This tender beef soup recipe took a long time to get right. I’ve struggled with tough beef in my soups, stews, and curries. So, I’m finally happy to say the trick to tender beef soup is to simmer it long enough, for about two and half to three hours and use beef chuck instead of stew meat. I trimmed the hard fat off the beef chuck and chopped it into mostly even size pieces. It doesn’t have to be perfect for it to be tender and delicious.

Since this soup takes so long to cook, add the vegetables towards the end depending on how soft you prefer them. For starchy vegetables such as potatoes, cook them separately and add them at the end. Otherwise, they will disintegrate into your soup and you will have a beef soup that tastes like potatoes instead of beef. Yes, I’ve unfortunately had this happen to me.

Since my husband doesn’t like the stringy texture of celery, I chop it super thin and add it only when the beef is done cooking. It should only take ten to fifteen minutes to cook, or less if you like some crunch.  I use a celery rib to flavor the soup while the beef is cooking and fish it out when done.

Tender Beef Soup

 

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

3 hours

Total time

3 hours 20 mins

 

Author: Lauren Bolanos

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2 cartons of beef broth
• 2-2.5 lbs of beef chuck
• 4-5 carrots peeled and chopped
• 1 cup of celery thinly sliced
• 1 celery rib
• 1 small white onion chopped
• 1 tbsp of tomato paste
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• sea salt to taste
• (optional) parsley to garnish

Instructions

1. Chop beef chuck and remove as much hard fat as possible then season with a little salt and sear on one side with olive oil.
2. Remove meat from the pan once you see a little browning on one side.
3. Add broth, onions, garlic, celery rib, tomato paste and meat to large pot and simmer for at least one hour and a half.
4. Then add carrots, and let soup simmer for forty-five minutes to one hour or until carrots are cooked.
5. Check beef to see if it shreds easily and is tender. Add sea salt to taste if necessary and fish out celery rib.
6. Then add thinly sliced celery and let it cook for an additional ten to fifteen minutes.
7. (optional) garnish with fresh chopped parsley

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I had leftover honey baked ham from Mother’s Day and a bag of dried black eyed peas in the pantry so I thought it would be a good time to experiment with instant pot black eyed peas and ham soup. I can’t say this southern classic is something I’m familiar with but my husband and I were very happy with the results.

My ham had a very sweet crust, so this delicious bowl of comfort food ended up with a nice sweet and savory flavor. I liked the kick of some fresh ground pepper on top to balance out the sweetness and some fresh parsley to garnish, but my husband has a sweet tooth and was happy without the extras on top. This one pot meal was easy to make and easy to clean up and will freeze well if you have leftovers, which is perfect for meal planning.

Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas and Ham Soup

 

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Prep time

1 hour

Cook time

45 mins

Total time

1 hour 45 mins

 

Author: Lauren Bolanos

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1 lb bag of dried black eyed peas
• 4 cups of chopped honey baked ham
• 6 cups of low sodium chicken stock
• ½ tsp sea salt
• 2 cups of chopped yellow onion (approximately 1 medium onion)
• 1 cup of chopped carrots (approximately 2 carrots)
• 1 bay leaf
• (optional) fresh ground black pepper to taste
• (optional) fresh parsley to garnish

Instructions

1. Chop ham, onions and carrots and saute in the instant pot for 5 minutes
2. Then add dried black eyed peas, bay leaf, sea salt, and low sodium chicken stock.
3. Set instant pot to 30 minutes on high pressure. Then let it natural release for 15 minutes before releasing the rest of the steam.
4. (optional) Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

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This roasted butternut squash and apple soup is one of my favorites. It’s dairy free, the garnish is cashew milk, not cream. It’s paleo friendly and will still satisfy your sweet tooth. I also included roasted yellow onions in here. Don’t omit them, they balance out the overly sweet squash and apples to give a nice savory flavor to the soup. This recipe makes a pretty thick soup, but feel free to add more broth if you prefer the broth to be thinner.

If this seems like too much work, or you are looking for a simpler recipe, try my Basic Butternut Squash Soup. It’s not even much a recipe just steamed and blended butternut squash.

I garnished this soup with chives and unsweetened cashew milk that I quickly made in my Vitamix. I made way too much of it, so I’m going to have come up with recipe with smaller portions. This one was just 2 cup of raw unsalted cashews that I soaked for a couple hours, rinsed, and then blended with 2 cups of water. Add more or less water for desired creaminess. It makes good hot chocolate if you add cacao powder and maple syrup to the leftover cashew milk.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

2 hours

Total time

2 hours 15 mins

 

Author: Lauren Bolanos

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2 lbs butternut squash, chopped
• 1 quart of low sodium chicken broth (vegetable broth to make vegan)
• 2 medium yellow onions, chopped
• 1 honey crisp apple, peeled and chopped
• 1 tsp sea salt or to taste
• (optional) chives to garnish
• (optional) cashew milk to garnish (or milk/cream of choice)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease or spray a pan with oil.
3. Then add chopped butternut squash, onion, and apple to pan.
4. Cook at 350 for 2 hours or until butternut squash, apples, and onions are tender.
5. Blend squash, apples, and onions with broth in a high speed blender in batches, then transfer to a large pot.
6. Salt to taste and cook on medium for 15 minutes to blend flavors. Stirring constantly or soup will splash. Blended soups can be messy if you leave them alone.

