Get the real skinny on the Cabbage Soup Diet

I wasn’t interested in a weight-loss diet; I just wanted to find a healthy soup recipe to use up the remaining half-head of cabbage in my produce crisper. Instead, I found page after page of internet sites touting the benefits of the Cabbage Soup Diet. 

Depending on which urban legend you prefer, this diet was either invented during the First World War when menu ingredients were in short supply, or it was designed by a hospital nutritionist to help heart-surgery patients quickly lose weight. 

The 7-day diet has been called any number of things, from the Dolly Parton Diet to the Russian Peasant Diet. Since the 1980s, articles about the diet have appeared in publications such as Cosmopolitan, GQ and National Enquirer. And today you’ll find enthusiastic bloggers and columnists filling the internet with tales of their successful cabbage soup detox. 

Although outrageous, the claims are quite consistent: you can eat all the soup you want and lose 10 pounds in one week if you follow the Cabbage Soup Diet plan. Not quite. First of all, the diet plan is little more than a modified fast, with severely restricted caloric intake, and lacking many of the key nutrients essential in a balanced diet. 

Secondly, the “original” recipe for the cabbage soup served all week includes dried Lipton Onion Soup mix, which is loaded with salt, corn syrup, artificial colors, flavorings and additives. Later versions of the recipe substituted bouillon cubes, which are almost as bad. The “official” cabbage-soup-diet website now sells spice packs to replace both options. 

Putting aside the ridiculous diet plan (which allows only soup on day one and advises eating up to 20 ounces of lean beef on day five), cabbage soup can be a healthy way to enjoy a bowl of high-fiber, high-flavor simmered vegetables like the one in the photo. 

Now that I knew how to avoid seeing diet sites, I searched for other ways to serve cabbage besides the traditional side with corned beef or creamy cole slaw. Some of the more interesting cabbage dishes included roasted wedges and deconstructed un-stuffed cabbage rolls. 

I also remembered a dish my mother-in-law used to make in a big skillet, frying chopped cabbage in bacon fat, seasoning the mess with Worcestershire sauce and apple cider vinegar. The last time I made this, I deliberately left out the brown sugar listed as an ingredient in her original recipe. 

A head of green cabbage closely resembles a tight head of iceberg lettuce. Cabbage leaves are sturdy, with thick ribs and a tough core (which should be discarded). When cooked, cabbage will reduce in volume by more than half, but don’t cook it too long, or it becomes mushy. 

According to food historians, cabbage was brought to America in the 1500s by European explorers. Ship captains valued the high vitamin C content of cabbage, useful in preventing scurvy on long sea voyages.

They also used fermented cabbage preserved in brine to treat wounds and prevent gangrene (be sure to pack sauerkraut next time you go camping). 

I’ve included two recipes here, a healthy cabbage soup and cabbage sautéed with bacon. And, despite all the buzz, I wouldn’t recommend the cabbage soup diet. 

Cabbage Soup 

1 T olive oil 
1 chopped onion 
2 chopped celery stalks 
2 chopped carrots 
2 minced garlic cloves 
1 C diced tomatoes 
1/2 cabbage head, chopped 
4 C vegetable broth 
1/2 t salt, or to taste 
1/2 t savory 
1/4 t marjoram 
1/4 t white pepper 
parsley for garnish 

Heat the olive oil over medium in a large soup pot. Add chopped onion, celery and carrots. Cook until slightly softened, stirring often. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute. Stir in diced tomatoes and cabbage. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.

Immediately reduce heat and simmer until the cabbage is tender, about 20 minutes. Serve garnished with fresh parsley.

Cabbage & Bacon Sauté 

8 oz bacon 
1 chopped onion 
1 minced garlic clove 
1/2 head cabbage, chopped 
2 t apple cider vinegar 
1 T Worcestershire sauce 
salt & pepper, to taste 

Cut the bacon into 1-inch pieces and place in a deep skillet or Dutch oven. Cook over medium until crisp; remove bacon to a plate with a slotted spoon. In the same skillet, sauté the onion in rendered bacon fat until softened. Add the garlic and cook for a minute. Add cabbage and cook, stirring often until wilted. Deglaze the skillet with the apple cider vinegar and stir in Worcestershire sauce.

Cover and cook until cabbage is tender, about 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Yield: 4 to 6 servings.