My hearty, old-fashioned vegetable beef soup recipe has a rich broth that’s loaded with chunks of beef and savory veggies! It’s the perfect hearty soup to chase away cold weather chills!
As the nights get cooler, your dinners get warmer, trading cold salads for warm beef soup recipes like beef barley soup, classic beef stew, old-fashioned beef and noodles, or my family-pleasing hamburger soup recipe. But sometimes, you want a classic — a thick, delicious blend of beef, veggies, and tomato with some tasty toppers like crackers and fresh herbs. That’s my vegetable beef soup!
Get ready for comfort food at its most classic. Let’s make this soup!
What I Love About This Recipe
- Crowd-pleasing and versatile
- Warms your heart and soul
- Veggies to the max!
- Comfort food favorite
Vegetable Beef Soup Ingredients
- Meat – I like to use flank steak when I make this recipe. Full of flavor, it cooks up nice and tender — perfect for soup! While beef chuck does seem like a likely choice for soup (and it is a cut of meat I use often in many recipes), flank steak cooks faster and has all the tender, meaty flavor in a shorter amount of time.
- Ground Beef – If you happen to have ground beef, you can use it instead of flank steak! Follow the recipe instructions, but substitute two pounds of ground beef for the cubed flank steak. Remember that the flank steak is leaner, so you’ll have some extra fat if you use ground beef. I suggest you drain off the fat, then proceed with the recipe.
- Potatoes – Not all potatoes are created equal! Getting the perfect soup potato all depends on what textures you want. Russets add extra starchiness to the broth, thickening it and making it heartier.
- Yukon Gold potatoes have a delicious, buttery flavor and hold their shape well through the cooking process.
- Red potatoes hold up, like the Yukon Gold, but aren’t quite as rich. There are so many options!
- My dad absolutely LOVES this recipe! He insists that the potatoes in the recipe get cubed very small—that’s the way he likes them! I absolutely agree with him on this point. When I dig into a bowlful of hot, hearty soup, I want to get a mix of things on my spoon. All this to say that I usually cut my potatoes fairly small—no bigger than 1/2 inch cubes. But if you’re a potato lover, you might want chunks a little bigger than that. I won’t judge! ♥
- Aromatics: As with most soup recipes, you can’t forget to sauté the aromatic vegetables before adding them to the soup when you make up this recipe.
- When the vegetables in this soup are raw, they contain compounds that are pungent and sulfurous—not what you want in your soup. But when those same vegetables are heated, the compounds actually change in flavor profile, becoming less harsh and less intense… actually evolving into something sweet and, in my ever so humble opinion, wonderful.
- Yes, the mushrooms and onions need to be cooked in two separate batches. Why? you ask. Well, simply because if you try to brown them at the same time, the pan will be overcrowded and the veggies will steam rather than brown. You will not create any fond if you steam your veggies.
- Vegetables – This recipe is super versatile when it comes to veggies. You can change or adapt the veggies listed to anything you like or prefer. You can add cabbage, corn, and peas.
- Beef Broth and Soy Sauce – This recipe calls for low-sodium beef broth and soy sauce. The amount of salt called for in the ingredients list is used to make up for the low-sodium broth and soy sauce. So if you end up using products that aren’t low in sodium, make sure you reduce the amount of salt you use.
- Better than Bouillon – I typically use the regular version of this product, not the low-sodium version.
Tips
- Deglaze: For this soup recipe, it’s important to brown the onions until they are well browned—look for small dark bits (dark brown not black) forming on the bottom of the pan. Those bits are what the French call fond, and they help to create a deep, fantastic flavor in your finished soup. That depth of flavor is intensified when the beef is browned in the same skillet. That creates another layer of fond which is added to the soup when the pan is deglazed.
Storing + Freezing + Make Ahead
- How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge? Once cooked, you can store this soup in the fridge for up to four days.
- Can You Freeze This? Yes! You can make a big batch of vegetable beef soup and freeze it for a meal later. This soup will freeze for up to six months.
- Make-Ahead Tips: This soup tastes even better (is that possible?) if you make it a day or two ahead of serving. All those wonderful flavors marry and mix, the broth of the soup thickens and tastes even richer.
