Napa Cabbage Soup (Whole30, Instant Pot) (2024)

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.

Table of Contents

• Homemade Chinese cabbage soup
• An Umami-Packed Soup
• Pro tip!
• Pork and Napa Cabbage Soup is Quick and Easy
• Don’t eat pork?
• Ingredients
• How to make Napa cabbage soup with pork
• Instant Pot Instructions
• How to store leftovers
• More Chinese Soup recipes
• PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE CARD
• Pork and Napa Cabbage Soup Recipe

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 exponentiallymore 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.

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 mealpacked 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 meatturkey, 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 youwant to cook this soup even faster, just stir insome 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.

Stir fry 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 kosher 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 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!

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.

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.

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

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!

More Chinese Soup recipes

• Hot and Sour Soup
• Wonton Soup
• Chinese Beef Noodle Soup
• West Lake Beef Soup
• Watercress and Chicken Soup
• Simple Egg Drop Soup