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★ Why You'll Love this Recipe ★
Everyone loves the tender chunks of stew meat and how it's packed with healthy veggies — all in a light, beefy-tomato broth.
Make this vegetable beef soup in your crockpot or on the stovetop.
Easy Old-Fashioned Vegetable Beef Soup
This vegetable beef soup is made from scratch but it's very easy to make. Do you remember the mixed veggies that your mom made you eat when you were little? Well, they're back. And your adult-self will love how they add to the health and flavor factor of this soup.
Tastes Like Grandma's Recipe
This homemade, old-fashioned vegetable beef soup brings back warm, nostalgic vibes for many. It's a tried and true recipe.
Hearty and Healthy
This hearty vegetable beef soup is packed with tender stew meat, rustic potatoes, and vitamin-rich mixed veggies. Simmered in a light beefy-tomato broth, it’s a filling, nourishing meal perfect for a chilly day.
A One-pot Meal
You can make this soup in a slow cooker—use the sauté feature if it has one. If not, you can still sear and saute slowly in the crockpot, it takes about an hour.
I usually use a Dutch oven so I can sear the beef, sauté the veggies, and simmer everything in one pot.
Pack leftovers for lunch.
This soup stores well and makes a great to-go lunch. Just pack it in a glass container and reheat in the microwave for a quick, hearty meal.
Enjoy with fresh-baked bread.
Frozen bread dough is a nice little cheat for quick and easy fresh-baked bread on weeknights. You could also grab a loaf of bakery bread or try my 5-ingrdient milk and honey bread.
Add a salad and dessert.
This vegetable beef soup goes great with my quick and easy cranberry-apple blue cheese salad and why not a giant Twinkie bundt cake for dessert?!
★ Ingredients You'll Need ★
The beauty of my vegetable beef soup recipe is that you don't need a ton of ingredients to get a ton a flavor.
Here's everything you'll need:
- Beef broth and beef bullion. For more flavorful stock we are using both.
- Diced potatoes. Leave the skin on for added flavor, texture and vitamins.
- Frozen mixed vegetables. Easy! Healthy!
- Canned diced tomatoes. The beef and tomatoes create a lovely broth as the base for this soup.
- Stew meat. You can buy this packaged, already cut into bite-sized pieces or you can use ground beef.
- Butter. I like to sear the meat in butter for added creamy flavor.
- Worcestershire sauce. This brings out the "meaty" flavor of the beef.
- Onion, bay leaves, salt and pepper all add layers of flavor to finish off this soup.
★ How to Make this Recipe ★
This soup is easy to prepare using one pot. Here's a look at the steps.
- First, sear the stew meat.
- Add chopped onion, frozen mixed vegetables, and diced potatoes.
- Add diced tomatoes.
- Add Worcestershire sauce, beef broth and beef bullion.
- Add bay leaves.
- Bring to a boil then simmer until vegetables are soft and flavorful.
Simple and easy!
★ Tips & FAQs ★
How to Tenderize Meat in Soup
- Sear First: Brown the meat before simmering to lock in juices and boost flavor.
- Simmer Low and Slow: Cook the soup over low heat for at least 2 hours (up to 4 for tougher cuts like stew meat). This breaks down connective tissue and makes the meat tender.
- Keep It Covered: Cover your pot to trap moisture and maintain a steady simmer.
Just remember: Sear + Simmer = flavor-packed, juicy beef. Totally worth the extra step!
I like pre-cubed stew meat for its tenderness and hearty texture. Ground beef works too for a similar flavor at a lower cost. For a natural option, try grass-fed beef—I recently found some at a local market and loved it.
Make this as a one-pot meal in a Dutch oven. First sauté the meat for flavor, then add the rest and simmer. If cooking ahead, sauté first, then transfer to a slow cooker.
Yes! You can sear the meat on the stovetop, then finish the soup in a slow cooker. It’s perfect for busy days—just prep in the morning and come home to a ready meal. If buying a crockpot, look for one with a built-in timer that switches to “keep warm” to avoid overcooking.
Yes! With an Instant Pot, you can sauté and cook in one pot. Sear the meat and onions on sauté, then add the rest and pressure cook on high for 12–15 minutes until tender. Follow your Instant Pot’s directions for sautéing and releasing pressure.
Here’s the secret to super flavorful soup: bouillon! For extra flavor, add a little bouillon to your broth—start with a teaspoon and adjust to taste. You can also deglaze your skillet with ½ cup broth after sautéing, then pour the rich liquid into your soup for a big flavor boost.
Stew meat adds some juice, but for a rich broth use bouillon + water, canned broth, or stock paste. I like starting with bone broth for flavor, then adding bouillon for an extra boost—you’ll want to sip it on its own!
Spice up beefy vegetable soup by adding heat with hot sauce, jalapeños, cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes.
Sautéing veggies first helps release flavor, aroma, and softens them so they cook faster and aren’t crunchy later. It’s optional, but if you have time, try it and taste the difference!
This soup can be stored in the refrigerator for up to five days. it can also be frozen and reheated.
Store in an airtight container and freeze for up to three months.
★ More Beef Recipes ★
Love soup? Browse my other easy soup recipes to Pin for later.
Have a craving for beef? Browse all my beef recipes.