Tools You’ll Need
- Mixing bowls
- Dutch oven: I love my nonstick pans just as much as the next person—but here’s a little secret: when I’m browning something and intending to deglaze the pan I never use a nonstick pan. Those little brown bits that I work so hard to achieve do not seem to be created with a nonstick pan. So I go ahead and use a regular large pot with this soup.
- A good stirring spoon
How To Make Vegetable Beef Soup Recipe
- Combine the beef and soy sauce; set aside and marinade 15 minutes.
- Heat 1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil, over medium heat until it’s begins to shimmer. Add the mushrooms and sauté, stirring frequently until the mushrooms are soft. Remove to a bowl and set aside.
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In the same pan, add 1-2 tablespoons of oil and the onions and brown, stirring frequently until the onions are browning and dark pieces are forming on the bottom of the pan, about 8-12 minutes. Remove the cooked onions to the bowl of mushrooms and set aside.
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Add 1-2 tablespoons of oil to the pan, then add half the beef. Cook, stirring occasionally until liquid evaporates and the beef begins to brown, about 6-10 minutes. Remove to a plate and brown the remaining meat the same way.
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Return the first batch of browned meat back to the pan with the second batch. Add 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, tomato paste, and garlic and cook stirring constantly, about 30seconds.
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Add the red wine, maintaining the heat and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon to loosen up the brown bits. Continue to cook until the liquid becomes syrupy, about 1-2 minutes.
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Add the rest of the ingredients along with the cooked mushroom/onion mixture and bring to a boil.
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Reduce heat and cook on low, covered, until the vegetables and meat are tender 40-50 minutes. Remove bay leaf and adjust seasoning and serve.
Serving Recommendations
I love to serve some homemade bread or biscuits to dip into this thick, rich, wonderful broth. My no-knead bread, beer bread, Bisquick biscuits, or crescent rolls are all wonderful dipping vehicles!
How To Make Vegetable Beef Soup In The Crockpot:
- Brown the mushrooms in a skillet until they’re soft. Use a slotted spoon and transfer them right over to the slow cooker.
- Brown the onions in the same skillet, stirring frequently until the onions are browning and dark pieces are forming on the bottom of the pan, about 8-12 minutes. Use a slotted spoon and transfer them to the slow cooker.
- Brown all of your marinated steak in a skillet. I do it in two batches, so the skillet doesn’t get overcrowded, and the steak browns properly. Use a slotted spoon and transfer the browned steak to the slow cooker.
- Add tomato paste and garlic and to skillet and cook stirring constantly about 30 seconds. Add the red wine, maintaining the heat and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon to loosen up the brown bits. Continue to cook until the liquid becomes syrupy, about 1-2 minutes. Pour into a slow cooker.
- Add 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, beef broth, Better than Bouillon, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, bay leaves, canned tomatoes with their juice, potatoes, carrots, celery, and thawed and drained green beans. Cook soup for 3-4 hours with your crockpot on “high.” Or, on low for 6-8 hours.
How To Make Vegetable Beef Soup
- Marinade the beef in soy sauce.
- Saute the mushroom. Set aside.
- Saute onions. Set aside.
- Brown the beef in batches. Set aside.
- Add salt, pepper, garlic, and tomato paste. Cook for about 30 seconds.
- Add red wine, and cook until syrupy.
- Add the rest of the ingredients. Boil.
- Remove bay leaves. Serve.
See full instructions below.
More Delicious Beefy Soup Recipes
- Cheeseburger Soup
- Beef Noodle Soup
- Taco Soup
- Crock Pot Stuffed Pepper Soup
- Beef And Tomato Macaroni Soup
- Guinness Beef Stew
Vegetable Beef Soup
Ingredients
- 2 pounds flank steak trimmed and cut Into 1/2-inch cubed
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 4 tablespoons vegetable oil divided
- 16 ounces cremini mushrooms, trimmed and quartered
- 2 cups yellow onion, chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 48 ounces low sodium beef broth
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Better than Bouillon~beef flavor
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 (14.5-ounce) cans petite diced tomatoes, including juice
- 2 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
- 4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into small cubes
- 2 celery stalks, cut into small cubes
- 1 cup frozen green beans, thawed and well-drained
- salt
- black pepper
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the beef (2 pounds) and soy sauce (2 tablespoons); set aside and marinate for 15 minutes.
