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.

An overhead shot of a tabletop with bowls of Pork and Napa Cabbage Soup and a cutting board topped with sliced scallions

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, iHerb, or from The Spice Lab!

Two bowls of steaming Pork and Napa Cabbage Soup

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.

Adding diced onions to a stockpot to make Pork and Napa Cabbage Soup

Stir fry the onions, stirring occasionally, until softened (about 3 minutes).

Sautéing diced onions until they are soft.

Add the ground pork and break it up with a spatula.

Adding ground pork to the diced onions in the stockpot

Stir in the sliced mushrooms and another sprinkle of Umami Stir Fry Powder or kosher salt.

Sliced shiitake mushrooms are added to the pot with the ground pork and diced onions

Cook the pork and mushrooms until the meat is no longer pink and the shiitakes are tender (about 5 to 7 minutes).

An overhead shot of the cooked ground pork, mushrooms, and diced onions in the pot.

Stir in the minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Stirring in minced ginger into the pot.

Pour in the broth and crank up the heat to high. Bring everything to a boil.

Pouring broth into the pot of Pork and Napa Cabbage Soup

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!

Stirring in sliced Napa cabbage and carrots into the pot.

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.

Putting the lid on the Pork and Napa Cabbage Soup, but leaving it open a crack

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.

An overhead shot of Pork and Napa Cabbage Soup simmering in the pot

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.

Closeup shot of Pork and Napa Cabbage Soup ready to serve

Ladle into bowls and garnish with fresh scallions or green onions.

Sprinkling sliced scallions on a bowl of Pork and Napa Cabbage Soup

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!


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

4.85 from 64 votes
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Servings 6 servings
Yearning for comfort in a bowl? This one-pot, umami-packed Pork and Napa Cabbage Soup fits the bill and it can be in your mouth in about 30 minutes!

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
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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

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, iHerb, or from The Spice Lab!
Got leftovers? You can store ’em in the fridge for up to 4 days or freeze for several months. Try this soup for breakfast on a chilly morning, and you’ll never crave a soggy bowl of cereal again!

Nutrition

Calories: 315kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 17g | Fiber: 4g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Like this? Leave a comment below!

About Michelle Tam

Hello! My name is Michelle Tam, and I love to eat. I think about food all the time. It borders on obsession. I’ve always loved the sights and smells of the kitchen. My mother was (and is) an excellent cook, and as a kid, I was her little shadow as she prepared supper each night. From her, I gained a deep, abiding love for magically transforming pantry items into mouth-watering family meals.

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28 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    My 13yo requested this for his 14th b-day supper last night. He will likely polish off the leftovers today. This recipe makes a big pot of deliciousness. Thank you for the splendid recipe!