# Your cabbage soup - tomato or no tomato? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 14, 2019, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cabbage-soup-tomato-or-no-tomato/829561 "2019-02-14T22:43:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2019, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cabbage-soup-tomato-or-no-tomato/829561/21 "2019-02-16T02:33:44Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Definitely cabbage soup weather out there. > > My grandfather’s cabbage soup was just sliced onion and big chunks of potato and cabbage. You had to cut the potatoes with the edge of the spoon. Lots of dill and thickened with sour cream. Sometimes he would poach a few eggs in the pot before serving (one to a customer). > > My older sister’s (born in ‘48) cabbage soup replaced the sour cream with a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup. The mushrooms were a plus. The funky Campbell’s thickeners weren’t. > > The best cabbage soup I’ve ever tasted was in a cafe in Bratislava. The vegetables were cut much smaller, celery and carrot were in there too, probably flavored with marjoram instead of dill, could have been based on meat broth instead of water, but the big difference was…tomato. I had never had tomatoes in cabbage soup. Like Manhattan vs. New England clam chowder, the tomato replaced dairy completely. > > Nearly all the recipes I find in books or online call for tomato. My family might be a weird anomaly. What do YOU put in your cabbage soup? It’s pretty similar to what you posted above " The vegetables were cut much smaller, celery and carrot were in there too, probably flavored with marjoram instead of dill, could have been based on meat broth instead of water,". Meat broth (my grandma used chicken for some reason. Beef is better, but it doesn’t taste like my grandma’s). She also added a small amount of onion and some potato–the onion was unsauted. “Cabbage soup” as such doesn’t have tomatoes in it, IMHO. It’s a tasty addition, especially if the tomatoes are chopped up and drained so they function more like carrots or celery and aren’t used to make the broth tomato-y, but at that point, it’s not cabbage soup to me. Same as adding shrimp, crab and clams to really good lobster bisque is a very nice addition, but at that point, it’s something other than lobster bisque. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2019, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cabbage-soup-tomato-or-no-tomato/829561/22 "2019-02-16T02:47:09Z")
**ThelmaLou:** Cabbage rolls MUST be cooked in a pot over a bed of sauerkraut! But my sauerkraut base always has a little tomato…at least a smoosh or two of tomato paste. This is possibly Czech…or Polish…or Hungarian. Everyone steals from each other. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2019, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cabbage-soup-tomato-or-no-tomato/829561/23 "2019-02-16T02:50:25Z")
**Fenris:**. Onions and potatoes are _de rigeur._. I agree that beef broth is best, but my daughter prefers chicken. I will use chicken if I have no homemade beef broth on hand. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2019, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cabbage-soup-tomato-or-no-tomato/829561/24 "2019-02-16T03:10:12Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > **Fenris:**. Onions and potatoes are _de rigeur._. I agree that beef broth is best, but my daughter prefers chicken. I will use chicken if I have no homemade beef broth on hand. The America’s Test Kitchen standard is to use both chicken and beef broth-- mix 'em. Gives more depth of flavor. If I use canned chicken broth, I always add a spoonful of Better than Bouillon beef, and vice versa. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2019, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cabbage-soup-tomato-or-no-tomato/829561/25 "2019-02-16T03:27:03Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > **Fenris:**. Onions and potatoes are _de rigeur._. I agree that beef broth is best, but my daughter prefers chicken. I will use chicken if I have no homemade beef broth on hand. Smoked. Meat. Broth. That is the correct answer for cabbage soup. I don’t care what smoked meat, just do it. I did say “broth of whatever type you feel” up there, but I was being inclusive. For me, the ultimate is smoked pork ribs or ham hocks for the base. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2019, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cabbage-soup-tomato-or-no-tomato/829561/26 "2019-02-16T06:02:56Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > The America’s Test Kitchen standard is to use both chicken and beef broth-- mix 'em. Gives more depth of flavor. If I use canned chicken broth, I always add a spoonful of Better than Bouillon beef, and vice versa. Noted. They say the same for French Onion Soup, and it works. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2019, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cabbage-soup-tomato-or-no-tomato/829561/27 "2019-02-16T06:05:12Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Smoked. Meat. Broth. That is the correct answer for cabbage soup. I don’t care what smoked meat, just do it. I did say “broth of whatever type you feel” up there, but I was being inclusive. For me, the ultimate is smoked pork ribs or ham hocks for the base. My local markets sell smoked pork neck bones, thank god, as well as hocks. Use ‘em for lots of things. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2019, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cabbage-soup-tomato-or-no-tomato/829561/28 "2019-02-16T11:53:19Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > **ThelmaLou:** Cabbage rolls MUST be cooked in a pot over a bed of sauerkraut! > > But my sauerkraut base always has a little tomato…at least a smoosh or two of tomato paste. > > This is possibly Czech…or Polish…or Hungarian. Everyone steals from each other. I’m all for that! Food theft/crossover is good. Now it’s called “fusion.” Hehe. When I was a kid I would unroll the rolls and just eat the meat/rice stuffing. Today I’d eat everything and lick the pot, too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Let](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@Let](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Let)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2026, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cabbage-soup-tomato-or-no-tomato/829561/29 "2026-04-12T15:59:09Z")
I’m actually making a sauerkraut soup right now. I’m not good at following recipes as I like to get ideas and put my own twist on it. I’m thinking right now what to add to the ingredients bellow: Baked ham (made not bought) Ham broth (Made not bought) Left over kraut (Made not bought) Diced Carrots Diced Onions Diced Potatoes May add tomatoes (undecided) May add mushrooms (undecided) May add heavy cream at the end. Other than that I’m out of ideas. lol ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2026, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cabbage-soup-tomato-or-no-tomato/829561/30 "2026-04-12T16:23:27Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > The best cabbage soup I’ve ever tasted was in a cafe in Bratislava. The vegetables were cut much smaller, celery and carrot were in there too, probably flavored with marjoram instead of dill, could have been based on meat broth instead of water, but the big difference was…tomato. I had never had tomatoes in cabbage soup. Like Manhattan vs. New England clam chowder, the tomato replaced dairy completely. I love cabbage soup, and I’m totally team tomato. No dairy. I make it pretty much the same as the description of the Bratislava soup, with celery, carrots, onions, tomato, small potato cubes. Probably thyme, but marjoram sounds like an interesting idea. Chicken stock if I’m not adding any meat. Beef stock if I’m making a cabbage soup with beef in it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-cabbage-soup-tomato-or-no-tomato/829561.md?page=1)