anything else he bought, I turned to Google for some ideas. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw your photo of a smooth and creamy soup in my favorite color! Gorgeous and delicious! Thanks so much for sharing. I’ll be making this again, and sooner rather than later.
Margarita
Hi Dvorah, I’m very happy to know you enjoyed my soup 🙂 Enjoy and happy healthy cooking!
Jenna Millward
I just wanted to say, as a few people have made comments about the colour, that I have just made this and the colour came out exactly as your picture! I am very pleased I found this recipe:)
Margarita
Hi Jenna, I’m glad you like it 🙂 Enjoy and happy healthy cooking!
Nancy
Absolutely delicious soup. Substituted celeriac for the potato being nightshade allergic.
Margarita
Hi Nancy, I’m happy to know you like it 🙂 Enjoy and happy healthy cooking!
Lee
Felt like I need to take time to thank you for this awesome recipe. I substituted almond milk for coconut milk. Gorgeous ❤️ looking forward to check your other recipes.
Margarita
Thanks Lee 🙂 Enjoy and happy healthy cooking!
Rozalia
Very delicious! Didn’t get the exact color I was hoping for, mine was pretty dark. But, overall I don’t really care as long as the flavor is there and it definitely was. Thank you!!1
Margarita
Hi Rozalia, I’m glad you like it 🙂 Enjoy and happy healthy cooking!
Cliff Best
Two lavender colour for me so I added some ACV (apple cider vinegar) to the cabbage when cooking so it stayed purple/ red
Margarita
Hi Cliff, the colour is not so important, but I’m glad you found a way to make it look as you like. Enjoy and happy healthy cooking! 🙂
Yvonne Parker
Really enjoyed this soup, Margarita. Thank you for posting the recipe. I do prefer my soups to be a little thicker, so would not add as much stock to the next batch.
Margarita
Hi Yvonne, I’m glad to know you enjoyed my soup 🙂 That’s the beauty of cooking, you can adapt the recipe to suit your taste. Enjoy and happy healthy cooking!
jacqueline
I use a pressure cooker for all my soups. Very economical regarding fuel.
Would it be possible to include this way of cooking your recipes.
Margarita
Hi Jacqueline, for this soup in particular it is not necessary to use a pressure cooker, it takes only 20 minutes 😉 Enjoy and happy healthy cooking!
Joyce
Very tasty soup. I make a slaw that calls for just a bit of red cabbage and was looking for a way to use the rest of the cabbage and this worked out just fine, so thank you for sharing.
Margarita
Hi Joyce, I’m happy to know you like it 🙂 Enjoy and happy healthy cooking!
Elizabeth
I absolutely loved this recipe. I substituted the potato for cannellini beans because I wanted the protein and used hemp milk instead of almond milk . It still came out absolutely delicious. The color was a bit of a dark purple but it was probably from the beans. Still a great and easy soup. .
Margarita
Hi Elizabeth, I’m glad to know you like it 🙂 Enjoy and happy healthy cooking!
Caz Smalley
Just made a massive pan of this soup, using extra measures of the ingredients. I added some dried thyme, a bit of curry powder and some dried red lentils for protein and to thicken it, instead of using the potato. It tastes absolutely delicious, although it is not very pretty and doesn’t look like your pictures at all! My soup turned out a rather murky brown colour, but the taste is fabulous so I don’t mind at all. I added some ACV to preserve the colour, but it didn’t seem to work. This soup is yum, scrum, in my tum and there’s enough for today and the next 3 days for lunches for me and my partner. I’d like to post a pic of it, but I can’t fathom out how to!
Margarita
Hi Caz, delighted to know you enjoyed this soup and that you made the changes you mention to add some extra protein. The brown colour you mention obviously comes from the curry powder and the dried lentils you added 😉 Enjoy and happy healthy cooking!
Alex Frost
This was delightful. My new favourite red cabbage recipe! Thank you for the inspiration!
I used canned organic cannelini beans instead of potato and it was a perfect match, for a silky smooth creamy purée.
