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!!!)
From the cold country, Ottawa, Canada. Great tasting recipe, will use mac noodles instead of potatoes for freezing.
Made this today and it was AWESOME! I’m in Arizona and it’s 98 outside but it looked so good that I had to make it. Well worth it and thank you again! p.s. kiss the Doz for me
Nearly got me there Nagi – I used wine and it started out purple!! and then turned into a delicious beef mouth watering soup. It was delicious!
Winter is here, soup is on the menu and this was fantastic.
Thanks Nagi, another great recipe.
Wahoo, that’s awesome to hear Jason!! N x
What a great recipe! Love love love this one. This week ive made your Minestrone and now this amazing beef soup and come this week im going to make your creamy mushroom soup and easy bread recipe. Your soups turn out exactly like the pictures and taste amazing. This one is a massive hit with the men in my household. Thank you so much! I cant wait to try more.
This recipe looks great!, am going to make this tomorrow but with lamb, but I worry if the lamb flavor may over power all the other flavors or end up making the soup more fatty? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated 🙏🏼 thanks x
Hi Colleen, lamb does have a stronger flavour – what cut do you have? I’d trim any excess fat away. N x
Made this and added some grape tomatoes made crescent rolls and it was great!
Loved your beef vegetable soup recipe. Yum and not too complicated. Loved the video to get the rhythm of the process. THANK YOU!
Hi Nagi,
Is it possible to add zucchini?
Thank you!
Myriam
Sure can Myriam, I would add it with the potatoes and peas. Enjoy! N x
Hi Nagi,
Can I leave this in the slow cooker to finish cooking whilst I’m at work? Approx 10 hrs.
Would you adjust the ingredients at all, and can I sear everything the night before like you recommend on the slow cooker beef recipe?
Thanks,
Taaryn.
Did you end up slow cooking just wondering if it was successful?
Hi Julie,
No I didn’t. Wasn’t overly confident about quantities of liquid etc, and whether the cook time was too long.
Thank you for reminding me of this recipe though. If I have any success with it, I’ll comment again.
Thanks,
Taaryn.
Was it my mention of my husband being a sportsman that made you not publish my comment about this soup? Just so I know for next time.
Thank you for your reply. We did absolutely LOVE this delicious Beef with Vegetable Soup. Best we have ever had!!
Hi Monica, sometimes comments get stuck in the spam filter unfortunately! N x
Excellent soup. The flavor was so good, and the beef was so tender! I used red wine. Thank you for this recipe.
This soup looks devine but strange question for you, can i use the recipe as is but replace the beef with lamb? Do you think it would work?
Hi Charlotte, yes most definitely! N x
This smells so darn great and only one hour to go 🙂 used red wine vs beer but otherwise I followed the recipe exactly. I really love all of your recipes. Thank you and give a nose boop for me!
Great recipe (I was skeptical that the meat would not be tender but it turned out great). I used stout beer and substituted frozen green beans for the peas. Next time will double recipe.
I made this fabulous vegetable beef soup tonight which has turned out to be a night of record ice and snow in Texas! I loved the thicker gravy like sauce it made by using flour before adding stock and wine. I followed the recipe but added a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce and a bit of beef bullion. Best I have ever made! Thanks for the recipe!
I bought all the ingredients and am set to make this today. Is there a crockpot adaptation?
Hi nagi,
Love your recipes.
Was wondering, is it worth “dry brining” or “velveting” the beef first, to cut the cooking time?
All the best
Steve
Hi yes you can stick it in the father before roasting
Hi there, I’ve made your recipe several times and it’s amazingly delicious!!!! It would however be very helpful if you included approximate cup or weight measures on the veggies. One large russet potato is not the same as a baby red potato or tiny fingerling. Thank you!
What can I use as a substitute for the wine or alcohol ?
if you scroll down to the bottom of the recipe ,you will see ‘recipe notes’ , there you will find her suggestions for alcohol substitutes