Here’s a Crockpot Vegetable Beef Soup to curl up with when you’re craving something cozy, comforting, and healthy too.
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This recipe is a riff on my favorite Crockpot Beef Stew. (If the Instant Pot is your preferred appliance, be sure to check out its cousin Instant Pot Beef Stew too.)
Compared to my original stovetop Beef Stew, this homemade soup has a few more vegetables and a little less prep.
Most of the action happens in the slow cooker while you aren’t paying attention, so you can get back to more pressing matters—like trying your hand at an at-home baking project (No Knead Focaccia anyone?) or diving into that organizing project you’ve been meaning to start for months (I choose the first option).
- This easy vegetable beef soup makes a hefty six servings, and it saves and reheats well.
- It’s a low-cost and low-maintenance dinner, and you can even freeze it for future servings.
- As it cooks, it smells and tastes like pure comfort, in the way that only homemade vegetable beef soup recipes can.
- After one bowl, everyone at your table is likely to ask for another.
You’ll want to hold onto this old fashioned vegetable beef soup recipe.
Like the favorite, budget-friendly soups that have come before it—15 Bean Soup, Crockpot Lentil Soup, and Whole30 Chili to name but a few—it is an ideal answer to your comforting-yet-wholesome cravings.
It’s also EASY!
While it may taste like you’ve been lovingly tending to it all day on the stove, it only takes 10 minutes (!!) to prep. I won’t tell if you won’t.
5 Star Review
“Wow! Made this today – so savory, flavorful and delicious! Thank you!”
— Susie —
How to Make Vegetable Beef Soup
Whether you make this vegetable beef soup for two or for a crowd, it’s certain to be a hit!
If you grew up reluctantly eating your grandma’s vegetable beef soup (likely a crockpot vegetable beef soup with tomato juice), I urge you to give this version a try.
Instead of tomato juice, canned vegetables, and a general lack of flavor, this soup has immense depth of flavor and hearty vegetables.
The Ingredients
- Chuck Roast. Boneless chuck roast is the ideal choice for this soup, as it will become tender during cooking. You can also use beef stew meat in this recipe. See below for more tips on selecting beef for this soup.
Tip!
While browning meat before adding it to soup is an extra step to this recipe, it is well worth it. Browning the meat, then deglazing the pan creates a delicious exterior on the beef, and the brown bits that collect in the pan create critical foundation for creating a richly flavored soup.
- Beef Broth. Beef broth gives this soup liquid and helps flavor and tenderize the meat. Using low sodium beef broth will keep your soup from becoming too salty.
- Vegetables. Since this is a hearty beef vegetable soup, I added loads of colorful veggies. I used onion, garlic, carrots, potatoes, parsnips, celery, tomatoes, and peas. For variety, we also love to make this slow cooker vegetable beef soup with cabbage and frozen vegetables. (Can’t get enough of cabbage? Try my Cabbage Soup.)
- Tomato Sauce + Paste. How do you make vegetable soup taste delicious? These two ingredients are the answer! Tomato sauce and paste are an easy way to make vegetable soup taste even better and give it deep flavor.
- Worcestershire. For a rich, savory vegetable beef soup broth.
- Seasoning. A pinch of salt, pepper, oregano, and smoked paprika is the perfect combination of spices for vegetable beef soup. The smoked paprika gives it an especially robust flavor.
- Sugar. A tiny pinch balances the acidity of the tomatoes.
The Directions
- Brown the beef in a skillet, then place it in the slow cooker.
- Cook the onion in the skillet until softened. Deglaze the pan, then transfer the mixture to the slow cooker.
- Add the vegetables.
- Pour in the remaining ingredients except for the peas.
- Cook vegetable beef soup on low for 8 hours, until the beef is tender. Stir in the peas, and serve hot with fresh parsley. ENJOY!
Selecting Beef for Vegetable Beef Soup
It can be challenging to know what kind of beef is good for soup. See below for my best tips for selecting beef for soup:
- What Cut of Beef is Best for Vegetable Beef Soup? For this easy vegetable beef soup, I’ve found that purchasing a single piece of chuck roast is the best choice. It tenderizes perfectly during the slow cooking process, has lots of flavor, and you can cut it into equally-sized pieces for even cooking.
- If you prefer, you can use stew meat instead. The benefit of stew meat is that it comes precut, making it a time saver.
- What Cut of Beef is Stew Meat? The cut of beef used in stew meat can differ, which is a downside of using it. Typically, some of the stew meat will be cut from the shoulder, but there will also be a variety of other cuts. For this reason, I like to cut my own beef for stew from a single type so all the pieces cook in the same amount of time.
Tip!
If you’d like a recipe for slow cooker vegetable ground beef soup, check out my Crock Pot Hamburger Soup.
Storage Tips
- To Store. About 4 days is how long homemade vegetable beef soup will keep in the refrigerator. Refrigerate the soup in an airtight storage container.
