Another family favorite recipe. This originated from an old slow-cooker book called Crockery Cookery, but we’ve adjusted it to our taste and preference (more vegetables, no macaroni, and half the meat). We also doubled everything in the original but the ground beef. So you can make a smaller batch by keeping one pound of ground beef and halving everything else, or you can add another pound of beef to this recipe below for a more ‘meaty’ soup.

One of the best things about this recipe is that, even though peeling and chopping the vegetables can take some time, you don’t have to brown the beef first.

Ingredients

1 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. seasoned salt
2 envelopes onion soup mix
6 cups boiling water
2 8-oz. cans tomato sauce
2 tbsp. soy sauce
2 cups sliced celery (about 6 stalks)
2 cups sliced carrots (about 1 lb)
4 cups diced potatoes (about 2-3 lbs)

Directions

Crumble beef into a large slow-cooker. Add pepper, oregano, basil, seasoned salt, and dry soup mix. Stir in water, tomato sauce and soy sauce. Add celery, carrots, and potatoes. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Yields approx 12 1-1.5 cup servings.