This 30-minute Vegetable Beef Soup is the perfect quick and easy meal! It’s loaded with cabbage, carrots, celery, onion, tomatoes and green beans plus ground beef and black beans. A hearty, comforting dinner that our whole family loves.
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I started making this soup recipe last fall. It came about like so many of my recipes do. I had found a tasty-looking recipe for homemade 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 things and also tweaked some of the seasonings 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!
Why We Love This Recipe
Quick to Make. Takes just 30 minutes from start to finish.
Healthy. Full of nutritious veggies plus a bit of protein from the hamburger and black beans!
Makes a Lot. Perfect for cooking once and enjoying twice. Also works well for nights when you are having extra people at your table!
Freezes Well. Pop leftovers into the freezer to pull out on a busy day!
Easy Vegetable Soup Ingredients
- Ground Beef. Can substitute with ground turkey if preferred.
- Onion, Carrots and Celery.
- Green Beans. I use frozen, but canned would work just as well.
- Water.
- Broth. You can use chicken, beef or vegetable broth.
- Diced Tomatoes. Any diced tomatoes, including seasoned ones, will work great.
- Tomato or Spaghetti Sauce. Use your favorite brand!
- Black Beans. I think kidney beans would also work well.
- Chicken Bouillon. Beef bouillon can be used instead.
- Salt, Basil, Parsley, Oregano, Garlic Powder, Black Pepper.
- Cabbage. You’ll want to use green cabbage.
How To Make Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup
STEP 1: Brown the ground beef and onions together in a large stockpot until it’s no longer pink. Drain off the grease if needed.
STEP 2: Add all of the other soup ingredients except for the chopped cabbage.
STEP 3: Cover the pot with a lid and bring the soup to a boil.
STEP 4: Stir and reduce the heat to simmer once it boils. Keep it uncovered until the carrots are tender. You can simmer longer if you would like, the flavor will be even better!
STEP 5: Add the cabbage and stir. Continue cooking until the cabbage has wilted. Enjoy!
Helpful Tips
Save Time. I like to use this awesome chopper for recipes like this- it literally cuts my vegetable chopping time in half!
Freezing. To freeze, allow the soup to cool completely then transfer to a container, mason jar, or plastic bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
Reheating from Frozen. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Reheat in the microwave or cook on the stovetop over medium heat until it’s warm all the way through.
Frozen Vegetables. If you don’t have fresh veggies on hand you can use frozen, it may just take a little less time to cook.
To Thicken. Since this is a broth-based vegetable soup it will not be super thick. If you want to thicken it up more, make a cornstarch slurry and pour it in. Then simmer until it is the consistency you would like.
Pair With. This soup is perfect for serving with rolls or biscuits. I love pairing with my easy Garlic Butter Swim Biscuits!
More Easy Soup Recipes You’ll Love
- 30 Minute Curry Chicken and Rice Soup
- Easy Tomato Basil Soup with Parmesan
- Cream Cheese Potato Soup with Ham
- Creamy Italian Sausage and Pasta Soup
Easy Homemade Vegetable and Beef Soup
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1/2 onion, finely chopped
- 2 c. carrots, thinly sliced
- 2 c. celery, diced
- 1 c. frozen green beans (can use canned instead)
- 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
- In a large pot, cook ground beef and onions together until beef has browned.
- Add remaining ingredients, except for the cabbage.
- Cover the pot with a lid and bring to a boil.
- 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!
- Stir in the cabbage and simmer a few minutes more until the cabbage has wilted.
Poncho
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.
ThriftyFrugalMom
Lots of great ideas you have there! Sounds like you should go ahead and create your own vegetable beef soup recipe to share. 🙂
Cindy
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.
Douglas Mosier
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!
ThriftyFrugalMom
I love using my homemade chicken broth, but can you believe that I’ve never tried vegetable stock? You make it sound so easy that I feel like I have no reason to not do it though.
Crystal Steinhauer
Hi I just discovered your blog through the Mennonite Game directory. I can’t wait to dive deep and read more! So many wonderful articles!
ThriftyFrugalMom
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!
Kim
This looks so warm and cozy! Can’t wait to give it a try!
ThriftyFrugalMom
I think you’ll enjoy it, Kim!
Monica
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. 😉
ThriftyFrugalMom
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!
Emily
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.
ThriftyFrugalMom
Ah, this never ending winter! Crazy, isn’t it? You’re right, this soup is such a great meal for weather like this!