Vegetable Beef Soup (One-Pot) (2024)

Published: Mar 21, 2024 / 3 Comments

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The homemade Vegetable Beef Soup will keep you warm on a cold night and satisfy your comfort food cravings any day of the year! The chuck beef roast or chuck steak is slow-simmered until fork-tender. It's a well-balanced meal packed with veggies: onions, garlic, carrots, potatoes, bell peppers, and green peas. Everything is cooked entirely in one pot, making cleanup a breeze! It keeps well refrigerated and freezes well - the perfect make-ahead weeknight recipe!

Why this recipe works

• Well-balanced meal. Vegetable Beef Soup is packed with veggies and protein - a simple recipe to make on a busy weeknight when you crave something comforting yet nutritious. It has everything you need in a complete meal:protein (beef), veggies and fiber (carrots, green peas, bell peppers, onions, garlic), and carbs (potatoes). It's gluten-free and dairy-free!
• Cleanup is a breeze. Everything is cooked in ONE POT on the stovetop, so the cleanup is minimal.
• Meal-prep and make-ahead friendly. You can refrigerate this soup for up to 5 days or freeze it for up to 2 months. I provide helpful tips on how to freeze the soup below.
• Quick and easy. You will need only about 15 minutes of prep, the rest of the cooking time is idle time with the soup slowly simmering.

One-pot wonder!

Everything is cooked in one pot on the stovetop: beef and vegetables. The veggies cook right in the broth retaining all the flavor in the soup. It's perfect for busy weekdays and also for special occasions when you want to feed your family and friends healthier comfort food made with lots of veggies. The cleanup is minimal - only one pot to clean! My other favorite one-pot soups are chicken gnocchi soup and creamy sausage tortellini soup.

What kind of beef to use?

• Beef chuck steak or chuck roast is the best choice for beef vegetable soup because this cut of meat becomes so tender when slowly simmered on low heat for a relatively short period.
• Beef sirloin is more tender than chuck, and is a great choice, too.
• Stew meat is also a good, budget-friendly option. Stew meat contains a variety of different cuts of beef, and works well in a soup where the beef is slowly simmered on low heat.
• Ground beef can be used too. In this case, reduce cooking times considerably as you won't need to cook ground beef as long as beef chuck or stew meat.

The Directions - How to make vegetable beef soup

Here I provide detailed step-by-step photos and instructions. A more detailed recipe (with amounts of ingredients) is provided in the recipe card below at the bottom of this post.

1) First, you will cook chuck beef steak (or chuck roast meat), cubed into ½ inch pieces in olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Cook beef in 2 batches until browned, for 2 minutes on one side, then flip it and cook for 2 more minutes on the other side.

2) Then, reduce heat to medium and add chopped onion, minced garlic, and Italian seasoning.

3) Cook for 1 more minute, stirring once or twice.

4) Stir in tomato paste until well combined and cook for 2 minutes.

5) Add beef broth, and stir everything well so that the tomato paste has blended with the broth. Bring to a boil, and immediately reduce to a simmer, and simmer covered for 30 minutes until beef is tender.

6) Add potatoes, carrots, and chopped bell pepper and simmer for 20 more minutes.

7) Add green peas and simmer the soup for 10 more minutes.

8) Finally, season the beef vegetable soup with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Top with a small amount of fresh thyme, when serving.

Best pot to use for soup

• Use a large, high-sided stockpot with a thick metal base that distributes heat evenly to make the soup.
• Or, use a large and wide high-sided braiser, such as Staub 3.5-Quart Braiser with Glass Lid.

Variations and substitutions

Vegetable beef soup is a flexible recipe that is easy to adjust to whatever you have available.

• Beef. You can use chuck steak or roast, stew beef, beef sirloin, or regular steak.
• Vegetables. This recipe uses onions, garlic, carrots, potatoes, bell peppers, and green peas. You can also use or add mushrooms, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, or green beans.
• Potatoes. I used small potatoes. My next best choice would be yellow potatoes or red potatoes. Russet potatoes are starchy and work better for mashed potatoes than in a soup. In a pinch, you can use them, but it's not the best choice and you will have to cook them for a shorter period. Yukon gold potatoes are also starchy, but they hold their shape a bit better than russet potatoes.
• Reduce carbs by replacing potatoes with chopped cauliflower.
• Add pasta instead of potatoes. Any kind of short pasta will work for vegetable beef soup. Rigatoni, penne, farfalle (bow-tie), fusilli (spiral pasta), etc.
• Use canned diced tomatoes instead of tomato paste. Add 14 oz ofcanned diced tomatoes or canned crushed tomatoes instead of tomato paste.

Cooking tips and recommendations

• Best cooking pan to use. Dutch oven or cast iron saucepan or braiser work great! Those are the best kind of pots for slowly simmering vegetable beef soup on the stovetop.
• Do not overcrowd the beef; cook it in 2 batches. This ensures the browning of the beef and prevents it from steaming in its own released juices.
• Add red wine. Add a splash of dry red wine (about 1 cup) at the same time you add beef broth, if you like. It will add richness and flavor to the soup.
• Spice it up! Add red pepper flakes to add heat to the soup.
• Toppings. Top the soup with chopped fresh herbs, such as parsley or thyme.

Storage and reheating tips

• Refrigerate. Store leftover vegetable beef soup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
• Reheat. Reheat the soup gently on the stovetop in a large enough pan over medium heat, stirring halfway through. Add extra beef stock or broth (or water) to thin it out.

How to freeze soup

This soup makes 8 generous servings. If you only make it for one person or for two people, freeze the soup, instead of eating the soup several days in a row. Here are some helpful tips:

• Freeze the soup in usable portions. Divide it into 4 or 6 containers. Don't freeze it in a single large container.
• Leave space in the container. When freezing the liquid recipes, like soups, leave the space in the container (about 2 inches) as the soup will expand as it freezes.
• Defrost the soup by placing it in the refrigerator for a day or two.
• How to reheat. Reheat the soup gently on the stovetop in a large enough pan over medium heat, stirring halfway through. Add extra beef broth, chicken stock, or water if needed.

What to serve with beef soup

I like to serve any soup as a complete meal with a crusty slice of your favorite bread (garlic bread, olive bread loaf, or Italian bread) and a simple fresh salad. Here are some easy-to-make salads that will go well with the vegetable beef soup:

• Tomato Basil Avocado Mozzarella Salad with Balsamic Dressing
• Greek Salad
• Apple Spinach Salad
• Healthy Chickpea Salad with Avocado, Tomato, Cucumber
• Beet and Burrata Salad with Pine Nuts and Balsamic Dressing

Other soup recipes

• Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup with Spinach and Sweet Potatoes
• Italian Sausage Orzo Soup with Mushrooms and Spinach
• Creamy Butternut Squash, Sausage, and Orzo Soup
• Chicken, Spinach, and Bean Soup
• Creamy Shiitake Mushroom Soup
• Black Bean and Butternut Squash Soup
• Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Soup with Wild Rice