Ground Beef Stew (with a secret!)
My Grandaddy loved stews and soups. He had a special bowl that he liked to eat stew out of and Grandmama always served him in that bowl.
I do much the same thing with my coffee, even though I know it may seem a bit silly. One of my favorite things to do is get up a little earlier than everyone else and creep into the kitchen to make the first cup of coffee in my special cup, then go sit down in the sun room and look out to the trees in the back yard. It is a little ritual that helps to center me, kind of like taking a deep calming breath before the day begins.
I don’t get to do that very often though because my Katy (who has informed us that from here on out she is to be called by her first and middle name of “Katy Rose”) - excuse me, my Katy Rose is an even earlier riser than her Mama. Some mornings I get my coffee made and get ready to head out into the sun room and a little curly headed pixie pops into the kitchen, so I turn around and head to the recliner instead where she will curl up in my lap and let me stroke her hair while we talk about her dreams.
And that’s a pretty good way to start the day, too.
Grandaddy's Favorite Stew Bowl. The pattern is called "Friendship" and is made by Pyrex.
I have one rule in my house about mornings, I don’t care how early you get up as long as you wake up happy. I don’t think this is very difficult to do, either, so I’m pretty serious about enforcing it. I have made my kids go back into their rooms when they emerge with sour faces and turn around and come back out again with a smile (surprisingly, it works!).
A positive attitude will bring you happiness every time, so why not start your day off with one? Even if you find yourself having to go back in your own bedroom and come out again! ~grins~
And to make your day a little brighter, here is a fuss free, economical, and delicious beef stew to warm you from the inside out. I just love stew weather! 
I decided to bring this stew to you using ground beef because it is so economical and most of us have it on hand. This stew is incredibly flavorful and easily adapted to what you have in your pantry and freezer.
I have one special ingredient that I do hope you’ll try though, and that is Spicy Hot V-8 juice. It is what gives my stew such a full bodied flavor without me having to cook it all day and add a gazillion different spices. Don’t worry though, it doesn’t make it hot at all - I promise!
Have you ever had the beef stew from Cracker Barrel? To me, beef stew made with this spicy V-8 tastes a lot like that. I used to have to buy a big old bottle of this juice whenever I needed some but this time I found a six pack of cans, which makes a lot more sense if you are going to put it in your pantry to cook with. If you see a generic spicy hot vegetable juice, that will work just fine (y’all know I love generics).
You’ll need: Potatoes, Carrots, Onions, Diced tomatoes, Green Beans, Beef Bouillon Cubes,Ground Beef, and 1-2 cans of Spicy Hot V-8 juice.
You can use beef broth in place of the bouillon cubes but I prefer them because they are less expensive and take up less space when storing them (a small container makes about as much broth as twenty five cans of beef broth). You can also substitute some other bean of your preference for the green beans or add any number of other vegetables.
Stews are great to tweak and really make them your own. Play! have fun!
When you’re done, you’ll still have supper. 
Peel and dice your carrots, potatoes, and onion. Place in a large pot.
As a shortcut you can use a bag of frozen cubed hash browns for the potatoes.
Add can of tomatoes and bag of frozen green beans.
Add four bouillon cubes and two cups of water.
Add in your Spicy Hot V-8 juice.
I am using two cans in mine but you can use one and taste it to see if you want to use the second.
I used two and it still wasn’t hot, just very flavorful.
Bring this to a boil and then reduce heat and cover and simmer for an hour or so, until vegetables are tender.
Add ground beef.
My beef is already browned and waiting happily for me in the freezer to save making another mess.
To see how I process large quantities of ground beef with ease, click here.
Stir in a teaspoon of salt.
You won’t need any pepper because of the V-8 juice but you should salt it to your personal taste. I like to salt it shortly before serving because that gives me a chance to taste the finished product and see about how much it needs.
Serve with crackers or cornbread. I’m using little pieces of Dixie Cornbread. Oh my goodness, this was a good supper!
These dishes are called “Flamingo Pink” by Pyrex. They were made in three different colors and some of them had a gold band around the outer edge. They are milk glass with a painted on pink. ~sighs contentedly~ I just love them.
