Crock Pot Vegetable Beef Soup

Is there a particular recipe that you’ve ALWAYS tried to make and it never, ever tastes as good as your mama’s? You can follow her instructions to a T, and it still is missing something? And it makes you stamp your foot and swear off making the recipe? Yeah…well for me, that recipe is Vegetable Beef Soup.

Not only does my Mama’s Vegetable Soup kick butt, my Grandmother’s is even better. And I’ve tried for YEARS to replicate it to no avail. They put something in there and they’re not telling me – the little boogers (I’m sure that’s not the secret ingredient, though).

But finally, I’ve made a Vegetable Beef Soup that I’m happy with – and in the crock pot, no less. I’m sharing my recipe with you and not holding back – because I don’t want you to stamp your foot and swear off Vegetable Beef Soup…that would be a sad life indeed.

But, here’s the kicker. I don’t use ground beef for my “beef” soup. I use venison. For the most part, I hardly ever use ground beef. I always use venison. We stick with steaks and roasts for beef.

For those of you who say you HATE venison, you’ve never had it the way I was raised on it. We get our venison processed with some beef fat so you can hardly even tell it’s NOT beef.

Vegetarian is Native American for lousy hunter. <–Tweet This

So, here’s a special touch…instead of using fresh onion for my vegetable soup, I like to use dried onion. I think it lends a different flavor – giving it my special touch. I keep a good stock of dried onions – check your local bulk food store for the best prices.

This also could easily be made on the stovetop if you don’t have a love affair with your crock pot like I do…or if you forget that dinner is coming and it’s 4pm. Dude – make a meal plan. Just simmer for 1 hour on the stove instead of 8 hours in the crock.

The stovetop method also leads to less slobbering since you don’t smell it for 8 hours.

Bon Appetit!

So, what’s the recipe you’ve never been able to replicate?

Crock Pot Vegetable Beef Soup

1 pound ground beef (venison or turkey would also work)

1 ½ cups cooked beans of your choice (I like kidney) or 1 can beans, rinsed and drained

28 ounces diced tomatoes, undrained

12 ounces frozen mixed vegetables

3 cups beef broth

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried onion

1 teaspoon oregano

½ teaspoon thyme

½ teaspoon pepper

Brown ground meat in skillet. Drain. Add to 4 quart crock pot with remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

Yield: 4-6 servings

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http://impossibleway.livejournal.com Brandy

I’ll have to give this a go!
- Stacy
  
  Watch out! I just passed out in my kitchen. Send help.
http://www.thesimplehomemaker.com Christy, The Simple Homemaker

Dinner TONIGHT! Thanks.
- Stacy
  
  Great! Hope you like it!
Barb S.

My mother always made amazing chicken rice soup. I can make delicious cream soups, chowders, and chili — but not chicken rice– until I got a fat (we’re talking 8 lbs) chicken from a local butcher shop, and added my fresh homegrown herbs. The flavor is so much better. National brand chicken just doesn’t cut it for soup. Now I’m ready to conquer vegetable beef soup, with your recipe. And crock pot, all the better!
- Stacy
  
  I hope you enjoy it – the recipe I mean…because I know you enjoy your crock.
Kelly

Thank you! We LOVE venison and have three deer in our freezer as we speak…so nice to have a new recipe to add some variety! Ah, the joy of being a hunter’s wife…
- Stacy
  
  Ah yes – the joy. Cheap and delicious meat! It’s a rough life.
Casey

Do you rinse your venison or do anything else to it? I have a freezer full, processed with beef fat (I asked for as much as I could get), and I just don’t like it. On the nights I cook it I eat something else. Any tips?
- Stacy
  
  No, I’ve never rinsed it. I was raised on it, so it’s normal for me. But I’ve had lots of friends come to dinner who “won’t” eat venison and they never had a clue it was not beef.
- Kelly
  
  Ours isn’t processed with beef fat, but we learned from an outdoorsman to soak the venison in milk to take out the “gamey” taste. It also tenderizes the meat. This was great when we lived in MN. In Iowa, the corn-fed diet makes the deer taste just like beef! Good luck!
  - Stacy
    
