Pioneer Pies Copycat "Vegetable Beef Soup"

My hearty, old fashioned vegetable beef soup recipe has a rich broth that's loaded with chunks of beef and savory veggies!

As the nights get cooler, your dinners get warmer, trading cold salads for warm beef soup recipes like beef barley soup, Instant Pot beef stew, or my family-pleasing hamburger soup recipe. But sometimes, you want a classic — a thick, delicious blend of beef, veggies, and tomato with some tasty toppers like crackers and fresh herbs. That's my vegetable beef soup!

Get ready for comfort food at its most classic. Let's cook!

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Why It's Great!

Recipe Notes

Recipe Variations

Similar Recipes

What I Love About  This Recipe

I love any dinner that's easy to make and comes loaded with good-for-you ingredients. Plus, my vegetable beef soup recipe brings an added one-two punch of comfort food warmth!

• Crowd pleasing and versatile
• Warms you heart and soul
• Veggies to the max!
• Comfort food favorite

How To Make Vegetable Beef Soup Recipe

Vegetable beef soup is one of my favorite meals to whip up on a cooler day.

Start with a mixing bowl and toss in the beef and soy sauce to marinate. Then grab your dutch oven or soup pot and let the mushrooms simmer in some oil before adding in the beef.

After this, you're going to add in the tomato paste and seasonings, then the wine and brown everything together before adding the onion and mushroom mix in along with the other veggies. Finally, you'll cook on low for a bit to let all those juices combine for the perfect taste.

So simple, so delicious, and your house will smell AMAZING!

Recipe Notes

I've got a few notes to walk you through the proper ins and outs of making a comfort classic like this vegetable beef soup recipe!

Deglaze: For this soup recipe, it's important to brown the onions until they are wellbrowned—look for small dark bits (dark brownnot black) forming on the bottom of the pan. Those bits are what the French callfond, and they help to create a deep, fantastic flavor in your finished soup. That depth of flavor is intensified when the beef is browned in the same skillet. That creates another layer offondwhich is added to the soup when the pan is deglazed.

Ingredient Notes

The ingredients make this recipe shine in their simplicity and deliciousness. Here are some tips!

Meat – I like to use flank steak when I make this recipe. Full of flavor, it cooks up nice and tender — perfect for soup! While beef chuck does seem like a likely choice for soup (and it is a cut of meat I use often in many recipes), flank steak cooks faster and has all the tender, meaty flavor in a shorter amount of time.

Ground Beef – If you happen to have ground beef, you can use it instead of flank steak! Follow the recipe instructions, but substitute two pounds of ground beef for the cubed flank steak. Remember that the flank steak is leaner, so you'll have some extra fat if you use the ground beef. I suggest you drain off the fat, then proceed with the recipe.

Potatoes – Not all potatoes are created equal! Getting the perfect soup potato all depends on what textures you want. Russets add extra starchiness to the broth, thickening it and making it heartier.

• Yukon Gold potatoes have a delicious, buttery flavor and hold their shape well through the cooking process.
• Red potatoes hold up, like the Yukon Gold, but aren't quite as rich. There are so many options!
• My dad absolutely LOVES this recipe! He insists that the potatoes in the recipe get cubed very small—that's the way he likes them! I absolutely agree with him on this point. When I dig into a bowlful of hot, hearty soup, I want to get a mix of things on my spoon. All this to say that I usually cut my potatoes fairly small—no bigger than 1/2 inch cubes. But if you're a potato lover, you might want chunks a little bigger than that. I won't judge! ♥

Aromatics:As with most soup recipes, you can't forget to sauté the aromatic vegetables before adding them to the soup when you make up this recipe.

• When the vegetables in this soup are raw, they contain compounds that are pungent and sulfurous—notwhat you want in your soup. But when those same vegetables are heated, the compounds actually change in flavor profile, becoming less harsh and less intense… actually evolving into something sweet and, in my ever so humble opinion, wonderful.
• Yes, the mushrooms and onions need to be cooked in two separate batches. Why? you ask. Well, simply because if you try to brown them at the same time, the pan will be overcrowded and the veggies will steam rather than brown. You will not create any fond if you steam your veggies.

