This super easy beef vegetable soup recipe starts with canned and frozen vegetables for convenience.
Feel free to replace with fresh vegetables if you like. I use canned because the potatoes hold up way better during the slow simmer.
If you opt to use fresh vegetables for this recipe, I recommend par-cooking your potatoes and carrots prior to peeling and dicing.
They will hold their shape a bit better as the canned vegetables would. We use this same method in our loaded baked potato soup too.
I have done this with decent results, but it is time-consuming. As long-time readers of the blog already know, I am lazy sometimes and prefer to skip steps that I don’t find necessary for producing great tasting food.
Canned vegetables are readily available these days with reduced sodium and even some with no salt or sugar added.
These are great shortcuts for this beef vegetable soup for those on controlled sodium and sugar diets.
For the meat in this recipe, I have successfully used stew meat, cut up a roast, assorted lone frozen steaks, and thinly sliced meat pieces marked as carne asada in the grocery store meat section.
So, basically what I am saying is that just about any cut of meat will work for this. Just make sure that it is cut into similar sized pieces.
Just about any vegetable you like can be added to this soup.
This Beef Vegetable Soup recipe also makes a lot of soup.
Freeze it and save for those snowy days when you want hot homemade soup but don’t want to travel to the store. Pairs perfectly with a grilled cheese or grilled peanut butter.
I have seen other folks’ tips for freezing soup flat in plastic baggies. Wait until this soup is cool, then transfer to baggies, hot foods will weaken the baggies seams and guess what happens?
Been there, done that, and even bought the T-shirt. Good grief that makes a huge mess.
Make sure the baggies are tightly closed and not leaking.
Lay them flat on a baking sheet and place in a freezer until solid.
It will save room in the freezer, just make sure they are labeled well, as it is harder to tell what is in a stack of bags from the sides than it is in a bowl.
I buy the freezer bowls for my soups and sauces. I have had one too many baggies bust.
Beef Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
- 3 pounds beef diced
- 32- ounce box beef broth or homemade
- 2 condensed cans beef broth
- 1 extra large beef bouillon cube or 3 small
- 1 tablespoon beef flavor booster like Beefer-Upper, optional
- 2 teaspoons browning sauce like Kitchen Bouquet, optional
- 1 can petite diced tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon Herbs de Provence
- 3 to 4 bay leaves
- frac12; teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 medium onion sliced thin
- 4 cans Veg-all drained and rinsed
- 1 can diced potatoes drained and rinsed
- 1 can kitchen cut green beans drained and rinsed
- 10 to 12- ounce bag frozen peas
- 10 to 12- ounce bag frozen sweet corn
- 1 cup barley or small pasta such as orzo or acini de pepe, optional see notes
Instructions
- Place beef, beef broth, bouillon, flavor enhancers, diced tomatoes, sliced onion, Herbs de Provence, bay leaves, and black pepper into a large stockpot.
- Add enough water to completely cover the beef, tomatoes, and onions.
- Bring to a boil.
- Immediately reduce heat to a slow simmer.
- Simmer until beef is tender and onions have disappeared. At least 2 hours, adding more water as necessary to keep beef, tomatoes, and onions covered.
- Add drained and rinsed canned vegetable.
- Continue simmering for 1 hour or longer.
- Add frozen vegetables.
- Raise heat to high until soup reaches a boil.
- Reduce heat back to simmer.
- Add barley or pasta, if using *see notes
- Simmer until peas are no longer floating, about an hour.
- Taste and adjust by adding water to dilute flavor or adding bouillon to increase beef flavor.
- Remove bay leaves.
- Serve piping hot.
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