Beef Veggie and Bean Soup -with Lipton Onion Soup Mix starter

I always have Lipton's Onion Soup Mix in the pantry and while it's a favorite dip around here, it never even dawned on me to actually use it as a base for soup! Well that changed when I found a little pack of boneless beef in the freezer that I labeled "cheap beef"??? ~No idea what cut of meat that was~ but no worries, once I browned it up a bit and tossed it into the pressure cooker it was fall apart tender in no time. Add any veggies you like or have and I added beans because they hold up well in the freezer.

Nothing fancy or super sexy here folks, 

just a tasty clear broth soup that used up a pack of mystery meat from the freezer:@)

Notes:

• Barley is another good freezer option and potatoes would be great if you'll be eating all of this in a day or two.
• My pressure cooker has a browning function, if yours doesn't you can brown it in the soup pot then transfer the meat to the PC. That way you'll still have the flavor from the brown bits in your soup.
• You can easily make this on the stove, just simmer the meat until it's fall-apart tender, then add the veggies.
• I used one big stalk of celery, one large carrot, a 1/2 C peas and a can of white beans. This made two very hearty ~Earl size~ bowls of soup, could easily be stretched to 3-4 servings with bread or rolls.
• I think browned and drained ground beef would be fine too.

Beef Veggie and Bean Soup -with Lipton Onion Soup Mix starter
Beef or ground beef, about 1/3-1/2 lb
S&P
bacon fat or olive oil for browning meat
4 C water, divided if using pressure cooker
veggies of your choice: celery, carrots, green beans, peas, turnips, rutabaga, etc
starch of your choice: cooked beans (drained and rinsed if canned), cooked barley, potatoes, etc
1 envelope of Lipton Onion Soup Mix

1. Sprinkle beef with S&P and brown.
2. If using pressure cooker, add meat and 2 C water to PC, set timer for 55 minutes. If using stove, add 2 C water to pot, bring to a boil, reduce to low simmer, cover and cook until meat is tender.
3. If using the PC, once meat is tender transfer to soup pot. For both methods-add the other 2 C water and the rest of the veggies, simmer for about 15 minutes. I didn't add the frozen peas until the last few minutes of cooking time.
4. Add the soup mix, bring to a boil, reduce to simmer for about 15 minutes or until the onion and veggies are tender.

Eat well and have a happy day:@)