- To Reheat. Gently rewarm leftovers in a large pot on the stovetop over medium-low heat, adding splashes of broth as needed. You can also reheat this soup in the microwave until hot.
- To Freeze. Freeze leftovers in an airtight freezer-safe storage container for up to 3 months. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
Meal Prep Tip
Up to 1 day in advance, chop the beef and vegetables (unless you’re making this a crockpot vegetable beef soup with frozen vegetables). Refrigerate the beef and vegetables in separate airtight storage containers until you’re ready to finish the recipe.
What to Serve with Vegetable Beef Soup
Recommended Tools to Make this Recipe
- Programmable Slow Cooker. Great for making vegetable beef soup.
- Ladle. The best way to fill your bowls and storage containers with soup.
- Sharp Chef’s Knife. Great for chopping vegetables for this soup! One of the most important tools to have in your kitchen.
For a hearty warm-up, serving of vegetables (that does not feel overtly like eating vegetables), and picky eater-approved dinner, this crockpot vegetable beef soup has arrived.
Frequently Asked Questions
Beef broth is typically made from beef bones, vegetables, salt, and water. For this soup, you can use homemade beef broth or good quality store-bought beef broth.
Extra spices are what you can add to bland beef soup (though I think you’ll find this soup nicely flavored!). If you’d like to make your soup a bit more spicy, add smoked paprika and/or a pinch of cayenne pepper.
If you’d like to make a crockpot vegetable beef soup with rice, spoon the finished soup over a bowl of cooked brown rice. If you’d like to make a slow cooker vegetable beef soup with pasta, serve the finished soup over a bed of cooked whole wheat pasta or egg noodles.
Crockpot Beef Vegetable Soup
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Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pound boneless chuck roast or beef stew meat cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt divided
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3-4 cups low sodium beef broth divided
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced (about 2 teaspoons)
- 4 large carrots peeled and finely chopped
- 2 Yukon gold potatoes peeled and diced
- 2 parsnips peeled and diced
- 2 ribs celery diced
- 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes
- 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 cup peas fresh or frozen (no need to thaw)
- Chopped fresh parsley optional for serving
Instructions
- In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium high. Add the beef and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and pepper. Brown the beef on all sides, disturbing it as little as possible on each side so that it develops nice coloring. Once the beef is lightly browned (it won’t be all the way cooked through), remove it to a 6-quart slow cooker.
- To the pan, add the onion. Cook and stir until the onion is beginning to soften, about 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and let cook 30 seconds. Splash in about 1/2 cup the beef broth and scrape up any browned bits that have stuck to the bottom (this is flavor!). Let the broth reduce for 2 minutes, then transfer the entire mixture to the slow cooker.
- To the slow cooker, add the carrots, potatoes, parsnips, and celery.
- Add the diced tomatoes in their juices, tomato sauce, tomato paste, Worcestershire, oregano, paprika, sugar, 2 1/2 cups beef broth, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt.
- Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, until the beef and vegetables are tender. Stir in the peas, just until warmed through. If the soup is thicker than you would like, add the remaining 1 cup beef broth until you reach your desired consistency. Serve hot, sprinkled with fresh parsley.
Video
Notes
- TO STORE: Store soup in an airtight storage container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- TO REHEAT: Gently rewarm leftovers in a large pot on the stovetop over medium-low heat, adding splashes of broth as needed as needed. You can also reheat this soup in the microwave until hot.
- TO FREEZE: Place leftovers in an airtight freezer-safe storage container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
Nutrition
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Hi Erin;
Thank you so much for your wonderful blog!!! You know, I’ve liked many cooking blogs over the years, but yours is the FIRST one that I like enough that I’m using it exclusively for all my recipe needs. That’s right, you read that correctly, I’m not seeing any reason to look elsewhere, anywhere, for inspiration! That’s because every time I think of something to make, there it is, all laid out (in healthy way, no less) on your site.
The only thing, (you knew this was coming, didn’t you) that I can’t find with your wonderful recipes is a Sodium content. If you could include this info, that would be great. But, if you can’t, it’ll still be great because your site is helping my family, in no small way, become much healthier.
This MADE my day, Sharon! Thank you for taking the time to share this kind review! Since sodium content can vary so much based on the brands of ingredients used, I recommend using an online calculator like MyFitnessPal, which you can customize based on the ingredients you have to get a more accurate number. I hope this helps!
Made this last night and it was absolutely delicious! The only thing that I did differently, was to make the vegetables chunkier because that’s how I like it. Thank you for a wonderful recipe!
Thank you for sharing this kind review, Felicia! I’m so happy to hear that this recipe was a hit!
Hello, wondering can I use regular Paprika instead of smoked Paprika? And, If I don’t add the parsnips is that ok? Thanks!
Stephanie, you can definitely use more of a different vegetable (such as the carrots) and omit the parsnips, but I would not recommend skipping the smoked paprika. It’s flavor is different (and much more interesting!) than regular paprika, which doesn’t taste especially smoky or zippy. For the best flavor, it’s definitely worth using the smoked. I hope you love the recipe!
