Experimental Beef Soup
Campbell’s Vegetable Beef soup is one of my favorites, so I thought I’d see what I could do to come up with a beef soup recipe. It’s definitely experimental, and there are endless variations that you could come up with, but what I made actually came out really well.
Here’s What You’ll Need…
(Ignore the vinegar and alcohol!) In short:
- One slow cooker (Crock Pot or similar brand)
- One tablespoon (roughly) of butter
- One-quarter cup light olive oil
- 48 fluid ounces of beef stock and/or broth
- Approximately one pound of beef (I used sirloin cubes; chuck would probably have been better)
- Four cloves of garlic
- One medium onion
- Three Roma tomatoes
- Three stalks of celery
- Two heads of broccoli (not shown)
- Two packages (one pound each) frozen carrots, potatoes, and pearl onions
- One package sliced mushrooms (I used baby bella)
- Approximately one pound of fresh potatoes (I used miniatures)
- Approximately ¾ pound pre-cliced carrots
- Worcestershire sauce to taste
- Soy sauce to taste
- A generous amount of black pepper
- Approximately two teaspoons dried oregano
- A dash of seasoned salt (optional)
- Beef bouillon (optional)
Preparation
Turn your slow cooker on low and add the butter and olive oil.
Finely dice the garlic cloves and add to the slow cooker.
Dice the onion and add it to the pot.
Add the carrots and beef and kick the temperature up to high.
Dice the tomatoes and add to the pot.
Next, add the frozen vegetables, mushrooms, and potatoes.
Add the liquids now: the broth and/or stock, Worcestershire sauce, and soy sauce. The shaker top on my soy sauce came off as I was trying to put it in, so I ended up with about ¼ cup of soy sauce—which is why there’s no additional salt in the recipe.
Add the herb(s) and pepper now. I was extra-generous with the pepper and I really like how it came out once the soup was done cooking. Put a lid on it and come back in six hours. At this point, your soup should pretty much fill the slow cooker and your kitchen should be suffused with an enticing smell.
At the six hour mark, dice up the broccoli (not just the crowns, but thinly slice the stems as well—they’re really good for you!) and celery and add it to the pot. Depending on how full it is, you could also add additional hearty vegetables, like kohlrabi or parsnips. Just remember that dense vegetables will require a lot of time to soften. At this point I turned the soup down to low and let it sit for another two and a half hours until…
Soup’s done!
I stepped out for a bit during the last phase of cooking, and I’ll tell you—walking into the house when I returned, my salivary glands kicked into overdrive! The soup was really good that night and even better the next day.
One thing I think I’d try next time is I would reserve half the broccoli until about 20–30 minutes before cooking is over, and add it then. The broccoli will stay somewhat firm and retain more color. I’d also add more celery (I love crunch in soup), maybe as little as 15 minutes before serving.
I hope you enjoy this recipe! If you make it, please let me know what variations you employ so I can give them a whirl, too!
