If you’re a frugal cook, you need a Hamburger Vegetable Soup recipe. Easy to adapt to any eating-style: vegetarian, paleo, Whole30, gluten-free, dairy-free. And it’s loaded with inexpensive but flavorful ingredients. Instant Pot, Slow Cooker, Stovetop, and Freezer instructions included!
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Because we try to save the most money while eating as healthy as possible, my family doesn’t buy a lot of fancy cuts of meat. We try to eat local, grass-fed beef, and that’s expensive. As a result, we generally just keep ground beef at the house.
Ground beef is easy to cook, easy to make ahead, adds a wonderful flavor to every dish, and you can make it stretch by only using a little bit in your dish. Simply round out the meal with vegetables and legumes.
I love doing that by making Hamburger Vegetable Soup. I can use 1 pound of meat to make 2 gallons of soup. Even the meat-lovers in my family love this soup because everyone gets a little ground beef in every bowl. They aren’t stuck fishing around for a chunk of beef like they’re panning for gold.
Okay, honest moment: I hate the name hamburger soup. Was there ever a trashier name for a soup? But the truth is, this soup is delicious, comforting, loaded with REAL FOOD and extremely budget-friendly. If you love the name as much as I do, try this instead: Beef & Vegetable Soup (oooh, is it a roast beef stew? Sounds fancy. I bet it has tiny bits of fresh parsley sprinkled on the top.)
In fact, hamburger soup is one of our favorite recipes when we do a pantry challenge or we just need to cook from what we have in the pantry and freezer.
Homemade Hamburger Soup
I’m going to share a recipe with you, but please don’t limit yourself to that recipe. As long as you keep the beef (or beans!), onion, carrots, and seasoning, you can add or substitute almost anything dying a slow death in your crisper drawer. It’s an easy way to revive leftover vegetables, and it’s flexible for almost any cooking style:
Vegetarian or Vegan Vegetable Soup
Make it a vegetable soup! Use white beans or lentils instead of beef, and use vegetable broth instead of water. This makes it more like a minestrone, which in my opinion is nothing to complain about.
Paleo Beef & Veggie Soup
Depending on whether you eat potatoes, you may wish to substitute them for cauliflower. or try riced cauliflower!
Gluten-Free Hamburger Soup
DONE! This recipe is already gluten-free.
Dairy-Free Comfort Food Soup
SAME! But really, why is all the comfort food covered in cheese? This beef & veggie soup is such a comfort food, and you don’t need any dairy!
Nightshade-Free Vegetable Hamburger Soup
Remove tomatoes and substitute water with beef broth. You may wish to doctor it with some different spices.
I used this recipe in a post about how to convert any of your favorite soups into an Instant Pot recipe! Read the full instructions here.
Make it Hamburger Soup *Really* Frugal
Go Meatless (Or Mostly) Hamburger Soup
Substitute all or part of the beef with white beans, black-eyed peas, or lentils.
Add More Starch
These are a great starch filler for this soup, but you can use anything you have on hand – rice, pasta, quinoa, sweet potatoes, winter squash, or cauliflower. Add these instead of or in addition to the potatoes. Taste test and adjust seasonings as necessary.
Use Different Vegetables in Hamburger Soup
In my house, this soup looks different depending on the season.
In the early Fall, I use:
- the last of the summer squash
- broccoli
- cauliflower
- spinach
- kale
- cabbage
In the Winter, I use:
- cabbage
- winter squash
- frozen mixed vegetables
- frozen chopped spinach or greens
In the Spring:
- peas
- spinach
- other baby greens
Add these instead of or in addition to the cabbage. Taste test and adjust seasonings as necessary.
I always add onions and carrots. After that, I use any variety of vegetables in place of or in addition to the cabbage. Use what works for you!
This Hamburger Vegetable Soup Recipe is:
- Easy
- Make-ahead
- Healthy
- Loaded with veggies
- Versatile
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
- Paleo variation
- Whole30 variation
- Vegan variation
- Vegetarian variation
If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and tag a photo #cheapskatecook and @cheapskatecook on Instagram.
Hamburger Vegetable Soup
If you’re a frugal cook, you need a Hamburger Vegetable Soup recipe. Easy to adapt to any eating-style: vegetarian, paleo, Whole30, gluten-free, dairy-free. And it’s loaded with inexpensive but flavorful ingredients. Instant Pot, Slow Cooker, Stovetop, and Freezer instructions included!
