This Old Fashioned Vegetable Beef Soup is comfort food at it's finest. With just 20 minutes of prep time, you can let this soup simmer away on a busy weeknight for a cozy meal that's guaranteed to be loved by your family.
This Old Fashioned Vegetable Beef Soup is a recipe that my grandma made every winter year after year. It's a recipe that's beloved by my family and friends. Whether you make a big pot for a gathering or serve on a weeknight, it's sure to spread the love with all of your favorite people.
This Beef and Vegetable Soup is totally homemade from start to finish and uses all approachable ingredients that are easy to find at the store. The hands-on prep time is only 20 minutes, the rest of the work is hands-free on the stovetop. It's truly as simple as simple gets for dinner meal prep.
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We love to serve this beef stock vegetable soup with mashed potatoes or buttered potatoes. Plus, the leftovers make for great meals several days after too! Be sure to check out my Easy Slow Cooker Beef Stew as well!
Table of Contents
Why You'll Love this Recipe
- Cozy and comforting. This homemade beef stew is the definition of comfort food in a bowl. It's healthy and filling for a cold night.
- Meal prep dream. Make a batch of this soup in advance and freeze for a busy week.
- Affordable family favorite. This recipe is requested multiple times during the wintertime in our house. Everyone truly loves how hearty and flavorful this beef soup is, plus it's not too expensive either!
Laura Ashley's Tip: A chuck roast is perfect for a beef stew. You want to cut it into ¾-inch cubes. The tough collagen in the beef will break down and soften as the soup simmers making for very tender meat.
Ingredients
Scroll Down for Ingredient Amounts Listed in the Recipe Card Below
- Olive oil or butter: The cooking fat for the stew.
- Chuck roast or stew meat: The beef for the stew, you want to choose a piece of beef that's tougher with more collagen. It will break down and become tender in the soup over the cooking time.
- Seasoning Salt: If you don't have this, just add kosher salt, and a pinch of black pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne. Livia’s Seasoning Salt is my go-to blend.
- Diced onion: Infuses the broth with sweet onion flavor.
- Garlic cloves: Adds a nice garlic flavor to each bite.
- Celery: Adds nice vegetable aromatics.
- Carrots: Gives that root vegetable sweetness and heartiness to the stew.
- All-purpose flour: Thickens the broth to the right consistency.
- Beef broth or beef stock: Use regular or low sodium, it's rich and hearty when compared to vegetable or chicken stock.
- Tomato paste: Adds a nice tomato-based broth flavor that compliments the beef so well.
- Bay leaves: Adds a nice hint of vegetable flavor.
- Fresh thyme: Gives an earthy yet floral flavor to the vegetables.
- Fresh or frozen green beans: Another easy vegetable that's delicious to add.
- Frozen peas: Don't skip these, they provide a sweetness that compliments the broth very well.
- Potatoes: Adds heartiness and comfort to the recipe and also helps to thicken the broth nicely.
Tools You'll Need
How to Make Vegetable Beef Soup
- In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil or butter over medium-high heat. Season the beef with seasoning salt.
- Add the seasoned beef to the pot in batches (to avoid overcrowding) and sear until browned on all sides, about 3-4 minutes per batch. Add more oil or butter between batches if needed. Remove from the pot and set it aside.
- In the same pot, add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil or butter. Once hot, add diced onion and cook 1 minute. Add fresh garlic, stir, and cook an additional minute.
- Mix in celery and carrots, and cook 3-4 minutes, or until the onions are translucent and vegetables are slightly tender.
- Add tomato paste and sprinkle flour over the vegetables. Stir to coat them evenly. Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Gradually stir in beef broth or stock and water, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Add bay leaves and thyme sprigs (or dried thyme).
- Return the browned beef. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 1 hour, or until the beef is mostly tender.
- After the hour, add potatoes, cover and continue simmering for 30 minutes.
- Add green beans and frozen peas. Continue to simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
- Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning with seasoning salt or salt and pepper as needed. Remove the bay leaves and thyme sprigs before serving.
- Ladle the soup into bowls and serve hot, with your favorite soup sides.
Pro Tips
- Be sure to brown the beef first. This creates extra flavorful beef and also gives you the browned bits on the bottom of the pot that creates an even richer broth. Make sure there is space between the beef pieces in the pot to avoid steaming and allow to meat to brown.
- Cook the tomato paste for about a minute. It's essential to cook the tomato paste for a minute or so to help caramelize the natural sugars and create a deeper and richer tomato flavor in the beef stock.
