Easy and Delicious Beef Soup

I have never been a beef soup person. I've always loved those creamy, fattening, carb filled soups. With my husband and I's lifestyle change, I wanted to find a way to enjoy the lighter broth soups that are good for you. I came up with the recipe below. 

What you will need:

2 32oz boxes of beef broth

1 Medium Onion

10 Garlic cloves

3 Celery stocks

3 Carrots

5 Limes (save one for garnish)

Cilantro for garnish

4 Cups slaw (prepackaged, raw) or you can use cabbage, shredded

1.5 Lbs Stew beef (or some veggie protein)

1/2 Tbsp red pepper flakes

1 Tsp chili powder

1 Tsp salt to season

And last but not least your calorie free cooking spray and your choice of a whole grain. Think healthy: Quinoa, Brown Rice, or maybe whole wheat Pancit noodles.

1. Get your slow cooker heating up on high heat. If you do not have a slow cooker, a large pot is fine. You will want to bring all ingredients to a boil and simmer for about 2 hours. Either way, you will cook your onion, garlic, and beef in a skillet before adding to the other ingredients in the cooking vessel.

2. Pour your beef broth into the slow cooker. Add the juice from your limes. Here is where you will add your personal touch. I like to add red pepper flakes. You may want to add other herbs such as oregano, thyme, etc. I am not a huge fan of those flavors in my soup.

3. As your broth and seasonings are warming up chop your celery and carrots. I chop my vegetables chunky. Add to the slow cooker broth along with the slaw.

4. Cut up your onions and garlic. Again, I like my veggies chunky, so if you feel the same don't worry about wasting time dicing and mincing. Begin heating a large skillet over medium to high heat. Spray the skillet with cooking spray and cook your onions and garlic, covered, for about 3 minutes. Stir occasionally.

5. Add your beef, chili powder and salt to the skillet and sear. Don't worry about searing every side evenly, just toss with the vegetables and do not cook through. The slow cooker will cook the meat. 

 6. Add the beef mixture to your slow cooker, cover and cook on high for about an hour. Every slow cooker is different, however my slow cooker takes about 45 minutes before it begins to simmer/boil. Once your slow cooker is simmering keep the soup on high for about an hour. This is about an hour and a half to two for my slow cooker (total high heat cooking time). Reduce the heat to the setting that keeps your liquid simmering. That is low for me. Leave the soup simmering for about two more hours.

7. About 30 minutes before your finish time, add your starch. When I began making this soup I loved using Quinoa (add it right out of the bag and it will cook in the liquid). I began to experiment and the last time I used Whole Wheat Pancit noodles. Read the directions on the package to rinse and loosen them up before adding them to your soup. Just try to pick whole grains and not processed white flour anything.


8. Use the leaves of cilantro to garnish and flavor with some extra lime juice if you'd like. Then enjoy! If you would like to try a vegetarian approach to this soup, mushrooms are a great addition for some substance and protein. Substitute vegetable broth for the beef. Adding veggie protein also adds some substance and some are flavored with oregano and other seasonings that you don't have to add to the soup. If you are taking the vegetarian route, you can cut your cooking time down to one hour after the liquid boils.