Ingredients
- 1/2-1 lb. ground beef, (to taste)
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 1 cup potatoes, peeled and diced
- 2 cups carrots, sliced into ¼-inch discs
- 3 cups cabbage, shredded
- Two 14.5-oz cans diced tomatoes
- 4-6 cups water or beef broth
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/4 tsp basil
- 1/4 tsp thyme, (can substitute oregano)
- Salt, to taste
- Pepper, to taste
Instructions
Stove Top:
- In a large pot, brown ground beef and onion until beef is cooked and onion is almost translucent.
- Add everything else to the pot except salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer 30-45 minutes, until potatoes and carrots are tender. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Slow Cooker:
- In a small pan over medium heat, saute onion with 1 tbsp butter or oil until onion is translucent.
- Place onion, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, tomatoes, water, bay, basil, and thyme in the slow cooker. Cook on low 6-8 hours or on high 3-4, until potatoes and carrots are tender.
- 30 minutes before serving, brown ground beef in a pan on the stove until cooked through. Add beef to soup and stir well. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Instant Pot:
- Set Instant Pot to Saute setting, on medium heat for 15 minutes. Brown ground beef and onion until beef is cooked and onion is almost translucent.
- Add everything else to the Pot except salt and pepper. Set to Pressure Cook on High 3 minutes. Let pressure release naturally. Season soup with salt and pepper, to taste.
Freezer-to-Slow-Cooker (or Instant Pot!):
- Place onion, carrots, cabbage, tomatoes, bay, basil, and thyme in a gallon-size freezer bag. Write “Beef & Veggie Soup” on the bag with a permanent marker.
- Write these cooking directions on the bag, and follow them when you’re ready to cook: “Thaw overnight in the fridge with 1 lb ground beef. Add to Slow Cooker with 4-6 cups water. Cook on low 6-8 hours or on high 3-4. Brown ground beef and add just before serving. Season with salt and pepper.”
- Freeze for up to 3 months.
Serve With:
- Serve warm with salad, crackers, bread, baked sweet potatoes, or biscuits. You may wish to top the soup with shredded cheese.
Notes
- Make-ahead - This is a great way to use The Only Beef You Need to Make!
- Go Meatless - Substitute white beans or lentils for the beef.
- More Starch - Potatoes are a great starch filler for this soup, but you can also use rice, pasta, quinoa, or cauliflower instead of or in addition to the potatoes.
- More Greens - Adding frozen spinach in place of or along with the cabbage is an easy way to get more greens!
- More Veggies - You can add a wide variety of vegetables to this soup in place of the cabbage (and/or potatoes): broccoli, cauliflower, kale, peppers, peas, green beans, summer squash, and winter squash.
Nutrition Information
Yield 6 Serving Size 1 cupAmount Per Serving Calories 184Total Fat 7gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 3gCholesterol 34mgSodium 447mgCarbohydrates 18gFiber 5gSugar 7gProtein 13g
Please note: The actual calories and nutrition of this dish will change depending on what ingredients you use. Nutrition information is not always accurate.
More Ground Beef Dishes:
- Picadillo (Mexican Beef & Potato Stew)
- 4-Ingredient Sausage – An easy, clean, and inexpensive way to enjoy sausage!
- The Only Beef You Need To Make – An easy, make-ahead beef you can use for nearly every ground beef recipe.
- Mostly Meatless Nacho Dip
- Modified Macaroni & Cheese: 4 Ways – Easy variations of the Cheapest Homemade Macaroni & Cheese
What You Can Do Now:
Do you have a favorite go-to soup?
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This might be my new favorite soup this season! I chopped the cabbage up really small and my kids devoured this and asked for seconds. Whaaaat?!? Thanks for another delicious meal! I am loving your book!
I’m so glad to hear that! Thank you for letting me know!
This is so wholesome and absolutely delicious. Such a great soup!!!
Thank you for a great recipe. I had to tailor it for my medical diet. I used “the only beef you need to make,” beef broth, potatoes, bell peppers, zucchini and yellow squash. It was delicious! I can’t wait to eat it again tonight!!!
So glad you liked it! I love how flexible this recipe is. Glad you could tailor it to your needs!
I made this in my pressure cooker. Super easy, tasty, and full of vegetables. I used cabbage, but next time I think I will try shredded zucchini.