Vegetable Beef Soup
I’m sharing my vegetable beef soup recipe today. It’s snowing here in northern Utah and a bowl of warm soup sounds great. Add some homemade French bread and our dinner will be perfect and filling.
I’ve tried to provide some recipes the past few weeks that I felt my readers would enjoy making, not just because of the delicious flavors to savor but to help in an effort to get more people involved in cooking from scratch, as in, using ingredients found in the pantry, fridge, and freezer.
In case you missed this post, Easy To Make Soft Dinner Rolls
Vegetable Beef Soup
Items You May Need In The Kitchen
Vegetable Beef Soup
Step One
Gather all of your ingredients so you’re ready to start the recipe. I like to chop all the vegetables while the meat is browning.
Step Two
Grab a frying pan and brown the cut-up stew meat in a little oil, if desired. I like my meat browned for my soups. This is optional.
Step Three
Place the browned meat in your slow cooker.
Step Four
Add the yellow summer squash, chopped onions, red bell peppers, celery, carrots, and cooked red quinoa.
Step Five
Add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and beef broth. Add the spices listed in the recipe.
Step Six
Add the chili beans and pinto beans. Stir until mixed thoroughly. I’ve started adding beans or lentils to every soup I make. I want to use less meat, or no meat, because of the high prices, and because we’re trying to eat more healthy meals. Beans can be a great optional choice for the protein we need in our diets.
Step Seven
Set your slow cooker on high for 5-6 hours, or low for 7-8 hours, or until the vegetables and meat are cooked as desired.
Final Product
Add one cup of frozen peas to the slow cooker about an hour before serving. I typically serve this soup with French Bread! Enjoy.
- 1 pound of stew meat, cut into smaller pieces
- 1 yellow summer squash, diced
- 1 cup of chopped onion
- 1 cup diced red bell pepper
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 1 cup cooked red quinoa, cooked as directed on package
- 1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
- 1 15-ounce can chili beans, not drained
- 1 15-ounce can pinto beans, not drained
- 1 quart beef broth
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup of frozen peas (add to the slow cooker about an hour before serving)
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Grab a frying pan and brown the cut-up stew meat in a little oil, if desired. I like my meat browned for my soups. This is optional. Place the browned meat in your slow cooker. Add the yellow summer squash, chopped onions, red bell peppers, celery, carrots, and cooked red quinoa. Add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, chili beans, pinto beans, and beef broth. Add the spices listed in the recipe. Stir until mixed thoroughly. Set your slow cooker on high for 5-6 hours, low for 7-8 hours, or until the vegetables and meat are cooked as desired. Add one cup of frozen peas to the slow cooker about an hour before serving. I typically serve this soup with French Bread! Enjoy.
OPTIONAL: Cook on the stove in a Dutch oven, or large soup pot. Bring the soup to a slight boil, then simmer for 2-3 hours, or until the meat and vegetables are cooked as desired. Add one cup of frozen peas to the slow cooker about an hour before serving. I serve this soup with French Bread! Enjoy.
What is the history of vegetable soup?
Soups of all kinds have been recorded back to ancient history. Cookbooks like the ones discovered from Roman times (5th century) make reference to the equivalent of onion soup recipes. The term “broth” is found in various records in about year 1,000, and “potage” is often used when discussing food preparation as early as the 1,400’s. Cabbage seems to be a popular item in soups early on.
Some think the word “soup” comes from how the vegetable mixture was served. The bread was a key meal item in many countries. The liquid mixture with the vegetables was poured over the top of the bread and was then “sopped” up by the bread during the meal.
Are soups healthy?
Yes, they are. Often soups are provided to people who are sick since the sodium helps to calm a sore throat, the heat will help clear up congested nasal passages, and also relieve certain sinus pressure issues. Soups contain vital minerals and vitamins that prompt a more speedy recovery.
A Google search indicates that one cup of vegetable beef soup has 18.8g of total carbs, 14.5g of net carbs, 1.6g of fat, and only 219 calories. Of course, these numbers are influenced by the amount of beef included in the soup.
