It’s that time of year where even the thought of a big pot of hot soup will warm you up. I have been making soup in my crock pot for years and every year it only seems to get better. The first time I ever made my own soup was in the fall of 2012 shortly after David and I got married. After I put everything together in the crock pot David said, “That is not cheap soup!” as I told him how much everything cost. And so that is how it became “Not-Cheap-Soup!”
Ingredients:
Crock pot: On high. Prep Time: 30 minutes. Cook Time: 15 to 18 hours
1.Beef Stew Meat
2. 2 cans of greenbeans
3. 2 cans of corn
4. 6 Carrots
5.4 large Potatoes
6. 1 onion
7. 1 jar of Marinara sauce ( 2 small cans of tomato paste optional)
8. Seasoning: Garlic powder, garlic salt, oregano, basil, and pepper.
Beef Stew Meat:
I usually buy one pound of beef stew meat and divide it for two pots of soup. I like to buy it on sale and freeze it so I have it when I decide to make soup. I sometimes buy steaks on sale and cut them up for stew meat. It just depends on what I find in the stores.
When I start making the soup I like to cut the meat up into small chunks and fry them in olive oil topped with McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning. This seasoning gives the meat a nice flavor and the olive oil keeps the meat from drying out.
- Cut meat to desired size.
- Heat pan and add olive oil.
- Add meat and top with seasoning.
- Continue flipping until cooked all the way through.
Vegetables:
The thing I love about homemade soup is that you can add whatever you want to it and however much. The potatoes are one of my favorite parts so I usually add extra. And if you don’t like something you can just leave it out completely.
- I always start by draining the 2 cans of corn and 2 cans of green beans then dumping them into the crock pot.
- Cut up 1 onion and add it to the pot. ( If you don’t like onion you don’t have to use it).
- Cut up carrots. For this pot I counted and used 6 carrots.
- Peel and cut up potatoes. I had large potatoes and used 4 ( small ones will work too).
Dump everything in the crock pot and mix it up!
Vegetable Broth and Marinara Sauce:
For many years I used 2 cans of tomato paste but one night I cut everything up for soup and then realized I didn’t have any tomato paste. It was late and I couldn’t go to the store to get any so I began looking for a substitute in my pantry. The only thing I had was a jar of Marinara sauce. As it turns out, the marinara sauce was exactly what the soup was missing! In the words of Bob Ross, “We don’t make mistakes, we have happy accidents.”
- Add 1 jar of marinara sauce to everything in the crockpot ( 2 small cans of tomato paste is optional). I use Newman’s Own Marinara Sauce.
- Add 1 carton of vegetable broth to everything in the crock pot. (I use Pacific organic vegetable broth).
Final Steps:
Mix everything together, add the stew meat, and optional seasoning. The marinara sauce has a lot of seasonings and flavor but I still like to add some garlic powder, garlic salt, oregano, basil, and pepper. Add what you like!
I like to start the soup before bed one night and have it for dinner the next evening.
And there you have it, Not-Cheap-Soup! Enjoy!