Name: Easy Hamburger Vegetable Soup
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 46 oz tomato juice; 1 lb ground beef; 2 cups frozen, chopped onion, bell pepper, and celery blend; 1-1/2 cups carrots, peeled and chopped into chunks; 1-1/2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced; 16 oz canned green beans, drained; 16 oz canned whole kernel corn, drained; 1 bay leaf; 1 tsp minced garlic; 1 tsp black pepper; 1 tsp basil; 1 tsp oregano; salt to taste

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Delicious, nutritious vegetable soup made with ground beef, carrots, green beans, corn, mushrooms, and tomato juice. This super easy hamburger vegetable soup recipe can be made on any day of the week. A quick and easy home-cooked meal that’s perfect for the whole family.

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Welcome to My Kitchen Serenity! Wondering what to cook for dinner tonight? I’m excited to share with you this easy vegetable beef soup made with hamburger meat, lots of vegetables, and tomato juice! YUM.

Tomato juice adds so much flavor and much more nutrition than water or broth. Tomato juice contains vitamins C & E, lycopene, beta carotene, and so much more.

For more nutritional information on tomato juice, read this article from NDTV. Use low sodium tomato juice if sodium conscious.

Why This Recipe Works

This hearty soup is ready to eat in less than 45 minutes. There’s very little prep involved; just cook the ground beef and chop some carrots. Then dump the rest of the ingredients into the pot, stir, cover, and cook for 30 minutes.

While the soup is simmering, why not make a pan of my southern jalapeno cornbread! It’s super moist and cheesy and the perfect side dish for soup.

You may notice that I have several recipes on the blog that use the shortcut frozen chopped onion, bell pepper, and celery mixture. This is a huge time-saving step that I take advantage of every chance I get. I always have a bag or two in my freezer and use it for omelets, chili, and many other recipes.

I especially love using ground beef for this recipe. Ground beef is a quick, easy, and budget-friendly alternative to beef stew meat or a roast.

This soup is freezer friendly or you can save the leftovers for meal prep. Also, this soup can be made any day of the year, not just when the weather is cold.

What’s the difference between Hamburger Vegetable Stew (aka poor man’s stew) and Hamburger Vegetable Soup?

While both are very similar in that they both contain ground beef and vegetables, there are a few differences.

Soup typically contains more liquid than stew. Stew typically contains a thicker liquid, like a gravy. The liquid in a stew is usually thickened with cornstarch or flour.

Soups need about 30 minutes to cook and stews usually simmer for several hours on the stove or in a crockpot (slow cooker).

Side Dishes for Soup

We LOVE to serve cornbread with this vegetable soup! However, here are other suggestions of what to serve with this soup:

Saltine crackers
French bread
Buttermilk biscuits (the frozen biscuits at the grocery store are delicious)
Tater tots
Simple side salad

This soup recipe very versatile! Substitute your favorite vegetable for the ones I’ve used. Add some cooked pasta or rice.

Keep in mind that the more ingredients you ADD to this recipe, the more likely you’ll need to ADD more tomato juice.

Add-in suggestions:

Add 1 cup raw diced potatoes.

Add 1 cup green peas, canned or frozen.

Add 1 cup cooked elbow macaroni (or your favorite pasta).

Add 1 cup cooked rice or wild rice.

Add some chopped or shredded cabbage.

Add some cut okra.

Use a small bag of frozen mixed vegetables instead of the canned vegetables.

Use V-8 juice instead of tomato juice.

Use ground turkey or venison instead of ground beef.

Ingredients

46 ounces tomato juice

1 pound ground beef

2 cups frozen chopped onion, bell pepper, and celery mix

1-1/2 cups fresh carrots, peeled and cut into chunks

1-1/2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced

16-ounce can green beans, drained

16-ounce can whole kernel corn, drained

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon basil

1 teaspoon oregano

Salt, to taste

Kitchen Equipment Needed

Large (5 quart) pot with lid

Kitchen knife

Cutting board

Directions

STEP 1: Brown the ground beef in a large pot, like my Calphalon 5-quart pot, then drain the grease.

STEP 2: Add the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasion Add the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. ally.

STEP 3: Remove from heat. Discard bay leaf. Check the flavor and add salt, if desired.

Freezing

This soup freezes well. Allow the soup to completely cool off. Then place into a freezer container or sealable plastic freezer bag (write the date on the bag so you can easily remember it). Frozen soup will stay fresh for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge the day before you plan to eat if. Reheat in a pot on the stove or in the microwave.

Leftovers

This soup will stay fresh for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. Store it in airtight containers. I like to use BPA-free glass containers with locking lids. Check out this 18-piece set of glass food storage containers with locking lids. These containers are great for meal prep, too!