This Napa Cabbage Soup is comfort in a bowl! This one-pot, umami-packed Whole30 soup fits the bill and it can be in your mouth in about 30 minutes.
Table of Contents
Homemade Chinese cabbage soup
This satisfying soup’s inspired by one of my mom’s recipes, and my kids can vouch for the fact that she’s the best cook on the planet. (They remind me of this constantly.) Night after night for years on end, after long days of number-crunching at the office, my mother cooked amazing family-style Cantonese suppers. Each meal was capped off with a huge bowl of savory soup—a different one every night.
An Umami-Packed Soup
Although my mom didn’t know the word “umami” back then, she was already demonstrating its power in all her dishes. As a kitchen ninja, she knew that by combining umami-packed ingredients, she’d end up with a final product that’s exponentially more delicious than the sum of its parts. It’s no wonder that one of my favorite of her soups featured pork ribs, Napa cabbage, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, potatoes, and broth—all ingredients that pop with umami. Try this recipe, and you’ll be astonished at how these simple ingredients come together to make an amazingly flavorful soup.
Pro tip!
If you use my Umami Stir-Fry Powder in place of salt in this recipe, you’ll add a boost of umami along with salt! KA-POW! You can make the seasoning blend by following the recipe on page 43 of our green cookbook or buy it online on Amazon or directly from The Spice Lab!
Pork and Napa Cabbage Soup is Quick and Easy
Because I’m way lazier than my mom, I recreated her soup as a hearty one-pot meal packed with meat and veggies. This mama ain’t got time to do more dishes on a busy weeknight. To cut down your hands-on cooking time even more, I’ve even included instructions for how to make this recipe in an electric pressure cooker. The Instant Pot version has all of the flavor in a fraction of the time!
Don’t eat pork?
You can substitute ground beef, ground dark meat turkey, or ground chicken thighs! Vegetarian? You can add some cubed firm tofu or whisked eggs at the end to make a hearty egg drop soup. If you want to cook this soup even faster, just stir in some leftover cooked protein when the vegetables are softened.
Ingredients
- Ghee or Avocado oil: Your favorite high temperature cooking fat to sauté the onions and ground meat.
- Small onion
- Umami Stir Fry Powder or Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- Ground pork: You can definitely sub ground chicken thighs, beef, or turkey in place of pork.
- Fresh shiitake mushrooms: You can substitute your favorite fresh mushroom—just make sure you slice them thinly. If you want to add even more umami, use some rehydrated dried shiitake mushrooms in the soup!
- Garlic
- Bone broth or chicken broth
- Napa cabbage: I use a relatively small Napa cabbage or half of a large one, about 2 pounds. You can find Napa cabbage at your local Asian market but most grocery stores will have it by the bok chop. No Napa cabbage? Bok choy or Savoy cabbage are good alternatives.
- Carrots
- Russet potato: Any potato will work! If you don’t eat potatoes, daikon also works as a low carb substitute.
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Green onions or scallions
How to make Napa cabbage soup with pork
Heat the ghee in a large pot over medium heat. When the fat is shimmering, toss in the diced onion with a sprinkle of Umami Stir-Fry Powder or Diamond Crystal kosher salt.
Stir fry the onions, stirring occasionally, until softened (about 3 minutes).
Add the ground pork and break it up with a spatula.
Stir in the sliced mushrooms and another sprinkle of Umami Stir Fry Powder or kosher salt.
Cook the pork and mushrooms until the meat is no longer pink and the shiitakes are tender (about 5 to 7 minutes).
Stir in the minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Pour in the broth and crank up the heat to high. Bring everything to a boil.
Then, stir in the chopped cabbage leaves, carrots and potato, and bring the soup back to a boil. Don’t worry about cramming too many veggies into the pot—the cabbage will cook down!
Lower the heat to medium or medium low to maintain a simmer, and partially cover the soup with a lid, leaving a crack so it doesn’t boil over.
Simmer the soup, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are easily pierced with a fork (about 15 minutes). Peek under the lid to make sure that the soup isn’t boiling over or barely percolating, and adjust the heat up or down as needed.
Instant Pot Instructions
If you want to make this soup in a Instant Pot or pressure cooker, sauté the ingredients in the pressure cooker as directed above. When you’re ready to simmer the soup, close and lock the lid; then, cook it under high pressure for 3-5 minutes. Release the pressure manually when the soup is finished cooking.
Season to taste with Umami Stir-Fry Powder or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Ladle into bowls and garnish with fresh scallions or green onions.
