When you need an easy meal on a busy night, try this vegetable beef soup!
Updated October 2024
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Well it’s that time of year again. Soup season! The weather cools down and you start to crave a warm soup to warm you up. At least this is how I often feel, especially this week.
The wind got pretty chilly, and we were bundled up with mitts and hats every time we went out. A warm soup was exactly what we needed when we came inside.
E really likes soup. I’m not sure why, whether it’s because he can use his spoon or if he likes the taste, but he always drains the bowl.
He’s all about scooping stuff right now. We often sit with Cheerios or Rice Krispie’s so he can scoop them into his trucks (and then dump them on the floor). He’s gotten pretty good with his spoon too, which makes cleanup at meals so much easier now!
Anyways, it’s nice to have a meal that is relatively easy and everyone eats willingly (maybe even going back for seconds!). Plus soup makes a great leftover, sometimes tasting better the next day! It freezes well too, if you are doing meal prep and need something that can be pulled out at a later date.
I made vegetable beef soup specifically because it is an easy leftover. I knew we would need some meals this week so this hit the mark. I got the recipe from Fit Mama Real Food. I haven’t done much to change it, except to omit fresh onion and use onion flakes. I’ve done this recipe with chicken broth (instead of beef broth) but definitely prefer it with the beef. Otherwise it’s simple and so tasty.
I serve it with buns and sometimes a salad (depending how much time I have to pull stuff together). It’s pretty hardy on its own though. Looking for a warm up meal tonight? This is the one!
Vegetable Beef Soup
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1/2 TBSP Dried onion flakes
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 cups yellow potatoes, diced
- 28oz (about 830ml) tomato sauce*
- 4 cups beef broth
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 16oz frozen mixed vegetables
Instructions
- In a frying pan, cook the ground beef on medium high heat. Cook until browned.
- Drain excess fat. Return to pan and add dried onion, cooking for a few minutes. Then add garlic and salt.
- In a large pot add potatoes, tomato sauce, beef broth, basil, oregano and ground beef. Bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are soft.
- Add mixed vegetables and cook for another 5 minutes or until warmed through.
- Enjoy!
*Note: If you don’t have tomato sauce on hand you can make it from tomato paste:
Tomato Sauce Recipe
Makes 28oz of tomato sauce
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup tomato paste
- 3 TBSP flour
- 3 cups water
- 3 TBSP sugar
- seasoning to taste
Directions
- Whisk together 1/2 cup water with flour until lump free.
- Mix remaining water, tomato paste, sugar and seasoning.
- Use as tomato sauce in recipe.
For more easy, kid-friendly recipes, try my Thai Peanut Stir Fry or Baked Potato Shepherd’s Pie
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