Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup

Grab a big ol' soup spoon because today's recipe is hearty, wholesome, and packed with rich, satisfying flavor. Tender chunks of beef, colorful, nutrient-packed vegetables and a deeply savory homemade beef broth come together in one delicious, slow-simmered pot, ready to warm everyone from the inside out on chilly evenings.

Memorable Homestyle Whole Food. A Long-Time Family Favorite. Easily Adapted to Your Family's Tastebuds. Budget Friendly. Weight Watchers Friendly. Naturally Gluten Free. So Good!!

~ Skip Straight to the Recipe Overview ~

~ Skip Straight to the Recipe ~

A Homestyle Classic, Packed with Flavor.

As the air turns cooler in the fall, the food on the table turns warm. From then until spring really hits some time in April, soup it is, a couple of times a week.

I make soup in big batches; the leftovers are perfect for quick lunches and light suppers. Often, some goes into the freezer. (Hint-Hint: Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup freezes beautifully!)

Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup is a flavorful soup. It is all about the vegetables but with enough meat to feel substantial. If you can, make it over a couple of days so that the fat can be removed from the beef stock and the flavors can meld.

And it's a "concept recipe" – more a starting point, really, than an exacting recipe to follow, so never the same twice. I use a combination of fresh vegetables and frozen vegetables. Some tips:

• For convenience, you could use all frozen but do skip the frozen mixed "stew" vegetables except in a total pinch, they can be gummy.
• But frozen green beans, corn and and peas are real winners.
• For a low-carb soup, omit the potatoes, corn, carrots and peas, then double up with the other vegetables or add other low-carb veggies.

I have a long attachment to Beef Barley Soup with Mushrooms. But really? Vegetable Beef Soup is my kinda soup. Yours too, I hope! It uses up the soup bones in the freezer. It lets me play with vegetables that are on hand.

The real testament? The recipe is now recorded on a 3x5 recipe card, ready to make on a whim.

Like tonight? Yeah, I'll start tonight. Join me?

Ketchup: the Not-So-Secret Secret Ingredient.

Ketchup in soup, really? Really. Ketchup is a low-brow but quick and reliable way of inserting a dollop of big flavor. It's just tomatoes, vinegar and spices – think of ketchup as Midwestern hot sauce!

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Recipe Overview: Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup

• This soup is a nourishing, feel-good meal, piled with different vegetables but with enough meat to be filling and substantial. Heads up, it's a three-day production (the first day for the stock, the second day for the soup, the third day allows time for the flavors to meld in the fridge) but not to worry, only 40 minutes is hands-on. (It's also possible, though not recommended, to make and serve the soup in 4 hours.)

• When to Serve = A hearty, meaty soup tastes especially good during cold weather, whenever it falls.
• Diet Needs & Choices = As written, the soup is Gluten Free and Dairy Free.
• Distinctive Ingredients = Meaty Soup Bones + 2 Whole Pounds of Different Vegetables of Your Choice + Ketchup
• Short Ingredient List = all the above + onion + garlic + canned tomato + salt + pepper
• For Garnish = None required but a few fresh herbs are always pretty.
• Kitchen Tools = A large, heavy bottomed Dutch oven with a lid or a similar pot.
• Hands-On Time = Allow about 40 minutes across the 3 days of cooking.
• Fridge Time = The soup has two overnight stints in the fridge. The first day, you'll make the stock, after it's been in the fridge overnight, it's easy to remove and discard the fat that rises to the top. The second day, you'll make the soup itself, then refrigerate the soup so the flavors can all meld together.
• Tasting with our Eyes = This is a pretty soup, that's thanks to all the colorful vegetables. Do aim for vegetables of different colors and cut them in different shapes.
• Texture = The soup's texture is lovely. The vegetables are soft but not mushy. The meat is tender but not stringy. The broth is rich but not fatty.
• Taste = This soup is 100% savory, the meaty-tasting broth is the base, then vegetables and bites of meat mix in so well.
• Techniques = The homemade beef stock uses a technique that's useful whenever you're making a meat stock. After it's simmered for a long while, refrigerate the stock. As it cools down, the fat will naturally rise to the top, making it easy to scrape or even lift straight off the top.
• Shop Your Pantry = This recipe is a pantry-friendly recipe, especially for those who buy a quarter or half or even a whole beef and end up with all kinds of bones you don't want to waste.
• Watching Our Waistlines = This recipe is a calorie-friendly recipe, it's mostly vegetables with just enough meat and protein to satisfy our hunger and cravings.
• Staying Cost Conscious = This recipe is a budget-friendly recipe, that's because it leans into vegetables more than more expensive meat.
• As written, the recipe makes about 10 cups.
• Small Households = This recipe works especially well for those Cooking for One or Two, just make a small batch by cutting the recipe in half. But I recommend making the same amount of beef stock, freezing the remainder for another use or another pot. See How to Freeze Stock in Canning Jars.
• So good! I hope you love it!


