This is a hearty and delicious soup that’s filled with loads of yummy vegetables and juicy chunks of ground beef. It’s a complete meal that your whole family will enjoy. This recipe makes a big batch so you’ll have plenty to freeze for another day!
I ’ve been loving this soup since I was a little girl.
My grandmother and mother both made delicious homemade vegetable beef soup and when I was in grade school the school lunchroom ladies made an awesome vegetable beef soup too. I can still remember to this day that it was my favorite school lunch meal. They served it with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It was so delicious!
On my Grandparents’ farm, the end of summertime was soup-making time. All the fresh vegetables from the garden were used for making gallons and gallons of vegetable soup and lots of freshly ground beef was added to make it a complete meal.
My Grandmother wanted to make sure that enough soup was made to feed all of us throughout the winter. And believe me, there is nothing better on a cold winter’s night than a piping hot bowl of homemade vegetable beef soup with a big ole slice of buttered cornbread.
You can check out my delicious buttermilk cornbread recipe here aletiadupree.com/southern-buttermilk-cornbread/ Nothing could bring me more happiness.
I have continued the family ritual of homemade vegetable soup making with my family. I make sure we have enough to get through the winter and to share with others just like my Grandmother and Mother did.
I can’t help but feel a bit nostalgic when I’m warming up soup on a cold winter’s night.
Tips on making the best Vegetable Beef Soup ever!
- Use frozen or fresh vegetables. (This is my number one tip and the most important one.) Do not use canned vegetables in the soup except canned tomatoes and canned tomato sauce. I’m being a straight shooter on this because I want you to make the most delicious soup ever! I promised you will thank me and your family will too. Fresh or frozen vegetables make ALL the difference in the world!
- Use Yukon Gold Potatoes. I absolutely love these potatoes in vegetable soup because they have a sweet buttery taste to them rather than the earthy taste of a russet potato. This was my first time using them in vegetable soup. A delicious change!
- Add beef broth or beef stock to the soup. Use a good quality beef stock. I use Swanson’s in the cartons.
- Use petite canned diced tomatoes or if you are using fresh-cut them up very small. You don’t want large chunks of tomatoes in your soup.
- Sweet Yellow Onions, for the best flavor.
- Add sugar-Put a few tablespoons of sugar in the soup pot along with plenty of salt and pepper. I learned this tip from my grandmother. She was a Southern cook so she put sugar in most things like green beans, turnips, and collard greens and they were all good. Trust me on this!
- Use butter, not margarine. Nothing can match the delicious flavor of pure butter.
- I’ll guess those are the main tips. If you follow the complete recipe to a tee below, you’ll have the most AMAZING soup.
What to serve with vegetable soup
- Cornbread (You definitely have to have some hot buttered cornbread!) Check my recipe out here aletiadupree.com/southern-buttermilk-cornbread/
- Peanut butter and jelly sandwich. So delicious with soup!
- Of course crackers!
- Grilled cheese sandwich! Yum!
I hope you enjoy this recipe just as much as my family and I do, and I hope soup making and freezing for the wintertime will become a joyful ritual for you as well!
If you make this recipe, be sure to use the #deliciouslysouthern. I would also love to hear from you! Please leave a comment below and follow me on Instagram @aletiadupree and on Facebook.
Enjoy!
Aletia
Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup
Prep Time: 15 minutes- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Yield: 20 to 25 servings
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Pin RecipeDescription
This is a hearty and delicious soup that’s filled with loads of yummy vegetables and juicy chunks of ground beef. It’s a complete meal that your whole family will enjoy. This recipe makes a big batch so you’ll have plenty to freeze for another day!
Ingredients
- 2 ½ to 3 pounds of ground beef, browned and drained
- 2 cups of chopped yellow sweet onions.
- 8 cups cold water
- 1 (32-ounce) carton of beef broth or beef stock.
- 1(16-ounce) package frozen mixed vegetables with green beans
- 2 cups frozen white or yellow shoepeg corn
- 2 cups frozen black-eyed peas
- 2 cups frozen baby lima beans
- 1 tablespoon salt, plus 1 teaspoon
- 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 3 sticks salted butter, divided
- 4 cups diced raw Yukon Gold Potatoes
- 1(15-ounce) can diced (petite) tomatoes, undrained
- 2 (15-ounce) cans tomato sauce
- ¼ cup white granulated sugar
Instructions
- In a large skillet, brown beef and add onions when beef is partially cooked. Cook beef and onions together until ground beef is totally browned and no longer pink and onions are translucent.
- Drain the beef and set the beef and onions aside.
- In a (very) large pot, add water, beef broth, frozen mixed vegetables, shoepeg corn, black-eyed peas, baby lima beans, salt, pepper, and 2 sticks of butter.
- Cook over medium-low heat until vegetables are tender. About 25 to 30 minutes.
- Once vegetables are tender, add diced raw potatoes, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, sugar, brown meat and onions, and the remaining stick of butter. Stir well. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until potatoes are fork-tender. Taste to see if you need more salt and pepper. Serve hot with cornbread (recipe here aletiadupree.com/southern-buttermilk-cornbread) peanut butter and jelly sandwich, cracker or grilled cheese.
Notes
Do ahead/freeze tip: Soup can be made two or three days ahead. Keep refrigerated and warm in the microwave or on top of the stove. This recipe makes a lot of soup so you can freeze leftovers in gallon freezer bags for up to three months. You can also add more water and tomato sauce if needed. I usually add extra sauce and water to the soup especially after freezing it. The soup absorbed a lot of liquid after it’s frozen.
Recipe Note: If you don’t have a very large pot, divide up the soup into two pots after all the ingredients have been added and then continue to cook until potatoes are fork-tender.
