One-Pot Vegan Cabbage Roll Soup with Lentils and Brown Rice
This vegan cabbage roll soup has the flavor of stuffed cabbage without the rolling. Lentils, brown rice and tender cabbage simmer in a smoky, tangy tomato broth.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 55 min
- Serves
- 6

One-Pot Vegan Cabbage Roll Soup with Lentils and Brown Rice is a vegan dinner recipe made with olive oil, yellow onion, carrots. It takes 70 minutes of hands-on time, serves 6, and each serving has 272 calories, 11 g of protein and 9 g of fiber.
This soup has the sweet-sour tomato flavor of Eastern European stuffed cabbage, made in one pot. The brown rice goes in first because it needs about 10 minutes more than the green lentils, so both finish cooking at the same time. Smoked paprika stands in for the smoky depth that meat usually adds. A splash of vinegar and a pinch of brown sugar at the end give it the tangy-sweet balance of a classic cabbage roll sauce.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp27 golive oil
- 1 large150 gyellow onion, diced
- 2 medium122 gcarrots, diced
- 2 80 gcelery stalks, diced
- 1½ tsp9 gfine sea salt, divided
- 4 cloves12 ggarlic, minced
- 2 tbsp32 gtomato paste
- 2 tsp4.6 gsmoked paprika
- 1 tsp1.4 gdried thyme
- ½ tsp1.2 gblack pepper
- 7 cups1.68 kglow-sodium vegetable broth
- 1 can411 gcanned diced tomatoes, with juices, one 28-oz can
- ½ cup93 glong-grain brown rice, rinsed
- 1 0.2 gbay leaf
- ¾ cup144 gdried green lentils, rinsed and picked over
- 1½ lb680 ggreen cabbage, cored and chopped into 1-inch pieces (about 8 cups)
- 1 tbsp15 gapple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp9.2 gbrown sugar
- ¼ cup2.3 gfresh dill, chopped
- 6 tbsp85 gunsweetened coconut yogurt, for serving (optional)
Kit: large Dutch oven or soup pot (6 quart or larger), chef's knife, cutting board
Tips
- Use green or brown lentils, not red. Red lentils fall apart and turn the soup into a puree.
- The rice and lentils keep soaking up liquid as the soup sits. When reheating, add a splash of broth or water to loosen it.
- Wait until the end to add the vinegar and sugar so you can adjust them to taste. Different brands of canned tomatoes vary a lot in acidity.
Swap ideas
- Use 1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice instead of dry, stirred in for the last 5 minutes
- Cuts the simmer to about 30 minutes, and the broth stays thinner because the rice doesn't absorb as much.
- Use crushed tomatoes instead of diced
- Gives a smoother, thicker broth that tastes more like the sauce on classic baked cabbage rolls.
- Add 8 oz chopped cremini mushrooms with the onion
- Makes the soup meatier and more savory.
- Swap the dill for parsley and add 1/2 tsp caraway seeds with the spices
- Gives it more of a rye-bread flavor and less fresh herb.
The numbers
Nutrition per serving
272kcal per serving
Everything else · 6 servings per recipe
- Saturated fat
- 0.9 g 5%
- Sugars
- 12 g
- Sodium
- 1542 mg 67%
- Potassium
- 805 mg 17%
- Calcium
- 119 mg 9%
- Iron
- 3.7 mg 21%
- Vitamin C
- 58 mg 64%
- Vitamin B12
- 0 µg 0%
% Daily Value on a 2,000 calorie diet. Calculated from USDA FoodData Central values for each ingredient; optional ingredients are excluded. Estimates vary with brands and portions.
Sources: Oil, olive, salad or cooking, Onions, raw, Carrots, raw, Celery, raw, Salt, table, Garlic, raw, Tomato products, canned, paste, without salt added (Includes foods for USDA's Food Distribution Program), Spices, paprika, Spices, thyme, dried, Spices, pepper, black, Soup, vegetable broth, ready to serve, Tomatoes, red, ripe, canned, packed in tomato juice, Rice, brown, long-grain, raw (Includes foods for USDA's Food Distribution Program), Spices, bay leaf, Lentils, raw, Cabbage, raw, Vinegar, cider, Sugars, brown, Dill weed, fresh
Method
Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery and 1/2 tsp of the salt. Cook, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft and translucent and the carrots start to soften, 7–8 minutes.
Add the garlic, tomato paste, smoked paprika, thyme and black pepper. Stir constantly until the paste darkens to a brick red and the garlic smells fragrant, about 1–2 minutes.
Pour in the broth and the tomatoes with their juices, scraping up anything stuck to the bottom of the pot. Add the brown rice and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
Stir in the lentils, cabbage and the remaining 1 tsp salt. The cabbage will look like too much at first, but it wilts down quickly. Bring back to a simmer.
Cover with the lid slightly ajar and simmer gently, stirring now and then, until the lentils are tender but still hold their shape, the rice is fully cooked and the cabbage is silky, 30–35 minutes. If the soup gets thicker than you like, add up to 1 cup of water.
Take the pot off the heat and remove the bay leaf. Stir in the vinegar, brown sugar and most of the dill. Taste, then add more salt, vinegar or sugar until it has a balanced sweet-sour flavor.
Ladle into bowls and top with the rest of the dill. Add a spoonful of coconut yogurt if you like.
Storage: Cool, then refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months. The soup thickens as it sits, so add broth or water when you reheat it on the stove.
Questions
- How much protein is in one-pot vegan cabbage roll soup with lentils and brown rice?
- Each of the 6 servings has 11 g of protein, 9 g of fiber and 272 calories, calculated from USDA FoodData Central values for every ingredient.
- Is one-pot vegan cabbage roll soup with lentils and brown rice vegan?
- Yes. It contains no dairy, eggs, honey or other animal products.
- How long does one-pot vegan cabbage roll soup with lentils and brown rice take to make?
- 15 minutes of prep and 55 minutes of cooking, so 70 minutes of hands-on time.
- Can you make one-pot vegan cabbage roll soup with lentils and brown rice ahead?
- Cool, then refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months. The soup thickens as it sits, so add broth or water when you reheat it on the stove.
- What can I substitute in one-pot vegan cabbage roll soup with lentils and brown rice?
- Use 1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice instead of dry, stirred in for the last 5 minutes — cuts the simmer to about 30 minutes, and the broth stays thinner because the rice doesn't absorb as much.. Use crushed tomatoes instead of diced — gives a smoother, thicker broth that tastes more like the sauce on classic baked cabbage rolls.. Add 8 oz chopped cremini mushrooms with the onion — makes the soup meatier and more savory.. Swap the dill for parsley and add 1/2 tsp caraway seeds with the spices — gives it more of a rye-bread flavor and less fresh herb..
- Does one-pot vegan cabbage roll soup with lentils and brown rice contain gluten?
- Yes — the ingredient list includes gluten. Check the labels on the products you buy if you're cooking for an allergy.
Nutrition is calculated from USDA data for every ingredient — how we work it out.
Published October 3, 2026 ·Eastern European