Mexican Vegetable Beef Soup | Gimme Some Oven

Easy45 minsGluten-Free

This Mexican Vegetable Beef Soup recipe is full of tender steak, potatoes and veggies, and made with the most comforting tomato-chile broth.  Stove-top, Instant Pot (pressure cooker) and Crock-Pot (slow cooker) instructions included below.

Brrrr.  Baby, it’s getting cold outside here in Barcelona!

Ok, “cold” is probably a relative term here on the Mediterranean, especially compared to the forecast back home in the Kansas City.  ?  Still, the mornings and evenings here have felt extra chilly to us Midwesterners who aren’t accustomed to walking for miles and miles a day, sans cars with nice warm heaters, and a nice warm fireplaces to come home to this time of year.  Not to mention, we still haven’t totally figured out the heater and hot water situation in our 200-year-old building, which only seems to like to work about half of the time.  (Often calling it quits in the middle of a hot shower…bah!)

So ha, suffice it to say, we’ve been loading up on some extra blankets this winter, brewing lots of hot cinnamon tea, cozying up with our pups around the (Netflix) fireplace for extra snuggles, and cooking up a ridiculous(ly amazing) number of our favorite soups to warm up.  And one of my new favorites this year?

This unbelievably delicious Mexican spin on classic vegetable beef soup.

As I’ve mentioned before on the blog, traditional Vegetable Beef Soup was one of our family’s all-time favorite winter comfort foods back in the day.  And I still crave it every year when the temperatures begin to dip.

But this year, especially after falling in love with this Carnitas Soup, I thought that it might be fun to try a Mexican Barbacoa Beef-inspired twist on this soup.  Think — all of the tender steak, potatoes, veggies and tomato-y broth we love, seasoned with mild chiles, cumin and cilantro.  And of course, topped with a generous helping of fresh avocado.

Sí, por favor.

Turns out, it was just as delicious as I had hoped.  I decided to season mine with my favorite dried pasilla chiles (or dried guajillo chiles would also work, or you could use canned chipotles in adobo sauce, affiliate links).  And especially with fire-roasted tomatoes and roasted red peppers tossed in, this broth was downright irresistible!  I also haven’t been able to track down diced green chiles here in Spain yet, but a can of those added in would probably also be ??????.

I also kept things classic with just tomatoes, carrots, onion, and potatoes.  But feel free to toss in any other leftover veggies that you have on hand.  And as always, nearly any lean cut of steak will work great here, or you could use ground beef if you prefer.

Also!  Guys!  We need to talk about how ultra-easy this recipe is in the Instant Pot (affiliate link).  I’ve included instructions below for how to make it on the stove-top or in a slow cooker (affiliate link).  But if you’re looking for an extra-simple option this winter, I would go Instant Pot all the way.  Just toss everything in and set the timer, then in less than an hour your steak will be fall-apart tender and ready to go.  Still can’t get over how brilliant this thing is.  Cooking game-changer.

Once your soup is ready to go, dish it up…

…and serve nice and warm, garnished with lots of fresh cilantro.  And diced avocado, I insist.

Cozy, comforting, warming, winter soups for the win!  Enjoy, everyone!

This recipe contains affiliate links.

Yield: 6-8 servings

Mexican Vegetable Beef Soup

This Mexican Vegetable Beef Soup recipe is full of tender steak, potatoes and veggies, and made with the most comforting tomato-chile broth.  Feel free to add in any extra veggies that you have on hand too!

Total Time:45 mins

Prep Time:15 mins

Cook Time:30 mins

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium white onion, peeled and diced
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 4 cups beef stock
• 2 (15-ounce) jars diced fire-roasted tomatoes
• 1 (12-ounce) jar roasted red peppers, drained and chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, chopped
• 1.5 pounds sirloin steak, cut into 1-inch pieces*
• 2 dried pasilla chiles or dried guajillo chiles (or 1-2 chipotles in adobo sauce**, chopped)
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly-cracked black pepper
• optional toppings: diced avocado, chopped fresh cilantro, diced red onion, and/or crumbled tortilla chips

Directions:

On The Stovetop:

1. Heat olive oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat.  Add onion and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened.  Add garlic and sauté for 1-2 more minutes until fragrant, stirring occasionally.
2. Add beef stock, tomatoes, red peppers, carrots, potatoes, steak, chiles (or chipotles), cumin, salt and pepper, and stir to combine.  Continue cooking until the soup reaches a simmer.  Then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and continue simmering for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes and steak are tender.
3. Remove and discard the chiles (although leave the chipotles in, if using).  Taste, and season the soup with extra salt and pepper and cumin, if needed.
4. Serve warm, garnished with your desired toppings.

In The Instant Pot (Pressure Cooker):

1. Add all ingredients* to the bowl of your Instant Pot, and briefly stir to combine.  Close lid securely and set vent to “Sealing”.  Press “Manual”, then press “Pressure” until the light on “High Pressure” lights up, then adjust the +/- buttons until time reads 40 minutes.  Cook.  Once the soup has cooked, very carefully turn the vent to “Venting” for quick release, and wait until all of the steam has released and the valve has dropped.  Remove the lid.
2. Remove and discard the chiles (although leave the chipotles in, if using).  Taste, and season the soup with extra salt and pepper and cumin, if needed.
3. Serve warm, garnished with your desired toppings.

In The Crock-Pot (Slow Cooker):

1. Add all ingredients* to the bowl of a large slow cooker, and briefly stir to combine.  Cook for 4 hours on high, or 8 hours on low.
2. Remove and discard the chiles (although leave the chipotles in, if using).  Taste, and season the soup with extra salt and pepper and cumin, if needed.
3. Serve warm, garnished with your desired toppings.

*If you are cooking this soup in the slow cooker or Instant Pot, feel free to cook the steak whole, then remove and shred the steak into bite-sized pieces once the soup has finished cooking.  Also, please use whatever cut of lean steak you love!

**If using chipotles in adobo, feel free to start with just one.  Then you can taste the soup after it has finished cooking, and add in an extra chipotle if you would like more smoky/chile flavor.

Cooking time listed is for the stovetop method.

Difficulty: EasyCategory: Gluten-Free

All images and text ©Gimme Some Oven