This easy Napa cabbage soup is a delicious, umami packed light dinner you can put together on a cold winter night. Featuring Chinese cabbage as the star ingredient, this comforting broth based soup is just bursting with flavor.
Just like my Tom Yum Gai soup, this one is incredibly easy to put together, and needs just some Napa cabbage and a few Asian pantry staples.
Whether I’m down with a cold or I’m looking for a simple, effortless dinner to put together, a good bowl of comforting soup is what I turn to. My cilantro chicken soup and Tom Yum Gai were both big hits, but I was really looking to try a no-fuss recipe featuring simple ingredients, and that’s when I came across this recipe.
You can get this soup ready in just 20 minutes and enjoy it with your other Asian mains, or even on its own.
Quick Look: Napa Cabbage Soup
- 🔪Prep time: 5 minutes.
- ⏲️Cook time: 15 minutes.
- 👪 Servings: 2 servings.
- 📋Main ingredients: Chicken, napa cabbage, carrot, ginger, green onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper.
- ♨️Cooking method: Sauté aromatics with chicken 🡢 add carrot and Napa cabbage 🡢 strain and remove aromatics 🡢 simmer, garnish and serve.
- ⭐Difficulty: Easy.
- 🥣Serving ideas: Spoon some ginger scallion oil or sprinkle some extra crushed black pepper over the soup right before serving.
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What's So Great About the Recipe?
- It's simple, easy and adaptable. You can tweak and adjust the mix-ins to your liking.
- It's light, comforting and perfect to enjoy on a cold winter night.
- You can experiment a lot with the toppings (like chili crunch oil) and mix-ins (like dehydrated bell peppers) to elevate the soup.
Recipe Ingredients
Napa cabbage: I used Napa cabbage, also known as Chinese cabbage to add that beautiful texture to the soup.
Chicken: You’ll also need some chicken thighs to prepare the broth for the soup. You can choose bone-in or boneless chicken- whatever you prefer.
Carrot: I also added a carrot to give the soup a bit of a texture.
Aromatics: I used onion, garlic and ginger. You can also use homemade ginger garlic paste if you don't have fresh ginger and garlic at hand.
Green onion: For that freshness and pop of color.
Seasonings: I kept the seasonings simple and used salt, black pepper and red chili flakes. You can also use a dash of homemade Ramen seasoning to add extra flavor to the broth.
See recipe card for quantities.
Substitutions & Variations
- I’ve kept the soup super simple, but you can also add a dash of soy sauce if you want to lend some more flavor and a pop of color to the soup. Miso paste can be another great addition.
- Don’t have chicken? You can use some chicken bouillon powder to prepare the chicken base. To make a vegetarian version, use low sodium vegetable broth or some homemade vegetable bouillon cubes instead.
- Want the soup to be clear? Use white pepper instead of the crushed black pepper as the seasoning, and skip adding the red chili flakes.
How to Make Napa Cabbage Soup
Step 1: In a large pot over medium heat, add the chicken and diced aromatics and cook for 3-5 minutes on high heat.
Step 2: Lower the heat to medium and add in the carrots and water.
Step 3: Bring the mixture to a boil, add the cabbage, cook for 5 minutes, and then take off heat.
Step 4: Strain the soup, remove the onions, garlic and ginger and add everything else back to the pot.
Step 5: Bring it back on heat and simmer the soup for 5 minutes. Ladle into soup bowls, garnish with lemon juice, sliced green onions and chopped cilantro.
💭Top Tip
To lend the soup the perfect Asian flavor, you can also add a dash of sesame oil into the pot while cooking the chicken.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- To make this soup more filling, you can add some firm tofu into the mix and turn it into a nice cabbage tofu soup.
- You can also add some other veggies of your choice into this soup. Bok choy or savoy cabbage are two great options, but you can also choose green beans, bell peppers, zucchini and bean sprouts.
- Fresh shiitake mushrooms can be another great addition to the soup.
- A dash of fish sauce can also elevate the flavors of this soup. I like to add some of my hot pepper vinegar to amp up the tanginess and heat!
- You can also try making an egg drop soup featuring the chicken broth, chopped green cabbage and some whisked eggs.
- Another great way to make the soup more filling is to add some rice noodles into the mix along with the carrots. You can also top the soup with some chicken floss right before serving.
- To cut down the cooking time for the recipe, you can start with store-bought stock or broth, and add the chopped cabbage, veggies and seasonings into the soup.
Serving Ideas & Suggestions
This flavorful soup can be served as a side dish with any of your favorite Asian foods. I love teaming it up with my honey sriracha shrimp rice bowl and baked teriyaki tofu. And if you’re looking to make it a part of a lighter meal, you can serve the soup with some spicy garlic edamame or a nice Asian spicy cucumber salad.
You can also serve this hearty soup on its own as a main dish, perfect when you’re looking for something that’s light and comforting. You can add some orzo or crispy noodles into the soup too! Top it off with a drizzle of fermented jalapeno hot sauce or some Sichuan chili oil for a kick of heat.
Troubleshooting & FAQs
This Chinese napa cabbage soup tastes best when you use napa cabbage, but you can, of course, try using regular green cabbage or any other favorite cabbage of your choice if you want to.
You can definitely try this soup in an Instant Pot too. In fact, using a pressure cooker will help reduce the cooking time for the recipe.
To make a vegan Napa cabbage soup, you can skip using the chicken, and use some mushroom broth or vegetable broth as the base, add in lots of veggies and tofu!
If you have some leftover soup, you can let it cool down completely and then transfer it to a clean glass container before refrigerating it for 2-3 days.
More Comfort Food Recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
If you tried this napa cabbage soup or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Napa Cabbage Soup
Ingredients
- 1 napa cabbage
- 1 carrot
- 1 green onion
- 2-3 garlic
- 1 onion
- 1 inch ginger
- 200 g chicken
- ½ teaspoon chili flakes
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium heat, add the chicken and diced aromatics and cook for 3-5 minutes on high heat.
- Lower the heat to medium and add in the carrots and water.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, cook for 5 minutes, and then take off heat.
- Strain the soup, remove the onions, garlic and ginger and add everything else back to the pot.
- Add the cabbage and simmer the soup for 5 minutes.
- Ladle into soup bowls, garnish with lemon juice, sliced green onions and chopped cilantro.
Notes
- To lend the soup the authentic Asian flavor, you can also add a dash of sesame oil into the pot while cooking the chicken.
- You can also add some other veggies of your choice into this soup. Bok choy or savoy cabbage are two great options, but you can also choose green beans, bell peppers, zucchini and bean sprouts.
- To cut down the cooking time for the recipe, you can start with store-bought stock or broth, and add the chopped cabbage, veggies and seasonings into the soup.
- If you have some leftover soup, you can let it cool down completely and then transfer it to a clean glass container before refrigerating it.
