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This beef and tomato macaroni Soup is one of the best soups you can make, especially for colder weather. You can make it in the slow cooker or stovetop; the choice is yours.
Karlynn’s Recipe Rundown :
Beef & Tomato Macaroni Soup
- This soup is so easy to make and a crowd-pleaser! It is the soup most requested by my family, and I have made a lot of soups over the years!
- This is an excellent slow cooker soup recipe. Cook it low and slow all day long, then come home and add noodles—dinner is done!
- This recipe is large enough for two meals, so make it once and eat it twice!
A Delicious Old-Fashioned Soup
We were on a road trip to the States when my kids were little, and we stopped at a little place on the I-15 that we had driven by countless times. Oh, please don’t ask me where or what it’s called, but it’s a rest stop with a small town by it. I would know it if I looked at it. While we always stop to stretch our legs, we’ve never eaten at the small roadside restaurant—until that trip.
While everything on the menu was good—not fancy, just a decent clubhouse and salad—the soup of the day reminded me of one of my favorite old-fashioned soups that I hadn’t eaten in years. I had forgotten how much I love a classic beef and tomato macaroni soup.
This is the Best When Made in a Slow Cooker
I rarely make soup that’s not in a slow cooker. I think most soups are improved by letting them simmer all day, the flavorings melding together in ways that a quick 20-minute simmer just doesn’t achieve. Plus, you have that little happy thought in your head all day long that your dinner will be just amazing when you get home! Doesn’t knowing that you have a hot, delicious supper waiting for you make a difference in your mood? I think that’s why I love my crockpot so much.
Beef & Tomato Macaroni Soup Tips & Tricks
- My biggest suggestion for this recipe is to drain and rinse the ground beef. You can see that this soup has a bit of grease (and oh…that makes it so lovely!), but many recipes don’t even have you drain it. I suggest doing so because your soup doesn’t need that much grease.
- The stronger the beef broth, the more beefy your soup will end up, and a little extra Worcestershire sauce also helps with that! I prefer adding dry macaroni 30 minutes before serving, but if you are on a time crunch at the end of the day, pre-cook and then add the pasta.
Pre Cooked or Raw Noodles
How you prepare the elbow macaroni for this soup will make a difference in the end result.
- Pre-cooking the noodles leads to a thinner soup that is less like an American goulash recipe and more like an actual soup. This recipe is classically a soup recipe, not a goulash.
- If you like a thicker soup, cook the two cups of pasta in the soup at the end. The starches from the pasta will thicken the soup and the pasta absorbs some of the broth while cooking, making it a thicker soup.
How to Freeze This Soup
The noodles in this soup will change texture when frozen, so if this is an issue for your palate, freeze the soup portions without noodles, make fresh noodles when you defrost, and cook the soup next time.
I cook my noodles al dente and freeze the soup with the noodles in it, as we don’t mind if the noodles are softer next time. You can freeze the soup in freezer-safe containers for up to 3 months. I vacuum seal my Souper Cubes portions so that they last up to 6 months.
I have been making this soup for over a decade here at the Kitchen Magpie, and I hope that you love it!
Happy Cooking!
Karlynn
Other Delicious Beef Soup Recipes
Classic Beef and Tomato Macaroni Soup
Video
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 cup diced onion
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- 6 cups beef broth, very strong
- one 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
- one 28 ounce can whole tomatoes
- ½ cup ketchup
- 1 ½ tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1-2 tablespoons brown sugar, to taste if you have a sweeter ketchup you may not need it
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 3 cups cooked elbow macaroni , OR 2 cups dry macaroni to add in at the end
- salt and pepper as desired
Instructions
Slow Cooker Directions
- In a medium frying pan, sauté the ground beef until it is no longer pink. Drain the grease, leaving some in the pan for the onions, and place the ground beef into the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Sauté the onions until tender-crisp, then add the garlic. Continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes until the garlic is browned and fragrant. Place in the slow cooker.
- Add the beef broth, cans of tomatoes, Worcestershire, ketchup, brown sugar, and Italian seasoning to the slow cooker. Stir to combine. Add more sugar and Worcestershire to taste if needed. Place the lid on the crockpot and cook on low for 8-10 hours.
- When you are ready to serve, add the dry macaroni and let it cook in the slow cooker for 20-25 minutes. You can also add pre-cooked macaroni to the soup and let it heat through.
Instant Pot Directions
- Press the saute button and fry the ground beef and onions until the beef is no longer pink. Add in the garlic. Fry for another minute or so. Drain the grease.
