A hearty Vegetable Beef Soup with melt-in-your-mouth slow cooked chunks of beef, potato and vegetables simmered in a herb infused savoury broth. You’ll love how the broth of this beef soup recipe is slightly thickened so it’s like gravy and has extra flavour from a secret ingredient!
Vegetable Beef Soup
So many beef soups are watery and dull. Not this one!!! The thing that sets this beef soup recipe apart from the rest is the broth. It’s slightly thickened so it’s more like a thinnish gravy. It’s infused with herb flavour and also gets an extra depth of flavour from the secret ingredient: red wine. Or beer or stout. (They’re all good)
It’s not about boozing up our soup! It’s about adding complexity and character to the soup broth flavour without simmering for hours up hours like we do with Beef Stew and Pot Roast.
Without the wine, the broth still tastes very, very good.
With the wine, it’s stellar! (And in care you’re concerned, the alcohol gets cooked out, just leaving behind flavour.)
What goes in Vegetable Beef Soup
Here’s what you need.
Stewing beef – anything economical, in small bite size pieces (remember, we’re making a soup here, not a stew)
Red wine, stout or guinness – all of these work great here. Red wine gives it a classic beef stew flavour, Guinness or stout will give the soup a more intense, deep flavour like Irish Guinness Stew. I use wine most frequently because I always have some on hand, and because I prefer not to just use part of a can of beer that I wouldn’t choose to drink!
How to make Beef Soup
The key step here is to brown the beef well – aggressively is the term that I use. This adds a ton of flavour to the beef itself and the broth, from the brown bits on the bottom of the pot that dissolves into the broth.
I like to sauté the mushrooms in butter and add them towards the end – but this is optional. Because golden brown buttery mushrooms vs mushrooms just simmered in the broth? There is no contest! (But really, it is optional 🙂 )
Fall-apart slow cooked beef!
I promised you fall-apart beef, and fall apart beef you shall get. And you will see just how tender the beef is in the recipe video below using the most ridiculous method – chopsticks of all things!!
I know, I know, it’s soooo Asian.
But right at that moment while I was filming, it was the first thought that came to me as the easiest way to show it on camera! 😂 I mean, how else can I pry a piece of beef apart using one hand??
What Beef Soup goes with
There’s a ton of veggies in this soup, and you could add even more into the soup. Green beans would be ideal, but they were extortionately overpriced on the day I shot this and I just couldn’t do it.
So it’s an ideal meal-in-a bowl that doesn’t need anything more. But I’m pretty sure no one would say no to a side of quick Cheesy Garlic Bread!!! Or try one of these soup dunkers:
Soup Dunkers
Also, this soup just gets better with time and freezes 100% perfectly. So make a double batch! ~ Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Vegetable Beef Soup (Fall apart beef!)
Ingredients
- 1.5 tbsp olive oil , separated
- 500g/1 lb stewing beef , cut into 1.75cm / 2/3″ cubes (Note 1)
- 1/2 tsp salt and pepper
- 1 onion , chopped
- 3 garlic , minced (1 tbsp)
- 2 celery , cut into 0.8 cm / 1/3″ slices
- 3 carrots , cut into 0.5 cm / 1/5″ thick slices (halve larger ones)
- 4 tbsp flour
- 2 1/2 cups (625ml) beef broth/stock , low sodium
- 1 1/2 cups (375ml) dry red wine, Guinness beer or stout (Note 2)
- 1.5 cups (375ml) water
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp thyme dried
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 2 potatoes (any), cut into 1.5cm / 2/3″ cubes
Buttery mushrooms (optional):
- 1 tbsp (15g) butter or oil
- 200g/ 6oz small mushrooms , quartered or halved
Instructions
- Heat 1 tbsp oil until very hot in a large, heavy based pot over high heat.
- Pat beef dry with paper towels, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Brown beef aggressively in 2 or 3 batches, adding more oil if needed. Remove browned beef into a bowl.
- If pot looks dry, add a touch more oil.
- Add garlic and onion, cook for 2 minutes.
