Today’s recipe started out as a simple tortilla soup and, as always, I experimented with herbs and spices. Most tortilla soups use chicken; while I like chicken, it is not my main meal favorite. I think this version is my best batch yet and hope you agree. I think it is ready for prime time. Note that many believe that shredded American cheese makes a creamier soup and freezes better, but my husband and I prefer the taste of cheddar even though it combines less well in the stock.

Ground Beef Tortilla Soup

1 lb. ground chuck or ground round
1 cup chopped onion
3 quarts chicken stock
5 garlic cloves, chopped or put through a garlic sieve
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons ground pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon cilantro
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 12 ounce cans creamed corn
1 29 ounce can diced tomatoes
4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
½ cup cornstarch
1 cup cold water
broken up tortilla chips (prefer Estilo Casera – El Milagro Mexican Kitchen Style Salted Tortilla Chips, available in the Mexican food section of my local Meijer, not in the chips/pretzels, etc. section)

Suggested garnishes: sour cream, chopped green onions, chopped fresh jalapeno peppers, chopped fresh cilantro, salsa, Monteray Jack cheese, garnishes as desired, and in any combination.

While browning the ground chuck or round and sautéing the onions and garlic in the same pan, bring the chicken stock to a boil in a large pan. Add the salt, ground pepper, cumin, cilantro, and cayenne pepper to the boiling stock. Add the creamed corn and the tomatoes and bring to a boil again.

Turn the heat down and slowly add the shredded cheese so it dissolves in the stock. Keep the cheese from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Mix the corn starch in the cold water until it is dissolved; then add the mixture to the soup slowly, constantly stirring.

Let soup simmer for ten minutes, then add the ground beef, onion, garlic mixture and simmer for five more minutes stirring frequently to keep the cheese from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

When you think of chicken stock, I use 2 quarts of the packaged stock you find in the soup aisle of your grocer. The third quart I make with premium chicken stock

This soup should serve 6-8 people as a main course with a green salad.

I have experimented with this batch by freezing part of the soup and I’ll let you know what I think when we eat the defrosted soup.

Looking for a good way to use up all of your left over vegetables? Try vegetable beef soup. We love soup anyway and this soup was concocted from the ingredients I had on hand. It’s quite spicy and rich so you may want to start slowly as you add the spicier ingredients. I like spoon-sized vegetables in my soup so you feel as if you are eating something substantial.

This is the beef I used but your soup will be successful with even cheaper cuts of beef, such as beef for beef stew, or pot roast. I also like the mix of summer and winter vegetables. I didn’t add any salt to the recipe since the commercial broth product was already salty. Your experience may vary depending on the broth product you use.

Season Spanning Italian Vegetable Beef Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil
Beef – 2 pounds sirloin steak, cut in cubes
I large onion, chopped
10 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
4 carrots, chopped
6 stalks of celery, chopped
2 small, hot red peppers, chopped fine (I used cayenne.)
½ small green pepper, chopped
4 potatoes, chopped
1 cup of wine (cabernet or merlot)
6 cups of beef stock (1 water)
1 teaspoon black pepper (I added no salt, as the commercial stock was salty enough.)
1 teaspoon ancho chili pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons oregano
2 teaspoons thyme
3 bay leaves
2 zucchini, chopped
4 ounces mushrooms
¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
½ cup frozen corn, defrosted
24 ounces canned diced tomatoes

Begin by heating the olive oil in a large pan. Add the beef and brown it. Remove the meat from the pan. Add the onions and garlic and sauté in the remaining oil until the onion softens and you have scraped up any browned bits from browning the meat, about 5 minutes. Then, add the carrots, celery, red peppers, green pepper, potatoes, wine, and beef stock. Add the ancho chili pepper, cayenne pepper, oregano, thyme, and bay leaves. Bring the soup just about to a boil and then, reduce the temperature and simmer the soup for a half hour. Add the zucchini and mushrooms. Simmer for ten minutes. Add the parsley, corn, and tomatoes. Simmer just a couple of minutes more until a fork inserted in a potato tells you the vegetables are cooked. Season Spanning Italian Vegetable Beef Soup serves 8.

Consider serving the soup with a green salad though it is not necessary. A good artisan loaf of bread was delicious with the soup. If I were making this recipe again, I’d add rosemary. I’d let the meat simmer for awhile in the stock before adding the vegetables.

Soups like this, with the tomatoes and peppers, can be quite acidic. I have found that adding a pinch or two of corn starch at the end cuts down the acidity.

Image Copyright Seattle Steve