My Personal Soul Food: Beef Vegetable Soup!
My paternal grandparents raised me and my brother after my mom died when I was 10 years old. My grandmother was an exceptional cook! I used to love her beef vegetable soup. I don’t remember she had a written recipe for any of her great food because all of the recipes were in her head! I have been looking for that perfect recipe that mimics her recipe. Her beef vegetable soup always had lean beef that would melt in your mouth and she used bay leaves. Sometimes she would add chopped cabbage to the soup and corn cut off the cob. Sometimes she would add leftover vegetables or beans from another meal. But her homemade beef vegetable soup always had the YUM FACTOR! This is a gluten-free recipe.
Make Your Own Homemade Vegetable Soup
As a bonus I have added a graphic which shows how you can choose your vegetables, choose your protein, choose your seasoning to make your very own vegetable soup. You can put it all in a pot or slow cooker and have a great lunch or dinner.
Instructions
Heat 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil in a Dutch oven or large heavy pot over medium to high heat. Add the chuck roast and sear on each side. Add 3 cups of beef broth (cover the beef), black pepper and bay leaves. Simmer for 2 ½ – 3 hours until fork tender. Add onion, celery, and carrots and cook until the onions and celery are tender. Reduce the heat to low and add garlic, parsley, oregano, marjoram, thyme, and basil cooking for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add 4 cups beef broth, diced potatoes, green beans, diced tomatoes, and Worcestershire Sauce. Add 1 ½ cups of beef broth from the meat without bay leaves. Simmer until vegetables are tender about 20 to 30 minutes. Remove roast from the pot & cool on a cutting board. Shred the beef using 2 forks discarding any fat and cartilage. Add the shredded beef into the pot with vegetables and warm for about 5 minutes.
Notes:
- Slowly simmer the chuck roast until fork tender.
- If there is a vegetable you don’t like you can substitute green beans for frozen peas or frozen corn. Add them about 5 minutes before serving soup to make sure they are cooked.
- You can substitute red potatoes for the Yukon Gold but not russet potatoes.
- If the broth from the chuck roast has a lot of fat you can skim off, use as a great flavoring or refrigerator the broth & the fat rises to the top and you can skim off the fat.
- You can use a crockpot but need to sear the chuck roast before you put it in the crockpot.
- This soup freezes well for up to 3 months.
Nutritional Information Per Serving: 440 calories, 22 grams protein, 23 grams of fat, 43 grams of CHO, 12 grams dietary fiber, 552 mg sodium.
Preparation Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 2 hours 50 minutes
Serves: 8
Ingredients
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
3-pound chuck roast
8 cups low sodium beef broth*
¼ teaspoon ground pepper
2 bay leaves
1 medium onion chopped
2 ribs of celery, chopped
2 carrots, peeled, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced or 2 tablespoons garlic paste
1 teaspoon dried parsley
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon dried marjoram
¼ teaspoon thyme leaves
¼ teaspoon dried basil
2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, diced
¼ pound green beans trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 can (14.5 ounce) petite diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
*Can use Low Sodium Beef Bone Broth instead of low sodium beef broth which is a good source of protein and nutrients.
Shopping List
olive oil
3-pound chuck roast
low sodium beef broth
ground pepper
bay leaves
1 medium onion
celery
2 carrots
2 garlic cloves
dried parsley
dried oregano
dried marjoram
thyme leaves
dried basil
2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes
¼ pound green beans
1 can (14.5 ounce) petite diced tomatoes
Worcestershire Sauce
By Barbara Day, M.S., R.D. is a registered dietitian with a Master’s Degree in clinical nutrition. She is the Chief Blog Organizer for www.DayByDayLiving.net
Barbara worked as a research nutritionist with the military’s tri-service medical school & worked as a performance nutrition consultant to Navy SEALS’ BUD/S Training Program and West Coast Navy SEAL Teams. Barbara is the former nutrition performance consultant to the University of Louisville Athletic Department. She is the author of Fast Facts on Fast Food For Fast People and High Energy Eating Sports Nutrition Workbook for Active People used by the University of Louisville, University of Tennessee Lady Vols and the Tennessee football program, the LSU basketball program, the Buffalo Bills, the Cleveland Browns and by the United States Navy SEALs.
Barbara is the former publisher of Kentuckiana HealthFitness Magazine, Kentuckiana Healthy Woman magazine and radio show host of Health News You Can Use. Barbara has over 60 years of experience in promoting healthy lifestyles to consumers. Barbara is a former runner who walks, a spinner, hiker, a pickleball player, a mother and grandmother to 13 grandchildren.
Barbara also serves on the Leadership Team for Moms for America as the Grammy Grizzlies National Group Leader. (www.momsforamerica.us).
