Beef and Vegetable Soup [Batch Cook Recipe]

This deliciously thick Beef Soup is packed full of vegetables. It’s super easy to make in the slow cooker and will fill your freezer with quick and easy, healthy lunches to get you through the winter. And it’s super cheap at just 42p per portion.

Ingredients

1kg 25% Fat Beef Mince £6.18
1kg Onions 99p
1 Bunch Celery 75p
Garlic Bulb 22p
100g Plain Flour 5p
4 Beef Stock Cubes 23p
200g Tomato Puree 59p
150ml Worcestershire Sauce 69p
1kg Peas £1.15
1kg Carrots 53p
3 Tins (1.2kg) Chopped Tomatoes £1.29

Total = £12.67

Makes 30 servings = 42p per serving

Beef and Vegetable Soup [Batch Cook Recipe]

Food purchased from Aldi. Prices correct at time of publishing.

I am an idiot. I grabbed the “peas” out of the freezer to make my Beef Soup and didn’t notice that they were in fact actually Sweetcorn, until I poured them into my slow cooker. I decided to just go with it, having little other option! The Beef soup tastes just fine with sweetcorn instead of peas but I do think that peas would be the better choice.

Cooking Equipment You Will Need to Make Beef and Vegetable Soup

You do not need a lot of equipment to batch cook. You can get started with tools you probably already have in your kitchen.

To make xxx you will need:

Kitchen Knife
Chopping Board
Large Pan
Freezer Tubs

There are some tools that will make batch cooking quicker and easier.

This Beef and Vegetable Soup is much easier to make if you do it in a slow cooker. You can make it in a pan but you’ll need to be around to watch the pan while it cooks, stirring it every now and then to stop it from burning. With a slow cooker you can sling all of the ingredients into the pot and get on with your life. You can go out and completely ignore your batch cooking.

I like to use a garlic press but you can mince your garlic with a knife if you prefer.

And of course a potato peeler makes peeling the carrots much quicker and easier than using a knife.

How to Make Beef and Vegetable Soup

Start by dicing the onions.

And mincing the garlic.

There are a few different ways that you can mince your garlic. You can use whichever one works best for you.

Fry them in a little fat or oil until they are soft.

Chuck them in your slow cooker.

Dice the celery and throw that in too.

Add the mince meat to the pan pan you fried the onions in – no point in making more washing up! Add four stock cubs and a full bottle of Worcestershire sauce, that’s 150ml. Fry the mince until it’s brown but it doesn’t need to be fully cooked.

Sling the beef mince mixture into the slow cooker.

Add a generous sprinkling of flour. I’d say about 100g.

And a full tube of tomato puree.

Throw in the frozen “peas”.

Peel and finely dice the carrots.

Chuck them into the slow cooker too as well as the 3 tins (cans for you folks over the pond) of tomatoes.

Give it a stir.

Leave the Beef Soup to cook on low for the day or on high if you’re in a rush.

How to Store Beef and Vegetable Soup

Store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

How to Freeze Beef and Vegetable Soup

Portion your cooked Beef and Vegetable Soup into freezer tubs.

These are the freezer tubs I use for most of my batch cook meals. They are a little better quality than some of the cheaper ones I’ve tried. I generally get about 5 years worth of use out of them.

Label the lids with a permanent marker. I’ve tried a few different ones but nothing beats the Sharpie brand markers. The marks easily wash away with a little pressure and a wet cloth.

Once your Beef and Vegetable Soup has cooled down put the tubs into your fridge. Once they are chilled pop them in your freezer to freeze.

How to Defrost Beef and Vegetable Soup

For best results (as they say) take your tub of Beef and Vegetable Soup out of the freezer a day or two before you plan to eat it.

I like to plan my meals a few days in advance and choose from the defrosted meals on the day. That way there’s still some room for spontaneity.

But don’t worry if you forget, you can defrost your Beef and Vegetable Soup in the microwave. Just pop it on defrost for about 10 minutes.

In a real pinch you could cook this Beef and Vegetable Soup from frozen. Ease the frozen mixture out of the freezer tub and into a pan. Gently heat it on the hob until it’s piping hot. You will need to stir it pretty much constantly which is difficult with a solid frozen block. You’ll usually end up having to break it up in order to stop it burning.

How to Serve Beef and Vegetable Soup

I love my soups served with a crusty roll. I get the part baked ones from the supermarket and sling them in the air fryer for 7 minutes while I heat my soup.

When money is tight I make do with sliced bread and butter. And when I want to loose some weight I skip the carbohydrate and just have the soup on it’s own. It’s still a filling lunch.

If I’m eating out on a cold day I boil some water and pour it into a soup flask. After my soup is piping hot I empty out the boiling water and replace it with my hot soup. I get the lid on quick and then I can enjoy some hot soup while I’m having a day out with the kidos.

I do hope that my Beef and Vegetable Soup recipe has inspired you to have a go at making your own Batch Cook Soups for winter.

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Pin It Now, Cook it Later

Pin this Beef and Vegetable Soup recipe to your Pinterest board so you can find it when you need a cheap and healthy soup recipe.

Beef and Vegetable Soup [Batch Cook Recipe] Pinterest Pin

A Note on Food Safety

Freezing and defrosting food really isn’t complicated. But it terrifies me how many people aren’t familiar with basic food hygiene so if you’re new to cooking from scratch and freezing please follow these safety guidlines.

The important things to remember are:

Wash your hands and anything else that has been in contact with raw meat.

Meals should last for about 3 days in the fridge.

Do not defrost your meals at room temperature.

Do not refreeze meals you have already defrosted.

Consume food before the use by date.

A Little Bit About Me . . .

Hi there! Thank you so much for stopping by my little corner of the interweb. I’m Bridie.

Each week I cook up a big batch of a single meal. Most of it goes in the freezer, then it’s just defrost and reheat or sling it in the oven. Even on busy school nights my family get to enjoy healthy home cooked meals that my kids actually eat.

Each week I share a new recipe on my blog. Most of my meals cost less than £1 per portion.

I really hope that my ideas can help other people to stretch their budgets.

I’ve included links to my favourite retailers for the products I’ve used to make my crafts. Click on any of the product images and links for full details. If you decide to buy any of these products I may get a small percentage of what you spend. There’s no cost to you at all.

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