Hearty Alphabet Beef Soup

This slow cooker alphabet beef soup is the kind of hands-off dinner kids get excited about. Beef stew meat simmers all day in stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, and onion soup mix, then frozen vegetables and alphabet noodles go in at the end for a hearty, chunky soup.

Five minutes of prep in the morning and dinner is done by evening. The stew meat goes in raw with the tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, and soup mix on LOW for 6 to 8 hours. That long, slow cook turns tough stew meat fall-apart tender.

The vegetables and noodles only need 30 minutes on HIGH at the end. Adding them too early would turn them to mush. Partially thaw the frozen vegetables before tossing them in so they don’t drop the temperature too much.

Onion soup mix pulls double duty as seasoning and thickener, adding savory depth without any extra chopping.

Kitchen Tips

• Cut stew meat into bite-sized pieces if they’re large so they’re easy to eat in the soup
• Partially thaw the frozen vegetables before adding so they cook evenly
• Don’t add the alphabet noodles until the last 30 minutes or they’ll get mushy

Variations

• Use small shell pasta or ditalini instead of alphabet noodles
• Add a diced potato with the meat for a thicker, starchier soup
• Stir in a handful of fresh spinach in the last 5 minutes for added nutrition