cooking with ree

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Hearty Vegetable Soup with Ground Beef

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The First Time I Tried It

I was 14 years old in the 8th grade when I spent the night at my friend Rachel’s house for the first time. Her mama served a vegetable beef soup for supper that was sooo good! She used a bunch of leftovers, and made a soup from it! I had never had anything like it; at least my mom or step-mom never made anything quite like it.

So. When I was on my own and living in my first apartment, I decided that this couldn’t be THAT hard to make. It isn’t; but my first attempt wasn’t quite as good as I remember Rachel’s mama’s soup being! It took a couple more tries and some experimentation, but I finally figured out a version that is nearly as good as the one my 14 year old self loved.

Making it for My Family

My kids HATED when I made peas for a side; their dad and I were the only ones that loved the bird’s nest peas just like the ones my grandma used to make for Sunday lunches. But if I stirred a can of peas into this soup? They ate every bit! I have tried green beans in it and cooked dry beans of different types. They are OK in it, but the version my family likes best is with peas and corn. (And the potatoes and carrots, of course). I almost always serve it with cornbread but it would be good with crackers, too. I also prefer to use crushed tomatoes rather than tomato juice or whole or diced tomatoes. When I meal plan and want to use the leftover soup as a pot pie, I leave the tomato out.

The Seasonings

I also love Cavender’s All Purpose Greek Seasoning, but prefer the salt free blue can because it is both salt AND MSG free. I just add salt back to the soup separately. If you don’t know what Cavender’s is, you are missing out! For some reason, Walmart has decided to stop carrying the salt free in the stores so I usually pick some up when I am in Harrison where it is made. It is also available on Amazon; the link for it and a photo are on my Amazon finds page here.

Gather your ingredients!
Saute the onion, celery, and garlic. Add the lean ground beef.
Add the beef stock and crushed tomatoes. Season.
Stir in the potatoes and carrots.
Add the corn and peas. Or whatever veggies float your boat!
Simmer; enjoy! YUM

Vegetable Beef Soup

Vegetable Beef Soup

  • Servings: 6-8
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Rating:
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A hearty, versatile comfort food featuring ground beef and a variety of vegetables in a rich, aromatic broth. Perfect for using up leftover vegetables and for cold days or nights.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 1-2 stalks celery, diced
  • 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
  • 4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 2-4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
  • 1-2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 32 ounce carton beef stock or broth
  • 1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
  • 1-3 Tablespoons Cavender’s Salt Free Greek Seasoning
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon whole leaf Stevia or about a teaspoon of sugar (optional)
  • 1 15 ounce can English peas, drained (optional); could also use frozen.
  • 1/2 pound frozen whole corn
  • optional: assorted vegetables such as green beans, pinto beans, navy beans, etc.

Directions

  1. Heat large deep stock pot over medium heat. Add olive oil. Sauté onion and celery until translucent and fragrant. Stir in garlic. Cook about a minute, maybe 2 minutes.
  2. Add ground beef. Cook until fully browned and broken up. Cook a bit longer to cook out the extra moisture. If not using lean ground beef, drain most of the fat.
  3. Stir in 2 Tablespoons, more or less, of Cavender’s Salt Free Greek seasoning. (It is the blue can!)
  4. Add beef stock or broth and crushed tomatoes. Stir well. Stir in Worcestershire sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste. If using the regular Cavender’s Greek seasoning, omit salt. If using the salt free version, add salt.
  5. If you want to add a bit of sugar or stevia to cut the tomato acidity, add it now. A little goes a long way! One teaspoon of sugar will be plenty. I prefer to use the whole leaf green powdered stevia for cooking and would definitely use it or regular sugar rather than a refined stevia extract.
  6. Add diced potatoes and diced carrots. Stir in the other vegetables that you are using. I like to add in one drained can of LeSuer peas and about half a pound of frozen whole corn.
  7. Bring back to a boil; reduce heat to simmer. Soup is done when potatoes and carrots are fork tender.
  8. Serve hot with crackers or fresh cornbread. Check out my recipe for cornbread waffles HERE!

  1. You can customize this to fit your family’s likes or dietary needs. Because nothing in this uses flour, it is naturally gluten free!
  2. This is a great soup to use up leftover veggies in a delicious way.
  3. My family won’t eat cooked carrots or peas, but LOVE them both cooked in this soup! It is one of my kids favorites, even with the peas and carrots!
  4. Cornbread waffles go great with this, as do crackers.
  5. Omit the crushed tomatoes and substitute with diced tomatoes, or leave them out completely. If you leave them out, the leftovers would work great as the filling for a shepherds pie or pot pie. Thicken with a cornstarch slurry. (1-2 Tablespoons of cornstarch mixed with equal parts water. Stir into hot soup; it will thicken quickly.)
  6. Leftover soup will freeze well. Ladle into freezer containers leaving minimal air space. Will keep about 4-6 months.

Ree Oxford
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