Source: Sara Allison
Snapshot Review
My Rating: 
My Husband’s Rating:
Will I make again?: I make this frequently!
Recipe Difficulty: Easy, but there are a few steps.
Time Involved: Takes some time.
Occasion: Dinner when you have time.
About this Recipe
This is a go-to soup recipe for our house. This is my Mother-in-Law’s recipe, and it’s one of my husband’s favorites. It is a very flavorful soup that is hearty and also quite light at only 234 calories a bowl. It’s also loaded with vegetables, which is a definite plus! You’ll need to make this when you’ll be home for awhile, as it has to simmer for an hour.
Ingredients
The main ingredients are ground beef, onion, potato, carrots, celery, cabbage, tomatoes, red beans, pasta and some herbs and spices.
Recommendations
Cook your pasta separately. My husband insists on this, but I have to say, I agree with him because if you boil the pasta in the soup, it absorbs too much of the liquid as it sits, and it also inflates too much. So boil the pasta, set it aside, and keep it in a separate dish for the duration of eating this soup. The original recipe calls for broken spaghetti, but we think a short pasta is easier to eat.
Usually when I see water in a soup recipe, I want to substitute broth. Do not do that here. The beef, vegetables and other ingredients provide plenty of flavor, and the soup will be way to salty if you use broth.
Final thoughts
We absolutely love this dish, and I think you will too!
Joyce’s Minestrone Hamburger Soup
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 cup onion diced
- 1 cup potato cubed, raw
- 1 cup carrot diced
- 1/2 cup celery diced
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cabbage
- 2 14 oz cans diced tomatoes drained
- 1 14 oz can red beans drained and rinsed
- 6 cups water
- 1 cup short pasta like shells or ditalini
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme, dried
- 1/2 teaspoon basil, dried
- 5 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- Parmesan cheese, grated for topping
Instructions
- Brown the ground beef with the onion in a little bit of oil until the beef is brown throughout.
- Add potato, carrots, celery, cabbage and beans. Saute for 1-2 minutes.
- Then add the bay leaf, thyme, basil, salt, and pepper and the 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
- In a separate pot, boil the pasta according to the package directions and drain. Set aside.
- To serve, place about 1-2 tablespoons of pasta in the bowl, add the soup and top with grated Parmesan cheese.
- Keep the pasta separate from the soup for storing/reheating. Otherwise the pasta soaks up too much of the broth and gets overly cooked.
Hi! I’m Sara Allison, and I’m the author behind Bright SaraPhim. I have always loved to cook, and I’m excited to share new and favorite recipes with you as well as my love for Essential Oils!
Good recommendation about cooking pasta separately!