Thrifty Frugal Mom

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Easy Vegetable Beef Soup

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This 30 minute Easy Vegetable Beef Soup is the perfect quick, healthy meal! It’s loaded with vegetables and a comforting recipe that our whole family loves- even the non-veggies lovers.
Easy Vegetable Beef Soup

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As a little girl, I was a super picky eater and didn’t actually like vegetables that much.  In spite of that, I always loved my mom’s homemade vegetable beef soup and happily gulped it down even though it was obviously chock full of veggies!

I especially loved the melt in your mouth homegrown Lima beans that she always added to it.  In my opinion, they made the soup.  (And if you haven’t ever had homegrown Lima beans, well you are seriously missing out because they are 1,000 times better than store bought ones!)

I often wish that I could make a big pot of mom’s simple, yet absolutely delicious homemade vegetable soup.  But unfortunately, it was one of those recipes that she just kind of threw together, which is surprising since my mom is pretty much always a “go exactly by the recipe” sort of cook.

The one time that I did try to replicate it, it turned out edible, but definitely nothing close to what I remember it tasting like as a child.

Recipe for Vegetable Soup

So, I’ve admitted defeat and accepted the fact that I can’t replicate my mom’s awesome beef and vegetable soup.  Thankfully, I’ve found other delightful homemade vegetable beef soup recipes to enjoy though!  And this tasty Easy Vegetable Beef Soup that I’m sharing with you is one of our favorites!

Easy Vegetable Beef Soup

I started making this recipe last fall.  It came about like so many of my recipes do.  I had found a tasty looking recipe for vegetable soup that I wanted to try for dinner, but I didn’t have some of the ingredients that it called for.

So I started substituting ingredients and also tweaked some of the seasonings and things to get it to taste like a recipe that I thought we would love.  And the result?  An easy vegetable soup recipe that my husband raved over and my children gulped down as fast I remember gulping down my own mom’s vegetable soup!

Easy Vegetable Soup

I also really love the fact that this easy vegetable soup can be on the table in 30 minutes.  Thirty minute dinners are some of my absolute favorites! Because as much as I love being in my kitchen, I just don’t have the time these days to spend hours making food. Which is also why I’m a huge fan of using this awesome chopper for recipes like this- it literally cuts my vegetable chopping time in half!  Don’t you love time saving things like that?!

So, whether you’re looking for a quick, easy meal, trying to get your family to eat more veggies or just love a good bowl of soup, I’m pretty sure this Easy Vegetable Beef Soup won’t disappoint!  If you give it a try, I’d love if you’d let me know what you thought of it in the comments below!  🙂

Looking for a great place to get quality ground beef?  Check out Savory Butcher!  They are a growing company and aren’t available in all areas, but are slowing expanding their market!  They regularly have ground beef for $2.99/lb.  And they also have boneless, skinless chicken breast for $1.99/lb. too!  

Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup

3.5 from 2 votes
Print

Italian Vegetable and Beef Soup

The perfect quick, healthy meal! This Easy Vegetable Beef soup is loaded with vegetables and is a comforting dinner that our whole family loves.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 10 servings
Author ThriftyFrugalMom.com

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. ground beef
  • 1/2 onion, finely chopped
  • 2 c. carrots, thinly sliced
  • 2 c. celery, diced
  • 1 c. frozen green beans (canned would probably work too)
  • 5 c. water
  • 14.5 oz. can chicken or beef broth (or scant 2 cups if not using a can)
  • 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes with juice
  • 2 c. tomato or spaghetti sauce
  • 15.5 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp. chicken bouillon (or beef bouillon)
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. dried basil
  • 1 tsp. dried parsley
  • 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
  • 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp. black pepper
  • 2 c. cabbage, chopped

Instructions

  1. In a large pot, cook ground beef and onions together until beef has browned.
  2. Add remaining ingredients, except for the cabbage.
  3. Cover the pot with a lid and bring to a boil.
  4. Once soup is boiling, stir and then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 15-20 minutes or until carrots are tender. If you can simmer longer, do! The flavor will become even better!
  5. Stir in the cabbage and simmer a few minutes more until the cabbage has wilted.
  6. Enjoy!