    I have heard that as well!
http://comeplayhouse.blogspot.com Lori Lynn @ Playing House

Stacy, I can’t wait to try this recipe! My father-in-law hunts and my above-the-fridge freezer is full of venison! We eat more chicken dishes than we do beef dishes (in which I’d substitute venison when we have it), so I’ve been having a hard time figuring out how to use it all without eating the same thing over and over. Looking forward to adding this to my repertoire PS Venison is way better than beef in my opinion
- Stacy
  
  I have several ground meat recipes on the site. We eat a lot of venison around here! Try the Spicy Hamburger Goulash.
Gina

Done…& smells good already! Will make cornbread later
- Stacy
  
  Cornbread…yummy!
http://Stacymakescents.com Courtney

I do mine on the stove, but i use V8. And simmer the V8 and the cooked beef and the “hard” vegetables for bout 20 minutes. Add water. Then add a can each of the veggies i like. No beans. I had the same issue w my moms soup. In hers, the secret ingredients were…a bay leaf, a dash of chili powder and a shake or two of worchestershire. And i bet thats what is always missing. Its just a shake or two, to the whole pot…and the V8, however gross u think it is, its great as a veggie soup base…u could do v8 and beef broth instead of water i suppose..but try the worchestershire…
- Stacy
  
  My mom has used it a few times. But then we fuss because it’s not HER soup. lol
Linda

“Vegetarian is Native American for lousy hunter.” Stacy you crack me up! Love your sense of humor! Oh, and the soup sounds delish – I will have to give it a try.
- Stacy
  
  Thanks! I like to make y’all laugh.
Pat

Probably very similar to your beef soup but mine is a Beef Barley soup my mom used to make. I think the barley intimidates me. I can remember lots of carrots and celery and of course the barley but can’t quite seem to remember how she made it. So I I have not attempted it. Anyone have a recipe with the above they would like to share with me??
- Stacy
  
  I’m not a huge fan of barley – and I have no idea why.
Katherine

What brand of crockpot do you use? Is it lead-free? I haven’t cooked in a crockpot for years because I refuse to cook lead into my food. Recipes like this one, with tomato, are particularly risky. I keep looking for a lead-free crockpot because I would love to be able to cook in one.
- Stacy
  
  I have a Hamilton Beach set and a GE. I love them both. I bought lead tests to check and see if they were lead free – they all tested negative for lead. You can pick up a lead testing kit at Lowes.
http://twochicsandablog.wordpress.com Crystal @TwoChicsAndABlog

For me it would have to be my mom’s meatloaf. No matter what mine is just not as good as her’s. We use venison a lot at our house too. We especially like to have it made into summer sausage! So much better than the store bought stuff.
- Stacy
  
  My mom makes kickin’ meatloaf too!!
http://Heathfamily7.wordpress.com Tara H

The soup looks really good, and we have some venison in the freezer since my husband got his first deer this year! Yay!
But I’m really commenting to tell you that we had your sesame maple chicken tonight and we all loved it! You know it’s good when my husband keeps saying, “Honey, this is really good!” It seriously was like having Chinese at home! As a matter of fact we have had your dishes 4 out of 5 days this week. We had no flops…everyone liked all that we had.
- Stacy
  
  Hurray!!!!!
Kerry

Stacy’s recipe #2 in the crock. Well, modified a bit…frozen parsnips and tomato sauce from 2012 garden. Added carrots and celery. And I had to add garlic We have lots of venison but I only like hot dogs and jerky. Did not grow up with it. But it sounds like the way a butcher prepares hamburger makes a big difference. Had really bad elk burger once…that big fells had some serious hormones! Paul couldn’t even eat it….we gave it to a guy with sled dogs
- Stacy
  
  I hope you love it! And I don’t like elk either.
http://getalonghome.com Cindy

I loved this. Tonight is my second time making it. Adding a few extra veggies and couple of cups of tomato juice, because there are a lot of us. Also, celery seed, because I can’t have anything tomato-ey without celery seed in it.
- Stacy
  
  My mom likes tomato juice in hers too – maybe that’s her secret ingredient…I just like the beef broth.