Back to Basics Vegetable Soup
This vegetable soup is back to basics in seasonings and ingredients. It's simple to make and delicious to eat.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 medium yellow onion peeled and diced
- 4 cups peeled, diced potatoes about 4 medium
- 2 cups peeled, diced carrots about 6 large
- 2 cups frozen green beans in 1-inch pieces, see note
- 10 cups water
- 4 ½ to 5 teaspoons salt more to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper more to taste
- 2 cups frozen corn
- 2 15-ounce cans diced tomatoes
Instructions
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In large soup pot or dutch oven, add ground beef and diced onions over medium heat and cook until beef is brown and onions are translucent.
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When beef is brown, add potatoes, carrots, green beans, water, salt and pepper and cook over medium-high heat until boiling. Cover and turn down heat to medium, cooking until vegetables are fork tender, about 15-20 minutes.
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Add corn and diced tomatoes and cook until heated through, about 5 minutes. taste and add additional salt and pepper, if needed. Serve warm with saltine crackers or bread and butter.
Recipe Notes
1. The easiest way I've found is to just snap the frozen green beans into pieces with your fingers.
2. Here are some variations your grandmother would have used:
- Substitute ground turkey or other ground meat for the ground beef.
- Use canned green beans and/or corn instead of frozen. Drain them and add them at the end of the cooking time.
- If you have home canned tomatoes, use about 1 quart in place of the two cans of diced tomatoes.
- Use leftover cooked potatoes in place of the raw ones by dicing them and adding them at the end when you add the tomatoes and corn.
- Add other seasonings to change up the flavor. Use beef broth instead of water or this chicken bouillon substitute for all or part of the salt.
- Substitute ditalini, macaroni, or other small pasta for the potatoes and cook until tender.
- If someone else shows up to dinner, add a bit more veggies, more water, and then season it to taste.