Vegetables – This recipe is super versatile when it comes to veggies. You can change or adapt the veggies listed to anything you like or prefer. You can add cabbage, corn, peas.

Beef Broth and Soy Sauce – This recipe calls for low sodium beef broth and soy sauce. The amount of salt called for in the ingredients list is used to make up for the low sodium broth and soy sauce. So if you end up using products that aren't low sodium, make sure you reduce the amount of salt you use.

Better than Bouillon – I typically use the regular version of this product, not the low sodium version.

Tools to Make

Break out your best soup pot for this recipe! These are the tools you'll need:

• Mixing bowls
• Dutch oven
• A good stirring spoon

I love my nonstick pans just as much as the next person—but here's a little secret: when I'm browning something and intending to deglaze the pan Ineveruse a nonstick pan. Those little brown bits that I work so hard to achieve do not seem to be created with a nonstick pan. So I go ahead and use a regular large pot with this soup.

And don't forget the most important ingredient: a healthy appetite!

How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge?

Your homemade vegetable beef soup will last up to four days in the fridge. Longer than that, and you risk bacteria growth — and no one wants that! Plus, the flavors of this soup are at their peak within that four day window.

Can You Freeze This?

Yes! You can make a big batch of vegetable beef soup and freeze it for a meal later. This soup will freeze for up to six months.

You can let it cool, then store it horizontally in freezer bags by pouring the soup into the bag, sealing it, and letting it freeze flat on a cookie sheet. Then you have easy to store bags of meals ready to go!

To thaw, bring some water to a boil on the stove, and let your bag of frozen soup come to temperature in the hot water.

Make Ahead Tips

This soup tastes even better (is that possible?) if you make it a day or two ahead of serving. All those wonderful flavors marry and mix, the broth of the soup thickens and tastes even richer.

Serving Recommendations

What would a vegetable beef soup meal look like? Aside from plenty of thick bread and crackers for dipping, I love serving this soup with an accompanying salad, like my Thai beef salad. Get some crunch and freshness to balance the soup's savory thickness!

You could also play up the beef flavors by serving this soup with a BBQ pasta salad. It'll still lighten up your soup, but the barbecue flavors will bring out the beef intensity in a new, delicious way.

Recipe Variations

What variations can we get from this vegetable beef soup recipe? The original is a pretty delicious classic, but there is some fun to be had:

• Dump all these ingredients into your Crock-Pot to get slow cooker beef stew — makes it even easier to cook!
• Just add as many dried egg noodles as you'd like (I typically use about 1–1 1/2 cups) to the soup pot with the rest of the soup ingredients. The soup will likely need more liquid so thin as needed with extra beef broth or water. If you're looking for a more simple beef and noodle meal try my beef noodle soup, or my beef and noodles instead!
• Grab some seasonal produce and make beef tomato soup.
• Give a nod to a European classic with simple, hearty ingredients in bigos.
• If your family is anything like mine, they love a good cheeseburger. Add in all the same ingredients you know and love from burgers to get cheeseburger soup!

To make slow cooker vegetable beef soup adapt this recipe for your slow cooker, start by:

1. Brown the mushrooms in a skillet until they're soft. Use a slotted spoon and transfer them right over to the slow cooker.
2. Brown the onions in the same skillet, stirring frequently until the onions are browning and dark pieces are forming on the bottom of the pan, about 8-12 minutes. Use a slotted spoon and transfer them to the slow cooker.
3. Brown all of your marinated steak in a skillet. I do it in two batches, so the skillet doesn't get overcrowded, and the steak browns properly. Use a slotted spoon and transfer the browned steak to the slow cooker.
4. Add tomato paste and garlic and to skillet and cook stirring constantly about 30 seconds. Add the red wine, maintaining the heat and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon to loosen up the brown bits. Continue to cook until the liquid becomes syrupy, about 1-2 minutes. Pour into a slow cooker.
5. Add 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, beef broth, Better than Bouillon, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, bay leaves, canned tomatoes with their juice, potatoes, carrots, celery, and thawed and drained green beans.  Cook soup for 3-4 hours with your crockpot on "high." Or, on low for 6-8 hours.