YOU MIGHT ALSO ENJOY:

Rice and Ground Beef Skillet

Creamy Sausage and Potatoes

Comments

  1. Emily says

    April 16, 2018 at 4:17 PM

    Oh yum! This looks so good! We are still dealing with cold temperatures here and soup is always a great meal option for that. I like that this is easy to make, I can handle this during the hectic week.

    Reply

    • ThriftyFrugalMom says

      April 17, 2018 at 12:13 AM

      Ah, this never ending winter! Crazy, isn’t it? You’re right, this soup is such a great meal for weather like this!

      Reply

  2. Monica says

    April 19, 2018 at 9:07 PM

    That does look delicious! My kid would still figure out a way to pick out the carrots but my husband would like this. Hopefully, I can get it on the menu before soup weather ends, which I imagine would be July with the way it’s been going. 😉

    Reply

    • ThriftyFrugalMom says

      April 19, 2018 at 9:38 PM

      Ha! I have a couple that are funny about carrots too, but they actually eat them in here without any comment, which is odd! And yes, July! Ha ha! Ugh. I’m o ready for non-soup weather!

      Reply

    • ThriftyFrugalMom says

      April 29, 2018 at 12:27 AM

      Thanks, Crystal! Happy to have you join! And I had fun poking around on your site now too. I really enjoyed the posts that I read and look forward to reading more!

      Reply

  5. Douglas Mosier says

    June 5, 2018 at 4:31 PM

    No need to buy broth! Just save all the trimmings from the onions, celery (with the leaves!), and carrots that you use during the week in a baggie in the freezer and on Sunday afternoon, throw them all in a pot with water (or potato or pasta water), a few (smashed) cloves of garlic, and an extra rib of celery sliced up and a couple bay leaves, and you’ve got broth for the week! I’ve been doing this for years ever since my grandma smacked my hand when I went to put the carrot peels in the trash!

    Reply

  6. Poncho says

    October 7, 2018 at 10:32 AM


    Whether this recipe saves time or not, I intend to implement a few changes. Ground beef does not cut it here. Beef stew is preferred and will brown almost as fas as the hamburger.

    The addition of spaghetti sauce is uncalled for, especially after already admitting diced tomatoes. The same holds true for any tomato sauce. Instead, to adjust for liquid, add additional diced.

    Rather than getting all the spice bottles out, merely add Italian spice.

    Chicken broth? No, use beef broth. This recipe is about vegetables and beef.

    Kick this up a few notches with a tablespoon of worcestershire and a shake of red pepper flakes.

    Using cabbage is questionable, but doable.

    The new results will make a remarkable soup rather than saving a very few minutes with the original.

    Reply

    • ThriftyFrugalMom says

      October 20, 2018 at 11:29 PM

      Lots of great ideas you have there! Sounds like you should go ahead and create your own vegetable beef soup recipe to share. 🙂

      Reply

    • Cindy says

      March 4, 2019 at 11:37 AM

      Did you even try the original recipe? If not, then your review doesn’t “cut it” either.

      I’ll be trying it verbatim this evening. I’ll be sure to post a review after actually trying the original recipe.

      Reply

  8. Denay DeGuzman says

    October 8, 2018 at 1:32 PM


    This fabulous comforting vegetable beef soup is just as delicious as it looks in the images within your post! Thank you so much for sharing such a scrumptious recipe! I’ll be making it again next week.

    Reply

  10. Cathy Staerkel says

    November 25, 2018 at 9:55 PM


    2nd time to make your soup! Added potatoes and corn so cook time is much longer but WOW!
    So good and it makes so much. Shared with neighbors and they wanted your recipe.
    Thanks so much! Cabbage is key here.

    Reply

    • ThriftyFrugalMom says

      November 27, 2018 at 5:02 PM

      I love your additions, Cathy! The potatoes especially would make it more hearty, for sure. So glad you are enjoying it and I’m honored that it won the neighbor’s approval too. 😉

      Reply

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