Ingredients
- 1-2 lbs ground beef, cooked and drained
- Carrots, diced
- Onion, peeled and chopped
- 5-6 potatoes, peeled and diced
- 2-3 Cups frozen green beans
- 29 ounce can diced or crushed tomatoes
- 1-2 Cans Spicy Hot V-8 juice (I use two)
- 2 C water
- 4 Beef Boullion Cubes
- 1 tsp salt (more or less to taste)
Instructions
- Place everything in a pot except for ground beef. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmering. Cover and cook for an hour until vegetables are tender. Add ground beef, cook for another thirty minutes.
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Ingredients
- 1-2 lbs ground beef, cooked and drained
- Carrots, diced
- Onion, peeled and chopped
- 5-6 potatoes, peeled and diced
- 2-3 Cups frozen green beans
- 29 ounce can diced or crushed tomatoes
- 1-2 Cans Spicy Hot V-8 juice (I use two)
- 2 C water
- 4 Beef Boullion Cubes
- 1 tsp salt (more or less to taste)
Instructions
- Place everything in a pot except for ground beef. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmering. Cover and cook for an hour until vegetables are tender. Add ground beef, cook for another thirty minutes.
Print This Recipe
*This can be assembled in the morning and put in your slow cooker all day on low. If doing it this way, just go ahead and add the ground beef in at the start. I add it in last to keep it a little firmer.
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BE the change you want to see in the World.
Submitted by Judy. To submit your quote, click here.
Yesterday I had an amazing opportunity that I never thought I’d have and of course, I have you to thank for it. I had a chance to go back to the University of North Alabama in Florence, Alabama (where I graduated) and speak to the freshmen in my department. I also got to tour the new culinary school and their kitchen was the most impressive one I’ve ever seen.
I was so honored to be able to have this bit of time with them and am so grateful that they were kind enough to give an hour of their attention to me and what I had to say.
I told them the story of Southern Plate, how I got started and where it has led with all of the incredible opportunities that have come my way as a result. I told them all about you, my Southern Plate Family. How wonderful you are to me every day and how much all of you have given me.
But most importantly, while I had their ear, I told them what I feel are the three things in life that will guarantee success and happiness to anyone, no matter what you do or where you go. I don’t think this is any secret, but just three things that many of us take for granted from one time to another that really do determine our future.
Good Manners – Good Education- Positive attitude
So thanks to all of the students who listened to me yesterday. I’ve heard from many of you and am going to reply to your emails after I finish this post. I truly appreciate the time you gave me and can hardly wait to see how you are going to make the world a better place!
Gratefully,
Christy
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Posted by Christy Jordan
on Sep 25 2009. Filed under Main Course, Soups and Stews.
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How many servings does the beef stew recipe make?
Christy,
I was reading the story about your Ground Beef Stew, when I stoped and was looking at the picture of your Grandpa’s favorite soup bowl. My daddy’s favorite soup bowl is just like that one only it was white, with light green chickens, it was the only one he would est his soups, beans, stews and cereal out of.
thank you ma’am..this recipe is everything I expected beef stew to be..spot on
I am so glad to hear that you liked it!!!
Could you add pasta to this? If so, would you cook it first and add it or add it early enough to cook with the stew? It looks yummy!!
I am having so much fun browzing through your site!! And getting more hungry by the second…lol…I make hamburger stew much like this quite often but have never used V-8..awesome idea!! Sometimes I make Big drop dumplings on the top of the stew , put the lid on and in about 15-20 min they are nice and puffy and cover the whole top pretty much…Yummy!!! Will try it with V-* juice next time I make it , I am not really a cold weather fan except for the “cold weather” foods, like soups, chilis, stews, pot roasts…yummy. Thanks again!!!
Hiya LOVELY recipe, sounds like its going to turn out FAB. Can someone suggest an alternative to this V8 juice thing like tinned tomatoes and some form of spices?? I live in jolly old England and I’ve never ever heard of it. Also… Is ground meat the same as minced meat?? Going to make this for my mum visiting tomorrow… Hopefully Thanks X
Hey Ann!
V8 is tomato juice. The spicy version has dried herbs and a little heat to it. I’d get tomato juice and add either some crushed red pepper flakes (dried, 1/2 tsp or so) or a few splashes of liquid red hot sauce if y’all have that. I need to go check out a grocery store in England so I can be more helpful! The meat is a beef ground up, it may be called hamburger. However you can use small chunks of beef as well, just make sure they have time to get cooked through. I hope this helps! Have a great day
Bloody Mary mix
Christy, I love Southern Plate n your recipes .
