Italian Hamburger Veggie Soup Like Olive Garden Soup

This recipe was one I came up through trial and error after eating at olive garden last year on my birthday. We don't eat out much and we love homemade soups. I also don't personally care much for canned soup. I had been looking for a new soup to try and after I liked the soup at olive garden so much I decided to give this a try. I personally used a 50/50 mix of ground beef and venison burger for this but use what ever you like. I also like to make my own stocks but I found the Progresso Beef broth works very well for this when I am time crunched. I have done this on the stove top but it works great in the crock pot too. I grow and preserve my own veggies and freeze some soup ready mixed veggies but you can just as easily buy mixed veggies if you wish. Canned works ok for stove top but turns to mush in the crock pot, use frozen for that. Don't feel intimidated by the long list of ingredients, this throws together in about 15-20min and in the crock pot its almost no effort at all. We serve it with a fresh salad and breadsticks so its just like the resteraunt soup, salad, and breadsticks special. I buy frozen breadsticks that are just brown and serve.

• Ready In: 1 hr 20 mins
• Serves: 8
• Yields: 6 Quarts

Ingredients

• 1  lb hamburger, browned and drained
• 6  cups water
• 1  bay leaf
• 2  tablespoons  beef base or 6  beef bouillon cubes
• 32  ounces  beef stock or 32  ounces broth
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1⁄3-1⁄2 cup salsa, to taste
• 1  bay leaf
• 2  teaspoons  minced onions
• 3  teaspoons  Nature's Seasons
• 1  tablespoon dried parsley
• 1⁄2 teaspoon oregano
• 1⁄2 teaspoon basil
• 1  celery rib, chopped
• 6  baby carrots, sliced
• 1  cup frozen green beans
• 1  cup  frozen peas
• 1  cup frozen corn
• 1 (12 ounce) can kidney beans, drain and rinsed
• 1  cup  uncooked pasta or 1  cup rice

Directions

1. in stock pot simmer for 1 hour then add 1 cup pasta or rice simmer until tender.
2. In slow cooker cook 4-6 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low
3. add rice or pasta to the crock pot in the last hour of cooking.