Ground Beef and Vegetable Soup

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 large yellow onions, diced
• 6 stalks celery, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 4 carrots, sliced 1/8-inch thick
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
• 46 ounces low-sodium vegetable juice (such as V8)
• 46 ounces reduced-sodium beef broth
• 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 2 cubes beef bouillon
• 1 teaspoon ground thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 (15.25 ounce) can yellow corn, drained
• 1 (15.25 ounce) can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15 ounce) can great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can cut green beans, drained
• 8 ounces frozen peas
• 8 ounces frozen lima beans
• 8 ounces frozen sliced okra

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook and stir onion, celery, and carrots until tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir garlic into onion mixture; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove pot from heat.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir ground beef in batches in the hot skillet until browned and crumbly, 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer browned beef to onion mixture in the large pot using a slotted spoon.

Heat onion-beef mixture over medium heat. Stir vegetable juice, beef broth, tomatoes, Italian seasoning, beef bouillon, thyme, cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper into beef mixture. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer to blend the flavors, at least 1 hour.

Stir corn, kidney beans, cannellini beans, great Northern beans, green beans, peas, lima beans, and okra into beef mixture; bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer until heated through, about 10 minutes.