This old fashioned vegetable beef soup was featured on South Your Mouth!
Old Fashioned Vegetable Beef Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 lb stew meat diced
- 1 small onion diced
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 2 cup mixed vegetables (corn, carrots, green beans and peas)
- 3 large potatoes diced
- 3 ½ cups beef broth
- 1 teaspoon beef bullion
- 14 oz can petite diced tomatoes not drained
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 bay leaves
- salt and pepper to taste
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Instructions
- Sear beef. Heat butter in a dutch oven or large pot over high heat. Add stew meat and sear so that outside edges are brown, turning over as needed to brown all sides of the meat.
- Sauté aromatics. Add diced onion and saute while searing the beef. Continually stir onions to prevent sticking. Cook for about 3 minutes total.If finishing in a slow cooker*, transfer onions and beef to your crockpot set on low once fully seared.
- Add veggies and create broth. Add mixed vegetables, cubed potatoes, diced tomatoes, beef broth, beef bullion, Worcestershire sauce, and bay leaves.
- Simmer. Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer. Cover and simmer for at least 2 hours or until potatoes are soft all the way through and meat is desired tenderness.If using a crockpot, cook for 2 hours on high (or 4 hours on low). Check potatoes to be sure they are fully cooked through, then serve.
- Season and serve. Add salt and pepper to taste before serving. Remove bay leaves before serving.
Video
Notes
- Pre-heat your crockpot to reduce cook time.
- For more tender beef and vegetables, simmer soup for up to 4 hours or start with a tender cut of beef like a steak.
- I leave the skin on my potatoes like my grandma did for extra vitamins and flavor but you can peel them if you prefer.
- For extra flavor, deglaze the pan after cooking the meat. Remove the beef, add ½ cup broth, boil, and scrape up the browned bits. Then pour the flavorful liquid and beef into your soup.
Lois Harding says
Delicious
Lois Harding says
My daughter Gina made this delicious soup when I stayed in her home and it was so good I ate it until it was gone. The best vegetable beef soup I ever ate. Thank you Gina and thank you for the recipe
Johanna Craig says
Absolutely delicious!! I used a can of diced tomatoes with garlic, oregano and basil. Plus a 1/2 can of petite diced tomatoes.
Jeannette says
Definitely will not forget to add bay leaves.
Great recipe
Nellie Frazier says
I must tell you that this was the easiest and the tastiest soup I’ve made in awhile. Making this vegetable soup reminded me of my mother. She’d make a huge pot and let it just simmer. With it, we would have Italian bread with butter! Heaven on earth! I definitely will make this again soon. Thank you!
Angela G. says
Nellie, That's wonderful to hear. So glad you enjoyed this soup and that it brought back warm memories for you. 🙂
Kathy E says
Can u use canned potatoes?
Angela G. says
Yes, you can. I have before. They do have a slight tinny taste if you don't mind that, then they are fine. I like to rinse my well before adding.
Mark says
Tried this recipe for the first time today. Great flavor, easy to make. Everyone loved it, used German style brochen to sop up the juices. Will definitely be making this again.
Selena says
Added orka will see how it turns out!
BJ says
Made it using 2 1/2 lbs of pot roast trimmed and cubed. I used a little red wine to deglaze pot after cooking onion and meat and added 2 cloves of minced garlic. I also let it simmer for 2 hours. Everything else was kept exactly per instructions. Delicious, almost finished the whole pot for a family of 5. Served it with some warm crusty bread and it was pure comfort! Will definitely make it again.
April says
Loved this soup !! Absolutely perfect and reminded me of the good Ole days. The only thing missing is Grandma. Bc of your easy but detailed instructions: I made her proud tho. Thank you SO much and will definitely be exploring more of your recipes.
Angela G. says
You are so welcome, I'm glad it brought back fond memories for you. It does the same for me. 🙂
Linda R says
Made this for dinner, everyone loved it. It was very easy to make.
Pam says
Haven't made this yet but would love to, but my question is can you make this in a instant pot and if so how long?
Angela G. says
Hi Pam, I recommend 12-15 minutes depending on how tender you'd like your meat and vegetables to be. The longer you cook, the more tender. Be sure to follow your Instapot's directions for releasing pressure. A natural release will add cook time, where a quick release will shorten the cook time.
Teresa says
I made this soup as directions said but my meat was chewy and tough. No idea what I did wrong
Angela G. says
Hi Teresa, let's see if we can figure this out... did you use stew meat? Did you sear the meat on all sides before adding to the soup?
Mel K says
Stew meat requires a few hours of cooking to be tender. 20 minutes won't do it.
Alyson says
Made as directed, turned out great!! Will be adding to the schedule for those cold days! Yummy yummy! And my daughter tried it and liked it and she is a nasty critic! Lol Seriously though, was great!
Debbie says
Hello, question. Do you drain or leave the juice for the tomatoes? Thanks
Angela G. says
You can add the tomatoes with the juice. No need to drain!
Kimberly says
@Debbie, I poured in the
contents of the can , juice and all.. it came out perfect..
marsha says
celery most veg soup does have this
Angela G. says
You can definitely add celery if you like! Garlic too! I am not a fan of them in this soup but that’s just a personal preference. If you like the flavor of these ingredients, go ahead and add them! 🙂