Instant Pot Ham and Cabbage Soup

I love the way cabbage gets meltingly tender in soup and this low-carb Instant Pot Ham and Cabbage soup is such a winner! If you prefer to use the slow cooker or make it on the stove, there’s a link for that version too.

PIN Instant Pot Ham and Cabbage Soup to make it later!

Are you just a tiny bit skeptical about the idea of cabbage in soup? I hope not, because when cabbage is cooked all day in the slow cooker or cooked under pressure in the Instant Pot it gets so sweet and tender and almost seems to melt into the soup.

This recipe for delicious Instant Pot Ham and Cabbage Soup is an updated pressure cooker version of the Slow Cooker Ham and Cabbage Soup that’s been so popular on the blog. I hope no one thinks about The Cabbage Soup Diet when they’re eating this soup, but it is definitely a healthy diet-friendly soup to make in your Instant Pot!

The soup has lots of tender cabbage, juicy pieces of ham, onion, carrots, and red bell pepper, and there’s also a secret ingredient! (Don’t you love secret ingredients?) But even if you don’t want to buy a special ingredient, this will be a tasty and easy-to-make low-carb soup that will warm your tummy on a cold winter night. I hope you will try it!

What’s the secret ingredient for this Ham and Cabbage Soup?

If you can get your hands on some Goya Ham Flavor Concentrate (affiliate link), I highly recommend adding a couple of packets of that to the chicken stock you’re going to use as the base of the ham and cabbage soup. That bumps up the flavor into the wow category!

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

• cabbage
• onion
• red bell pepper
• carrots (Use less carrots for lower carbs)
• diced lean ham
• bay leaves (optional but good)
• Spike Seasoning (affiliate link), or use other all-purpose seasoning mix
• granulated garlic
• Dried Parsley (affiliate link)
• Beau Monde Seasoning (affiliate link) or season salt (or any all-purpose seasoning that’s good in soup)
• coarse ground black pepper to taste (I used a generous amount of pepper)
• chicken stock or canned chicken broth (affiliate link)
• Goya Ham Flavor Concentrate (affiliate link) or other ham flavor base (optional, but recommended)

Is Instant Pot Ham and Cabbage Soup low in carbs?

Even with the few carrots I added for color, this tasty soup with ham and lots of cabbage has only 4.5 net carbs per serving! You can also use fewer carrots if you prefer.

Love Your Instant Pot?

I use a 6 Quart Instant Pot (affiliate link) for all my Instant Pot Recipes. Check out my big collection of Instant Pot Recipes! You can find more Instant Pot/Slow Cooker Recipes on my Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker site.

Who else really loves cabbage?

If you’re also a big cabbage fan like I am and you’d like more recipe ideas using cabbage, check out Low-Carb and Keto Recipes with Cabbage or Low-Carb and Keto Soups with Cabbage for more evidence of my love for this healthy vegetable!

How to make Instant Pot Ham and Cabbage Soup:

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

1. First chop up 5-6 cups cabbage along with some onion, red bell pepper, chopped ham, and a few carrots if you’re using them.
2. Put cabbage, onion, and red pepper in the Instant Pot, add the ham, carrots, bay leaves, and sprinkle the Spike Seasoning, granulated garlic, Beau Monde Seasoning, Dried Parsley, and black pepper over the top. (Use any good all-purpose seasoning blend if you don’t have Spike or Beau Monde Seasoning.
3. If you have Goya Ham Flavor Concentrate (affiliate link) or another type of ham bouillon base, I recommend mixing a bit of it with the 6 cups vegetable stock. (Or if you have Homemade Ham Stock I would definitely use that for this recipe!)
4. Pour that over the ingredients in the Instant Pot, lock the lid, set it to MANUAL, HIGH PRESSURE for 15 minutes.
5. After 15 minutes, let the pressure NATURAL RELEASE for 10-15 minutes, then release the rest of the pressure manually.
6. Serve hot, with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese on top if desired! (The soup will be dairy-free if you skip the Parmesan.)

More Tasty Soups with Cabbage:

• Slow Cooker Cabbage Soup with Sausage
• Goulash Soup
• Ground Beef Vegetable Soup

Weekend Food Prep:

Instant Pot Ham and Cabbage Soup has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep  to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!

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Yield: 8 servings

Instant Pot Ham and Cabbage Soup

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

I love the way cabbage gets meltingly tender in soup and this Instant Pot Low-Carb Ham and Cabbage soup is such a winner!

Ingredients

• 1 head cabbage, chopped (about 5-6 cups cabbage after chopping)
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 2 small carrots, cut in small rounds or chopped (Use less carrots for lower carbs)
• 2 cups diced lean ham (I used one of those ham steaks that come in a three-pack at Costco.)
• 2 bay leaves (optional but good)
• 1 tsp. Spike Seasoning (or use other all-purpose seasoning mix if you don’t have Spike)
• 1 tsp. granulated garlic
• 1 T dried parsley
• 1 tsp. Beau Monde Seasoning or season salt (or any all-purpose seasoning that's good in soup)
• coarse ground black pepper to taste (I used a generous amount of pepper)
• 6 cups chicken stock (see notes)
• 2 packets Goya Ham Flavor Concentrate or other ham flavor base (optional, but recommended)

Instructions

1. Chop cabbage, onion, red bell pepper, ham, and carrots (if using).
2. Put cabbage, onion, and red bell pepper in the bottom of the Instant Pot. Add the chopped ham, carrots, and bay leaves, and sprinkle the Spike Seasoning, granulated garlic, dried parsley, Beau Monde Seasoning, and black pepper over the top.
3. Mix the Goya Ham Flavor Concentrate or other ham flavor base into the chicken stock and pour the liquid over the ingredients in the Instant Pot.
4. Lock the lid, set to MANUAL, HIGH PRESSURE, and cook for 15 minutes.
5. Let pressure NATURAL RELEASE for 10-15 minutes, then release manually.
6. Serve hot, with freshly grated Parmesan to add at the table if desired.

Notes

Links in the recipe are affiliate links.

If you have Homemade Ham Stock I would definitely use that for this recipe and you probably won't need the ham flavor base if you use ham stock.

This recipe adapted from CrockPot (or StoveTop) Low-Carb Ham and Cabbage Soup which has been a hit on Danica's Kitchen!

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 241Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 59mgSodium: 1550mgCarbohydrates: 8.5gFiber: 4gSugar: 11gProtein: 26g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

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Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
This Instant Pot Ham and Cabbage Soup is great for any low-carb or Keto diet plan, and you can use fewer carrots if you prefer. Using carrots would make this phase two for the original South Beach Diet.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Soup Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Danica's Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This Instant Pot version of Ham and Cabbage Soup was posted in 2018. The recipe was last updated with more information in 2024.

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