Nana’s Vegetable Soup

This is the best vegetable soup you will ever taste! My Nana made this often and would have the whole family over for soup and cornbread. Here is her cornbread recipe. We would eat until we were stuffed!

It is also so versatile. You can use just vegetables and no meat. You can leave things out or add vegetables like green beans, butter beans, or other vegetables you like. You can toss in a bag of frozen mixed vegetables in to make it even easier and quicker. You can add ground beef or use this recipe using stew meat, which takes a bit longer. If you use really lean ground beef, it won’t have quite enough flavor so I will add a tablespoon of olive oil or bacon drippings if I have some. Nana always added a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil.

“Them ain’t nothing but formica.” Here’s a funny moment spent in my Nana’s kitchen (she’s in the red) with her sister (in the brown & orange) and my Mama (in the black).

Nana’s Vegetable Soup

Recipe by Paige MurrayCourse: SoupCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

10

minutes
Cooking time

1

hour 

Ingredients

  • ½ head of cabbage

  • ½ bag frozen corn

  • ½ bag frozen lima beans

  • 1 onion, diced

  • 3 carrots, sliced thin.

  • 1 can peas

  • 1-2 tablespoons Oil (Nana used vegetable. I like bacon drippings, Olive or Canola oil)

  • 3-6 potatoes, diced

  • 2 quart bottle of Campell’s tomato juice

  • 1-2 tbsp. salt

  • Pepper

  • 1 lb ground beef (Leanness of choice)* Optional

Directions

  • If using ground beef, brown beef in a skillet, breaking into pieces.
  • Cut cabbage in half (remove hard center). Slice cabbage into strips.
  • Put cabbage in a large pot, barley cover with water and add a little bit of oil.
  • Bring to boil.
  • Add chopped onion, cut potatoes, carrots, corn, and lima beans.
  • Barley cover with water and cook about 15 minutes until tender.
  • Add peas and tomato juice.
  • Add ground beef if using. If using really lean beef, you may want to add a bit of oil for flavor.
  • Add 1-2 tablespoons of oil if using lean beef or no beef.
  • Add salt & pepper to taste.
  • Bring to a boil then cover & reduce heat to low. Simmer on low for 30 minutes or longer.
  • Serve with cornbread
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