How to store leftovers
If you’ve got leftovers, you can store ’em in the fridge for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Try this soup for breakfast on a chilly morning, and you’ll never crave a soggy bowl of cereal again!
More Chinese Soup recipes
Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes in my cookbooks, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2013), Ready or Not! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2017), and Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2022).
PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE CARD
Pork and Napa Cabbage Soup
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon ghee, avocado oil, or cooking fat of choice
- 1 small onion diced
- Umami Stir-Fry Powder or Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 pound ground pork ground chicken thighs, beef, and turkey also work
- 6 large fresh shiitake mushrooms stemmed and thinly sliced (dried and reconstituted ’shrooms work, too)
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 6 cups bone broth or chicken stock
- 1 head Napa cabbage 2 pounds, cut crosswise into 1-inch segments (bok choy or Savoy cabbage are good alternatives)
- 2 large carrots peeled and sliced into coins
- 1 large russet potato peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 3 scallions (green onions), thinly sliced
Instructions
- Heat the ghee or cooking fat of choice in a large pot over medium heat. When the fat is shimmering, toss in the diced onion with a sprinkle of Umami Stir-Fry Powder or salt. Sauté the onions, stirring occasionally, until softened (about 3 minutes).
- Add the ground pork and break it up with a spatula. Stir in the sliced mushrooms and another sprinkle of Umami Stir-Fry Powder or salt. Cook the pork and mushrooms until the meat is no longer pink and the shiitakes are tender (about 5 to 7 minutes).
- Stir in the minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Pour in the broth and crank up the heat to high. Bring everything to a boil.
- Then, stir in the cabbage, carrots and potato, and bring the soup back to a boil. Don’t worry about cramming too many veggies into the pot—the cabbage will cook down!
- Lower the heat to medium or medium low to maintain a simmer, and partially cover the soup with a lid, leaving a crack so it doesn’t boil over. Simmer the soup, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are easily pierced with a fork (about 15 minutes). Peek under the lid to make sure that the soup isn’t boiling over or barely percolating, and adjust the heat up or down as needed.
- If you want to make this soup in an Instant Pot or pressure cooker, sauté the ingredients in the pressure cooker as directed above. When you’re ready to simmer the soup, close and lock the lid; then, cook it under high pressure for 3-5 minutes. Release the pressure manually when the soup is finished cooking.
- Season to taste with Umami Stir-Fry Powder or salt and freshly ground black pepper. Ladle into bowls and garnish with fresh scallions.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I tried this on a whim chasing keto recipes. I used Beef Bone Broth which made this so savory. I am avoiding potatoes because of the carbs SO I got some firm tofu, cubed it and added it after I pressure cooked for 3 minutes. I got a feeling this is going to be a go to comfort food.
This is SO GOOD.
Hi Michelle
I usually don’t post reviews but I just had to let you know that I made this soup and it was delicious! I have made it three times. I followed the recipe exactly. I used the Savoy cabbage because that is what I am most familiar with. I used dry mushrooms because I can’t always find fresh. This recipe will be perfect for the upcoming Fall and Winter months!
Hi – if we were to sub sweet potato for the white potato, should we pre-cook them longer? I’ll likely use the instant pot version.
No need!
This is my go-to lunch. It’s easy and delicious and, like most soups, gets more delicious overnight. Works great with regular green cabbage too.
Can I use leftover pulled pork for this?
Sure! Just add it at the end when the soup is almost ready.
Wonderful and flavorful. I used pork and omitted potatoes. Add a dash of chili flakes. Umami without trying. Bravo Michelle.
i had never had or made a cabbage soup before but really loved this one! made it in the instapot and everything went off without a hitch. thank you for a new go-to soup!
Does this recipe work well in a crockpot? I’d like a set and forget recipe for busy weekdays. Thanks!
I haven’t cooked it in a Crockpot because you can cook it relatively quickly on the stovetop and fast in the IP. I think it would be better to cook it ahead and reheat it when you get home.
I JUST made this today in my Instapot!!! OMG WHY HAVE I TAKEN SO LONG TO MAKE THIS! I made it with ground chicken because that is what I had. I absolutely love this! I bought the Stir Fry Powder off of Amazon just for this. Can wait to use it in her other recipes!
Here’s another one of our favorite soups! It couldn’t have any more veg in it and still be called soup, but the ratios are perfect and it somehow tastes like more than a sum of it’s parts. Thanks for the splendid recipe!