Creamy Beef Soup

It’s snowing here and creamy beef soup is the perfect, easy dinner idea for the whole family.

Planning dinner gets exhausting. There are a plethora of reasons I hate planning dinner and I always complain about them here. Honestly, this was a hit, everyone tried it and ate a good portion of it. I loved it so much and it was super easy to make. The boys asked for leftovers and we had hardly any left for the next day.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
• 1 cup diced sweet onion
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon of minced garlic
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 8 oz cream cheese, room temp
• 2 cups pasta
• Parmesan for topping

Directions

1. Heat a large pot over medium heat and add the ground beef, onion, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook, breaking the meat into small pieces, until the meat is no longer pink and the onions are translucent, 4-5 minutes. Drain excess grease.
2. Add the oregano, broth, crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce. Stir well.
3. Bring the soup to a simmer and add the pasta. Simmer until the pasta is just al dente (according to package directions). Stir occasionally to prevent sticking and lower (or increase) heat, if needed, to maintain a gentle simmer without scorching.
4. Add the softened cream cheese to a bowl and ladle in 1-2 cups of the hot soup (do the best you can to avoid scooping up the noodles and small pieces of ground beef – doesn’t have to be perfect). Let the cream cheese and hot soup sit for a minute or two so the cream cheese can melt then whisk until creamy, smooth and well-combined.
5. Add the cream cheese mixture back into the soup and stir until evenly combined. Simmer for 1-2 more minutes, stirring often, until the soup is bubbling and slightly thickened. The soup will thicken as it cools (so if you want a thicker soup, let the soup rest, off the heat, for 5-10 minutes).
6. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.