It is felt that soups provide a more “filling” sensation after the meal, so people aren’t as prone to overeating.
What types of vegetables are most common in this soup?
Just about any veggie and be included in vegetable beef soup, but some very common vegetables are peas, green beans, corn, carrots, celery, onions, and tomatoes.
Do soups have to have a meat ingredient to be flavorful?
Some chefs seem to feel that a meat ingredient brings out the flavor of all the other items, many soups are made with just the veggies and spices. The meat provides needed proteins, but beans can be added to provide that nutritional benefit in lieu of the meat.
Note that some cooks will add more beef broth to the recipe to give the soup an even stronger meat flavor, and do so without some of the “eating meat” concerns people have.
Can soups be served chilled too?
Although not as popular, yes, soups are often served as a cold menu item. The makeup of the contents will also vary, based on personal preference.
Final Word
As I made this soup, I thought how wonderful it would be to have people use vegetables from their gardens. It’s snowing here in Northern Utah so I couldn’t run out and pick anything today. But the vegetable beef soup was always a staple in my family so to speak. We had it at least once a week. What do you put in yours? May God Bless this world, Linda
WOW Linda. This sounds so good! We will be making something similar today. Larry calls it stew, but it’s soup to me. LOL We use vegetable juice instead of tomato. It’s so good in soups. Larry will make the stew, I’ll be making bread. It’s cold and we there in East Texas, too. No snow, but we’re supposed to get freezing rain aka sleet. At least we’ll be warm and toasty, and have something good to eat. I’ve never eaten soup with yellow squash in it. I’ll bet it’s good in it. My dear Larry bought me 10 boxes of K-cup tea that I drink instead of coffee. He’s so good to me. I try to keep him supplied in his coffee, although we’ve found that online ordering is sometimes cheaper than buying from the stores. Oh, and I love veggie soups with no meat. Last night I had baked potato soup for dinner. It did have a bit of bacon in it, but not a lot.
Hi Deborah, thank you for the 5 stars, my sweet friend! I need to try the tomato juice!! Great tip! I have a Keurig and love it! Having ten boxes of your favorite tea is awesome! I love potato soup, and bacon is the best in it! Love it! Linda
I forgot to put what we put in the stew. We put the stew meat with the vegetable juice and one potato, peeled. After this cooks and the potato is mush and disappears, we add peeled and cut up potatoes, carrots, onion, green beans, corn, mixed canned or frozen vegetables, chopped celery and whatever else we want to add. Cook until all is done. I sometimes add some beef better than bullion to it for flavor. And sometimes diced tomatoes. It’s always good. LOL
Hi Deborah, I like the idea of the mushed-up potato, it would make it thicker! I love it! I love Better Than Beef Bouillon!! Linda
That looks delicious, but you can stop putting up the desserts. I can’t afford the calories. Thanks.
HI Janet, I know, right??? Those darn calories! Linda
My Husband just discovered he really does like Quinoa! I read him this recipe and he wants to make it tomorrow…lol Mine will be sans yellow squash I like in MN and didn’t save any from this summer. It’s still gonna be good! I LOVE the deserts <3
Hi Hazel, thank you for the 5 stars, my sweet friend! I love hearing your husband loves quinoa!! I love hearing you love desserts, I do too!! There is something about baking or cooking in the kitchen that just plain gives me JOY! I love it when my grandkids come to visit and they say, “smells good in here”, it doesn’t matter if it’s bread, soup, or brownies! Gotta love life! Linda
The only difference between yours and mine is I don’t put chilli beans, pinto beans or quinoa in mine. I do put frozen mixed veggies, corn, green beans green beans Okra, brussel sprouts, Lima beans and I put canned wax beans in or whatever leftover veggies we have in the fridge. I don’t put a lot of beef in but I do put chicken in mine.
Hi Jackie, thank you for the 5 stars, my sweet friend! The thing I love about soup is that we can change it up or down and it still tastes fabulous! Linda