Red Cabbage Soup with Orange Sauce

Have you ever eaten red cabbage and oranges together? It may sound unusual, but the two are truly delicious when paired. With this red cabbage soup with orange sauce, we'll prove it to you, and we hope you'll have a new favourite soup to share with your loved ones.

This soup is going to be vegan (dairy-free), weight-loss-friendly, and packed with nutrients — à la Foodaciously. The main ingredients we used are red cabbage, white beans, beets and oranges. It's a vitamin, fibres, and proteins bonanza!

Cabbages and beets give this dish the most beautiful purple colour. To give the soup an even fancier look, we blended the veggies into a smooth velouté.

On top of being pretty, this soup is very healthy. Cabbages and beets, like other purple veggies, contain pigments called anthocyanins. These compounds are a class of phytonutrients that is rich with antioxidants. Antioxidants keep your cells healthy and strong and help you fight the decaying effect of ageing. Sign me up, right?

Oranges don't play around when it comes to health either. They are a rich source of vitamin C. There are many benefits to this vitamin, but it's particularly good in vegan diets as it helps better absorb iron from plant-based ingredients, like white beans.

So, are you ready for this healthy red cabbage soup? It's ready in only 30 minutes! Just follow along with our easy recipe and slurp it down with much gusto.

Step 1

In a deep pot, heat the olive oil and then add crushed garlic, grated ginger root, and finely chopped onions.

Sizzle them for a few minutes or until the onions soften and the garlic is fragrant.

Then, add chopped beetroots and shredded red cabbage.

Step 2

Pour enough water to cover the vegetables by two fingers, bring to a boil, and simmer for 15 minutes.

Then, add the canned butter beans, drained and rinsed.

Step 3

Cook the soup for 10 more minutes or until the cabbage is tender.

Then, use an immersion blender or food processor to blitz the soup into a creamy velouté.

At this point, season with salt and pepper to taste.

Step 4

While the soup cooks, let's get the orange sauce ready.

In a bowl, combine the zest and juice of the oranges with water and starch. Whisk until the starch is dissolved (1).

Then, transfer the mixture into a pot and bring it to a gentle boil over low heat while whisking. As soon as the sauce starts to thicken, remove it from the heat, and whisk it vigorously for a minute (2).

The orange sauce should have the consistency of a runny jam.

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Step 5

Finally, divide the red cabbage soup among serving bowls and top with the orange sauce.

You can also garnish the dishes with a few orange slices, crunchy cabbage shreds, and orange zest.

Tips

• If you are on a strict vegan diet, you want to make sure your body gets all the nine essential amino acids needed to synthesize proteins. There are a few plants that have all these nine amino acids (that's why their proteins are called complete proteins), like quinoa. To make the proteins from this soup complete, pair it with some wholemeal bread, and you'll be good to go^[1][2]. Are you a passionate baker? Try out our sourdough pumpkin bread.

• You can replace ginger root with 1/2 tsp of ginger powder.

• Instead of butter beans, you can use other beans like cannellini or chickpeas.