Crockpot Vegetable Beef Soup

This crockpot vegetable beef soup is a hearty, budget-friendly dinner loaded with tender stew meat, potatoes, carrots, green beans, peas, and a rich tomato-based broth. Prep takes about 30 minutes, then the slow cooker does the rest, making it a great option for busy days when you need dinner to take care of itself.

Veggie soup + a thick slice of bread… 🤤

Growing up, the cans of vegetable beef soup were my all time favorite lunch. They were so savory and delicious to me as a kid.

As an adult…I’m more of a homemade soup kind of girl. 😉

We love to make this crockpot vegetable beef soup for dinner, freeze leftovers in individual portions, and take them out for a quick lunch.

I’ve made this one quite a few times over the years and often switch it up using what we have in the kitchen – ground beef instead of stew meat, swapping out the frozen green beans for a bag of frozen mixed veggies, even using a cup or two of frozen cubed hashbrowns in place of fresh potatoes! This recipe is versatile and easy to work with.
I’m always going to serve bread with soup and here are some of my go-to’s: sweet cornbread, Irish soda bread, or beer bread.

3 Reasons You’ll Love This Recipe

1. Set it and forget it. A quick sear on the beef and vegetables in the morning, then everything goes into the crockpot and cooks on low for 8 hours while you get on with your day. Dinner is ready when you get home.
2. Budget-friendly and flexible. Beef stew meat is one of the more economical cuts, and the vegetable lineup is easy to swap based on what you have on hand. Ground beef works too if that’s what’s in the freezer.
3. Freezer-friendly leftovers. This recipe makes a big batch and freezes beautifully in individual portions. Future you will be very happy.

Ingredient Notes:

Beef Stew Meat: Easy to find, economical, and already cut into bite-sized pieces. Chuck roast chopped into chunks is another great option with loads of flavor. Ground beef works too if that’s what you have on hand.

Vegetables – We’re loading this vegetable beef soup with plenty of onions, carrots, celery, garlic, tomato, frozen green beans, potatoes and frozen peas. I’ve substituted a bag of frozen mixed vegetabls for the carrots, peas, and green beans and it works great! You can even use diced frozen potatoes in place of the fresh.

Tomato – This vegetable soup has lots of good tomato flavor from the canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste! Don’t worry, it won’t overpower the other flavors, but it does make for a rich, savory broth.

Worcestershire Sauce and Italian Seasoning: These two do a lot of work in the background. Don’t skip them.

Broth – We’ll need a few cups of beef broth for the soup. You can use canned or boxed broth or make your own! I usually go for Better than Bouillon.

How to Make Crockpot Vegetable Beef Soup:

Beef Stew Meat: Brown the stew meat in a skillet on high heat with a little oil. You don’t need to cook the beef through, but get a nice sear on the outside. Once done, transfer the beef to the crockpot.

Veggies: Toss the veggies in the hot skillet and just get them started softening. This step isn’t 100% crucial, but that hit of high heat at the beginning does help build flavor in the soup.

Slow Cook: Add the veggies to the crockpot along with the seared stew meat. Pour in the beef broth and add all of the remaining listed ingredients except for the peas and the parsley. Cover and cook! High will take 4 hours, low will take 8.

Finish: Stir in the frozen peas and the parsley! The soup will be hot enough to quickly heat up the peas without any extra cooking. That’s it! Add salt and pepper to taste and serve it while it’s good and hot.

Karly’s Tips:

Swap or add vegetables freely. Frozen corn, bell peppers, mushrooms, turnips, sweet potatoes, and zucchini are all great additions. Use what’s in your fridge or freezer.

Make it lower carb. Swap the potatoes for turnips and reduce or skip the carrots and peas to bring the carbs down significantly.

Thicken the broth. If you want more of a stew consistency, toss the raw beef in a light coating of flour before searing. The flour will slowly thicken the broth as it cooks. Make a cornstarch slurry and stir that in at the end to thicken it up even more.

Add the peas at the end. Stir in the frozen peas after cooking is done. The residual heat warms them through without turning them mushy.

Storage

• Refrigerator: Store in a sealed container for up to 4-5 days. Great for meal prep and easy lunches throughout the week.
• Freezer: Cool completely, then portion into freezer-safe bags or containers. Lay bags flat to freeze. Keeps well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.

More Soup Recipes To Try:

• Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup
• Instant Pot Potato Soup
• Low Carb Taco Soup
• Crockpot Stuffed Pepper Soup
• Homemade Tomato Soup
• Crockpot Broccoli Cheese Soup