4.49 from 3776 votes

Busy Day Soup

Busy Day Soup is perfect for those busy weeknights. It’s quick to make and requires little effort. Who loves easy recipes? Rich and savory broth, tender pasta, and loads of veggies and beef in each bite. 

Busy Day Soup - An easy soup recipe your family will love! It's quick to make and takes little effort. Perfect for those busy weeknights.


Busy Day Soup

What I love about Busy Day Soup is that you can throw all the ingredients into the pot and let your stove work its magic.

It has a few low prep ingredients like ground beef, onion soup mix, mixed frozen veggies, diced tomatoes and macaroni.

It’s perfect for days where you don’t know what to make for dinner. If you’re like me, those days are frequent.

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    This fall is a busy season for our family. My youngest daughter rides horses a couple times a week and is also taking swimming lessons. She is in Bronze Medallion and hopes to be a lifeguard. It’s a lot of shuttling back and forth. Good times.

    When I want a simple, hearty meal, I turn to this soup recipe. Serve it with soda crackers or a buttered roll. It’s so tasty and filling.

    Busy Day Soup - An easy soup recipe your family will love! It's quick to make and takes little effort. Perfect for those busy weeknights.

    How to Make Busy Day Soup

    Grab a large soup pot, and brown the ground beef. Drain off the fat after it’s cooked so your soup isn’t greasy.

    Pour in the water, onion soup mix and tomatoes with their juices. Simmer for 1 hour on medium low heat.

    After the 1 hour mark, add in the uncooked macaroni noodles and frozen mixed vegetables. Cook for another 15 minutes on medium heat. The noodles and frozen veggies will cook until they are tender.

    You don’t need to thaw the vegetables. Just throw them in right from the freezer. That is what I love about this recipe, it truly is so simple to make and pull together. 

    Serve it up hot! It makes about 6 servings and tastes even better the next day heated up. It’s just the two of us at home now so we always have leftovers.

    Busy Day Soup - An easy soup recipe your family will love! It's quick to make and takes little effort. Perfect for those busy weeknights.

    Can I Swap Meat in Soup 

    Sure, you are more than welcome to use ground turkey, pork, or even ground chicken. Just cook the meat until it is fully done. You could even take the skins off bratwurst and use them. I am sure it would add a nice level of flavor. 

    Or maybe you want to layer the flavor of two meats. Beef and sausage are always a fantastic pairing and really can elevate the flavor. 

    Busy Day Soup - An easy soup recipe your family will love! It's quick to make and takes little effort. Perfect for those busy weeknights.

    Vegetables in Soup

    The veggies used in this soup can be adjusted to fit your tastebuds. If you have fresh veggies you want to prep and slice up, go for it. Or if you have a bag of frozen vegetables in the freezer that sound tasty, use them instead. 

    Feel free to raid your pantry or freezer and use what you have on hand. Just get creative and pick items that you like the flavor of. Then I think you will enjoy the flavor of the soup. 

    Busy Day Soup - An easy soup recipe your family will love! It's quick to make and takes little effort. Perfect for those busy weeknights.

    Can I Change Out the Pasta in this Soup

    Yes, if you don’t have any macaroni on hand, feel free to change it up. Reach for shells, rotini, ziti, etc. Any pasta will work you just want to ensure your pasta fully cooks. You could even break up spaghetti noodles to place in the soup. 

    I do feel that depending on the pasta the flavor of the soup varies slightly. But, overall any flavor is amazing paired with all the broth and vegetables. 

    Busy Day Soup - An easy soup recipe your family will love! It's quick to make and takes little effort. Perfect for those busy weeknights.

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    Toppings for Busy Day Soup

    • Sprinkle with fresh parsley or even Italian seasoning for color and flavor. 
    • Shred and sprinkle cheese that adds a nice cheesy flavor. 
    • Add on some crackers or even crunchy croutons to soak up the savory broth. 
    • Splash of hot sauce to elevate the heat factor. 

    You can truly do so much to this soup to elevate the flavor. I love it how it is, but sometimes we add on some toppings to change up the flavor of the soup. 

    Meal Prep with Leftover Soup 

    This soup is incredible for placing in single serve containers and storing in the fridge. Meal prep for quick on the go lunches for when you need something quick. I think the flavor just blends even more as it sits in the fridge. 

    In terms of freezing, you will find you can freeze this soup. The vegetables will change a bit in texture as they thaw, but the flavor of this soup is still amazing and tasty. Pasta, as well, can become a bit mushy, so if you know you are going to freeze, cook to al dente. 

