Ham and Cabbage Soup

Ham and Cabbage Soup is easy to make in the Instant Pot, or you can use the slow cooker or make it on the stove! And this low-carb and high protein soup will be a hit with everyone who likes soup with cabbage!

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This delicious Ham and Cabbage Soup is an Instant Pot version of a Slow Cooker Soup that’s been popular on the blog. And that recipe also has instructions for making it on the stove. No matter which version you prefer, this is a perfect soup to make with leftover ham!

This soup has lots of tender cabbage and juicy pieces of ham with onion, garlic, carrots, red bell pepper, chicken broth, and spices. And there’s a secret ingredient that’s optional but really bumps up the flavor!

If you’re just a tiny bit skeptical about the idea of cabbage in soup, I promise the cabbage gets sweet and tender in this soup. I hope you try it soon; this is a tasty soup that will warm your tummy on a cold winter night!

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe with ingredient amounts.)

• cabbage
• onion
• red bell pepper
• carrots
• diced lean ham
• bay leaves (optional but good)
• Spike Seasoning (affiliate link), or use other all-purpose seasoning mix
• granulated garlic
• Dried Parsley (affiliate link)
• Beau Monde Seasoning (affiliate link) or season salt (or any all-purpose seasoning that’s good in soup)
• coarse ground black pepper to taste (I used a generous amount of pepper)
• chicken stock or canned chicken broth (affiliate link)
• Goya Ham Flavor Concentrate (affiliate link) or other ham flavor base (optional, but recommended)

What’s the secret ingredient for Ham and Cabbage Soup?

If you can get your hands on Goya Ham Flavor Concentrate (affiliate link), I highly recommend adding a couple of packets of that to the chicken stock that’s the base of the ham and cabbage soup. That bumps up the flavor into the wow category! Don’t add salt if you’re using ham flavor base.

How low in carbs is the Ham and Cabbage Soup?

Even with the few carrots I added for color, this tasty soup with ham and lots of cabbage has only 4.5 net carbs per serving and 26 grams of protein! And you can use fewer carrots for even lower carbs if you prefer!

Is the Ham and Cabbage Soup Gluten-Free?

This tasty soup is gluten-free and it can easily be dairy-free if you don’t serve with Parmesan cheese.

Love Your Instant Pot?

I use a 6 Quart Instant Pot (affiliate link) for all my Instant Pot Recipes. Check out my big collection of Instant Pot Recipes!

How to make Ham and Cabbage Soup in the Instant Pot:

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

1. Chop up 5-6 cups cabbage along with some onion, red bell pepper, ham, and a few carrots if you’re using them.
2. Put cabbage, onion, and red pepper in the Instant Pot.
3. Add ham, carrots, bay leaves, and sprinkle the Spike Seasoning, granulated garlic, Beau Monde Seasoning, Dried Parsley, and black pepper over the top. (Use any good all-purpose seasoning blend if you don’t have Spike or Beau Monde Seasoning.)
4. If you have Goya Ham Flavor Concentrate (affiliate link) or another type of ham bouillon base, I recommend mixing a bit of it with the chicken stock or canned chicken broth. (Or if you have Homemade Ham Stock I would use that for this recipe!)
5. Pour that over the ingredients in the Instant Pot, lock the lid, set it to MANUAL, HIGH PRESSURE for 15 minutes.
6. After 15 minutes, let the pressure NATURAL RELEASE for 10-15 minutes, then release the rest of the pressure manually.
7. Serve Ham and Cabbage Soup hot, with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese on top if desired! 
8. If you prefer using the slow cooker or making this on the stove, use the slow cooker link at the top of the post for those options.

Make it a Low-Carb Meal:

Serve the soup with one of these low-carb bread options on the side:

• Almond Flour Savory Bread
• Low-Carb High Fiber Savory Muffins
• Olive Bread
• Flourless Zucchini Muffins
• Flourless Savory Breakfast Muffins

Who else loves cabbage?

If you’re a big cabbage fan like I am and you’d like more soup recipes using cabbage, check out my collection of Low-Carb Cabbage Soup Recipes for more evidence of my love for cabbage!

Weekend Food Prep:

Ham and Cabbage Soup has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep where you’ll find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!

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Yield: 8 servings

Ham and Cabbage Soup

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

I love the way cabbage gets meltingly tender in this Ham and Cabbage soup that's perfect to make in the Instant Pot. See NOTES below for a link to the slow cooker or stovetop options for this tasty soup.

Ingredients

• 1 head cabbage, chopped (about 5-6 cups cabbage after chopping)
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 2 small carrots, cut in small rounds or chopped (Use less carrots for lower carbs)
• 2 cups diced lean ham (I used one of those ham steaks that come in a three-pack at Costco.)
• 2 bay leaves (optional but good)
• 1 tsp. Spike Seasoning (or use other all-purpose seasoning mix if you don’t have Spike)
• 1 tsp. granulated garlic
• 1 T dried parsley
• 1 tsp. Beau Monde Seasoning or season salt (or any all-purpose seasoning that's good in soup)
• coarse ground black pepper to taste (I used a generous amount of pepper)
• 6 cups chicken stock (see notes)
• 2 packets Goya Ham Flavor Concentrate or other ham flavor base (optional, but recommended)

Instructions

1. Chop cabbage, onion, red bell pepper, ham, and carrots (if using).
2. Put cabbage, onion, and red bell pepper in the bottom of the Instant Pot. Add the chopped ham, carrots, and bay leaves, and sprinkle the Spike Seasoning, granulated garlic, dried parsley, Beau Monde Seasoning, and black pepper over the top.
3. Mix the Goya Ham Flavor Concentrate or other ham flavor base into the chicken stock and pour the liquid over the ingredients in the Instant Pot.
4. Lock the lid, set to MANUAL, HIGH PRESSURE, and cook for 15 minutes.
5. Let pressure NATURAL RELEASE for 10-15 minutes, then release manually.
6. Serve Ham and Cabbage Soup hot, with freshly grated Parmesan to add at the table if desired.

Notes

You can use chicken stock or canned chicken broth for this recipe. Or if you have Homemade Ham Stock I would use that for this recipe and you probably won't need the ham flavor base if you use ham stock.

This recipe adapted from CrockPot (or StoveTop) Ham and Cabbage Soup which has been a hit on Kalyn's Kitchen!

Nutrition Information

Yield

8

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 241Total Fat 7gSaturated Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 4gCholesterol 59mgSodium 1550mgCarbohydrates 8.5gFiber 4gSugar 11gProtein 26g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

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Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Ham and Cabbage Soup is great for any low-carb or Keto diet plan. Using carrots would make this phase two for the original South Beach Diet.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Soup Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This version of Ham and Cabbage Soup to make in the Instant Pot was posted in 2018. The recipe was last updated with more information in 2026.