This delicious Vegetable Beef Alphabet Soup has a flavorful broth and tons of veggies! Fun alphabet pasta makes it as fun for kids and adults as it is nutritious.
I know alphabet soup is usually toddler food.
Its right up there with bananas smeared with peanut butter and smiley-face-shaped sandwiches. I have a confession though: I might occasionally still like kid favorites.
Especially when they involve lots of veggies and fresh herbs.
Make this meal a little more grown-up-friendly by pairing this soup with Savory Thyme and Swiss Cheese Scones!
This soup is hearty and comforting, and full of the good stuff that we try so hard to get our kids to eat more of. (It is sort-of like the sister soup to my Spaghetti Ring and Meatball Soup!) And just 1 1/2 cups of alphabet-shaped noodles cooks up to be a lot of pasta, so little ones are as happy to eat it as you are to give it to them.
Give it a try because you might just find that you like kiddo food as much as I do.
Easy Homemade Alphabet Soup Recipe
Alphabet Soup Ingredients:
- Alphabet pasta
- Olive oil
- Lean ground beef
- Onion
- Garlic
- Carrots
- Canned crushed tomatoes
- Tomato paste
- Worcestershire sauce
- Bay leaves
- Low-sodium beef stock
- Salt
- Dried oregano
- Black pepper
- Green beans
- Frozen sweet green peas
- Canned sweet corn
- Fresh herbs, such as a mix of fresh rosemary, thyme, and oregano
How to Make Alphabet Soup:
- Cook the pasta to al dente and set aside to add to the soup later.
- Layer flavors in the soup! Brown the meat, and then add the onion and let it sauté, and later add the garlic and cook until fragrant.
- Add the beef stock and vegetables and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer, and cook until the veggies are fork-tender.
Pro Tip: Cook the pasta separately from the soup and add the al dente pasta once the soup is done cooking. This helps prevent the pasta from overcooking, and also reduces the starchiness.
Alphabet Pasta
So, what is alphabet pasta? It is literally just pasta that’s shaped like letters of the alphabet! It’s whimsical and fun for kids and adults.
But if you can’t find alphabet pasta, other fun alternatives are mini wheels pasta and rings pasta.
More Kid Food with a Grown-Up Twist:
- Spaghetti Ring and Meatball Soup
- Peanut Butter, Banana, and Honey Milkshake
- Grown Up Chicken Nuggets
- Healthy Cherry Garcia Ice Cream Recipe (No Ice Cream Maker)
- Grown Up Sloppy Joes
- Crumble Topped Peanut Butter Strawberry Jam Bars
Did you make this recipe? Please rate it and leave a comment below because I love hearing from you! You can also tag @anediblemosaic on social media. To stay up-to-date FOLLOW ME on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Xoxo, Faith
Vegetable Beef Alphabet Soup
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups alphabet pasta
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 1/2 pounds 95% lean ground beef
- 1 large onion diced
- 5 cloves garlic crushed
- 4 large carrots peeled if not organic and chopped
- 14 ounce can crushed tomatoes with juices
- 10 ounces tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 bay leaves
- 8 cups low-sodium beef broth
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 pound green beans trimmed and chopped into 1-inch pieces
- 5 ounces frozen sweet green peas thawed
- 15 ounce can sweet corn rinsed and drained
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano
Instructions
- Cook the pasta to al dente according to the package directions; drain and set aside.
- Heat the oil over high heat in a large soup pot. Once hot, add the beef and cook until browned, about 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the onion and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally; add the garlic and cook 1 minute more, stirring constantly.
- Add the carrot, crushed tomato, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves, stock, salt, dried oregano, and black pepper. Bring to a gentle boil, then cover the pot, turn the heat down to simmer, and cook for 10 minutes.
- Stir in the green beans, then simmer (covered) until all the vegetables are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes more, stirring occasionally.
- Once the vegetables are tender, stir in the cooked pasta, peas, corn, rosemary, thyme, and fresh oregano.
- Serve.
Faith's Tips
- Cook the pasta separately from the soup and add the al dente pasta once the soup is done cooking. This helps prevent the pasta from overcooking, and also reduces the starchiness.
- Don’t skip the fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, and oregano); they add so much flavor to this soup!
Nutrition
This post was first published on An Edible Mosaic on April 11, 2014. It was updated with more information on February 21, 2020.
Disclosure: This post contains Amazon affiliate links to products I believe in, which means that even though it doesn’t cost you anything extra, I will receive a small amount of money from the sale of these items. Thank you for helping to support An Edible Mosaic!
Made this for dinner lastnight. It was amazing i felt like a little girl while eating it lol. I used sirloin tips instead of ground beef and added some chopped spinach. Also used a few spoons of tomato based sofrito since i only had half the amount of tomato paste. This ones a winner!
Absolutely love. Either it’s nostalgic with the alphabet pasta or just good, healthy soup without the pasta. Thanks so much!
There’s nothing wrong with toddler food! Especially when it’s remade into a fantastic homemade soup like this. (Also, we may have just eaten grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner. I’m just saying.)
That soup looks ever so comforting! A wonderfully regressive dish.
Cheers,
Rosa
Totally making this for Kay! But mostly for me….yayy for kiddo foods :)