Easy Homemade Beef Vegetable Soup

• by madaise on Nov 11, 2008

Cold weather always brings with it cravings of soups and stews.  Hearty meals that fill our bellies and warm us up, inside out.  Vegetable soup is a big favorite around our house… kept on the stove to keep warm and we nibble on it all the cold day long.

2 bags frozen vegetable mix for soups
1-1.5 lbs cubed beef for soups and stews
1 large can tomato sauce or a can of V8 Juice
3-4 beef bouillon cubes (optional)
1-2 TBS flour
2 TBS Olive Oil, or other favorite cooking oil
water

You may wish to add a few extra veggies.
- I like to add a can of diced potatoes, or if I feel like it, I’ll peel and dice 1-2 potatoes.
- Extra corn, green beans or whatever veggies you like in your soup.

It’s your soup… add what you want!  If you want to add pasta, add it at the end of cook time.  The pasta will cook, but won’t get really large and mushy.  I prefer to keep my soup on the stove, on low, most of the day, so I don’t add pasta.

In a soup pot, add your oil and turn stove on medium or medium high.  Add beef to brown.

You could use a skillet to brown your meat.  But when I am making soup, I like to brown the meat right in the soup pot… one less pan to wash.

Once beef starts to brown, it will get juicy in the pot.  At this time, add your bouillon cubes and give them a bit of time to melt down.  Then add some flour.  Enough to coat your meat.  You may need to add just a bit of water so things to burn.. you want all browned to give it good flavor.

After the meat has browned and made the house smell yummmy, add a few cups of water and your veggies.  Pour in your tomato sauce (or juice).  How much water to add comes to personal preference… if you want it soupy, add a bit extra.. if you want it a bit chunkier, don’t add so much.

Bring to a boil then turn down to simmer - stir periodically to keep from burning the bottom.  It’s done when the meat and veggies are tender.  The longer is sits on simmer, the more blended and rich the flavor.

We gobble this up on cold days with lots of buttered bread.