- Flour is the thickener in this recipe to make the soup the perfect consistency. If your soup is too thin, simply mix equal parts flour and butter into a paste and whisk it into the soup (start with one tablespoon of each). Simmer until thickened.
- Deglaze the pan with stock. When you add the beef stock, be sure to deglaze the pan and scrape any browned bits up of the bottom of the pot. This is where all of the flavor is from searing the beef!
- Set it and Forget It: If you're wanting to opt for a crockpot-style version of this recipe, check out my Easy Slow Cooker Beef Stew!
What to Serve with Vegetable Beef Soup
This hearty soup is delicious paired with so many things. Some of our favorites are a Pimento Grilled Cheese, Jalapeno Cheese Bread, Hoecakes, or crackers with Homemade Pimento Cheese!
Storage and Freezing
Allow the soup to cool to room temperature, then place in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days. Reheat on the stove or in the microwave for a few minutes until warmed through.
Freezing this beef and vegetable soup works like a charm. You can freeze it for up to 2 months. Thaw on the counter for a couple of hours or in the fridge overnight and reheat on the stove or in the microwave.
Frequently Asked Questions
Add spices and herbs to give additional flavor. Thyme, rosemary, Italian seasoning, and dried chili flakes are all great options.
Add more spices and seasonings! Be sure to also use tomato paste, it adds a nice depth of flavor to the broth.
Yes, this gives the beef more flavor and also allows you to cook the veggies in the beef juices to make for a tastier soup.
Choose veggies that can boil nicely like root vegetables, squash, carrots, celery, and peppers.
More Easy Soup Recipes
Old Fashioned Vegetable Beef Soup
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons olive oil or butter divided
- 1-1 ½ pounds chuck roast or stew meat cut into even ¾-inch cubes
- Seasoning Salt amount as desired
- 1 cup diced onion about 1 small onion
- 4 finely diced garlic cloves
- 1 cup chopped celery about 2-3 stalks
- 1 cup chopped carrots about 2-3 carrots
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 4 cups beef broth or beef stock regular or low sodium
- 1 ½ cups water
- 6 ounce can tomato paste
- 2 bay leaves
- 3-4 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 cup 1-inch sliced fresh or frozen green beans
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 2 cups peeled and cubed potatoes dice-sized cubes, about 2-3 small potatoes
Instructions
- In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil or butter over medium-high heat. Season the beef with seasoning salt.
- Add the seasoned beef to the pot in batches (to avoid overcrowding) and sear until browned on all sides, about 3-4 minutes per batch. Add more oil or butter between batches if needed. Remove from the pot and set it aside.
- In the same pot, add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil or butter. Once hot, add diced onion and cook 1 minute. Add fresh garlic, stir, and cook an additional minute.
- Mix in celery and carrots, and cook 3-4 minutes, or until the onions are translucent and vegetables are slightly tender.
- Add tomato paste and sprinkle flour over the vegetables. Stir to coat them evenly. Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Gradually stir in beef broth or stock and water, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Add bay leaves and thyme sprigs (or dried thyme).
- Return the browned beef. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 1 hour, or until the beef is mostly tender.
- After the hour, add potatoes, cover and continue simmering for 30 minutes.
- Add green beans and frozen peas. Continue to simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
- Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning with seasoning salt or salt and pepper as needed. Remove the bay leaves and thyme sprigs before serving.
- Ladle the soup into bowls and serve hot, with your favorite soup sides.
Notes
- Be sure to brown the beef first. This creates extra flavorful beef and also gives you the browned bits on the bottom of the pot that create an even richer broth. Make sure there is space between the beef pieces in the pot to avoid steaming and allow to meat to brown.
- Cook the tomato paste for about a minute. It's essential to cook the tomato paste for a minute or so to help caramelize the natural sugars and create a deeper and richer tomato flavor in the beef stock.
- Flour is the thickener in this recipe to make the soup the perfect consistency. If your soup is too thin, simply mix equal parts flour and butter into a paste and whisk it into the soup (start with one tablespoon of each). Simmer until thickened.
- Deglaze the pan with stock. When you add the beef stock, be sure to deglaze the pan and scrape any browned bits up of the bottom of the pot. This is where all of the flavor is from searing the beef!
Teresa Delucchi
Can you use ground beef
Laura Ashley
Yes, you could 🙂 It won't need quite as long a cook time. After you brown the ground beef, just leave it in the pan and proceed with adding the vegetables. It will only need to simmer covered 15-20 minutes before you proceed with the potatoes step 🙂