Hearty hamburger vegetable soup boasts a rich tomato-based broth, ground beef, and a ton of mixed vegetables. The soup is a filling one-pot dinner that’s budget-friendly and perfect for busy weeknights, and meal planning. For more quick dinner ideas, try one of these ground beef recipes!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Cozy hamburger vegetable soup is a crowd-pleaser! Save the comforting fall or winter soup for when you’re cooking on a budget or have extra vegetables to use, and serve with with slices of warm sourdough bread.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Ground Beef: Use lean ground beef for this soup recipe. Ground turkey or chicken is an excellent low-calorie option.
- Spices: Season the soup with kosher salt, coarse ground black pepper, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, and dried tarragon.
- Vegetables: Hamburger vegetable soup is versatile, but I enjoy the combination of onion, garlic, carrots, potatoes, shredded cabbage, and peas. If you need to get dinner on the table fast, I recommend using a frozen bag of mixed vegetables instead.
- Beef Broth: Flavor the soup with beef broth. You can also use beef stock or beef Better Than Bouillon and water.
- Worcestershire Sauce: Worcestershire sauce enhances the flavor of the other ingredients in the soup.
- Roma Tomatoes: Puree fresh tomatoes beforehand in a blender or food processor. Use a can of petite diced tomatoes when you’re in a pinch.
- Tomato Paste: Thicken and add rich color using tomato paste
- Bay Leaves: Infuse the soup with a clove-like flavor with bay leaves.
- Soy Sauce: Like Worcestershire, soy sauce provides an umami-like flavor.
Additions and Substitutions
Hamburger vegetable soup is one of those use-what-you-have recipes, so feel free to get creative. Here are a few suggestions for what to add or substitute for other ingredients in the soup.
- Can I use stew meat? Use bottom round or chuck roast cut into 1-inch pieces instead of ground beef. However, I recommend searing the stew meat beforehand and increasing the cooking time by 30-40 minutes.
- Grains: For a thicker and more filling soup, include pearl barley, rice, or quinoa.
- Cream: Add a splash of heavy cream, half and half, or coconut milk to a creamier soup.
- Vegetables: Use the soup recipe as a starting point, but feel free to exchange or add vegetables like celery, cauliflower, kale, spinach, parsnips, green beans, and corn.
How to Make Hamburger Vegetable Soup
The full recipe with measurements is in the recipe card below.
Step 1: Warm the oil over medium heat in a Dutch oven. Then, add the ground beef, breaking it up with a meat chopper.
Continue cooking until brown and heated through for about 10 minutes.
Step 2: Stir garlic powder, kosher salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and dried tarragon into the ground beef mixture.
Step 3: Next, add the onion, garlic, carrots, and potatoes to the pan. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes until the vegetables soften.
Step 4: Stir in the shredded cabbage, peas, pureed tomatoes, tomato paste, and Worcestershire sauce.
Step 5: Deglaze the pan with beef broth and nestle the bay leaves into the soup. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, adjusting the temperature to maintain a gentle simmer.
Step 6: Remove the soup from the heat and stir in the soy sauce to serve.
Expert Tips
- Cut the vegetables the same size to ensure they cook at the same rate.
If you enjoy this soup, try one of these beef stew recipes!
Serving Suggestions
- Dutch Oven Sourdough Bread, Buttery Rolls, Pao de Sal, Soda Bread without Buttermilk
- Corn Bread, Corn Casserole
- Mashed Potatoes, Mashed Cauliflower
- White, Rice, Pilaf
- Vegetable Chopped Salad, Arugula Spinach Salad
- Saltine Crackers
What to do with the Leftovers
- Refrigerate: Store the leftovers in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
- Freeze: Let the soup cool, and transfer it to a freezer-safe container or bag. Hamburger vegetable soup freezes for 2-3 months.
- Thaw: Defrost the soup in the fridge overnight.
- Reheat: Warm the leftovers on the stovetop or in the microwave.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can you add to hamburger soup to give it more flavor?
The hearty soup is brimming with umami-rich ingredients like Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, and warm spices for flavor and depth.
More Stew Recipes:
Hamburger Vegetable Soup
- Small Bowl
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound ground beef, 93/7 lean ground
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper, coarse ground
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 medium carrots, diced
- 4 petite potatoes, quartered
- 2 cups green cabbage, thinly shredded
- 1 cup peas
- 3 Roma tomatoes, coarsely chopped, and blended
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 4 cups beef broth
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- Warm the oil over medium heat in a Dutch oven. Then, add the ground beef, breaking it up with a meat chopper. Continue cooking until brown and heated through for about 10 minutes.
- Stir garlic powder, kosher salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and dried tarragon into the ground beef mixture.
- Next, add the onion, garlic, carrots, and potatoes to the pan. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes until the vegetables soften.
- Stir in the shredded cabbage, peas, pureed tomatoes, tomato paste, and Worcestershire sauce.
- Deglaze the pan with beef broth and nestle the bay leaves into the soup. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, adjusting the temperature to maintain a gentle simmer.
- Remove the soup from the heat and stir in the soy sauce to serve.
- Cut the vegetables the same size to ensure they cook at the same rate.
- The nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for professional advice.
Brea
Thursday 22nd of September 2022
I’m pregnant and struggling to get in protein and veggies that I normally love. Tressa’s website in general has been a god send because recipes like this take nutritious food and turn it into something cozy and tasty. This soup has the BEST flavor and I love that you can get creative with the vegetables. This is your fall go to soup 100%%!!
Tressa Jamil
Thursday 22nd of September 2022
Wow, that is such high praise and I am so thankful it was able to meet a need during such an exciting time.
Richard
Friday 16th of September 2022
This healthy beef vegetable soup recipe is fantastic! Very easy to prepare and way better than canned soup.
Tressa Jamil
Saturday 17th of September 2022
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment; I am happy you enjoyed it.