- In a large Dutch oven, heat 1-2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, over medium heat until it begins to shimmer. Add the mushrooms (16 ounces) and saute, stirring frequently until the mushrooms are soft. Remove to a bowl and set aside.
- In the same pan, add 1-2 tablespoons of oil and the onions (2 cups) and brown, stirring frequently until the onions are browning and dark pieces are forming on the bottom of the pan, about 8-12 minutes. Remove the cooked onions to the bowl of mushrooms and set aside.
- Add 1-2 tablespoons of oil to the pan, then add half the beef. Cook, stirring occasionally until liquid evaporates and the beef begins to brown, about 6-10 minutes. Remove to a plate and brown the remaining meat the same way.
- Return the first batch of browned meat back to the pan with the second batch.
- Add 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, tomato paste (2 tablespoons), and garlic (6 cloves) and cook stirring constantly, for about 30 seconds.
- Add the red wine (1/2 cup), maintain the heat, and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon to loosen up the brown bits. Continue to cook until the liquid becomes syrupy, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add the rest of the ingredients along with the cooked mushroom/onion mixture and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and cook on low, covered, until the vegetables and meat are tender 40-50 minutes. Remove bay leaf and adjust seasoning and serve.
Fans Also Made:
Notes
- You can substitute 2 pounds of ground beef instead of cubed flank steak. I recommend draining off excess fat if you're using ground beef.
- Opt for regular pans instead of non-stick pans to create the brown bits that are intended for deglazing.
- Don't forget to sauté the aromatic vegetables before adding them to the soup.
- Deglaze: For this soup recipe, it’s important to brown the onions until they are well browned—look for small dark bits (dark brown not black) forming on the bottom of the pan. Those bits are what the French call fond, and they help to create a deep, fantastic flavor in your finished soup. That depth of flavor is intensified when the beef is browned in the same skillet. That creates another layer of fond which is added to the soup when the pan is deglazed.
This is absolutely delicious! Do you think this would work with chicken thighs as well?
Hi, Sandy! I think that’ll work. We also have Chicken Vegetable Soup, you can check the link here: https://www.gonnawantseconds.com/chicken-vegetable-soup/
Enjoy!
Hey all! Made this today, gotta say, enjoyed the process and it was a hit with the wife (the important person). I omitted the mushrooms (cause, bleh), didn’t change anything else, still wouldn’t. I hit mine with some extra pepper at the end but overall it had enough flavor that it really didn’t *need* it.
Thanks!!
So glad you and your wife enjoyed, Michael!
Loved this exile and so true about the flank steak versus the beef tips.
Can you replace vegetable oil with olive oil ? Thank you.
Sooooo good.
Hi, Kim! Thank you. Yes, you can 🙂
This is on my stove right now and I am waiting for it to boil and then I will simmer. Looking forward to tasting it.
Yay! I hope you like this soup. Let us know how it turns out 🙂
Is it ok to use fresh green beans instead of froZen?
Yes, you can, Laura! Enjoy 🙂
This is the best beef soup recipe I’ve found. Thanks.
Hi, Patricia!! Thank you for your positive feedback! I’m glad you like it 🙂 <3
Great recipe! Did this once (as above) and for an Asian twist:
Replace cremini mushrooms with shiitake mushrooms (stem removed), sliced
Replace potatoes, tomatoes, celery stalks, frozen green beans with: soba noodles, baby bok choy, snow peas, broccoli (stems cut up into 1/2 inch cubes, florets), shaved carrots (use a peeler).
Replace thyme and worcestershire sauce with something like Chinese Five Spice
Usually I soak my soba noodles in hot water to get them ready (and separated) and ladle out the soup on top of the noodles and then add the meat/vegetables on top.
If you want to cook the vegetable for less time, after doing the mushrooms and onions, you can also fry up the bok choy, broccoli, and snow peas in oil (or butter) and move to a bowl.
Garnish: green onions/scallions
Optional (depending on spice level): crushed red pepper or dried szechuan peppers
Your dish is very versatile!