Thank you for your recipe. But I only have one problem the only raw Vegetable I have are potatoes. But I have plenty of canned vegetables, can I use them in this recipe? If so, when do I add them in?
Hi Sara! I’ve never tried canned vegetables in this recipe, but you could experiment with it. If you decide to try it, I’d love to hear how it goes!
This is soooo good! I was hoping it would last a few days…but alas it just disappeared!
I’m so happy that you enjoyed it, Lorraine! Thank you for sharing this kind review!
Do you think it would be okay if I cooked on low for a bit and turned it on high? I’m needing it before the 8 hours.
Hi Cathy! I’ve only tested the recipe as written, so you’d be experimenting. If you decide to try it, I’d love to hear how it goes!
Hi.
I don’t have A crockpot or a slow Cooker. What can I use instead?
Hi Orli! I’ve only tested this recipe in a crockpot, so you’d be experimenting. If you decide to try it on the stovetop, I’d love to hear how it goes!
Dutch Oven. Use it all the time for soups !
When should I add the peas? 15 minutes before it’s ready?
Hi Achley! Step 4 in the recipe card gives you the exact instructions on when to add the peas! Hope this helps!
I’m guessing the tomato paste is what ruined this soup. Terrible aftertaste. Had to dump it
I’m so sorry you had trouble with this recipe, Adele. It’s hard to say what went wrong without being in the kitchen with you.
I know it’s frustrating to try a new recipe and not have it turn out. I (and many other readers) have enjoyed them, so I really wish they would’ve been a hit for you too!
Can you cook this on high for 4 hours?
Hi Kristin! I’ve only tested the recipe as written, so you’d be experimenting. If you decide to try it, I’d love to hear how it goes!
Wow! Made this today – so savory, flavorful and delicious! Thank you!
Hi Susie! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Also – I carmelized the onions in the Dutch oven after browning the beef. Great and clever tip on your part! I don’t think I’ve ever had a better beef veg soup!
Thanks for the feedback!
This was a quick, easy recipe that was hearty and flavorful. My family gave it two thumbs up!
Hi Karen! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Do you think it freezes okay with the potatoes in it? Not too mealy after?
Hi Amy, freeze leftovers in an airtight freezer-safe storage container for up to 3 months. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating. Hope this helps!
I made this yesterday and added a little more tomato sauce it was so good! One of the best I’ve ever made or tasted!
Hi Heather! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
What would be a recommended brand of sauce to use in this recipe?
Hi Andrea, any brand should work fine! Hope you enjoy it!
This soup was so easy and yummy on a cold day! The flavors are amazing and the leftovers were even better.
Hi Hannah! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Delicious!! So easy to prepare too.
Hi Rose! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
This soup is absolutely delicious!!! I made it and put it in the fridge for the next day. It’s always better the next day right? Served with ham and cheese sandwiches. This one is a keeper!
Yay! Glad you enjoyed it Christy!
This stew was delicious! Made it today and made a larger portion. Was too much for my crockpot and had to transfer it to a large pot on the stove. Total cooking time on the stove was 4.5 hours. Also added some frozen cut okra and cornbread on the side. My family enjoyed it so much. I love it when a good recipe comes together. Thank you!
So glad you enjoyed it, DJ!
How do I find my saved recipes?
Hi Bella! At the very, very top right of the page you’ll see where it says “my recipes”. You can find them there. It’s also listed at the top under the tab, meal plans. There is a drop down button and you’ll see “my recipes” there as well. Hope this helps! Let us know if you have any issues!
Following a busy week of Christmas parties, rich appetizers, and party food, we were yearning for something that tasted healthy and grounding, and found it in this recipe. This is a “ comfort in a cup” recipe that is filling and flavorful. Frozen vegetables worked very well without getting mushy, and I loved the short prep time and the rich fragrance of the soup wafting through the house while I worked. We loved the smoked paprika as it added a burst of flavor to the broth. We will enjoy adding this soup to the meal rotation and look forward to trying some of your other soup recipes. Thank you for sharing!
So glad you enjoyed it, Pam!
Amazing! An excellent soup to warm the soul on this fine Christmas Day!
Thank you, Merry Christmas!
This recipe was absolute wizardry!!! I used deer tenderloin because it’s what I had on hand. It is hearty, flavorful and the texture is spot on!! My husband, who hates everything, loved this!! Will totally do again.
Ohhh! Love that! Thank you Michelle!
I use this recipe as a base for the absolute best soup ever made. Variations include using habanero diced tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, cabbage, corn, green beans & whatever else! You really can’t go wrong! Fantastic & family approved!
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!
Made this tonight and it was great! Thank you.
Great to hear, thank you Joanna!
Absolutely delicious and hearty soup —with amazing scrumptious flavors!
This is a very filling and satisfying soup!
Great to hear, thank you Howard!