    How to Make in the Slow Cooker

    You can also make Busy Day Soup in the slow cooker. Cook the ground beef first on the stove.  Add all the ingredients except the pasta to the slow cooker. Cook on low heat for 6 hours. Add in the uncooked pasta when there is only 30 minutes left of cooking time.

    Craving More Soup Recipes 

    • Stuffed Pepper Soup | If you enjoy stuffed peppers, you will love this incredible soup recipe. You get all the flavors of stuffed peppers but without all the work. 
    • Dill Pickle Soup | Serve up this comforting and filling soup. If you know someone who loves pickles, this soup was made for them. 
    • Cauliflower Soup with Bacon | You have a creamy soup that is loaded with cauliflower flavor and then topped with crispy bacon in every single bite. 

    For other delicious soup recipes, try my New England Clam Chowder, Hamburger Soup, Cream of Celery SoupCream of Carrot SoupCheeseburger Chowder, Sausage & Cabbage Soup and Cabbage Roll Soup.

    What are your favourite recipes for busy days?

    Busy Day Soup - An easy soup recipe your family will love! It's quick to make and takes little effort. Perfect for those busy weeknights.
    4.49 from 3776 votes

    Busy Day Soup

    Created by Stacie Vaughan
    Servings 6
    Prep Time 5 minutes
    Cook Time 1 hour 25 minutes
    Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
    An easy soup recipe your family will love! It’s quick to make and takes little effort. Perfect for those busy weeknights.

    Ingredients
     
     

    • 1 lb ground beef
    • 1 packet onion soup mix
    • 1 ¾ cup mixed frozen vegetables
    • 5 cups water
    • 1 can diced tomatoes 28oz can
    • 1 cup macaroni uncooked

    Instructions

    • In a large soup pot, brown ground beef. Drain fat.
    • Pour in water, onion soup mix and tomatoes with juice. Simmer for 1 hour on medium low.
    • Add macaroni and frozen vegetables. Cook 15 minutes longer on medium heat. Serve hot.

    Video

    Notes

    If soup is too thick, add more water to thin out.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1bowl | Calories: 230kcal | Carbohydrates: 28.5g | Protein: 22.1g | Fat: 3.1g | Saturated Fat: 1.3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.4g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 45.2mg | Sodium: 522.4mg | Fiber: 5.1g | Sugar: 5g

    The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

    Course Soups
    Cuisine American
    Keyword busy day soup, easy recipes, ground beef, soup recipes

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    Recipe Rating




    534 Comments

    1. Instead of water could I use tomato juice?  

      1. I haven’t tried it that way, but it should be ok.

    2. Delish! Both my kids loved this soup – and that is no easy accomplishment! I added a beef stock cube, a few splashes of Worcestershire sauce and a sprinkle of thyme and oregano from the garden. 

      1. I was wondering if I should simmer with a lid or no lid? I just simmered it for an hour with no lid and once I added the pasta and veggies it’s no longer a soup. It’s much dryer and stew like. Any suggestions of what I could add for additional liquid? 

    3. Pat Schulte says:

      Made this last night and followed all the ingredients as written.  Added the frozen vegetables at 45 minutes and the pasta at 55 minutes.  The only thing additional I added was 1 tsp dried thyme.  This was delicious and we are looking forward to having some leftovers for lunch today.  I kept the lid on the whole time and had lots of  tomato broth.

    4. Really great soup!  I followed  Mindy’s suggestion of using 4 cups of beef broth and 2 cups of water. Reheated well and defnitely better the next day. 

    5. Delicious soup! I used Mindy’s suggestion of using 4 cups of beef broth and two cups of water. The soup was definitely better the next day. Reheated well. 

    6. I made this soup this morning, loved it! ❤

    7. This is one of the RARE recipes that my husband will actually request. Speaks volumes. I add the fully cooked pasta to each bowl instead of cooking it in the soup. That way it doesn’t suck up all of the broth while cooking. I will sometimes add some V8 juice if the soup needs more broth. I have been making a version of this soup since the 70s. It’s a keeper.

    8. Joycelyn Moore says:

      Absolutely delicious!!! I substituted 4 cups of low sodium cchicken broth and 2 cups of water. Also 29 oz. diced tomatoes with garlic, green onions, and red peppers. The macaroni and frozen mixed vegetables cooked really well. It was so good I had two bowls for lunch. I preferred it thick like a chilli. Will have it again for lunch tomorrow and will make another pot for our church social. Thanks a lot.

    9. Angela S. says:

      I added a beef bouillon cube, season all, red pepper  and wheat noodles. Yums!

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