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My chicken and cabbage soup with carrots and parsnips gives you that toe-curling comfort food feeling your body CRAVES, y'all!! Transforming simple ingredients into one delicious pot of perfectly seasoned bliss, this recipe stuns with deep, rich flavor hits that you feel all the way down to your bones. Yep and yay...
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It's Exactly What You Didn't Know You Needed...
Chicken and cabbage soup features hearty vegetables, seasoned thigh pieces, carrots, and parsnips in a rich, super-flavorful broth with browned Cajun trinity vegetables and garlic. It's an easy soup recipe, with my version including a few layered steps that maximize the taste of all the ingredients, making the finished soup flavor-pop in all the right places.
It only takes about an hour to make this cabbage chicken soup. But, it tastes like you spent all day slaving over the stove, y'all. The spice-studded chicken is super tender and juicy. And, the succulent cabbage is so soft and lush with bits of charred veggies at the finish that add the perfect smoky balance to every sweet and juicy spoonful. For sure.
Ingredient Essentials & Substitutions
- I used kitchen shears to cut boneless skinless chicken thighs into small, bite-sized pieces. I love the dark meat in this soup, but the recipe can also work well with skinless chicken breast pieces.
- You need 8 to 10 cups of chopped green cabbage. That equates to one small head with the outer leaves removed. In a pinch, you can use savoy cabbage which is a great option because you won't have any recipe substitutions. Or, you can use napa cabbage and reduce the cooking time by several minutes since it has a quicker cooking time. I wouldn't use red cabbage though, as its color, taste, and texture are just not a suitable match for this chicken and cabbage soup recipe.
- The Cajun trinity veggies of chopped yellow onion, green bell pepper, and celery deepen the flavor of the cabbage chicken soup. The garlic plays off of the caramelized veggie trio, too. Because they work in unison to make this a truly great recipe, I recommend that you hold off making the soup until you have them on hand.
- Lemon zest and juice brighten the dried spices, making them come alive with the taste and textures of fresh herbs. That said, you can omit them if you don't have a lemon on hand. The soup will still turn out to be very tasty.
- Carrots and parsnips have a lightness that pairs perfectly with cabbage. Their addition makes this soup more filling and visually appealing. However, you can use other types of veggies that you have on hand. Green beans and other cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower can also work in the soup.
- I used my favorite boxed chicken broth with great success. You can also use chicken stock or vegetable broth.
How to Make Chicken and Cabbage Soup with Carrots and Parsnips
Start by coring and chopping the cabbage. Then, top with seasonings.
Toss to combine, then set aside.
Sprinkle the seasonings, lemon juice, and zest over the boneless skinless chicken thigh pieces.
Stir until well incorporated, then set aside.
Pour the chopped onion, bell pepper, and celery into the bottom of a large stock pot or Dutch oven. Add the butter and olive oil.
Cook for a bit, until the veggies are about halfway-browned.
Add the raw seasoned chicken pieces. Stir to combine, then continue cooking until the pieces are lightly browned.
The chicken will likely release a good bit of flavored chicken stock that's going to go a long way in seasoning the soup. This is a very, very good thing. So, keep the stock in the pot and add the garlic at this time.
Now, begin to add the chopped salted cabbage into the pot in batches. Stir until combined in between every batch.
Stir often until the cabbage cooks down into the mixture.
Add the broth, carrots, and parsnips. Then, continue to cook until all the veggies are tender.
And that's it, y'all!!
The first spoonful of this chicken and cabbage soup with carrots and parsnips hits your down-home happy food spot hard!! The rich, seasoned chicken is fall-apart tender, the cabbage sweet and silky, and the other veggies still have a bit of bite that makes the textures in each bite varied and interesting.
And the broth, y'all, the broth!! It's so incredibly flavorful that you'll most certainly find yourself tipping your head back to drink every last blessed drop until it's all, all gone. Indeed.
This is also the perfect meal prep soup, as the chicken meat, cabbage, and extra veggies are light enough for a daily lunch yet substantial enough for a dinner.
Share with those who inject toe-curling love and loyalty into your everyday life. And see y'all on the yum side...
More Amazing Cabbage Recipes
If you love this recipe, you should probably put these other amazingly flavorful cabbage recipes on your menu rotation radar for later.
Other Incredible Soup Recipes
I'm a huge fan of soup and eat it throughout each season of the year. Here are a few more of my favorites.
Chicken and Cabbage Soup with Carrots & Parsnips
Ingredients
For the Salted Cabbage
- 8 cups green cabbage, cored and chopped
- ½ to 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne
For the Seasoned Chicken
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice freshly squeezed
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
- ½ teaspoon paprika
For the Soup
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 1 large green bell pepper, chopped
- 2 celery ribs, trimmed and chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic about 4 fresh cloves
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups peeled and sliced medium carrots
- 1 cup peeled and sliced parsnips
Instructions
- Sprinkle the salt, black pepper, and cayenne over the chopped cabbage, then stir to combine.
- Season the boneless skinless chicken thigh pieces with lemon juice and zest, parsley flakes, and paprika. Set aside in a separate bowl.
- Heat the butter and olive oil in a large enameled cast iron Dutch oven or large stock pot over medium-high heat.
- Add the chopped onion, bell pepper, and celery.
- Cook until the vegetables soften and are about halfway browned.
- Stir the seasoned chicken into the mixture.
- Continue cooking, stirring often, until the chicken pieces are browned lightly.
- Stir the garlic into the mixture, and cook for about one more minute.
- Add the chopped cabbage to the mixture in batches, stirring well in-between each batch to ensure that the mixture is well combined.
- Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage cooks about ⅓ of the way down in the pot.
- Reduce the heat to medium.
- Pour the chicken broth into the pot.
- Stir the sliced carrots and parsnips to the soup.
- Cook for an additional 30 minutes, stirring often, or until the carrots and parsnips are tender.
Notes
The information shown is an estimate provided by a third-party, online computer-generated nutrition calculator, not a registered dietitian or certified nutritionist. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods and individual portion sizes, along with other factors.
See our full nutrition disclaimer here.
