Beef and Vegetable Soup

Out of all of the recipes in the world, I never expected this one to be in Cody's top five. I mean, it's loaded with veggies and is nothing similar to Cody's other favorite, hamburger steaks.

But what a pleasant surprise because I cannot get enough of this soup. Every time I make it, I'm worried that I made too much, but we always finish it off before it's 2 days old. Especially on cold snowy days, nothing beats this soup alongside some Dutch Oven bread.

What's really great about this soup is that you can use stew meat or any kind of roast! The stew meat version is quicker, but I think I prefer the taste and texture of meat from the chuck roast version. It's the same ingredients other than the different cuts of meat, but I created 2 different instructions as your steps will change depending on what you choose.

This Beef and Vegetable Soup is very versatile and perfect for this time of uncertainty where most cuts of meat have been hard to come by. I had never realized how much I took for granted the fact that all cuts of meat were available at our grocery store until this past 2 week period. What a wake up call!

I hope you enjoy this soup as much as we do!

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Beef and Vegetable Soup

• 2-3 pounds beef stew meat OR 2-3 pounds chuck roast (closest to 2 inches thick)
• 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper 
• 7 cups water 
• beef bouillon cubes to make 4 cups broth (I use bigger ones that make 2 cups each)
• 2 teaspoons chicken better than bouillon
• 1 8 oz can of tomato sauce 
• 2 12 oz bags of frozen vegetable soup mix (picture below of the bag)
• ½ fresh yellow onion, diced 
• 1 teaspoon Tony’s 
• 2 bay leaves 

Stew Meat Version - 

1. Trim fat off of stew meat and dice into one inch pieces, season with salt and pepper.
2. Bring Dutch Oven or large pot over medium heat and add 1 cup water.
3. Add in stew meat and cook for 5-8 minutes or until stew meat is completely cooked.
4. Add in diced yellow onion and cook down for another 5-8 minutes until onions are translucent.
5. Add in rest of water and beef and chicken bouillon. Bring to a boil.
6. Add in bags of frozen veggies and return to a boil for one minute and then turn down to a simmer (medium-low)
7. Add in Tony's, bay leaves, and tomato sauce.
8. Cover partially and let simmer for an hour and a half, stirring every 15 minutes. Taste every 15 minutes and add more salt if desired.
9. Serve with no knead dutch oven bread

Chuck Roast Version - 

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees
2. Season both sides of chuck roast with salt and pepper.
3. Heat a Dutch Oven pot on medium-high heat and add a tablespoon olive oil once very hot. Add chuck roast to the Dutch Oven and let brown for 3 minutes. Flip and let sear for another 3 minutes.
4. Turn off fire, add in 1 cup water and ½ onion, diced small. Cover the Dutch Oven completely and let cook in oven for an hour
5. After the hour is up, take the Dutch Oven out of the oven and remove the chuck roast, letting rest until it is cool enough to cut.
6. Pour water/oil/onion mixture to a glass measuring cup (or something similar) and let cool (you can put it in the fridge to speed up the process), so that the fat rises to the top. We will skim this off before adding back to the soup.
7. In the same Dutch Oven, add 6 cups of water and beef and chicken bouillon. Bring to a boil.
8. Add in bags of frozen veggies and return to a boil for one minute and then turn down to a simmer (medium-low)
9. Add in cubed chuck roast, making sure to discard the fat from the roast.
10. Add in the reserved liquid and onions with the fat skimmed.
11. Add in Tony's, bay leaves, and tomato sauce.
12. Cover partially and let simmer for an hour and a half, stirring every 15 minutes. Taste every 15 minutes and add more salt if desired.
13. Serve with no knead dutch oven bread