Is there a particular recipe that you’ve ALWAYS tried to make and it never, ever tastes as good as your mama’s? You can follow her instructions to a T, and something is still missing? And it makes you stamp your foot and swear off making the recipe? Yeah…well for me, that recipe is Vegetable Beef Soup.
Not only does my Mama’s Vegetable Soup kick butt, my Grandmother’s is even better. And I’ve tried for YEARS to replicate it to no avail. They put something in there and they’re not telling me – the little boogers (I’m sure that’s not the secret ingredient, though).
But finally, I’ve made a Vegetable Beef Soup that I’m happy with – and in the crock pot, no less. I’m sharing my recipe with you and not holding back – because I don’t want you to stamp your foot and swear off Vegetable Beef Soup…that would be a sad life indeed.
But, here’s the kicker. I don’t use ground beef for my “beef” soup. I use venison. For the most part, I hardly ever use ground beef. I always use venison. We stick with steaks and roasts for beef.
For those of you who say you HATE venison, you’ve never had it the way I was raised on it. 😉 We get our venison processed with some beef fat so you can hardly even tell it’s NOT beef.
Vegetarian is Native American for lousy hunter. <–Tweet This
So, here’s a special touch…instead of using fresh onion for my vegetable soup, I like to use dried onion. I think it lends a different flavor – giving it my special touch. I keep a good stock of dried onions – check your local bulk food store for the best prices.
This also could easily be made on the stovetop if you don’t have a love affair with your crock pot like I do…or if you forget that dinner is coming and it’s 4pm. Dude – make a meal plan. 😉 Just simmer for 1 hour on the stove instead of 8 hours in the crock.
The stovetop method also leads to less slobbering since you don’t smell it for 8 hours.
Bon Appetit!
So, what’s the recipe you’ve never been able to replicate?
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Crock Pot Vegetable Beef Soup
- 1 pound ground beef (venison or turkey would also work)
- 1 ½ cups cooked beans of your choice (I like kidney) or 1 can beans, rinsed and drained
- 28 ounces diced tomatoes, undrained
- 12 ounces frozen mixed vegetables
- 3 cups beef broth
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dried onion
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon thyme
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- Brown ground meat in skillet. Drain.
- Add to 4 quart crock pot with remaining ingredients.
- Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
Yield: 4-6 servings
I saved this as a weight watchers recipe at some point , but don’t see the smart points for it. Does anyone know the amount of smartpoints in a serving ?
No, I don’t believe it’s a WW recipe – I’ve never done Weight Watchers. 🙂
Any ideas for a big London broil since BBQ quit on me n I don’t want to use my stove broiler (power outages have played havoc w the temp).
I would hop on Pinterest – that’s where I always look for specific recipes. 🙂
I made this Friday for an elderly couple I help out. I had some of the leftovers Monday. It was even better after sitting for a couple days. Yum!
I agree! I think all soups are better left over!
Ill tell you my mother in laws secret………….in addtion to your ground beef, add a small pack of beef short ribs , a peice of flank steak or other beef item……… My mother in law used to add a soup bone but many stores no longer carry them. I buy a package of short ribs and just put them down at the bottom. It enhances spaghetti sauce and beef soup , I have just discovered that the store here also splits them sideways to open up the marrow area. I bought some of those last grocery shop but have not tried them yet
Thanks for the tip!
I’m trying to eat healthier so this will be one of the first recipes I do. Thanks for all your hard work 🙂
I hope you enjoy it! It’s a perfect fall soup. 🙂
Today, I went to the beach front with my children. I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She put the shell to her ear and screamed.
There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched
her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is completely off topic but I had to tell someone!
I tweaked this just a tiny bit to feed my large family, and I posted about it on my website http://www.homejobsformom.com. I gave you credit for the recipe. Thanks! It was a huge hit; we all loved it.
Thank you, Sarah.
I loved this. Tonight is my second time making it. Adding a few extra veggies and couple of cups of tomato juice, because there are a lot of us. Also, celery seed, because I can’t have anything tomato-ey without celery seed in it.
My mom likes tomato juice in hers too – maybe that’s her secret ingredient…I just like the beef broth. 🙂
My mom always put a tsp of sugar in the canned tomatoes then added to soup.
Beef shank has nice bones for soup.
Sugar is the magic sauce!
Stacy’s recipe #2 in the crock. Well, modified a bit…frozen parsnips and tomato sauce from 2012 garden. Added carrots and celery. And I had to add garlic 🙂 We have lots of venison but I only like hot dogs and jerky. Did not grow up with it. But it sounds like the way a butcher prepares hamburger makes a big difference. Had really bad elk burger once…that big fells had some serious hormones! Paul couldn’t even eat it….we gave it to a guy with sled dogs 🙂
I hope you love it! And I don’t like elk either. 🙂
The soup looks really good, and we have some venison in the freezer since my husband got his first deer this year! Yay!