More Soup Recipes

Want even more delicious soup recipes? 'Tis the season!

• Hamburger Goulash – Ground beef gets spruced up in this winner of a dinner
• Italian Sausage Soup – A little spicy, a little zesty, a whole lotta YUM
• Tomato Basil Soup – It's required that you have crusty bread for dipping in this soup!
• Brunswick Stew – Want a true stick-to-your-ribs classic? Here you go!
• Manhattan Clam Chowder Recipe – Take a different spin on soup with this creamy, dreamy dinner!

Vegetable Beef Soup

Hearty veggies, tender beef, & a decadently savory broth all combine to give you the classic dinner favorite: Vegetable Beef Soup!

Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 1 hr

Total Time 1 hr 30 mins

Servings: 6 servings

• ▢ 2 pounds Flank Steak Trimmed and Cut Into 1/2 Inch Cubed
• ▢ 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• ▢ 4 tablespoons vegetable oil divided
• ▢ 16 ounces cremini mushrooms, trimmed and quartered
• ▢ 2 cups yellow onion, chopped
• ▢ 6 cloves garlic, minced
• ▢ 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• ▢ 1/2 cup red wine
• ▢ 48 ounces low sodium beef broth
• ▢ 1 1/2 tablespoons Better than Bouillon~beef flavor
• ▢ 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• ▢ 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
• ▢ 2 bay leaves
• ▢ 2 (14.5-ounce) cans petite diced tomatoes, including juice
• ▢ 2 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
• ▢ 4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into small cubes
• ▢ 2 celery stalks, cut into small cubes
• ▢ 1 cup frozen green beans, thawed and well-drained
• ▢ salt
• ▢ black pepper

• In a medium mixing bowl, combine the beef and soy sauce; set aside and marinade 15 minutes.

• In a large Dutch oven, heat 1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil, over medium heat until it's begins to shimmer. Add the mushrooms and saute, stirring frequently until the mushrooms are soft. Remove to a bowl and set aside.

• In the same pan, add 1-2 tablespoons of oil and the onions and brown, stirring frequently until the onions are browning and dark pieces are forming on the bottom of the pan, about 8-12 minutes. Remove the cooked onions to the bowl of mushrooms and set aside.

• Add 1-2 tablespoons of oil to the pan, then add half the beef. Cook, stirring occasionally until liquid evaporates and the beef begins to brown, about 6-10 minutes. Remove to a plate and brown the remaining meat the same way.

• Return the first batch of browned meat back to the pan with the second batch.

• Add 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, tomato paste, and garlic and cook stirring constantly, about 30seconds.

• Add the red wine, maintaining the heat and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon to loosen up the brown bits. Continue to cook until the liquid becomes syrupy, about 1-2 minutes.

• Add the rest of the ingredients along with the cooked mushroom/onion mixture and bring to a boil.

• Reduce heat and cook on low, covered, until the vegetables and meat are tender 40-50 minutes. Remove bay leaf and adjust seasoning and serve.

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• You can substitute 2 pounds of ground beef instead of cubed flank steak. I recommend draining off excess fat if you're using ground beef.
• Opt for regular pans instead of non-stick pans to create the brown bits that are intended for deglazing.
• Don't forget to sauté the aromatic vegetables before adding them to the soup.

Serving: 1 /6 of the recipe | Calories: 486 kcal | Carbohydrates: 36 g | Protein: 43 g | Fat: 17 g | Saturated Fat: 10 g | Cholesterol: 90 mg | Sodium: 1103 mg | Potassium: 2297 mg | Fiber: 5 g | Sugar: 11 g | Vitamin A: 7075 IU | Vitamin C: 15.9 mg | Calcium: 102 mg | Iron: 4.3 mg

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