Beef and Vegetable Soup

Beef and Vegetable Soup is one of those dishes you’ll want to make again and again. Warming, hearty and satisfying, it’s packed with chunks of tender meat, potatoes, plus loads of vegetables bathed in a delicious broth. With deep, rich and savoury flavour, you’ll be amazed at just how good (and easy) it is.

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BEEF & VEGETABLE ‘BIG SOUP’

If you love a good beefy taste, then of course you’re going to like the idea of a rich Beef and Vegetable Soup. But are you prepared for just how good my version is? To be honest, I wasn’t, and it went way beyond the expectations I had when I started developing the recipe.

At the back of my mind was a certain international brand who make a range of canned ‘Big Soups’. As a young adult I didn’t know much about meat cooking and occasionally would buy their ‘Beef & Vegetable Big Soup‘. Although I enjoyed it back then, tastes change. Now, I don’t really like the strange tang I can detect in all tinned soups. Anyway, I long ago learned that making wonderful, tasty soup at home from fresh ingredients really isn’t difficult.

I haven’t tried to recreate that canned ‘big soup’ but had one guiding idea behind my own Beef and Vegetable Soup. I wanted it to be all about the beef and vegetables with as few distracting additions as possible. Just extracting maximum flavour from simple ingredients resulting in a well-rounded deeply savoury and satisfying soup. And I think I’ve done it.

BEEF AND VEGETABLE SOUP

I’ve called it soup rather than stew as, although the beef and vegetables are still quite chunky, they’re smaller than I’d have them for a stew such as my Beef & Bean Stew with Dumplings. The advantage of the smaller pieces is that both meat and vegetables cook more quickly. I also consider it a soup rather than a stew as there’s more liquid or broth.

You’ll find ingredient amounts and full instructions in the recipe card at the end. But I recommend you read the rest of this post for an overview, extra tips, plus step-by-step images to guide you.

WHAT CUT OF BEEF CAN I USE?

You’ll need boneless chunks of beef for my Beef & Vegetable Soup. I most often use ready-diced beef usually sold as stewing beef. This can contain any of the tougher cuts requiring longer cooking but have good flavour. You could also use braising steak which is similar. If you want to buy a specific cut, boneless shin of beef is excellent although fattier than some other cuts.

I cube the beef into what I think of as smallish bite-size pieces; approximately 2 cm dice.

WHICH VEGETABLES TO USE?

I’ve included the traditional British soup and stew vegetables of onion, celery, carrot, swede, and potatoes. For a little green colour and sweetness there’s frozen peas, plus garlic for flavour. Other vegetables you can swap for the swede include parsnip, turnip, celeriac, or just add more carrot.

The onion, celery, and garlic form the base of the soup, so I cut them small. I chop the carrot, swede and potatoes into dice about half the size of the beef.

OTHER INGREDIENTS

The remaining ingredients for Beef and Vegetable Soup are as follows.

• Salt and black pepper.
• Oil for browning the beef. Almost any oil is fine e.g. light olive oil, sunflower oil.
• Dried mixed herbs. This provides savoury background flavour without giving an overly herby taste. If you don’t have mixed herbs, use oregano and/or thyme.
• Tomato puree. Don’t worry that this will give the soup a pronounced tomatoey flavour. It won’t. Just a little extra umami richness.
• Plain flour. Lightly thickens the broth for a silky texture.
• Beef stock. I use 4 stock cubes in 1000 ml of boiling water. If at the end you find the soup too thick for your taste, just add a splash of water.
• Parsley. Grassy freshness and a pleasing scatter of bright green to serve.

HOW TO MAKE BEEF AND VEGETABLE SOUP

To get maximum flavour from the beef, we first season it with salt and pepper then brown it in oil over high heat. Do this in batches so your pot doesn’t get overcrowded or the meat will steam rather than getting appetizingly dark brown.

Set the browned beef aside and add the onions, celery, and garlic to the pot. Scraping up any brown bits from the base, cook the veg until they’re starting to soften and taken on some browning. Now add the carrot and swede, stir around for a minute or two, then add the dried herbs and tomato puree.

The flour is thoroughly mixed in next, its rawness cooked out for a few minutes. The stock is then stirred in; follow the simple instructions in the recipe card regarding when to take off and when to put back on the heat and you’ll achieve a smooth, lightly thickened broth.

The browned beef then goes back in, and the soup is simmered until the meat is just tender. This is likely to take between 60 – 75 minutes on top of the stove, although different cuts will vary. Be sure to stir now and then to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pot.

ADDING THE POTATOES & FINISHING THE SOUP 

You may have noticed that we haven’t added the potatoes yet. That’s because we can’t precisely predict how long any batch of beef will take to get tender and potatoes, unlike carrot and swede, are more likely to fall apart if cooked longer than necessary. So, I have a little trick to ensure both tender beef and perfectly cooked potatoes.

While the beef is simmering, I briefly boil the potatoes in salted water. Depending on how large you diced them, just 4 – 8 minutes is enough to start to soften without completely cooking them. When they’re at this stage, drain and set aside. Then, when your beef is tender, add the potatoes to the pot and continue cooking until they’re done: approximately 20 – 25 minutes at a low simmer.