- Add in the remaining ingredients except for the macaroni. Cook on the SOUP setting for 10 minutes. ( this really helps get the beef flavor going.) Release the pressure manually according to the manufacturer's instructions.
- Add the DRY macaroni (not cooked, or it will be mush!), then cook for 10 minutes on the SOUP setting again. Release manually or with the NPR ( naturally) according to the manufacturer's instructions.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Michelle says
This is a wonderful classic soup my mom made a lot in winter and when I married it became a staple I n my home too. Thanks for bringing a smile on my face…my crockpot is on the kitchen counter now to make beef and macaroni soup. 🙂
LoriRobicheau says
I tried this with whole wheat macaroni and the macaroni fell a part into little pieces. It ruined the soup does anybody know why.
thekitchenmagpie says
LoriRobicheau Whole wheat pasta is generally sturdier than white, not the opposite. It must be the brand OR perhaps a rice pasta and not whole wheat? Whole Wheat Pasta usually holds up amazing in soups, I use it all the time.
Susan Forbes says
We took had this made by our Mom when growing up. It was delicious. I think it is high time I made some. I am sharing this recipe on my home page.
Carmen Kostiuk says
I had forgotten how good this soup is. Used to make for my kids all the time
brittany says
i just made this but had to change a few things but i still love it and is super easy.
KaDaBu says
This was delicious and hit the spot on a cold night. Even my picky 8 year old loved it! Thank you for sharing it!
Vickifromwisconsin says
How funny! I’m from Wisconsin and my Mom always made this, but w/o sugars and ketchup and Worcestershire. It is what we called chili. So we’d add tomatoes tomato sauce, kidney beans (I like to use the northern beans in mine, I used to gag on those big old beans with a tougher skin) But anyways, then you also add chili powder. But it definitely looks exactly like our chili! I just figured it was a northern version. Make it lots as the weather cools and always stove top.
Thanks for the memories! Vicki
LindaDacey says
This is my favorite soup. I am so glad I found this recipe! Everyone I have shared it with loves it. I am making it again today.
JalGraham says
Can this be cooked on high in the crockpot for 5 hours instead? Or should it still be set to low for the 5 hours? Nothing is raw so I’m assuming the extra long cook time is just for flavoring.
thekitchenmagpie says
JalGraham It definitely is for flavoring but also helps break up the tomatoes as well, the acidity and their composition. You can put it on high as well.
JudyLammert says
Ground beef use to be the go to meat when money was tight. But the price of ground beef now is so out of sight. My grannie use to make slumgullion but she uses beans instead of meat. In the depression meat was hard to come by for her family. But either way you make it it brings back warm family memories
Linda Van Beem says
Hi Gracee ~ I am 72 and my grandmother used to make this and she called it slumgullion ~~ 🙂
Cindy Martin Trahan says
John Martin … Your favorite aka poor people soup
The Kitchen Magpie says
The name is AWESOME! That’s so funny that you thought your mom made it up!
The Kitchen Magpie says
It’s a crisis!!
Gracee Osann says
omg…. I thought my mom made that word up. I so owe her an apology for giving her such a hard time.
Bev Baxter Thomas Batchelor says
Made this one 2 weeks ago! Only 1 bowl left in freezer! Time to make more!
Linda Van Beem says
We used to call this dish “slumgullion”. Delicious over mashed potatoes with a little butter ~~~~
Barb Overton says
Shared.
Kimberley Tremblay says
this is what I made!!!!! LOVE it 🙂
Bev Baxter Thomas Batchelor says
This is a fav here year round!!
The Kitchen Magpie says
It’s SOOOO good, even in the summertime!
Megan Hanson says
Made this the other day!! I love it!
Kelsie Kelly says
Making this for dinner tonight..my kitchen smells so yummy as it simmers on the stove!
The Kitchen Magpie says
A great idea!
The Kitchen Magpie says
Aw I’m so glad that he liked it! It’s just a homey, comforting taste. My favorite soup ever!
The Kitchen Magpie says
It is probably my favorite soup ever. Something is just SO right about it!
Tammy Strausbaugh Wilfong says
I’m in love with this soup and have been known to eat a whole batch of it by myself..over the span of a few days, of course, but it never gets old!! So happy I found this recipe. The slowcooker definitely has an amazing effect on the beef broth!
Marie E. Cater says
l always cook the mac, on the side an ladle the soup over it
Roxanne Brown says
This is an awesome recipe. I made it recently for my Dad. HE LOVED IT. Although . it is nothing like the goulash recipe that I grew up with. This is soup. My goulash recipe is similar to a casserole.
Sarah Schultz says
That whole saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” rings true with the kitchen classics