I do substitute beef or chicken broth for the
boullion cubes to cut down on the sodium.
I have high blood pressure n heart probs
n this definitely helps. As you say I make the
recipes my own : – )) Thank you for all you do.
Best recipe ever! I added a few extra vegetables instead of using the frozen green beans and can of diced tomatoe. I added zucchini to mine with real tomatoes, a few extra vegetables including carrots and potatoes of course and instead of the V-8 Spicy I used the regular original V-8 juice and it turned out perfect! I will definatley be using this again so thank you so very much!
[...] So I headed to the God known as Google and what did I find? I found this recipe from Christy Jordan. I read through her post and decided that sounded pretty good, but then I remembered that I [...]
Hi Christie;
I read your recipe on the stew and using V8 juice. I found that using it in spaghetti and lasagna sauce gives it just that extra layer of flavor and havebeen using it for years.
Coming up, Hamburger Stew!
Jim in Calgary
Christy, are the bowl and plate you show with the reddish band around them Pyrex? I have a partial set that looks just like this…..do you recall where you bought them? Thanks, girl, and we are proud of our Alabama girl who’s gone national!
Sory for the question about the dishes. Just read back and saw your info. I love mine too!
We have made hamburger stew for years, seems people are going back to the old ways of cooking to make ends meet.
I’m making this tomorrow night! However, I was thinking of using my crockpot. Anyone done this yet? Thanks Christy for all of these wonderful ground beef recipes! Happy Fall
Slow cooker will work flawlessly for this
[...] of meat and veggies that make it a one dish meal. I highly recommend this recipe! You can find it here. Share this:TwitterFacebookLike this:LikeBe the first to like this. This entry was posted in [...]
This looks SO yummy! I am making it tonight with some cheese cornbread. Question though – what size can? They have 5.5 ounce and 11 ounce. I have a six pack of the 5.5 ounce cans and hope you see this in time for me to use the right amount!
I am so making this tomorrow. It looks so yummy and is so easy. I am also going to send this recipe to my daughter-in-law cause it would be great for their family of 6. For the person who asked about putting in the noodles I would say cook them separately and add them before serving but that just my thought. I thought about adding rice, the boil in bag kind. Love to hear your thoughts on that.
Christy, I made this soup last weekend and it was a hit! The recipe was so easy and very flavorful. I tried putting half of the leftovers in the freezer for a later date but ended up thawing it out so that we could finish it off. I am on your site searching for another soup recipe to make this evening. I’m sure I will pick another winner!
Husband LOVES this meal!
The recipe is easy, ingredients simple to work with, and it turns out delicious!
After adding the ground beef, I simmer for a couple hours because my husband loves the rich flavors (I always tweak recipes to my husband’s liking)!
THANK YOU for this simple, yet tasty recipe!
Glad to hear it was a hit Johanna!!
My mama use to make this for us when we wee younger. We called it Hamburger Soup! Thanks for sharing this recipe and giving me a wonderful memory!!
Is the V-8 juice coke can size?
Never mind. I found it in the old comments. 12 oz.
Thanks for all the great recipes and cheerful encouragement!
Making this today on a cold and blustery February day! Fire in the fireplace, your beef stew on the stove and fresh bread baking. Thanks! This will smell SO delish when my boys get home tonight!
[...] a pork tenderloin, cube steak, and some flounder. I will use the ground beef I cooked to make Ground Beef Stew, tacos, or spaghetti. I now have an impressive list of meals to choose from, plus some of these [...]
No peas? I thought all stews had peas!
I keep trying to tell y’all I’m a rebel!
I went to the grocery store yesterday and bought all the ingrediants. I’m going to make this tonight with some cornbread muffins. I’ve got a house full to feed tonight, it’s usually just me and my husband. But tonight I’ll have my two brothers, my sister and her boyfriend over and this seems like an easy, cheap and yummy way to feed everybody!
We tried this and love it! We’ve been eating on it for about 3 days..lol. We are finishing off the rest now. Next time I may half the recipe or freeze it but for some reason I’m funny about freezing things,lol. Thanks Christy for so many great recipes that I have gotten from you! I can’t wait till your next cookbook comes out…about when will that be?
I am so glad you liked it!! The cookbook will be out sometime this fall, as soon as I hear an exact date I will let everyone know!