Cowboy Soup with Ground Beef, Beans and Potatoes
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It’s called cowboy soup because it’s loaded with everything. Ground beef, beans, ton of veggies and potatoes all simmered in a flavorfully seasoned broth. It’s high protein and filled with fiber to keep you full all day long.
The best part about this soup is you can toss in anything you have on hand. It’s my go to when it’s cold outside and I have leftover veggies about to go bad. It takes about 20 minutes to cook snd it’s ready to serve. It’s even better the next day, so make extra!
For more cold weather soups and stews try chicken enchilada soup, Instant Pot turkey chili and white bean chicken chili.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- 260 calories per serving and 26g of protein.
- Simple ingredients.
Ingredients and Substitutes:
These are the main ingredients and substitutions for this cowboy stew recipe. See recipe card below for full ingredients list and instructions.
- Lean Ground Beef: 96/4 is best so your broth isn’t oily. If using a fattier ground beef, remove excess grease. Substitute with any ground meat: ground chicken or ground sausage are my favorites. If using ground turkey, add a little extra seasoning to get that extra flavor.
- Russet Potatoes: I like russet because the starch yields a thicker soup. Use any type of potato, including sweet potatoes or omit completely.
- Rotel: If you can’t find Rotel tomatoes, use a can of diced tomatoes and a small can of green chilies.
- Ranch Beans: if you can’t find Ranch Style Beans, substitute with a can of chili beans, pinto beans, black beans or kidney beans.
- Frozen Vegetables: I used frozen to make life easy but I often use fresh vegetables that are leftover from the week and about to go bad. Toss them all in!
- Jalapeno: adjust your spice level with the jalapeno. For mild to no spice, omit entirely.
- Beef Broth: has a deeper and richer flavor than others broths but you can use chicken broth or vegetable broth.
Variations
- Top with shredded cheese, broken tortilla chips or a dollop of sour cream.
- Add a little hot sauce into the mix for some heat.
Dietary Modifications
- This recipe is gluten-free and dairy-free as written.
How to make this heart cowboy soup (a step-by-step visual guide):
Step 1: brown meat and add onions and garlic
Over medium-high heat, add 1 Tbsp. olive oil to the large pot or dutch oven. Once hot, add the ground beef and break into pieces to cook (image 1). Cook over medium until almost completely cooked and no longer pink. Add onions and garlic to the pot and simmer until the onions begin to turn translucent (image 2). Stir often so the bottom does not burn. Add chili powder, cumin, salt and black pepper to the meat and mix together well the combine (image 3). Add chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper to the meat and mix together well the combine. Add potatoes, rotel tomatoes, frozen veggies, beans with the juices, jalapeno and beef broth. Stir to combine and bring to a boil (image 4).
Step 2: simmer and serve
Once boiling, lower the heat to simmer and cook covered for 20 minutes until the potatoes are fork tender (image 5).
Expert Tip!
Swap any veggies or potatoes with what you have on hand!
Recipe FAQs
Slow Cooker: brown the meat and add to the crockpot. Then, add all remaining ingredients. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. If you lose some liquid, add additional beef broth.
Instant Pot: Follow the same directions as the stove top and cook for 15 minutes. You can brown the meat directly in the base of the instant pot on sauté.
Top with broken tortilla chips, hot sauce, sliced jalapeño, shredded cheese, a dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt. This cowboy soup is great as a standalone dish but you can also serve with a side salad or some fresh garlic bread.
Store any leftover cowboy soup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days or freeze for up to three months.
Check out some of our other easy meals!
- Vegetarian Hamburger Helper
- Air Fryer Smashed Potatoes
- Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta
- Creamy Cajun Shrimp Pasta with Sausage
If you make this recipe, please leave a rating and/or comment! Tag me on Instagram @ohsnapmacros, I love hearing from you!
Cowboy Soup
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Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 lbs. lean ground beef 96/4
- 1/2 medium onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tsp. chili powder
- 2 tsp. ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- 1 lbs. russet potatoes chopped
- 10 oz. Rotel tomatoes
- 12 oz. frozen mixed vegetables
- 15 oz. Ranch Style Beans with juices
- 1 jalapeno seeds removed and chopped (optional)
- 5 cups Beef Broth
Instructions
- Over medium heat add 1 Tbsp. olive oil to the large dutch oven or soup pot. Once hot add the ground beef and break into pieces to cook. Cook over medium until almost completely cooked and no longer pink. Add onions and garlic to the pot and simmer until the onions begin to turn translucent. Stir often so the bottom does not burn.
- Add chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper to the meat and mix together well the combine. Add potatoes, rotel tomatoes, frozen veggies, beans with the juices, jalapeno and beef broth. Stir to combine and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling lower the heat to simmer and cook covered for 20 minutes until the potatoes are fork tender.
Notes
- Nutritional facts are an estimate and will vary with substitutions.
- For the most accurate serving measurement, weigh your final dish and divide by the number of servings.
- If you want less heat, omit the jalapeños. You can add it on when serving if desired.
I swapped the ground beef for beef stew meat and put it all in the crockpot and it was soooo good. Makes a great winter dinner for the familu
YUM!! That sounds amazing!!
This was so flavorful and good! The whole family loved it. It was quick and easy to make. I didn’t alter any of the ingredients. Will definitely be making this again.
Made this tonight for the first time and it was a hit! Hubby went back for seconds so that’s how I know it was a hit. It will be a keeper for these cold days ahead.
Definitely how you know!! So glad you loved it!
This recipe was easy and definitely filling! It made for a great meal to take to a friend that was recently in the hospital, along with cornbread and toppings and enough to feed my whole family too with leftovers. However, I feel like it lacked some flavor, I need more seasonings or something in my soup. Still like it, just didn’t love it like I do all of your other recipes I have made!
It’s definitely hard to meet everyone’s preferred spices level. I’m glad you were able to enjoy it and bring it to a friend in need!
So easy and delicious! I divide it into six large, ~450 calorie servings, instead of 10 servings. Very filling, and more in the calorie range that I personally like my meals to be. Especially when it’s this good, you’re going to want a bigger bowl of it! Plus the macros are on point!
Delicious! A family favorite in less than 40 minutes!
A fast favorite – super easy to throw together. Dinner or for meal prep. Filling and delicious!
Glad to hear it!
So quick and delicious! It’s made our monthly rotation 🙂
i am not sure if i have already commented on this recipe because we use your recipes weekly! but this is a staple in our house! add some sweet heat jalapeños too!
Another great meal that the whole family will eat, thanks for sharing macro friendly recipes that my kids will eat too! It’s so nice to not have to fix multiple meals each night! ❤️
Had it for dinner tonight. So good. I added a few tortilla chips, a little grated cheese, a spoon full of sour cream on top. So good. Yum.
Making again today! Freezes great for other family too. It’s so good and easy – best kind of recipe 😋
This soup was amazing! Your recipes never disappoint. I love how much spice and flavor you add-other recipes are usually lacking but yours are always so flavorful and I never have to add any additional spice.
I loved this recipe!! I also love how easy it was!! So good and so ready for soup season!!
Made this soup the other night and actually decided to use my crockpot. Although, it would have been super easy to make on my stovetop as well.
Soup has amazing flavors and is a monthly staple in my home!
Is this spicy? If so, can I omit green chilies and just add two cans diced tomatoes?
You could but the main heat source is the jalapeños. I’d omit jalapeño and lower chili powder if necessary. The green chilis in the rotel won’t do too much IMO.