Slow Cooker Beef Vegetable Noodle Soup

Ingredients

Soup:

• 2-3 pounds stew meat or chuck/arm roast, cubed
• 2 cups (12 ounces) diced carrots, about 2-3 medium carrots
• 1 cup (6 ounces) diced celery, about 3 mediums stalks
• 1/2 cup (3 ounces) small diced onion or shallot
• 1 teaspoon salt (I use coarse, kosher salt)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 cloves garlic, finely minced (or 1 teaspoon garlic powder)
• 7 cups beef broth
• 28-ounce can undrained diced tomatoes (or fire-roasted diced tomatoes)
• 8 ounces (about 4 cups) uncooked wide or extra wide egg noodles
• 1 cup frozen peas

To Thicken:

• 2 tablespoons cornstarch OR 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup beef broth

Instructions

1. In the insert of an 8-quart slow cooker, add the beef, carrots, celery, onion, salt, thyme, basil, bay leaf, garlic, broth, and diced tomatoes. Stir to combine.
2. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 4-5 hours until the beef is fall-apart tender.
3. Stir in the egg noodles. Cover and cook on high until the noodles are tender, about 10-20 minutes (depending on the slow cooker).
4. To thicken (optional), whisk together the cornstarch or flour and beef broth until smooth. Stir the mixture into the slow cooker until well-combined. Cover and cook on high for 4-5 minutes.
5. Stir in the peas and warm through. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper, if needed.

Notes

Beef Broth: you'll need two quart cartons or cans of beef broth for this recipe. You'll use seven of those cups at the beginning and save the last cup for thickening the soup at the end of cooking.

Thickening Soup: thickening the soup is optional; doing so gives it a delicious beef stew vibe.

Recipe and picture from Mel's kitchen cafe