This Crockpot Vegetable Beef Soup is a hearty and healthy recipe that takes just 15 minutes to prep! It’s loaded with chunks of tender beef and tons of veggies.
This crockpot soup is perfect for meal prep. Store it in the fridge and heat it up throughout the week or keep it in the freezer!
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It’s soup time again!
Honestly though, it was never not soup time around here…I’m not mad about it. 😉
My kids? They’d prefer I crank out a few more mac and cheese or spaghetti recipes. One day I’ll get them to love soup. And maybe this Crockpot Vegetable Beef Soup will be the one that changes their minds. I mean, it is pretty hard not to love.
This soup is cozy, comforting, healthy, and easy to make ahead of time and stash in the slow cooker! It’s packed with veggies, tender beef, so much delicious flavor, and makes the perfect easy weeknight meal.
Ingredients needed for Vegetable Beef Soup:
- Oil: used to brown the beef and aromatics before adding them to the slow cooker.
- Beef: any cut of beef will work! The crockpot does a great job at tenderizing normally tough cuts of meat.
- Carrot, Celery, and Onion: the trio of veggies, called a mirepoix, that creates a flavor base in so many soups and stews.
- Tomato Paste: adds richness and flavor depth.
- Garlic: I like to use freshly minced garlic for the best flavor, but pre-minced will work as well.
- Seasonings: you need a simple blend of salt, dried parsley, dried thyme, paprika, and black pepper to give this soup tons of flavor.
- Beef Broth: I use low sodium beef broth. If you use regular beef broth you may want to lessen the amount of salt you add yourself.
- Additional Vegetables: I like to use a blend of potatoes, canned and diced tomatoes, fresh or frozen green beans, and frozen corn.
- Tomato Sauce: thickens the broth and adds even more flavor.
- Bay Leaf: adds a subtle undertone that helps enhance the other flavors within the soup. Be sure to remove the bay leaf before serving!
How to make Vegetable Beef Soup in the Crockpot
This crockpot soup requires just 15 minutes of hands-on time. Just prep your meat and veggies and toss it all in the slow cooker!
- Brown the beef, veggies, and aromatics: In a frying pan, heat oil then add in the beef. Cook until browned. Add in carrots, celery, and onion, then stir in tomato paste and seasonings. Cook for 1 minute.
- Combine and cook: Transfer the beef/veggie mixture to the slow cooker, then add in the broth, veggies, and bay leaf. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
Crockpot vegetable beef soup FAQs
Any cut you want! Because the meat is slow-cooked in broth, it doesn’t need to be an expensive cut to be super tender. I like to check my grocery store flyers to see what’s on sale. If there’s a particular roast that’s going for a good price, I’ll buy one, cube it up, and use it in this soup. If there’s extra, I stash it in the freezer for my next soup craving!
It’s not totally necessary, but I like to do so. Browning the beef adds a delicious layer of flavor that just can’t be quite achieved by only cooking it in the slow cooker. If you’re lower on time and want to skip that step, that’s totally fine too.
Yes! If you’re shorter on time, you can make beef stew on the stove using my stovetop beef stew recipe which is ready in under an hour!
Absolutely! This soup is great for making ahead because it just gets better as it sits. You can make it ahead and keep it warm in the crockpot if you’re serving it the day you make it. You can also transfer it to an airtight container and keep it in the fridge for 4-5 days.
This soup freezes great! Simply cool it to room temperature and place it into a large freezer bag or container. I like to use bags because it freezes in a thin layer and thaws more quickly. Freeze for up to 3 months.
To serve, thaw overnight in the refrigerator or for 6-8 hours at room temperature. If you need to thaw it quickly, place it in the sink in a few inches of room temperature water for 30 minutes, breaking it into chunks. Warm in the microwave or on the stove until heated through.
Keep in mind that the texture of potatoes does change when they are frozen, so if you are picky about that, this might not be the best soup for your freezer stash.
Variations on this crockpot soup:
- Use another meat. You can swap the cubed beef for ground beef (cooked and drained) or try it with shredded chicken instead! Alternatively, check out my stovetop Chicken Vegetable Soup recipe.
- Make it creamy. Prefer a creamier soup? Add a splash of half-and-half or heavy cream before serving!
- Add other veggies. This soup is definitely not limited to the veggies I used. Feel free to add in whatever veggies you like! Broccoli, cauliflower, frozen peas, kale or spinach, sweet potatoes, you name it.
Serving suggestions
I love to serve this soup with a bread to soak up the broth! Try it with garlic bread, breadsticks, or homemade garlic herb dinner rolls!
More beef soup recipes you’ll love
Crockpot Vegetable Beef Soup (full of flavor!)
written by Ashley Fehr
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 lb beef cubes *see post for notes
- 2 large carrots peeled and finely chopped
- 2 ribs celery chopped
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 4 cups low sodium beef broth
- 1 lb potatoes finely chopped (about 4 medium)
- 14 oz canned diced tomatoes
- 1 cup chopped green beans fresh or frozen
- ¾ cup tomato sauce
- ½ cup canned or frozen corn
- 1 bay leaf
Instructions
- In a large frying pan over high heat, fry beef in oil just until browned on all sides. Add beef to a 6 quart crockpot.
- To the same frying pan, add carrots, celery and onion to the pan and cook until onions are softened. Stir in tomato paste, garlic, salt, parsley, thyme, paprika and pepper and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the vegetables in the pan to the slow cooker with the broth, potatoes, tomatoes, green beans, tomato sauce, corn and bay leaf.
- Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, until beef and vegetables are tender. Serve immediately or keep on warm until ready to serve.
Notes
Nutrition Information
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Judy says
Do you have to cook all the vegetables first. Has anyone tried searing the meat and then throwing everything in the Crock Pot?
The Recipe Rebel says
Let us know if you test it out this way, Judy!
Erin says
Why do you need to precook the veggies? I understand searing the beef, but won’t the vegetables cook soft after 8 hours in the crockpot?
Abigail Bordelon says
Can this be cooked on high?
Boise Grams says
I made the soup following the recipe almost to a T. The only variations I made for personal preference were to add about a tablespoon of Italian seasoning to spice it up a little bit more, and adding about a cup of frozen peas the last 20 or so minutes of cooking. It was a great Friday night meal served with garlic monkey bread. Oh, one other thing. . . I have newer model crockpots, and they cook hotter than my older models did. This soup was ready after cooking on low for six hours. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
The Recipe Rebel says
Glad to hear you enjoyed it, Boise!