Plant Sale Soup

A hearty hamburger soup recipe with beans, vegetables and pasta, great for feeding a crowd. Wondering about the name, Plant Sale Soup? You've got to admit, it's an unusual name for a soup! This is the soup that the Webster Groves Herb Society feeds its volunteers during its annual spring plant sale!
Plant Sale Soup ♥ KitchenParade.com, hearty hamburger soup recipe with beans, vegetables and pasta, great for feeding a crowd.

COMPLIMENTS!
  • "We loved this soup! ... homey and comforting and hearty and delicious." ~ Felicia
  • "... it was INCREDIBLE! Definitely making this again." ~ Wendy
  • Add yours, leave a comment, below!


My Little "Farm" ... In Herb Pots

Do farmers and home vegetable gardeners feel as proud picking fresh corn and tomatoes from their gardens as I do snipping herbs from pots?

Lucky for home cooks, fresh herbs are sold year-round in grocery stores, convenient albeit expensive.

But now’s the perfect time to plant a few herbs in sunny spots, either in the ground or in pots.

From now through frost, you too can experience a primal pleasure when crafting a salad, seasoning a vegetable or brightening a pasta dish.

Just step outside with scissors to harvest bits of heady rosemary or earthy sage or lively chive, all flavor and no calories.

I keep big pots of the ever-reliable chive, rosemary, parsley and mint. After that, it’s what catches my imagination: enough basil for salads though not pesto; tarragon and dill for fish; oregano and thyme for meat rubs; fragrant lavender; even catnip for the neighborhood cat.

A Friendly Challenge

Now's the time to plant fresh herbs to carry you through the summer. Never done it before? Will you take the challenge? Never Buy Fresh Herbs Again! This post shares many tips, all from personal experience, for growing fresh herbs in pots, in the ground, even in apartments. Then one year, I missed the window for putting in fresh herbs, wow, did I ever miss them and wow, was it ever expensive to buy fresh herbs all summer long, especially knowing how lovely it is to just step outside and snip off a few fresh herbs. I'll never let that happen again!



READER RECIPE: PLANT SALE SOUP

Hearty and heart-warming fare
Hands-on time: 25 minutes
Time to table: 55 minutes
Makes 12 cups
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1 teaspoon table salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 2 ribs celery, diced
  • 2 carrots, diced
  • 16 ounces canned diced tomatoes
  • 15 ounces tomato sauce
  • 15 ounces canned kidney beans, rinsed
  • 3 cups water (two cansful)
  • 5 teaspoons beef bouillon granules
  • 2 cups (6oz or 170g) chopped cabbage
  • 8 ounces (225g) frozen cut green beans
  • 1/2 cup (2oz or 56g) small pasta
  • Grated Parmesan cheese, optional

Brown the meat in large, heavy pot such as a Dutch oven. Drain off the excess fat, then add the garlic, parsley, herbs (see TIPS), salt and pepper; cook for 2-3 minutes. Add all the remaining ingredients except cabbage, green beans and pasta. Bring to a boil, lower then heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Stir in the cabbage, green beans and macaroni. Return to a boil, then simmer until the vegetables are tender and the pasta is fully cooked, about 10 minutes.

To serve, top with Parmesan cheese and enjoy!

ALANNA's TIPS To remove virtually all the fat, rinse the cooked meat in hot water. For extra flavor, use a mild or spicy pork sausage rather than ground beef. Release the fragrance and flavor of dried herbs by rubbing them between your fingers before adding to dishes. Twelve cups is a LOT of soup – make sure your pot is big enough or use two. I start off with one Dutch oven, then split the soup in two before adding the cabbage, green beans and pasta. This soup freezes well!
NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Cup: 134 Calories; 4g Tot Fat; 2g Sat Fat; 16g Carb; 4g Fiber; 542mg Sodium; 23mg Cholesterol; 5g Sugar; 11g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS Old Points 2 & PointsPlus 3 & SmartPoints 4 & Freestyle 3

Many thanks to Kirkwood reader and my neighbor Jane Smith for sharing her soup recipe, the one she makes for volunteers at the annual herb sale for the Webster Groves Herb Society.


More Hearty Soup Recipes

(hover with a mouse for a description; otherwise click a photo to view the recipe)

Hamburger Soup Turkey Sweet Potato Soup Scandinavian Split-Pea Soup
~ more soup recipes ~

Shop Your Pantry First

(helping home cooks save money on groceries)

~ ground beef recipes ~
~ carrot recipes ~
~ canned tomato recipes ~
~ canned bean recipes ~
~ cabbage recipes ~

~ All Recipes, By Ingredient ~
~ How to Save Money on Groceries ~

Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

© Copyright Kitchen Parade 2006, 2010, 2015 (repub) & 2019

Alanna Kellogg
Alanna Kellogg

A Veggie Venture is home of "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg and the famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.

Comments

  1. Anonymous7/18/2007

    Sounds healthy & yummy ! This is a hearty meal in itself.

    5/01/2006

    ReplyDelete
  2. We loved this soup! It's so homey and comforting and hearty and delicious. Thanks for the recipe!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I made this tonight with a few minor changes and it was INCREDIBLE! Definitely making this again. Omitted the green beans, used pork sausage, purple carrots, red cabbage.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thank you for taking a moment to write! I read each and every comment, for each and every recipe. If you have a specific question, it's nearly always answered quick-quick. But I also love hearing your reactions, your curiosity, even your concerns! When you've made a recipe, I especially love to know how it turned out, what variations you made, what you'll do differently the next time. ~ Alanna