Serves 8
Active time: 15 minutes || Total time: 40 minutes
There’s something seductively subtle about Eastern European flavors. No one is going to knock you over your head with cumin or turn the garlic up to 11. Instead, here’s some sauteed onion, and a little dill. I think of these sorts of brothy soups as babushka soups, grandma soups. You should be able to experience each ingredient; the sweet earthiness of the carrot, the toothsome bites of cabbage, the succulence of the chickpea, the substance of the rice. Simple, comforting flavors that are easy to love.
I like to use homemade broth here, but if you have a broth you really love then go ahead and use it, I can’t stop you. I also dig the floral notes from jasmine or basmati rice, but you can use whatever rice you like. Just remember that brown rice has a longer cooking time. I also love the ease and the look or baby carrots, I just leave them whole if they are small enough, or slice fatter ones lengthwise on a diagonal.
Olive oil (1 teaspoon to 2 tablespoons, however much you want to use)
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dry thyme
1 teaspoon salt
Fresh black pepper
1/2 cup jasmine rice, rinsed
1/2 lb baby carrots (see comment above)
1 lb cabbage, shredded (about 1/4 of a big head)
6 cups broth
1 24 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (about 3 cups)
3 tablespoons fresh chopped dill, plus extra for garnish
Preheat a stock pot over medium heat. Saute onion in olive oil with a pinch of salt for about 5 minutes, until translucent. Add garlic, thyme, salt and pepper and saute a minute more.
Add rice, carrots and cabbage and then pour in the broth. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, bring down to a simmer, add the chickpeas, and let cook for about 15 more minutes, until rice is cooked and carrot is tender.
Stir in the dill and season with salt and pepper to taste. This definitely tastes better the longer you let it sit, but it can be enjoyed right away, too. Top with extra fresh dill.
It’s delicious! It reminds me of soups that my Polish grandma made: Put everything you have in the fridge to a pot, boil, add some spices and.. dinner’s ready – and super tasty! Thanks for the recipe!
One of the best soups I’he ever made
Baby carrots are not your friend. Buy carrots from your local farmer and cut them yourself. lazy.
When you say mean things, no one listens. No one is lazy because they use baby carrots. There are nicer ways to encourage people to buy local. It supports the local economy and helps your area grow and be vibrant. Local farmers markets are just plain great!!
I actually enjoyed the baby carrot suggestion; a shortcut I wouldn’t normally take unless invited to (as Isa did here). I have a newborn and appreciate the time saving step. Cut in half, they were the perfect bite size!
FYI I subbed half of the cabbage with cauliflower and half the garbanzo beans with great northern based on what I had. Delish!
One of my clients just tried this and LOVED it! Thanks for posting such delicious and informative recipes!
Great, simple, cheap and DELICIOUS recipe! it turned out funny looking because I only had red cabbage and the whole broth and rice turned purple. Loved it, Thank you genius lady!
I made this as an antedote to the Thanksgiving rich food leftovers and because it has turned seriously cold in Tennessee. This was perfect. I couldn’t find fresh dill (even at Whole Foods) so I used dried.
We made this soup today and it was wonderful. It helped lift our spirits as our hearts wept for the lost souls at Sandy Hook Elementary School today.
Just ate for dinner – DELICIOUS!
i want those bowls!!!
This is my favourite go to stew. I add some curry powder for extra richness. It was one of the first vegan dishes I made. Lately I’ve been experimenting with new recipes, they haven’t turned out as satisfying as the pictures on the websites … back to the basics – this stew!
do you think this would be good with quinoa or couscous in place of the rice?
This is my favorite soup ever!
This looks beyond delicious. I think I’ll make it this weekend!
This soup was the best very filling ,very tasty this soup dish goes with every meal
I made it, I tasted it, I melted
I can’t keep my fork out of this soup pot! The dill just gives it this extra interesting twist that I keep coming back for. Mmmmmmmm. I’m part if a dinner club where once a week I cook for three families including my own (and two days I don’t cook, but food magically appears on my doorstep!) When I’m in a pinch for a recipe I always know I can come here and find one that will be yummy without fail! Thank you so much for doing what you do and sharing these amazing creations!!
Greetings from Australia! I think I could make a special trip to the US just to eat at your restaurant.
I have made this 6 times recently and I can’t seem to get enough. It’s like soup crack for my body.
Yummo!
Made this soup today…delicious! Added 1 TBSP lemon juice after removing soup from heat. Also, I had only fine, dry dill on hand so I only added 1 tsp. Lastly, I used my hand held blender to puree some of the soup to make it more like a stew. Serving with a dense, whole wheat bread boule and a salad.!
This soup might be the ultimate comfort food. Warms my heart every single time.
I love this soup as do my two boys age 2 and 6! I always add a couple cups extra of broth and extra dill, so good!
Thank you so much, Isa! The soup was fantastic!
I made a few changes based on what I had on hand…
I used brown rice so I cooked the soup longer and added more water.
I didn’t use vegetable broth. I never do in any recipe. I just use water – the soup was still very flavorful! I also add extra salt to taste.
I did not use baby carrots. I used 4 large carrots.
I also added in a diced red bell pepper in with the onions to add color.
I added in 3T of lemon juice at the end and let the soup simmer for 15 minutes.
I added in extra dill maybe an extra 2-3T.
I would say the soup serves 5-6 people.
Fantastic, cant’t wait to try it!
We loved this! We put loads of dill in the soup while it was cooking and more fresh dill when we served it. Probably will add even more carrots next time. They were so good in it. We did let it sit for about 2 hours in the pot with the lid on. Was fantastic!