- Add carrot and celery, cook for 2 minutes or until onion is translucent.
- Stir in flour, then slowly pour in beef broth while constantly stirring.
- Add beer, water, tomato paste, bay leaves and thyme, stir well. Then add the beef back in.
- Cover, adjust heat to medium low so it’s bubbling gently. Simmer 1 hr 15 min or until beef is pretty tender.
- Add potatoes and peas, simmer for a further 20 minutes without the lid. Add cooked mushrooms in the last 5 minutes.
- The soup is ready when the potatoes are cooked and beef is very tender (see video).
- Adjust salt and pepper to taste (I like lots of pepper in this!).
- Ladle into bowls. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with crusty bread if desired. Try quick Cheesy Garlic Bread or super easy Irish Soda Bread!
Buttery Mushrooms (optional):
- Melt butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes until browned. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Recipe Notes:
- Red wine – any dry, full bodied red wine. Cab Sauv and Merlots are ideal.
- Guinness Beer and Stout are dark beers, labelled as such on the cans. You should find these at most liquor stores. Use some, drink some – or tip the whole can in an simmer for longer with the lid off!
- Non alcoholic sub – add 400g/14 oz can of crushed tomato, 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce. This will add alternative flavour to compensate.
Nutrition Information:
Originally published May 2019. Updated for housekeeping matters March 2020, no change to recipe.
More chunky, hearty soups
Life of Dozer
This is what a doggy smile looks like.
(And we’d be smiling too if we had Life of Dozer!!!)
I love all of your “people” recipes but I was wondering if you have considered sharing some of your “Dozer” recipes with us. I, too, am becoming more concerned with the quality of dog food that is available and was wondering what you are now serving Dozer. I really enjoy your website and love seeing Dozer enjoying life.
ABSOLUTELY! it’s the project I’m currently working on 🙂 In the meantime, I’ve got a draft post in which I’ve written up the recipe for his meals which might be of interest to you. 🙂 -> https://discountspot.info/tachyon/2019/05/Dozers-natural-food-diet-RecipeTin-Eats.pdf%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
This is going into my “Must Try” folder, because the best beef stew I ever made used Guinness, and I love me some thick broth.
I also want to thank you for giving us several different photos of each finished recipe, in addition to the photos of the various steps involved in the recipe. My recipe software (Paprika) lets me choose the most appealing cover photo for my recipe, and it’s not always the default. It also allows me to include photos in the directions, which is so helpful to illustrate a new technique or to show what the food should look like at a given stage. Thanks!
I hear you Sandy! Guinness Stew is my favourite too! 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi! This does indeed look like my beef stew as I load it up with vegetables, even cabbage. I also make it with red wine and mushrooms. Like other commentors it has been in the mid 90’s here but that doesn’t stop me – when I want something I want it!!
Cabbage in stew! How have I never thought of that?? Enjoy the summer Dorothy! N x
Thanks for sharing your great recipes
You’re so welcome Terri! N x
Nagi, this looks so inviting. It is warming up here but I think I may have to make it. I LOVE vegetable beef soup.
I love Dozers happy face. 🐾❤️🐾
Enjoy the warmth Linda, I’m jealous! N x
This soup looks very tasty. I have pinned it so that I can try this when winter comes in South Carolina, USA. Right now we are hitting 100 degree temperatures and all I want is something cold!
I love seeing Dozer’s happy face! He is just too adorable.
Just shared Bibimbap which is a meal to serve at ROOM TEMP!! N xx
Amen to that! It’s nearly the same in Atlanta and just reading the recipe makes me glow! That pic of Dozer with the cookie on his paw is just plain mean, Nagi!!! But I do that with my Savannah …
We’re so mean to them! 😂 Getting ready for a grilling marathon Amanda, I have a stash coming up! N x
Hi Nagi I was wondering could this soup be cooked in the slow cooker and for how long would you recommend thank you
Absolutely! 5 to 6 hours would be great I think 🙂 N x
This sounds soooo yummy!
It is!! Slow cooked stew in soup form – can’t go wrong! N x