Sour Cabbage Roll Soup

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I love cabbage rolls but I’m too lazy to make them.  I love sauerkraut!  I saw a recipe for cabbage roll soup and though that it would be fantastic with sauerkraut!

To help make this soup healthier, I’m using ground turkey versus ground beef.  Any ground meat should work well in this recipe.  I just love recipes that you can change around and still have a great result!  As with most soups, the flavors are better the next day as they have time to develop.

Also, feel free to play around with the ingredients.  If you hate sauerkraut, use a couple of bags of angel hair cabbage.  If you want a little hot and sour soup flavor going on, in addition to the cabbage add 2 Tbsp of apple cider vinegar.  If you hate cooked carrots, leave them out – I like to include them to boost the nutritional value of the soup.

Sour Cabbage Roll Soup

• 1 to 1 1/2 lb ground turkey, or any other ground meat you like
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 3 Tbsp minced dried onion
• 1 granny smith apple, cored, peeled, and diced
• 3 cloves garlic, grated or pressed directly into the pan
• 1 Tbsp onion powder
• 1 Tbsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 Tbsp hot sauce (we like Cholula)
• 1 envelope Good Seasons Italian Dressing mix
• 1 envelope Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix
• 1/2 C long-grain rice
• 3 C chicken broth
• 2 15-oz cans tomato puree
• 1 large jar of sauerkraut, liquid and cabbage

Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Once hot, add olive oil and move it around the pan to coat the bottom.  Once the oil is hot, add the ground turkey and begin breaking it up with a manual potato masher.  Season the top with the Worcestershire sauce, dried onion, garlic, onion powder, and garlic powder.

Let the turkey cook on the first side until it’s brown and then begin to flip so that the top side can also brown.  This will help the soup have a richer flavor.  Add the rice and stir so that the rice gets a little toasty. 

Add the chicken broth, deglazing the pan first as needed, stirring well.  Add diced apple, smoked paprika, Good Seasons Italian dressing mix, and Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix envelope.  Add the hot sauce, tomato puree, and the sauerkraut stirring to mix well.

Reduce heat to medium or medium-low and let soup simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.  Garnish each serving with sliced green onion, chopped cilantro or flat leaf parsley.