Oma's Green Bean Soup

Yum

My Green Bean Soup, aka Grüne Bohensuppe, is an emergency dinner that I often use when I don't have time to make anything else. It's so easy, so quick, and so delicious. Not only that, but there are so many options making this traditional German soup the start of something amazing. Learn how to make this soup and you'll have so many ideas on creating your own variations.

It comes from the idea of "a bit of this and a bit of that." If you've never cooked that way, try this soup. Follow the instructions and then do some experimenting.

Oma's Green Bean Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 - 2 Tbsp oil
  
• 1 lb ground beef, lean, see below for other ideas
  
• 1 medium onion, chopped
  
• 2 lb bag frozen green beans
  
• 1 - 2 Tbsp Vegeta Food Seasoning
  
• 5 cups potatoes, cut up, see below for other ideas
  

Instructions:

• In large pot, heat oil and brown ground beef.
  
• Add chopped onion, cook till translucent or slightly browned.
  
• Add frozen green beans. Add raw potatoes. (If using cooked potatoes, add once beans are cooked and just reheat.)
  
• Add sufficient water to cover.
  
• Add Vegeta.
  
• Bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer. Cover and cook for about 20 minutes, until vegetables are soft. Cooking longer will improve the flavor.
  

Hints:

• Add celery seeds, parsley, or summer savory to taste.
  
• Add Maggi to taste.
• Add freshly ground pepper (I add lots!)
  
• Vegeta Food Seasoning has salt and dried vegetables in it. If you don't have this, just add about 1 tsp salt and some pepper to start. Adjust seasonings to taste.
  
• If you like soup "brothy", just leave the way it is. However, my family likes it thicker (creamier). The easy way is to slowly add Instant Mashed Potato flakes, stirring constantly, until the soup is the consistency you like.
  
• Another way to thicken the soup is to grate a raw potato into the soup right at the beginning.
  
• You can also thicken it with 1 - 2 Tbsp cornstarch dissolved in a little cold water. Add to finished soup, slowly, until it's the way you like it.
  
• For other options, check out similar soups, such as my carrot soup.

What makes these soups so wunderbar? They bring back such wonderful memories of my Mutti's kitchen. So, of course, I had to write my own soup e-cookbook to share with my grandchildren. I know you'll LOVE it, too! There are 84 full-color pages filled with step-by-step instructions and hints. Take a quick peek ...

Sharing these soup recipes from my Mutti and Oma to my own young grandchildren ... that's such a delicious way to pass on our German heritage :)

What kind of meat and potatoes to use ...

For the meat, you can use raw ground beef (lean). If you have some smoked sausage or kielbasa (cut into chunks), that works great as well.

Or perhaps you have some leftover roast, pork or beef, and maybe some gravy. If you are using cooked meat, omit the oil and add the cut-up meat to the frozen beans.

To get a meatier flavor, add some bouillon cubes. If you have leftover gravy, you can add that as well.

For the potatoes, you can use raw ones (peeled or unpeeled), cut in chunks, or if there are leftover cooked potatoes, use them. Leftover mashed potatoes work great too. Or instant mashed potatoes, or canned potatoes - whatever you have!

For quantities of these types of potatoes - it depends how thick you want the soup. Adding these cooked potatoes once the beans are cooked, will give you a German Green Bean Soup in about 15 minutes.

Some more veggie soups ...

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Want nutritional information for a recipe? Copy and paste the ingredient list and the number of servings into Calorie Count. It will give you an approximate calculation.

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