This cozy chicken and cabbage soup is bursting with tasty ingredients and is so easy to make! With lots of veggies and herbs, we cook this warming soup up on the stovetop for a dairy free and gluten free lunch or a light dinner.
Have a peek at my chicken paprika soup and chicken turmeric soup for more tasty and healthy lunch ideas!
Warming soups are always perfect for a chilly fall or winter day. If you love them too, then you may like to see my quinoa vegetable soup and parsnip cauliflower soup for more tasty options!
Just like my chicken butternut squash soup and dairy free chicken soup, this chicken cabbage soup combines freshly shredded chicken with vegetables and herbs for a flavorful bowl of goodness! Very easy to make, and so good for a family lunch.
Check out my what to serve with chicken soup round-up for so many tasty sides to go with your lunch or dinner!
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⭐ Why this recipe is so good
Family favourite chicken soup. Always a nostalgic dish, this chicken soup with cabbage and carrots gets in some extra veggies but will still be loved by kids and adults alike!
Full of flavor. We use lots of herbs in this soup, but increase the quantities even more if you love herby flavors.
Easy to make. Once the chicken has been cooked and shredded, it really is just a case of adding ingredients to your pot!
🦃 Ingredients
All the ingredients and their quantities are in the recipe card below.
Some notes on a few of them:
- Chicken - I suggest using plain boneless skinless chicken breasts or fillets, and then cooking and shredding yourself.
- Cabbage - I use savoy cabbage for this recipe, but green cabbage works well too. My low histamine readers may wish to note that green cabbage scores 0 on the SIGHI list, whilst savory cabbage is higher histamine, scoring 1 with a ? as a liberator.
- Sweet potato - this helps to thicken the soup and make it a bit more hearty. I suggest peeling the potato for the soup.
📖 Swaps and variations
Use leftover shredded chicken. If it is suitable for you (likely not for my low histamine readers) then you can use leftover chicken for the soup.
Swap sweet potato for white potato. Both work well in the soup.
Swap leeks for more onion. If you aren't a fan of leek, then simply use white onion instead.
🔪 Step by step instructions
Making this chicken cabbage soup is so simple, uses easy to find affordable ingredients and comes together on the stovetop.
Step 1
Drizzle a little olive oil in your skillet, and cook the chicken fillets both sides until they browned, and cooked through with an internal temperature of 165F using a meat thermometer (image 1).
Step 2
Shred the chicken with two forks, or a stand mix with the appropriate attachment if you have one (image 2). Only shred once cool enough to handle!
Recipe tip: I suggest cutting your chicken breast into a few pieces before cooking in the skillet. It cuts down on cook time and is easier to shred.
Step 3
Add a little olive oil to your pot and tip in the leek, celery, carrot, garlic and herbs (image 3). Cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Step 4
Tip in the sweet potato, cabbage and bay leaf and cook for a further 2 minutes (image 4).
Step 5
Pour in the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat to a very light simmer. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally (image 5).
Step 6
Use tongs to add the shredded chicken and season with salt and black pepper (if using) (image 6). Cook for a few more minutes to warm the chicken through. Remove the bay leaf, then ladle into your bowls and serve immediately.
💭 Recipe tips and notes
- Be sure to cook the chicken thoroughly in the skillet. We only have the chicken in the stock for a short time before serving, so make sure it is already white meat throughout and has an internal temperature of 165F at the deepest point.
- Adjust the ratio of vegetables to choice. Prefer more cabbage? Add a bit more, and reduce another one of the vegetables for example. Just keep the overall quantity roughly the same.
- Adjust the amount of herbs to preference. We all like varying levels of 'herby' flavor, so change up to taste preference.
📋 Frequently asked questions
You can use leftover chicken for soup if this is suitable for your dietary requirements.
Yes! Simply transfer portions to tupperware or bags suitable for freezing. When you reheat, you will likely need to add a little more stock or water.
Chicken can be shredded using two forks. Hold the chicken with one fork, then use the other to pull away from the chicken so shredding it. You can also shred chicken in a stand mixer with the appropriate attachment.
Savoy cabbage and green cabbage are both good options for soup. Savory cabbage is higher histamine than green cabbage, as a note for my low histamine readers.
🥣 More delicious soups
Choose from so many flavorful soup recipes, including my chicken soup without noodles, spring asparagus broccoli soup and my fall favorite of pumpkin pesto soup. Some recent recipes:
I'm always in the kitchen, so come join me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to be the first to hear of new recipes! And please do leave a ⭐ star rating ⭐ if you've tried the recipe!
📖 Recipe
Chicken and Cabbage Soup
Equipment
- Skillet
- Large pot
Ingredients
- 1 large chicken breast
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 celery stick finely diced
- 2 carrots diced
- 1 small leek diced
- 2 cups cabbage shredded
- 1 sweet potato or white potato, diced
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley to garnish
- pinch salt
- pinch black pepper
Instructions
- Dice the chicken breast into several pieces. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper, if using. Heat olive oil in your skillet then fry the chicken for 6-8 minutes, turning with tongs. Ensure the chicken is cooked through to 165F as an internal temperature at the deepest point. Cook time will vary slightly depending upon the size of the chicken fillets.
- Once cool enough to handle, shred the chicken with two forks or in a stand mixer with the appropriate attachment.
- Fry the leek, celery, garlic, carrot, thyme and rosemary in olive oil in a large pot for 4-5 minutes.
- Add the sweet potato, cabbage and bay leaf. Cook for a further 2 minutes.
- Pour in the chicken stock and bring to a boil and then reduce to a very light simmer. Cook for 20 minutes.
- Use tongs to add in the shredded chicken, and sprinkle in salt and black pepper, if using. Cook for a further 3-4 minutes to ensure the chicken is warmed through. Remove the bay leaf.
- Ladle into your bowls and serve immediately.
Notes
- Be sure to thoroughly cook the chicken in the skillet to a temperature of 165F at the deepest point.
- Adjust the ratio of vegetables to preference, adding more cabbage if you like!
- For a more 'brothy' soup you may like to use a little more chicken stock.
- Sprinkle in some more herbs if you like a more fragrant soup.
- Please note that nutritional information is offered as a courtesy. It is auto-generated and should be understood to be an estimate not a guarantee.
- garlic, which scores 1.
- leek, which scores 1 and has a ? as a liberator. Swap out for white onion if you prefer.
- green and white cabbage score 0, but savoy cabbage scores 1 with a ? as a liberator.
- chicken stock will vary depending upon ingredients used.
- black pepper, which scores 2.
- bay isn't scored but has a ?, with a note, 'small amounts are well tolerated, for larger quantities lack of experience'.
Victoria says
This sounds yummy! Could we use purple cabbage to add a fun color for kiddos? Or is that high histamine/not good for soups?
Claire says
Hi Victoria, you could use red cabbage (cabbages score 0 on the SIGHI list with a ? as a liberator, so I would only use if they have tried it before and tolerated it). It does take a little longer to cook and soften so factor that into your cook time.
Alice says
This was my favorite so far of the three soups I made. The oregano added that twist of flavor that was addicting.
Claire says
So glad you liked the soup! Herbs are such a lovely way to add lots of flavor aren't they 🙂
Renee says
Not sure if it’s rosemary or oregano I’m supposed to use to follow this recipe.
Claire says
Thanks for catching that! Either would be good, but I tend to use oregano 🙂