• Like what you see here but not sure about making beef stock? You'll probably love my How to Make Homemade Vegetable Soup.
• Not quite what you're looking for? Check out my other soup recipes.

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Hungry Yet?
A Menu for Hearty, Savory Comfort Food

Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup
(recipe below)

Mom's Perfect Biscuits with
Homemade & Semi-Homemade Pub Cheese

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Why I Love This Recipe & You Might Too

• ... just enough meat to be "meaty" without overloading on meat
• ... great way to use vegetables straight from the fridge, no reason to shop special
• ... soup, glorious soup
• Ready to get started? Here's your recipe!

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How do you save and share favorite recipes? recipes that fit your personal cooking style? a particular recipe your mom or daughter or best friend would just love? If this recipe inspires you, please do save and share! I'd be honored ...

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HOMEMADE VEGETABLE SOUP

Hands-on time: 40 minutes
Time-to-table: 4 - 48 hours
Makes 10 cups

DAY ONE ~ MAKE THE STOCK
If you already have beef stock, skip straight to making the soup. You'll want about 5 cups. Otherwise allow about 10 minutes hands-on time over about 2 hours plus an overnight in the fridge.
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 pounds (680g) meaty soup bones
• 1 large onion, cut in large pieces
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 cups water

DAY TWO ~ MAKE THE SOUP
Allow about 25 minutes hands-on time over about 1 hour
• About 5 cups beef stock
• 1 can (15oz/425g) diced tomato
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 8 cups (about 2lbs/900g) fresh and/or frozen vegetables – 1 cup each, diced or chopped as needed
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt (assumes Morton's Kosher Salt, use 2-1/2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal) or to taste, especially if using a store-bought beef stock
• Freshly ground pepper, be generous
• Meat off the bones
• Additional salt, pepper and ketchup, to taste

DAY THREE ~ SERVE & ENJOY!
• Additional salt, pepper and ketchup, to taste

MAKE THE STOCK Heat a large, heavy pot on medium high, then add the oil and heat until shimmery. Add the soup bones (they should sizzle!), in batches if necessary, and brown the edges, just enough to create a bit of crustiness on the meaty parts.

Add the onion, garlic and water. Bring just to a boil, cover and adjust the heat to maintain a very slow simmer; let simmer for about 90 minutes. (If your stove won't hold a slow simmer, many high-BTU stoves won't, bring the stock to a boil on the stove, then finish in the oven for 90 minutes at 215F/100C.)

Cover and refrigerate overnight to solidify the beef fat. Before continuing, scrape off and discard the fat layer.

Remove the soup bones and set aside for the moment. Pour the stock through a strainer, discard the onion and garlic. Cut the meat off the bones, cut into small pieces, discard the bones.

MAKE THE SOUP You may want to rinse/wash the cooking pot, then bring the stock to a boil. Add the tomatoes, ketchup, salt and pepper.

Add the vegetables, holding back the vegetables that take less time to cook (see ALANNA's TIPS). Return to a boil, cover, reduce heat to maintain a slow simmer and let simmer for about 30 minutes, adding the shorter-cook vegetables and the meat in the last 10 or 5 minutes.

