Easy Hamburger Vegetable Soup

So. School has started. After school activities have started. My oldest and youngest are in a local production of The Little Mermaid (and the oldest is Flounder, so he’s at every rehearsal.) And I’m just so. freaking. tired. All the time. We’re hitting up the drive-thru more than we should and I think all of us have just been craving something hearty and healthy and homemade. Something with vegetables that are not French fries. I had a fridge and freezer full of good intentions that needed to be used up, so I started throwing stuff into this Easy Hamburger Vegetable Soup and it turned out to be exactly what we needed.

We all felt better (physically AND emotionally!) after eating this.

Easy Hamburger Vegetable Soup from Our Best Bites

Ingredients Needed

The beauty of this recipe is that you can customize it depending on your preferences and what you need to use up. Need to use up some ground beef or have it waiting in your freezer? Use that! Have some leftover pot roast? Use that instead of hamburger! Zucchini? Yellow squash? Bell peppers? Celery? Spinach? Use them! Here’s what I used:

  • Ground beef
  • Onion
  • Fresh garlic
  • Mushrooms
  • Italian seasoning
  • Salt and pepper
  • Worcestershire sauce
  • Tabasco sauce
  • Sugar – Optional.
  • Canned crushed tomatoes
  • Canned tomato sauce
  • Red wine vinegar
  • Beef broth
  • Baby potatoes
  • Frozen or fresh green beans
  • Frozen or fresh corn
vegetables for hamburger vegetable soup

How to Make Hamburger Vegetable Soup

  1. Heat a little oil in a large pot. Add some onions, garlic, and carrots and sauté until the onions begin to soften. Then you’ll add some ground beef.
  2. When the beef is about half way done, you’ll add mushrooms, Italian seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, and salt and pepper.
  3. Once that’s all cooked down, in goes some water, vinegar, crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, beef broth, and potatoes. Let that simmer, add some corn and green beans, and continue to cook until they are heated through to fork tender.
  4. Season to taste with more salt and pepper and serve with rolls or bread and butter.
Easy Hamburger Vegetable Soup from Our Best Bites

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make this ahead of time?

Soups in general are great for planning ahead. Make it one day and enjoy it for several days out of the fridge, or follow the slow cooker instructions so it’s ready when you are.

Hamburger Vegetable Soup

5 from 3 votes
A healthy, comforting beef vegetable soup that can be easily made on weeknights! To make things even more convenient, you can either make it in the Crock Pot or the Instant Pot!
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 22 minutes
Total Time 32 minutes
Servings8 servings

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground beef extra lean, 90% or leaner. You can also substitute leftover chopped pot roast. Sauté the onions, garlic, carrots, and mushrooms, but you don't need to sauté the meat.
  • 1 onion, large minced
  • 4-5 cloves garlic minced
  • 3-4 carrots, medium peeled and chopped
  • 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced you can chop half or all of them
  • 1 ½ tablespoons Italian seasoning
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • ½+ teaspoon Tabasco sauce
  • 1 teaspoon sugar optional
  • 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
  • 1 16-ounce can tomato sauce
  • 1 cup water**
  • 1-2 tablespoons red wine vinegar start with 1 and add more if your soup needs a little more kick. If you enjoy cooking with wine, you can replace the water and red wine vinegar with 1 cup of red wine. Don't use cooking wine–it's too salty.
  • 4 cups beef broth 2 cans, or 1 box
  • 1 pound baby potatoes cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 1 12-ounce package green beans, frozen, cut
  • 1 12-ounce package corn, frozen

Instructions

  • Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. When hot, add onions, garlic, and carrots and sauté for 1-2 minutes or until the onions are fragrant and begin to soften. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking down the meat, until the meat is about halfway cooked. Add mushrooms, Italian seasoning, Worcestershire Sauce, Tabasco Sauce, and season with salt and pepper.
  • When the beef is done cooking, turn heat up to medium-high and allow the juices to cook off. Add the water and vinegar (or red wine, if you prefer) and stir to combine. Add crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, beef broth, and potatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook for about 10 minutes. Add the corn and beans and then continue to simmer until the potatoes are fork tender. Season with salt and pepper (you may need to add quite a bit of salt if you use reduced sodium beef broth.)
  • Serve with rolls or bread.

Notes

Slow Cooker Instructions

Prepare the recipe as directed through browning the meat. Transfer to a crockpot and add all remaining ingredients except beans and corn. Cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 8-10 hours. 1-2 hours before serving, add the beans and corn and allow to cook through.

Instant Pot Instructions

Using the sauté setting on your instant pot, prepare the ingredients through the sauté step. Add ALL remaining ingredients and use the manual setting to cook for 5 minutes. Season to taste.
  • This soup freezes beautifully and tastes even better the next day.
  • Store cooled soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator and consume within 3-4 days for bet results.
  • Feel free to use fresh or frozen corn or green beans, or substitute any veggies you have around that need to be used up! 
  • Leftover pot roast works well in place of ground beef as well. 

Nutrition

Calories: 223kcal, Carbohydrates: 18g, Protein: 12g, Fat: 12g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g, Monounsaturated Fat: 5g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 40mg, Sodium: 125mg, Potassium: 677mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 4g, Vitamin A: 3845IU, Vitamin C: 16mg, Calcium: 61mg, Iron: 2mg
Course: Main Courses, Soups
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Hamburger Vegetable Soup
Calories: 223kcal
Author: Kate Jones
Cost: $10
Did You Make This Recipe?Snap a picture, and hashtag it #ourbestbites. We love to see your creations on our Instagram @ourbestbites!
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Meet The Author

Sara Wells

Sara Wells co-founded Our Best Bites in 2008. She is the author of three Bestselling Cook Books, Best Bites: 150 Family Favorite RecipesSavoring the Seasons with Our Best Bites, and 400 Calories or Less from Our Best Bites. Sara’s work has been featured in many local and national news outlets and publications such as Parenting MagazineBetter Homes & GardensFine CookingThe Rachel Ray Show and the New York Times.

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Questions & Reviews

  1. I am a little confused…the instructions say to add beans and peas…but those are not part of the recipe?? Help please!

    1. The beans are the green beans in the recipe. I’m not sure why it said peas in the slow cooker instructions, but I just fixed that typo! It should be corn 🙂 Sorry for the confusion!

  2. 5 stars
    I made this tonight. My husband doesn’t like mushrooms, so I left those out. I had a lone zucchini that needed to be used up, so that got added in. Didn’t have Tobasco, so I used Tapatio. It was SO GOOD! We’ve been living off candy around here and it was so nice to get in a lot of vegetables. I love how customizable this recipe is. THANK YOU!

  3. 5 stars
    I LOVE this soup and have made it multiple times. I use ground turkey instead of hamburger and didn’t add mushrooms. It makes up a huge pot and I freeze it for easy lunches at work. Super easy to make, delicious to eat and all in one pot for easy clean up!

  4. 5 stars
    Everyone in my family loved this soup! I did a different vinegar because I didn’t have the one in the recipe. I left out the corn because of dietary issues – but this is such a great recipe! I don’t love soup and I even loved it. It also works great for my kid who has IBS – all the ingredients are ones they can have except for the corn. Thank you so much!!!!!

  5. I love a good hamburger soup! This sounds great. What would the serving size be for the weight watchers points?