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Vegetable Beef Soup is full of ground beef, tons of veggies and a savory tomato beef broth. It’s delicious, healthy and tastes amazing.
Warm up this winter with a hearty bowl of Vegetable Beef Soup. My entire family loves soup for dinner, and it’s one of the easiest tricks I have for getting my kids to eat their vegetables! Besides this beefy vegetable soup, they really love Turkey Vegetable Soup, Tortellini Soup and Easy Broccoli Cheese Soup.
Something as simple as this Vegetable Beef Soup Recipe is a perfect way to get dinner on the table quickly fast. It cooks in one pot, uses customizable ingredients and is ready in about 45 minutes.
In this post I’ll include ideas for customizing your soup, plus tips for how to make vegetable beef soup in the slow cooker.
Serve it up with some crusty french bread, Cheesy Garlic Bread, Beer Bread and you’ve got a hearty winter meal out of ingredients you probably already have on hand.
Ingredients for Vegetable Beef Soup
- Ground beef – I prefer to use ground beef instead of beef stew meat for the simplicity. It’s just faster.
- Vegetables – Any kind of vegetable you have leftover or in the freezer will work, but if you’re looking for the easiest way to go, a bag of frozen mixed vegetables works nicely. I typically use a mix of fresh (carrots, onions, celery, potatoes and garlic) and frozen (corn, green beans, peas).
- Broth – Beef broth is the base, but I also added a can of diced tomatoes with the juices and a tablespoon of liquid smoke. The smoky flavor add incredible depth to the soup.
- Seasonings and spices – bay leaves, dried thyme, salt and black pepper. Fresh parsley is the perfect finishing touch.
How to Make It
I love that this soup is a complete meal made in just one pot! Here are the easy steps to making a delicious pot of Beef and Vegetable Soup:
- Cut vegetables into equal sized pieces. We like to keep the pieces fairly small so you can fit a lot on your spoon. So many different types of vegetables will work for this recipe, but our favorites are the ones you see pictured – peas, carrots, potatoes, celery, green beans, corn, onions and tomatoes. You can use fresh if you have them, canned or frozen. I recommend peeling the potatoes and the carrots, but it’s not required.
- Cook the beef with some onion and garlic. Make sure to season with salt and pepper. This will be a main part of your soup, so doing this step adds flavor to the meat itself. I use ground beef to keep things super easy and so I can get dinner done in a flash. You can use other cuts of beef as well if you like (we’ll talk about that more later). Transfer the meat to a plate so you can start cooking the vegetables. Ground beef tends to release a lot of juices and grease, and you’ll want to clean that out of the pan before adding the veggies.
- Toast the spices and seasonings. I do this every time I make soup! First add the celery to the pot so it can begin to soften. Stir in bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper and cook for a minute or two. Toasting the spices helps to release their aroma and flavor and will add another level of flavor to your soup. Then you can stir everything (veggies, beef, broth) together to make your soup.
- Simmer and Serve. Bring the soup to a boil, replace the lid and lower the heat. Simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the veggies and potatoes are tender. Add frozen peas and any other frozen vegetable and simmer for another 10-15 minutes. Stir in parsley and serve warm.
FAQs
There are a couple of different types of beef that will work well for this soup recipe. Ground beef is going to be the quickest way to get a tender texture while at the same time imparting a good amount of flavor. However, chuck roasts are one of the favorite cuts of meat for soup because it is tender and flavorful. It just takes a lot longer to prep cook.
To make this soup with a chuck roast, you would need to first cut the roast into 2-inch chunks, then brown the chunks of beef in olive oil (just for a few minuses, not cooked through). You’ll need to add about 30-60 minutes to your stove-top cooking time to get them fully cooked through and tender.
My favorite soup spices are thyme and bay leaf. But you could also add some oregano or even Italian seasoning. Paprika would be a delicious addition as well. As I mentioned earlier, you’ll get a lot more bang for your buck by toasting the spices first.
Yes! First saute the ground beef, carrots, onions, garlic and celery in a skillet on the stove. Once beef is cooked and vegetables softened, add them to the slow cooker along with the rest of the ingredients, except for any frozen vegetables. Cover and cook on LOW for 5-6 hours. Add any frozen vegetables and continue cooking until warmed through.
Liquid Smoke. Liquid Smoke is literally the liquid made from burning hickory, applewood or mesquite wood. The cooled smoke forms condensation droplets which are collected and filtered. It’s very intense so all you need is a teaspoon for that rich smoky flavor. I also use Liquid Smoke to give my Slow Cooker Kalua Pork that “smoked-in-the-ground” flavor. If you’re not a fan however, you can certainly leave it out.
Storage and Reheating
Storage: Cool soup completely, then transfer into an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
Freezing: Cool completely, then transfer to a freezer safe container or plastic freezer bag and freeze for up to 6 months.
Reheating: If frozen, thaw completely before reheating in a saucepan over medium-low heat.
Want some more delicious soup recipes?
- Instant Pot Homemade Tomato Soup Recipe
- Hamburger Soup
- Turkey Taco Soup
- Tortellini Soup with Italian Sausage & Spinach
- 42 Comforting Soup Recipes
Smoky Vegetable Beef Soup
Ingredients
- 1 small yellow onion diced (1 cup)
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 pound ground beef
- 2 large celery stalks
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 large carrots
- 2 medium sized russet potatoes or 4-5 yukon gold
- 15 ounce can diced tomatoes with juice
- 15 ounce can corn drained (or 1 cup fresh/frozen)
- 15 ounce can green beans drained (or 1 cup fresh/frozen)
- 4-6 cups beef broth start with 4 and add more as necessary
- 1 tablespoon liquid smoke
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 2 tablespoons fresh minced parsley
Instructions
- Cut vegetables into equal, bite-sized pieces, peeling if desired. Set aside.
- To a large soup pot over medium heat, add ground beef, diced onion and minced garlic. Cook until beef is cooked through and no longer pink. Transfer meat to a plate and wipe any excess grease from the pot, leaving about a tablespoon or so behind.
- Add celery to the pot and cook for about 5 minutes to soften. Stir in bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper and cook for a minute. Stir in potatoes, tomatoes, corn, green beans, carrots and ground beef, then pour in 4 cups of beef broth and liquid smoke.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes. Add peas and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes. If the soup is thicker than you would like, add additional beef broth.
- Stir in fresh minced parsley and serve hot.
- *If you would prefer to use chunks of beef, cut a 2 pound chuck roast into bite sized pieces and brown in olive oil with the onion and garlic. Then continue with step 2.
Have not made this yet ‘till the following is explained further. What does “6 cups beef broth start and 4 add more as necessary” mean?
I’ve updated the recipe to clarify – the potatoes give off starch as they boil, which may thicken your broth. If it’s thicker than you would like it to be, you can add more broth.
This looks so good. I can’t wait to try this one. Thank you for sharing.
You are so welcome Rebecca! Thanks for stopping by.
Plan to makethis soup today it’s one of our favorites. I’ll try the liquidsmoke and leave out the peas. Soubds great!!
Your recioe looks great. What adjustments would I have to make if I used stew meat instead of hamburger? I dont’t want to overcook the vegetables.
I would brown the meat (doesn’t have to be cooked through, but should be browned on all sides), then boil with the beef broth for an hour. Add the veggies at this point.