Thanks, Improv Cook! I love your twist on this soup. 🙂
I’m thinking this is without a doubt the best vegetable beef soup I ever made. And easy to put together. We will make this one of our staples.
Thanks, Kevin! ?
Super good recipe!~ I didn’t have the wine or mushrooms but it came out really delicious anyway. I had to use canned green beans instead of frozen but they held together well anyway. Used some frozen peas as well. I cut my veggies bigger because little bits of veggies makes me think ‘canned soup’ which is totally awful stuff, LOL. But it cooked up great with no problems at all. Thank you 🙂
We are not mushroom lovers; if we omit them, would we need to substitute some cream of mushroom soup for the flavor? Or is it best to just omit completely?
Hi Karen. I’d just omit them all together <3
Could you add chunks of chicken breasts to this? Looks delicious!
Hi Brenda! Absolutely 😀 You can check out my Chicken Vegetable Soup for inspo. Happy cooking!
I left out the mushrooms and added barley, turned out delicious! No wine either, mixed beef and chicken broth since I mixed beef and chicken. Thanks so much!
So happy to hear it worked out for you, Brenda! ?
Deglazed with stock, not wine, and added a few extra veggies with Flank Steak.
The FLAVOR is STELLAR and better than my Mama’s Vegetable Soup?!!!
Will make again. Thank you kindly!
You’re very welcome, Paula! So happy to hear you liked it! 😀
I love soup & you have so many good recipes . I’m just salt restricted, so must watch that. TY
Thank you, Judy! ?
Can i use yukon gold potatoes in the crockpot version of this?
Yes, you can Judy!
Recipe sort of confusing as it doesn’t say when to add the broth
Hi, Mary. The broth should be added with the rest of the ingredients after adding the red wine to the beef. Thank you!
I always make a slightly different of this soup. First, I brown the meat in the same large soup pot,remove the meat and then add the ground onion, celery and ground garlic with a little vegetable oil, stirring constantly. I deglaze and reintroduce the meat and add some soup bones. Then I add the potatoes, carrots and TURNIPS into the pot along with ground parsley and basil from my garden, along with about two teaspoons of salt and black ground pepper. I then fill the pot with water and about three cans of concentrated tomato soup until it covers the veggies, and cook about three hours at a high simmer. I let it cool somewhat and put it into the fridge overnight. Then next day, I simmer it again for another three hours, and, man, it is delicious. I really think the turnips do the trick. They add such a delicious flavor!
Hi Jim! Wow! Turnips, I’m going to have to try that in this soup. I often use 1/2 a turnip when I make my homemade chicken stock and it does indeed give it an amazing flavor. Thank you for sharing 🙂
I halved this as I only had 1 flank steak. I pretty much followed it fairly closely, with only 5 large mushrooms, added a half a chopped turnip, and only 2 small potatoes. Was worried the beef wouldn’t become tender but it was good enough after an hour or more. I used Better than bouillion and just water. It all had good flavor and my husband liked it a lot, and he doesn’t care for real tomatoey things so it’s not all that tomatoey. Thanks for the recipe!
I am glad you gave the recipe a try and that your changes worked out for you. Thank you for sharing your experience with this recipe, happy you enjoyed it!
I made this and although I love Tomatoes they seem to over power the taste of the broth.
There is one thing that is confusing to me in the recipe that I feel needs clarification.
It says to use 48 ounces of Beef Broth and then it states to use 1 1/2 Tbs of Better than Bullion.
I made my 48 ounces of Beef Bullion mixing Better than Bullion with water and then adding the 1 1/2 TBS of additional Better than Bullion but the Tomatoes still over powered the the flavor (which I’m ok with since I love tomatoes) but I’d prefer to have a beefer taste to the stock.
Hey Joe. Thanks so much for sharing your experience with this recipe. About the tomatoes, gosh, I think they add an essential flavor foundation of vegetable flavor to the broth. I guess we all have different preferences 🙂 It’s really great, though, for me to hear others feel about the recipe!
I made this for a snow day go to. It is very good but I would omit to wine and deglaze with stock instead. The wine flavor seemed to over power the simple soup taste and made it taste more like stew.
Hey Dey. Chicken broth is a great alternative. 🙂