When your beef is super-tender and all the veg perfect, you add the frozen peas and most of the fresh parsley. Continue cooking for a few minutes until the peas are done.

SERVING & STORING

All that’s left to do now is serve the steaming, delicious soup into bowls, scattering the remaining parsley over. Packed with tender beef, vegetables, and potatoes, you really don’t need anything with it. However, I can rarely resist a hunk of homemade crusty bread to mop up every drop of that wonderful meaty broth.

Depending on appetites and whether you have bread with it, my recipe should serve 4 – 6 people. Although we’re a household of just 2, I still make the full batch as it keeps in the fridge for 3 days. You can also freeze the soup if you don’t mind the vegetables softening a little more.

Having Beef & Vegetable Soup for lunch in the days after you’ve made it is somehow even nicer: all the enjoyment and zero work! Just reheat in a microwave or on top of the stove.

For me, this is the perfect cold weather meaty soup. Warming, hearty and satisfying, packed with chunks of tender meat, potatoes, plus loads of vegetables bathed in a rich and savoury broth.

If you’ve made this recipe, I’d love to know what you thought. Please do leave a comment and rating.

5 from 1 vote

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Beef and Vegetable Soup

Warming, hearty and satisfying, this chunky, big soup is packed with tender meat, potatoes, plus loads of vegetables bathed in a delicious broth. With deep, rich and savoury flavour, you'll be amazed at just how good (and easy) it is.

It's recommended you read the accompanying blog post before starting the recipe.

Course Soup, Main Course, Lunch, Stew

Cuisine American, British, European

Keyword comfort food, autumn, easy, winter

Prep Time 35 minutes

Cook Time 2 hours 15 minutes

Total Time 2 hours 50 minutes

Servings 4 - 6

Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

• 500 - 600 g stewing beef (see Recipe Notes)
• salt and black pepper
• 2 tbsp oil (e.g. light olive, sunflower)
• 1 - 2 large - medium onions (skinned, roughly chopped)
• 2 stalks celery (finely chopped)
• 6 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
• 250 g carrots (peeled or scraped and cut into small - medium dice: weight after prep.)
• 150 g swede/rutabaga (or parsnip, turnip, celeriac, or more carrots) (peeled and cut into small - medium dice: weight after prep.)
• 2 level tsp dried mixed herbs (or dried thyme or oregano)
• 1 rounded tbsp tomato puree
• 30 g plain/all-purpose flour
• 1000 ml beef stock (if using cubes: 4)
• 350 g potatoes (peeled or not, cut into small - medium dice)
• 120 g frozen peas
• 1 small bunch parsley (stems discarded, leaves finely chopped)

Instructions

1. Cut the beef into small (approx. 2 cm) bite-sized pieces, discarding any excess fat or gristle.

   Toss with a little salt and pepper.

   Put the oil in a large casserole dish or saucepan over high heat.

   When hot, brown the beef in batches until well coloured all over: don't crowd the pot or the meat will steam rather than brown.

   As each batch browns, remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate or bowl. Leave the oil in the pan.

2. When all the beef is browned, reduce the heat to medium/medium-low then add the prepared onion, celery, and garlic, seasoning with a pinch of salt and a good grind of pepper. Scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.

   Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are starting to soften and are browned.

   Add the carrot and swede, a pinch more salt and pepper, and stir around for a minute or two. Stir in the dried herbs and the tomato puree. Cook for a minute, stirring all the time, then take the pot off the heat.

3. Stir in the flour until thoroughly combined with the rest of the ingredients. Put back on the heat and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

   Off the heat again, gradually stir in approximately 500 ml of the stock, ensuring there are no lumps of flour, then stir in the remaining 500 ml of stock.

   Put back on the heat, turned up to medium-high, and keep stirring until the liquid bubbles and slightly thickens. Cook for 2 minutes then turn the heat down to medium-low so the soup simmers.

4. Stir the browned beef into the soup and bring back up to a gentle simmer.

   Put on a lid and cook until the meat is just tender (approximately 1 - 1¼ hours although different cuts will vary).

   During this time complete the next step.

5. While the beef is simmering, put the diced potatoes in a saucepan and more than cover with cold water. Season with a little salt, bring to a rapid simmer, then cook until only just starting to soften on the outside (4 - 8 minutes).

   Drain and set aside.

6. When the beef is almost tender, stir in the part-cooked potatoes and simmer again until both the meat and the potatoes are done to your liking (20 - 25 minutes).

7. Stir in the frozen peas and most of the chopped parsley (save some to use as a garnish). Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed then cook for a few more minutes until the peas are done.

8. Serve with the remaining parsley scattered over.

   Will keep for 3 days in a container in the fridge.

   Can be frozen if you don't mind the vegetables becoming softer.

Recipe Notes

Which beef to use?

You will need boneless chunks of beef. I most often use ready diced beef sold as ‘stewing beef’. This can contain any of the tougher cuts that require longer cooking but which have good flavour. You could also use braising steak which is similar. If you want to buy a specific cut, boneless shin of beef is excellent although fattier than some cuts.

For a more economical soup, use the smaller suggested amount of beef and include extra vegetables.

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