4.49 from 3780 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 3780 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




    539 Comments

    1. can I swap out the 4 cuips of water with V8 juice ???? how will that affect the flavor

      1. Hi Harry,

        I know some readers like the V8 juice instead of using water. I haven’t tried it personally, but I think it would still taste yummy.

      2. Hi Harry, My name is Joann and I was wandering if you tried this Busy Day Soup with the V8, Tomato Juice, etc… If so how did it turn out? Cause if I make it I would use some type of Tomato Juice or V8. Or maybe do half water and half Tomato Juice/V8. Thanks for any help you can give me.

        1. Joann and Stacie,

          OK I made it today and just had my first bowl full and it was GREAT ,, a different and wonderful taste….

          I made two changes… as you know I used original V8 juice and I used Beefy Onion soup mix.

          I can’t Thank you enough for this wonderful and easy recipe… once gain… GREAT Flavor….

    2. Great recipe. I made it vegan for my daughter so sauteed some onion and carrot instead of the beef in the beginning and added some frozen plant based crumbles in with the frozen veggies. Good depth of flavor.

    3. In the place of just the pasta, I have added a box of Mac and cheese. The cheese gives some extra flavor, and easy when in a hurry. I often also add a can of drained and rinsed beans as well; extra protein and fiber…

    4. Looks delicious. How can you cut down the salt for those who are on low sodium diets.

      1. I’m not that familiar with low sodium diets. I think the onion soup mix has a lot of sodium though so if there is a low sodium version of that you could try that. Or you could omit it and season it with Italian seasoning and/or other spices.

    5. Can you use beef broth instead of water?

    6. Hello
      If you don’t have onion soup mix will chicken bouillon work
      I am using ground Turkey instead of ground beef
      Thank you in advance for your help

      1. You can use chicken bouillon, but I would also add in some other spices like possibly salt, Italian seasoning etc just to give it more flavor.

    7. Elaine Gentry says:

      I made this last night and it was perfect for a cold night. I used half beef half ground turkey. I buy “value packs” of these two when they are on sale, cook and drain all of it and put 1 lb (ish) portions in freezer bags. Saves time and (a little) fat. Since I didn’t have much beef fat (I do the combo because my family doesn’t like the texture of turkey alone) and, for some reason, I had to add about 4+ cups of water to be able to cook the pasta, I added 2 spoons of “Better Than Bouillon” Beef. It was delicious! Thanks for the recipe!

    8. Can you use canned veggies?

    9. This was really good. I used beef broth instead of water and added sautéed onions and garlic. I also added fresh spinach because I had some extra that I needed to use up. Really good, homemade soup to use for lunches throughout the week. Thanks!

    10. My husband and I prefer to omit the pasta and use potato, celery, and onion. I do add frozen green beans and a bit of corn. I also like a bit more beefy taste so I use beef soup base. Long been a family favorite. Thanks for your postings.

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