🍲 Crock-Pot Hamburger Vegetable Soup
The ultimate hearty, homemade vegetable beef soup
- Prep time: 20 minutes
- Cook time: 6–8 hours on LOW or 3–4 hours on HIGH
- Servings: 6–8
- Difficulty: Easy
🛒 Ingredients
For the soup
- 1½ pounds ground beef (80/20 or 85/15)
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 1 cup frozen green beans, cut into pieces
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 cup carrots, diced
- 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
- 4 cups beef broth
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, if needed for cooking the onion
🧂 Seasonings
- 1½ teaspoons salt, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
Optional for extra flavor:
- 1 beef bouillon cube
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon chili powder for a little warmth
The beef bouillon is my little secret for getting that deep, savory, homemade soup flavor!
👩🍳 Step-by-step instructions
Step 1: Brown the ground beef
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add the ground beef and break it into small crumbles.
- Cook for about 7–10 minutes until browned and fully cooked, reaching 160°F (71°C).
- Drain excess grease if necessary.
Important: Don’t skip browning the beef! It adds a richer flavor to the soup than putting raw ground beef directly into the slow cooker.
Step 2: Prepare the vegetables
While the beef cooks:
- Dice the onion.
- Mince the garlic.
- Peel and chop the potatoes into bite-sized pieces.
- Dice the carrots if using fresh ones.
If you’re using frozen mixed vegetables, you can save time by using those instead of measuring out each vegetable separately.
Step 3: Add everything to the Crock-Pot
Add the following to your slow cooker:
- Cooked ground beef.
- Diced onion and minced garlic.
- Potatoes.
- Corn.
- Green beans.
- Peas.
- Carrots.
- Diced tomatoes.
- Tomato sauce.
- Beef broth.
- Tomato paste.
- Worcestershire sauce.
- All seasonings and the bay leaf.
Stir everything together until well combined.
Pro tip: If you want your soup to look just like the picture, use plenty of colorful vegetables and cut the potatoes into hearty chunks!
Step 4: Let the Crock-Pot do its magic
Put the lid on and cook:
- LOW: 6–8 hours
- HIGH: 3–4 hours
The soup is ready when the potatoes and carrots are fork-tender and the flavors have blended together.
Try not to keep lifting the lid because it releases heat and extends the cooking time.
Step 5: Taste and adjust
About 20–30 minutes before serving:
- Remove the bay leaf.
- Stir the soup well.
- Taste the broth.
- Add more salt and pepper if needed.
- Add a little extra beef bouillon if you want a deeper beef flavor.
- If the soup is too thick, add a little more beef broth.
- If it’s too thin, leave the lid slightly ajar for the final 20–30 minutes, provided your slow cooker’s instructions allow it.
For an extra-rich tomato flavor, stir in another tablespoon of tomato paste.
Step 6: Serve and enjoy!
Ladle the hot soup into bowls and serve with:
- 🥖 Warm, crusty French bread
- 🧈 Buttered dinner rolls
- 🧀 Grilled cheese sandwiches
- 🧂 Saltine crackers
- 🧀 A sprinkle of shredded cheddar cheese
Honestly, a bowl of this soup with buttered cornbread would be AMAZING.
🤫 How to make it taste EXTRA good
If you want that rich, flavorful soup that tastes like it’s been simmering all day, here are my favorite tricks.
1. Use both diced tomatoes and tomato sauce.
The diced tomatoes provide texture, while the tomato sauce creates a thicker, smoother broth.
2. Brown the beef properly.
Let the meat develop some brown edges before stirring it around. Those browned bits add flavor.
3. Add Worcestershire sauce.
It gives the beef broth a deeper, savory taste without making the soup taste like Worcestershire sauce.
4. Don’t be shy with the vegetables.
Your picture looks packed with corn, green beans, peas, carrots, and potatoes. A generous amount makes the soup hearty enough to be a complete meal.
5. Add a little butter at the end.
Stirring in 1 tablespoon of butter just before serving can give the broth a richer, smoother finish.
6. Let it rest for 10 minutes.
After cooking, let the soup sit for a few minutes before serving. The flavors settle together, and the broth may thicken slightly.
🥕 Want to make it even easier? Use frozen mixed vegetables!
Instead of buying every vegetable separately, use:
- 1 bag (16 oz) frozen mixed vegetables
- 3 medium potatoes, diced
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 1 can tomato sauce
- 1½ pounds ground beef
- 4 cups beef broth
Most frozen mixed vegetable bags contain corn, peas, carrots, and green beans, so they’re perfect for this recipe.
Keep the same seasonings and cooking instructions.
One important tip: Frozen vegetables can become quite soft after 6–8 hours. If you prefer them firmer, add them during the last 1½–2 hours on LOW or the last 45–60 minutes on HIGH, making sure the soup returns to a safe cooking temperature.
🧊 How to store leftovers
Refrigerator: Store in an airtight container for up to 3–4 days.
Freezer: Freeze in individual portions for up to 3 months for best quality. The potatoes may soften a little after thawing.
Reheating: Warm on the stovetop over medium-low heat or in the microwave, stirring occasionally. Add a splash of beef broth if the soup has thickened.
Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours of cooking, and reheat to 165°F (74°C).
❤️ My recommendation
For the closest match to your picture, I’d make it with ground beef, potatoes, corn, green beans, peas, carrots, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, beef broth, and a beef bouillon cube.
That combination gives you a colorful, chunky soup with a rich tomato-beef broth.
And here’s one more thing: You can make this soup even heartier by adding a handful of small pasta shells or macaroni. Just cook the pasta separately and stir it in before serving so it doesn’t soak up all your broth.
I can practically taste this with a piece of warm, buttered bread! 😭🍲
