Tag: #GardenHarvest

There is something wonderfully practical about a pot of vegetable soup.

You don’t need a special occasion or an elaborate recipe. You need some ground beef, a handful of vegetables, a little broth, and a pot big enough to bring everything together.

This Garden Harvest Beef & Vegetable Soup is especially good for that transition from summer into fall. It makes good use of the vegetables that are still plentiful at the end of the growing season while giving us our first taste of cozy soup weather.

Use fresh vegetables from the garden or farmers market when you have them. Use frozen vegetables when that’s what you’ve got. And if you have a few odds and ends tucked away in the refrigerator, this is a great place for them, too.

That’s the spirit behind this month’s Harvest & Putting Things Back theme: enjoy what is plentiful today, and make a little extra while you’re at it.

This soup freezes beautifully, making it an easy way to put a few servings back for another day.

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Garden Harvest Beef & Vegetable Soup

There is something wonderfully practical about a pot of vegetable soup.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Servings: 4

Course: Dinner, Lunch, Soup

Cuisine: American

Calories: 330

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 1/2 pound lean ground beef
• 1 small onion diced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 2 medium carrots sliced
• 2 celery stalks sliced
• 1 medium zucchini diced
• 1 cup fresh or frozen green beans cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 cup corn fresh or frozen
• 1 can 14.5 ounces diced tomatoes, with juices
• 4 cups low-sodium beef broth
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• Salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon olive oil if needed

Method

 

Brown the beef.

1. Heat a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking it into small pieces, until no longer pink. Drain excess fat if necessary.

Add the aromatics.

1. Add the onion and celery to the pot. Cook for 3–4 minutes, until the onion begins to soften. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds.

Build the soup.

1. Add the carrots, zucchini, green beans, corn, and diced tomatoes with their juices.

Add the broth and seasonings.

1. Pour in the beef broth. Stir in the Italian seasoning, parsley, black pepper, and Worcestershire sauce.

Simmer.

1. Bring the soup to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat and cover. Simmer for about 20–25 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.

Taste and adjust.

1. Taste the broth and add salt as needed. If you prefer a thinner soup, add a little more broth or water.

Serve.

1. Ladle into bowls and serve hot with crusty bread, crackers, or a simple side salad.

Notes

🌾 Make It Your Own

This is one of those recipes where the vegetable drawer gets a vote.

Try swapping in:

• Green peas for some of the corn
• Cabbage for some of the zucchini
• Diced potatoes for the carrots
• Spinach stirred in during the last few minutes
• Mushrooms for some of the zucchini
• Fresh tomatoes in place of canned tomatoes

You can also use ground turkey instead of beef if that’s what you have available.

🧊 Put a Little Back

This soup is an excellent freezer meal.

Let the soup cool, portion it into freezer-safe containers, label it with the name and date, and freeze.

For one or two people, freezing individual portions means you don’t have to thaw an entire pot just to have soup for lunch.

Important canning note: Although this soup is suitable for freezing, don’t assume a freezer soup recipe is automatically safe for home canning. Because it contains meat and vegetables, any version you intend to pressure-can should be based on a tested, approved canning recipe rather than adapting this recipe yourself.

That’s an important part of putting food back: preserve it in a way that’s both practical and safe.

🥄 Serving Suggestions

Serve with:

• Whole-grain bread
• A small green salad
• Crackers
• Toasted cornbread

Or simply enjoy a bowl on its own. With beef, vegetables, and broth all in one pot, you’ve already got a pretty complete meal.