Once the vegetables are cooked, turn off the heat. Taste and adjust the salt, pepper and even the ketchup.

Refrigerate for 8 - 24 hours before serving, allowing the flavors to meld. This is a really important step, 24 hours is best but if you make the soup very early in the morning, it's ready to go by suppertime.

SERVE & ENJOY! Reheat the soup. Taste again and adjust the salt, pepper and even the ketchup.

TIMING TIP Sorry, allowing time for flavors to meld just isn't something that can be rushed, it's why I specify a three-day process. That said, if you make the soup verrrrry early in the morning on the second day, then it should be good to go by suppertime that night.

LEFTOVERS reheat well and freeze well.

ALANNA's TIPS In the recipe, I specify refrigerating the beef stock, the purpose is to allow time/temperature for the fat to rise to the top of the stock and to solidify. The solid plate makes it easy to discard the fat. Not everyone will make this choice, for me, it's a combination of calories and mouthfeel. The last batch of soup, I removed about 150g of pure fat. Okay, so which vegetables work best? For the soup in the photo, I made a slightly carby soup, what I happened to have on hand. It includes potatoes with their skins on, peeled sweet potatoes, carrots, celery, parsnips, frozen corn, tomatillo and hominy. Another time, I used potato with their skins on, carrot, celery, cabbage, okra, frozen corn, frozen green beans and frozen green peas; I added the green beans for the last 10 minutes of simmering, the peas for the last 3 minutes. And yes, there are vegetables to avoid. Avoid broccoli and cauliflower, which get a little skunky. Tomatillos add a lovely natural sourness to the soup but do sort of "melt" into the broth so don't "show up" as a distinct vegetable. Maybe you'd prefer a soup that's a little more or a lot more meaty? Add some additional cooked beef, even more vegetables. Some times, I throw in a little (just 2oz/50g, no more! unless you want the pasta to take over) small pasta while the vegetables cook, at the end of the simmering period for as many minutes as specified on the pasta package. Then I let the soup rest off heat, for an hour, letting the noodles plump up and absorb more liquid. This is a technique I learned when perfecting My Chicken Noodle Soup. I love that the same pasta-for-soup technique works with other recipes!

FOR MORE INFO If you "skipped straight to the recipe," please scroll back to the top of this page for ingredient information, ingredient substitutions, tips and more. Confused about salt, these days? No wonder, it is confusing. Check my FAQs for an explanation. If you print this recipe, you'll want to check the recipe online for even more tips and extra information about ingredient substitutions, best results and more. See https://www.kitchenparade.com/2025/02/homemade-vegetable-beef-soup.html .

NUTRITION INFORMATION This is my best estimate (aka a "total swag" lol) for a soup with a mix of low-carb and other vegetables. Your soup will vary, based on your own choices. I'm also removing the sodium information, I just don't believe the information about homemade stocks provided by nutrition calculators, it just seems way-way-way too high.

Per Cup 100: Calories; 2g Tot Fat; 1g Sat Fat; 14mg Cholesterol; ?mg Sodium; 13g Carb; 2g Fiber; 5g Sugar; 9g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS Old Points 2 & PointsPlus 3 & SmartPoints 3 & Freestyle 2 & myWW green 2 & blue 2 & purple 2 & future WW points CALORIE COUNTERS 100-calorie serving = 1 cup (duh).

RECIPE HISTORY Back in the day, I was known as the veggie evangelist at A Veggie Venture, my food blog where this soup recipe was first published way back in 2007. With a freezer full of beef raised by our neighbors in the country, over time it became such a staple, so useful, it's now found a home here at Kitchen Parade.

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Shop Your Pantry First

(helping home cooks save money on groceries)

~ recipes using beef ~
~ recipes using tomatoes ~
~ recipes using ketchup ~

~ All Recipes, By Ingredient ~
~ How to Save Money on Groceries ~

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail, you'll find my current address in the FAQs. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, for more scratch cooking recipes using whole, healthful ingredients, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

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