I also added 1/4 cauliflower, 4cloves of garlic, cumin powder and white pepper for taste. I omitted almond milk.
My husband who dislikes cabbage and cauliflower loved it.
Margarita
Hi Alex, I’m delighted to know you enjoyed it 🙂 And it sounds like a great idea adding the cannellini beans, like this you get extra protein 😉 Enjoy and happy healthy cooking!
sajedah
could I replace vegetable stock with chicken stock?
Margarita
Hi Sajedah, sure if you are not vegetarian you could replace vegetable stock with chicken stock 🙂 Enjoy and happy healthy cooking!
Michelle Goodman
I gave it a go it was good but it goes Grey real fast
Margarita
Hi Michelle, it’s never happened to me before, and I often do a large batch of this soup to freeze. Honestly I wouldn’t be able to tell you why it went grey. But I’m glad you enjoyed it! 🙂 Happy healthy cooking!
Julian Dellar
Just a quick thank you. The Red Cabbage Soup was excellent. We let the cabbage simmer for a few minutes longer, then used a hand blender. Looking forward to trying more recipes soon.
Margarita
You are welcome Julian! All the best for 2019 and happy healthy cooking! 🙂
Carl
This soup looks like it has been blended smooth , almost purée? But, as you said, you just used a powerful hand mixer? I didn’t think a hand mixer could smooth the soup as much as it seems to have done here…
Margarita
Hi Carl, I do not have a food processor, I only have a hand blender from Braun that has 450w, and that is what I use for all my soups, creams, purées, smoothies… it works pretty well! 🙂 I hope you enjoyed the soup, cheers!
David
I made this recipe with some modifications from my pantry and it was amazingly delicious!! I didnt have leeks so I added garlic cloves, fresh fennel, 21 seasoning salute (from Trader Joes), vanilla almond milk (costco brand) and a dash of ground cumin. I will definitely make this wonderful soup again, next time with leeks 🙂
Margarita
Hi David, I’m glad to know you liked my soup and that you were able to adapt it to use up the ingredients you had in your pantry. Enjoy!
David
I made this recipe with some modifications from my pantry and it was amazingly delicious!! I didnt have leeks so I added garlic cloves, fresh fennel, 21 seasoning salute (from Trader Joes), vanilla almond milk (costco brand) and a dash of ground cumin. I will definitely make this wonderful soyp again, next time with leeks 🙂
Amber
Is this supposed to be smooth like a bisque or a little chunky? Wasn’t sure if use a hand mixer if it will smooth out or stay a little hearty
Margarita
Hi Amber, if your hand mixer is powerful enough the soup will have a smooth texture, but if you prefer it to be a little chunky or hearty simply stop mixing when you reach your desired texture 🙂 Enjoy!
hollis
Should the almond milk be sweetened or unsweetened?
Margarita
Hi Hollis,
I use unsweetened almond milk for all my recipes. I hope you enjoy the soup 🙂 Cheers!
Jennifer B
WOW!!! Fantastic!! Made this soup today. Needed to use up some cauliflower and red cabbage. Had recently used my last leek in a vegan mushroom risotto recipe. So – here were my modifications for this soup. I added about 1/3 head of chopped cauliflower. I omitted the leek. I used two small purple potatoes, as that was the only kind of potato I had on hand. I added a tablespoon of vegan cream cheese and used hemp milk instead of almond milk, as that was the kind of milk I had on hand. I frequently make homemade creamy vegan soups and this red cabbage soup is a top contender for the number one spot. Thank you so much, Margarita, for posting this recipe!!!
Margarita
Hi Jennifer, I’m glad to know you like it and that you were able to do the little twists you mention to use the ingredients you had in the fridge 🙂 Enjoy!
Sahar Elhallak
How do you get this color? mine came out dark pink?
