French cabbage soup
- Preparation 25 min
- Cooking 1 h 15 min
- Servings 6
- Freezing Absolutely
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🥣 A cabbage soup that has nothing to do with your grandmother’s
Cabbage soup has been mistreated for decades. Here, we take white and red cabbage, roast them in the oven with pancetta, garlic and Italian spices for 40 minutes until everything caramelizes. The result is a depth of flavor you’ll never get by throwing everything in a pot. Perfect for a winter dinner with friends, a stormy Sunday or a hockey game night when you want something hot and serious in your bowl.
🔥 Smothered with beer and Quebec cheeses
We deglaze with white wine, add beef broth and three cups of IPA beer, then let it all simmer gently. The gratin is the moment of glory: Quebec firm cheese mixed with pecorino romano, buried on a slice of artisanal bread and passed under the broiler until it becomes golden and stringy. It’s French onion soup that got a coup de grâce. Cabbage version, beer version, absolute comfort version.
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🧂 Salt is the key to this soup
This cabbage soup is better when it’s well seasoned. Don’t hesitate to taste and re-salt after simmering. The gratin cheese and bread will absorb a good part of the salt, so the broth should be slightly saltier than you think. Taste before serving and adjust.
🔥 Oven caramelization changes everything
The 40-minute oven step IS the step that makes the difference between an ordinary cabbage soup and this version. The cabbages caramelize, the pancetta renders its fat, the garlic roasts gently. All this creates a flavor base impossible to reproduce with a simple sauté in a pot. Never skip this step.
🍺 Beer choice matters
Use a light IPA or blonde. Avoid beers that are too bitter (double IPA) or too dark (stout) that would completely change the soup’s profile. The beer should bring complexity and slight bitterness, not dominate the beef broth. If you don’t have IPA, a Belgian blonde or pale ale works very well.
🧀 The secret to a perfect gratin
Put your bowls directly on a baking sheet before putting under the broiler. Watch closely. It goes from golden to burnt in 30 seconds. Make sure the cheese overflows a bit on the sides of the bowl, that’s where it gets crispiest. The Quebec firm cheese and pecorino mix gives the stringy texture AND the salty taste that makes all the difference.
⏱️ Prepare the soup ahead
The cabbage soup keeps 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator and the flavors intensify with time. It’s even better reheated the next day. Prepare the broth the day before and gratin only when serving so the cheese is well stringy and crispy. It’s the perfect recipe for entertaining without stress.
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Soup
- ½ small white cabbage, cut in quarters, then sliced thin and separated
- ½ small red cabbage, cut in quarters, then sliced thin and separated
- 1 red onion, cut in half, sliced thin
- 225 g (½ lb / 8 oz) pancetta, cut in small cubes
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- ¾ tsp (4 ml) Italian seasoning
- Olive oil
- 1 cup (250 ml) dry white wine
- 5 cups (1.25 liters) hot beef broth
- 3 cups (750 ml) Nano IPA beer from Oshlag microbrewery (or another light IPA beer)
- ½ tsp (2.5 ml) dried thyme
- ½ tsp (2.5 ml) celery seeds
- 2 bay leaves
Gratin
- 50 g (2 oz) Quebec firm cheese (like Trouble-fête or Alfred Le Fermier), grated
- 50 g (2 oz) pecorino romano cheese, finely grated
- 3 slices Belgian artisanal bread, cut in half
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Preparation
- Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Take a sip of beer.
- On the baking sheet, place the cabbages, onion, pancetta and garlic. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning, then drizzle with a good stream of olive oil. Season generously with salt and pepper and mix well.
- Bake for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- In a large pot heated over medium-high heat, transfer all the vegetables from the sheet and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring.
- Deglaze with white wine and scrape the bottom well to get all the flavors. Add beef broth, beer, thyme, celery seeds and bay leaves. Season generously with salt and pepper and mix.
- Bring to a boil, reduce to low heat and let simmer uncovered for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove bay leaves and adjust seasoning if necessary. (This soup is better when it’s a bit salty.)
- Divide soup among bowls and place them on a baking sheet. Preheat oven broiler.
- In a bowl, mix the grated cheeses. Place half a slice of bread in each bowl and bury under the grated cheese. Bake for 3 to 5 minutes or until cheese is well golden.
Not at all. The technique is simple: you roast the vegetables in the oven, simmer the broth and gratin at the end. There’s no complicated step, just a bit of patience for the oven cooking and simmering. The result is spectacular for the effort invested.
Yes, any blonde beer or light IPA works. The important thing is to avoid beers that are too bitter or too dark that would change the soup’s profile. A pale ale, Belgian blonde or even a lager work very well.
Any Quebec firm cheese works. Louis D’or, extra-sharp Perron Cheddar or even a good Swiss gruyere. The important thing is that it gratins well and has character to stand up to the beef broth and beer.
The soup without the gratin freezes correctly, but the cabbage texture changes slightly when thawed. We recommend keeping it in the refrigerator up to 4 days and gratining when serving. The gratin doesn’t freeze. It must be made fresh.
This gratinéed cabbage soup is already a complete meal in itself, but if you want to accompany it, good garlic bread gratin beside the bowl is absolute happiness.
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