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This Italian sausage and lentil soup is a favorite in our kitchen. It’s easy, and freezes well. The lentils means it’s not paleo, but it’s still grain, dairy, and gluten free and full of yummy veggies so I still consider it healthy eats.

This past year, my husband and I gave up ordering delivering as our new years resolution to save money. I’m very happy we have been able to achieve our goals, but it means I’ve been less creative and healthy in the kitchen and more concerned with getting dinner on the plate. This recipe was one of my favorites this past year because it’s easy, makes great leftovers that are easy to freeze, and has delicious flavor. Plus, I love hearty soups and during the colder days, they make great comfort food. Not that I mind eating soup when it’s warm. I live in LA near Sawtelle Japantown and I don’t mind eating ramen when it’s 80 or higher degrees out.

Spicy Italian Sausage and Lentil Soup

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

1 hour 15 mins

 

Author: Lauren Bolanos

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 2 cups of small whole green lentils
• 2 quarts of chicken broth
• 2 hot Italian sausage links
• 2 sweet Italian sausage links
• 4 carrots, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 medium white onions, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
• (optional) sea salt to taste
• (optional) parsely, chopped to garnish

Instructions

1. Remove casings from sausage and brown in olive oil on medium low heart in a large pot.
2. Chop onions, garlic, and carrots and add to the pot.
3. Add lentils and chicken broth to the pot.
4. Simmer on low until lentils and carrots are cooked through.
5. (optional) Add salt to taste. This depends on your chicken broth.
6. (optional) Italian parsley chopped as a garnish

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This instant pot split pea and ham soup makes meal planning a breeze. It’s dairy free and gluten free. Although split peas are technically legumes, they are just a dried version of fresh peas, which I love and have used in recipes before. Check out my Vegan Pea Pesto. I’ve stopped being strict about rules, and just try to stick to what feels good. For me, that is dairy free and low carb. I’ll occasionally have carbs and beans, but meat, fish, fruit, and vegetables, are still what I prefer to have the majority of the time.

I’ve been using the Instant Pot a ton to help with meal planning. I’ve always loved using it for hard boiled eggs, but I’ve been doing a lot of experimenting with bone both, meat, stews, and rice. So far, my husband and I love it. At first, releasing the pressure was a little scary, but I wear an oven mitt, when I do to be extra careful, and I haven’t had any issues. I used to love my slow cooker, and it’s been collecting dust in my kitchen since I got this in the mail. So here is another recipe for all my instant pot fanatics (I include myself in that category).

Instant Pot Split Pea and Ham Soup

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

35 mins

 

Author: Lauren Bolanos

Serves: 10

Ingredients

• 1 lbs green split peas
• 1 medium white onion chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• 2 bay leafs
• 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups of chopped ham
• fresh ground pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Chop white onion, mince garlic, and cube chopped ham.
2. Add onions, garlic, and ham to instant pot with green split peas, bay leaves, thyme, and chicken stock.
3. Cook on high pressure for 30 minutes.
4. Then use the quick release to vent steam.
5. Fish out sprigs of thyme and bay leaves.
6. Before serving add some fresh ground pepper to taste.

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Even though it’s 100 degrees here in LA, I still wanted to cook some fall food. I love pureed vegetable soups. They are full of healthy vegetables, paleo friendly, and make a great comfort food. I made this soup really thick and creamy (without the cream), but you can easily thin it out with some chicken or vegetable broth. I did after dinner to give myself a bit more leftovers. This soup does have a bit of a kick, mostly from the little bit of fresh ginger, I grated into the soup. I only used a 1/4 of tsp, but you could always reduce or omit that ingredient.

There are many different curry powders you could use, but I like Mandras Curry Powder, which is what you would use for a mild yellow Indian curry. I got the brand Koshys from my local Indian grocery store. But this mandras curry powder from Rani (on amazon) would work great. You can easily make your own, but it’s nice to have one hand for convenience.

Curried Acorn Squash Soup

 

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Prep time

2 hours 30 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

2 hours 50 mins

 

Author: Lauren Bolanos

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2 acorn squashes
• 2 tbsp mandras curry powder
• 3 carrots
• 1 large sweet white onion
• 1 can of coconut milk
• a pinch of sea salt
• one grind of fresh black pepper
• ½ cup of water
• (optional) 1-2 cups chicken or vegetable broth (to thin out soup for desired thickness)
• (optional) cilantro garnish
• (optional) coconut milk garnish

Instructions

1. Add two acorn squashes (whole), three carrots with ends cut off, one large sweet white onion cut in half, and half a cup of water to slow cooker to steam.
2. Set slow cooker on high for 2.5 hours.
3. Then when acorn squash seems soft to touch, be careful it will be hot in slow cooker and can burn your hand, use a fork or wooden spoon to see if it has softened. Then add carrots, onion, and 1 can of coconut milk (optional: set aside a little bit of the coconut milk for garnishing soup at the end) to the blender.
4. Then half the squashes, and scoop out seeds inside. Scoop out squash flesh, but not skin, and add to blender. Blend in batches to prevent a mess.
5. Once all the vegetables have been blended with the coconut milk, add them to a large pot.
6. Then mix in curry powder and sea salt. Enjoy.
7. (optional) Thin out soup with chicken or vegetable broth to achieve desired soup thickness.
8. (optional) Garnish with cilantro, coconut milk, and fresh ground black pepper

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