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.
- 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
- 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.
- Remove meat from the pan once you see a little browning on one side.
- Add broth, onions, garlic, celery rib, tomato paste and meat to large pot and simmer for at least one hour and a half.
- Then add carrots, and let soup simmer for forty-five minutes to one hour or until carrots are cooked.
- Check beef to see if it shreds easily and is tender. Add sea salt to taste if necessary and fish out celery rib.
- Then add thinly sliced celery and let it cook for an additional ten to fifteen minutes.
- (optional) garnish with fresh chopped parsley
Two cartons of beef broth?
How many litres?
We don’t all use the same cartons…..
32 fl oz or 1 quart per carton
Can we adapt this recipe to put beef in slow cooker?
Yes, easily just sear the meat before adding to the slow cooker for flavor, and I would add carrots at end so they don’t get mushy.
Instructions are vauge as to when you chop the meat. Before you sear it or after you sear it? Or after it’s cooked? Great recipe!
Sorry about that I trim fat, cube meat, lightly salt it and sear it before adding broth.