Crock Pot Vegetable Beef Soup

Today I was really excited to watch Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos.  Had I known that Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos were going to play terrible and lose 45-10, I would not have been so excited.  But, alas, I was excited so when I made this week's meal plan, I planned a recipe for the crock pot so I could get it going well before the game started.

For the last 2 years, my wife and I have made several attempts at a vegetable beef soup with mixed results.  We made all these soups without recipes.  Some soups have been really good, others have been average at best.  As we all learned from past chili experiences, I'm better off with a recipe.  Today, I think the soup turned out really well, and I actually remember what I did to cook it, so I'm going to document the recipe on this blog so we have it for future reference.  Note that I didn't completely make this up.  I reviewed several recipes online and took themes from them to make this soup, so this is a variation on 5 or 6 different recipes that I looked at.

Crock Pot Vegetable Beef Soup

Ingredients:
1 - 1.5 lb. stew beef
1 yellow onion, diced
3 large russet potatoes, cubed
32 oz. beef broth
1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 oz.)
1 bag of frozen mixed vegetables (16 oz.)
1 TBSP Italian Seasoning
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 tsp. Black Pepper
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Olive Oil

Directions:

1. Heat Olive Oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add stew beef and cook until brown.
2. Add diced yellow onion to the skillet and cook until onions appear translucent. 
3. Combine beef and onions with the remaining ingredients in a crock pot.  Cook on high for 2 hours then on low for approximately 4 hours.  Stir once per hour.

This soup turns out to be very hearty.  It has the typical beef soup flavor with an Italian flair to it due to the tomatoes and Italian seasoning.  The black pepper brings a little heat, but not in an overwhelming way.

I loved this soup, and my oldest son liked it a lot too.  My wife gave it 3 out of 5 stars, but I learned for the first time in our wedded life that she's not a big fan of stewed tomatoes, which would be a problem since that's essentially what happens with the diced tomatoes. 

I will be adding this one to our rotation, especially if the Broncos ever get better.