Yummm
Margarita
Hi Sahar, I am glad to know you like my recipe! The colour may vary a bit depending on the size of the red cabbage you are using. To give you an estimation, the 1/2 cabbage I use for this recipe would be approximately 600g or 6 cups of sliced red cabbage for the amounts in the recipe. I will add this information to the ingredients 🙂 Cheers!
rebekah
Red Cabbage/Purple Cabbage is a natural pH indicator and will turn more red, or more blue based depending on how acidic it is. If you want it to be more of a purple than a pink, try adding some apple cider vinegar, I have added a wee bit of white wine to mine, I hope this helps.
rebekah
Sorry had the colour backwards, for a more blue colour, it needs to be less acidic (I think beetroot is the other way around, thats why I was confused) so maybe add a wee bit of bicarb soda?
Margarita
Hi Rebekah, I would say that the colour of the soup is not the most important thing, if you follow the instructions for this recipe and the colour turns a bit different there is no need to worry, as you say it may depend on the red cabbage itself, but I would focus on the balance of the ingredients in this soup that makes it highly nutritious and its taste rather than a bit of variation in colour. I hope you enjoyed the soup! 🙂
Noel
Absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing
Margarita
Happy to know you like it Noel 🙂 Enjoy!
Elly
Hello, can I leave out the almond milk? I hate that stuff
Margarita
Hi Elly, sure if you do not like almond milk you could replace the same amount by normal milk (if you are not vegan or do not have lactose intolerance) or any other dairy alternative of your choice, although I would avoid coconut milk since it would change the taste. Enjoy! 🙂
Lynn
Hi Margarita,
I was wondering if I could use another non-dairy milk to substitute for the almond milk such as Soy or coconut?
Thank you!
I can’t wait to try your recipe!
Lynn
Margarita
Hi Lynn! Personally I would not use coconut milk because it can alter the taste, but I see no problem in replacing the almond milk with soya milk. Enjoy! 🙂
Esha
I have a huge red cabbage, so I’m wondering in terms of cups or weight, how much would you use?
Thanks
Margarita
Hi Esha, you could use approximately 600g or 6 cups of sliced red cabbage for the amounts in the recipe. I hope you enjoy it! 🙂 Cheers!
Esha Bhattacharya
Thank you!
Margarita
Oh, you’re welcome Esha 🙂
Anne
Simply delicious! Love it! Thanks for sharing.
Margarita
Hi Anne, glad to know you like it 🙂 Happy 2017!
Ali Hales
Hi can this be frozen?
Margarita
Hi Ali,
Yes, this soup freezes well and it is a nice to have ready to go in the freezer 😉 Enjoy!
KD
Hi
Is the cabbage basically raw when you blend the soup?
Margarita
Hi KD,
To retain the nutrients and health benefits of the red cabbage it is best not to cook it for long. For this soup I sauté it for about 5 minutes and I add the vegetable stock and bring to a boil. The cabbage is no longer raw, but it has been cooked for a very short period of time in order to keep its nutritional properties. I hope I answered your question 🙂
Let me know if you try it. At home this is one of our favourite soups!
Mira
Another good looking one Margarita! The colours are amazing. I love how simple yet nutritious this dish is. Will sure be making it in the future ?
Margarita
Thanks Mira 🙂 Yes, the red cabbage gives a lovely colour to this soup. I hope you enjoy it, cheers!
Helen
This looks amazing! Is it better to use unsweetened almond milk if you can find it?
Margarita
Hi Helen,
Definitely, whenever I use almond milk in my recipes it is the unsweetened version. I hope you can find it, I usually buy it at SuperValu. Let me know how it goes!
Have a great day 🙂
Sara
Hello, I’m very interested in making this dish it sounds fabulous. However, the recipe does not indicate how much cauliflower. Please advise. Thank you.
Margarita
Hi Sara 🙂
Actually there is no cauliflower at all in this recipe! I was wondering why you asked me about it when I realized I had written cauliflower in the instructions instead of red cabbage! My apologies for this, it is now corrected 😉 I’m so glad you pointed it out 😀
Let me know how it goes and thanks again 🙂
Barb
Instead of potato use cauliflower!
Margarita
Hi Barb, I love the creaminess that potato adds to this soup, but if you’ve tried my recipe replacing potato with cauliflower and you like it, just go for it! 🙂