But I’m really commenting to tell you that we had your sesame maple chicken tonight and we all loved it! You know it’s good when my husband keeps saying, “Honey, this is really good!” It seriously was like having Chinese at home! As a matter of fact we have had your dishes 4 out of 5 days this week. We had no flops…everyone liked all that we had. 🙂
🙂 Hurray!!!!!
For me it would have to be my mom’s meatloaf. No matter what mine is just not as good as her’s. We use venison a lot at our house too. We especially like to have it made into summer sausage! So much better than the store bought stuff.
My mom makes kickin’ meatloaf too!!
What brand of crockpot do you use? Is it lead-free? I haven’t cooked in a crockpot for years because I refuse to cook lead into my food. Recipes like this one, with tomato, are particularly risky. I keep looking for a lead-free crockpot because I would love to be able to cook in one.
I have a Hamilton Beach set and a GE. I love them both. 🙂 I bought lead tests to check and see if they were lead free – they all tested negative for lead. You can pick up a lead testing kit at Lowes.
Probably very similar to your beef soup but mine is a Beef Barley soup my mom used to make. I think the barley intimidates me. I can remember lots of carrots and celery and of course the barley but can’t quite seem to remember how she made it. So I I have not attempted it. Anyone have a recipe with the above they would like to share with me??
I’m not a huge fan of barley – and I have no idea why.
My favorite recipes websites: http://www.recipelink.com (been on there since 1996); and http://www.allrecipes.com You’ll find plenty to choose from. I don’t care for the barley either, so I will just substitute quinoa, or leave it out. I like stew meat in my vegetable beef soup. Let us know what you find. Stacy – this looks yummy!
“Vegetarian is Native American for lousy hunter.” Stacy you crack me up! Love your sense of humor! Oh, and the soup sounds delish – I will have to give it a try.
🙂 Thanks! I like to make y’all laugh.
“Went back tonight for a couple more taco pastors and an order of refried beans. And tried the roasted jalapenos. They weren’t as hot as I imagined. Also had an orange soda. Very good food. Highly recommended!”
I do mine on the stove, but i use V8. And simmer the V8 and the cooked beef and the “hard” vegetables for bout 20 minutes. Add water. Then add a can each of the veggies i like. No beans. I had the same issue w my moms soup. In hers, the secret ingredients were…a bay leaf, a dash of chili powder and a shake or two of worchestershire. And i bet thats what is always missing. Its just a shake or two, to the whole pot…and the V8, however gross u think it is, its great as a veggie soup base…u could do v8 and beef broth instead of water i suppose..but try the worchestershire…
My mom has used it a few times. But then we fuss because it’s not HER soup. lol
This sounds amazing!! How much V8 and how much water do you use?
Done…& smells good already! Will make cornbread later 🙂
Cornbread…yummy!
Stacy, I can’t wait to try this recipe! My father-in-law hunts and my above-the-fridge freezer is full of venison! We eat more chicken dishes than we do beef dishes (in which I’d substitute venison when we have it), so I’ve been having a hard time figuring out how to use it all without eating the same thing over and over. Looking forward to adding this to my repertoire 🙂 PS Venison is way better than beef in my opinion 🙂
I have several ground meat recipes on the site. 🙂 We eat a lot of venison around here! Try the Spicy Hamburger Goulash.
Do you rinse your venison or do anything else to it? I have a freezer full, processed with beef fat (I asked for as much as I could get), and I just don’t like it. On the nights I cook it I eat something else. Any tips?
No, I’ve never rinsed it. I was raised on it, so it’s normal for me. But I’ve had lots of friends come to dinner who “won’t” eat venison and they never had a clue it was not beef. 🙂
Ours isn’t processed with beef fat, but we learned from an outdoorsman to soak the venison in milk to take out the “gamey” taste. It also tenderizes the meat. This was great when we lived in MN. In Iowa, the corn-fed diet makes the deer taste just like beef! Good luck!
I have heard that as well!
Thank you! We LOVE venison and have three deer in our freezer as we speak…so nice to have a new recipe to add some variety! Ah, the joy of being a hunter’s wife…
Ah yes – the joy. 🙂 Cheap and delicious meat! It’s a rough life. 😉
My mother always made amazing chicken rice soup. I can make delicious cream soups, chowders, and chili — but not chicken rice– until I got a fat (we’re talking 8 lbs) chicken from a local butcher shop, and added my fresh homegrown herbs. The flavor is so much better. National brand chicken just doesn’t cut it for soup. Now I’m ready to conquer vegetable beef soup, with your recipe. And crock pot, all the better!
I hope you enjoy it – the recipe I mean…because I know you enjoy your crock. 🙂
Dinner TONIGHT! Thanks. 🙂
🙂 Great! Hope you like it!
I’ll have to give this a go!
Watch out! I just passed out in my kitchen. Send help.
Maybe mom added just a tiny bit of chili powder, a spoon of worstershire and a spoonful of sugar? Try the next go round. This grandma finally uses a crock pot and your soup is very good! Thanks for the shortcuts!
I know for sure she adds sugar! 🙂 She puts that in just about everything. lol