Souper Comfort Stew

🥩 Beef, Tomato & Potato (or Pasta) Soup

Dinner that tastes like a hug, and doesn’t take all night to make.

Whether you're team tiny pasta or diced potato, this one’s built to make your life easier. Throw it in the Instant Pot, slow cooker, or a big ol’ Dutch oven and let the magic happen. Bonus: it reheats beautifully for lunch the next day.

🛒 Ingredients:

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1½ tsp kosher salt
• ½ - 1 cup diced onion
• ½ cup diced celery
• ½ cup diced carrot
• 1-3 tsp garlic (minced or paste)
• 28 oz can crushed or diced tomatoes (any brand you like)
• 32 oz beef broth (reduce to 24 oz if using potatoes)
• 2 bay leaves
• Optional: ½ packet French Onion seasoning
• 4 oz acini di pepe pasta OR 1 to 2 cups diced potatoes
• Optional toppings: grated Parmesan, crispy onions, fresh thyme, green onions

🍲 Multicooker/Instant Pot Directions:

1. Sauté ground beef with salt until browned.
2. Add onion, celery, carrot, and garlic. Sauté 3 to 4 minutes.
3. Stir in tomatoes, broth (see tip above), bay leaves, and seasoning mix.
4. Pressure cook on Soup setting (25-35 minutes). Quick release.
5. Add uncooked pasta (or pre-cooked potatoes), then pressure cook for 6 minutes (or half pasta package time).
6. Remove bay leaves, garnish, and serve.

🐢 Slow Cooker:

1. Brown beef in a skillet, then sauté onion, celery, carrot, and garlic.
2. Add everything except the pasta to the slow cooker.
3. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
4. About 20 to 30 minutes before serving, switch your slow cooker to high (if it’s not already), add the dry pasta directly to the soup, and stir a couple of times to prevent sticking. Check after 10 to 15 minutes. Or, stir in cooked pasta at the end (and/or serve with crackers and cheese).

🧀 Topping Tip: Crispy onions + Parmesan = chef’s kiss.

🥄 Batch it: Double up and freeze half for a stress-free dinner later.