Beefy Tomato Soup is one of our most popular soup recipes! Ground beef and pasta in an addicting tomato cream sauce, and it’s ready in 30 minutes!
We love making this easy, cozy soup on busy nights or for a comforting weekend meal. All you need is crackers or buttered bread for dipping, and a crisp salad on the side if you get the urge.
An Easy Soup Recipe That’s Done In 30 Minutes!
Because I like to try and use what we have in the house, I opened the freezer, the fridge and all the cabinets to take stock of what we had on hand. Sometimes going back out to the grocery store is just not something I want to do.
I grabbed some ground beef from the freezer, cream cheese from the fridge, onions, basil and garlic from the cabinets and got to work.
Beefy Tomato Soup has become one of our most popular recipe on our site and for good reason. It’s really easy to make, it’s done in less than 30 minutes and it’s so creamy and comforting, everyone gobbles it up.
This soup recipe is another way I like to use spaghetti sauce in recipes as a short cut and a boost of flavor. And probably one of my favorite ways, too. Also a jar of spaghetti sauce is usually something we have in the pantry so it’s an easy ingredient to use in recipes like this.
This beef and macaroni soup gets so thick it’s almost like a beef goulash. Some people have said that it’s similar to a homemade hamburger helper once the noodles soak up all the broth.
How Do You Make Beefy Tomato Soup?
Gather your ingredients together and start by cooking the onion and garlic in olive oil. Next brown the beef, add a few seasonings then pour in chicken broth and your jar of marinara sauce.
You can still make this soup if you don’t have a jar of spaghetti sauce, just substitute a 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce if that’s what you have instead.
Give it a stir and let it simmer for 10 minutes, not a full boil, just a simmer. Stir in cream cheese to make it nice and thick, add some fresh basil and finally add in the pasta.
Can You Cook the Pasta Separately For This Soup?
You sure can. If you like your soup to have more broth, cook the noodles separately and add it in the each bowl as you serve the soup.
A lot of our readers love the way that the pasta soaks up the broth the next day (and so do we). You can always add a splash more broth upon reheating if you like. But if you really want to hang on to all that addicting, creamy tomato broth then just add cooked pasta to your bowl before serving.
Variations
We get a lot of comments about the pipette that we use in this soup. We love this pasta shape because all the creamy broth gets all up inside the pasta, so you get all of that flavor in every bite. If you can’t find that pasta shape, use elbow macaroni, shells or any other short tube pasta shape.
Many of our readers say that they add fresh spinach to this soup, or other vegetables like peas and carrots. You can also swap out the ground beef for ground turkey or pork, even some Italian sausage would be great.
Looking For More Soup Recipes?
- Creamy Potato Soup with Italian Sausage
- Split Pea and Ham Soup
- Grandma’s Pasta Fazool
- Homemade Turkey Soup
Want to save this recipe? Enter your email below and we'll send the recipe straight to your inbox!
You'll also sign up to get new recipes in your inbox.
Beefy Tomato Soup
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeBeefy Tomato Soup is an easy beef and macaroni soup that your whole family will love! This soup is done and on the table in less than 30!
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 (24 ounce) jar of spaghetti sauce
- 4 cups of chicken stock
- 1/2 cup of cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups elbow macaroni, shells or other short-tubed pasta
- 1/4 cup fresh chopped basil, divided
Instructions
- In a large pot heat the olive oil over medium heat.
- Add the onion and garlic to the pot and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring, until the onion softens.
- Add the ground beef to the onions, breaking up with a spoon and cook until no longer pink. Drain any drippings if necessary. Season with the salt, pepper and oregano and stir to combine.
- Pour in the chicken stock and the pasta sauce, stir and bring to a simmer. Simmer the soup for 10-15 minutes, uncovered.
- Whisk in the cream cheese until combined, then add 2 tablespoons of the fresh basil.
- Pour in the pasta, stir and let cook for 10 minutes, covered, stirring halfway through cooking.
- Spoon into bowls and garnish with the leftover basil.
Recipe Notes
Your favorite spaghetti sauce can be used, or even a can of crushed tomatoes with a little more seasoning works!
NOTE: A few of our readers have commented that the noodles soak up all the broth when you reheat the next day. If you want the soup for leftovers with more broth, cook the pasta separately and then add it to each bowl as you heat it up! Alternately you can add another cup of broth to the soup when making.
- Category: Dinner
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: American
Just realized I don’t have cream cheese, can I substitute sour cream?
I don’t think you’ll end up with the same flavor or texture…do you have any heavy cream or whipping cream?
Hi Dan, I’m about to start Whole30, but transitioning my kitchen and your soup looks too good to pass up. I’m curious why you chose chicken broth over beef broth being that there is beef in the soup. I’m still learning and would love your input. Thanks!
You’re not the first to ask! And my answer was it was just honestly what I had on hand. So if beef broth works for you, definitely use it!
What are the calories /nutrition in this soup!?
I don’t offer nutrition information, just the recipe. You can put it into a calorie counter to figure it out though!
This was one of those recipes that I threw together and the family loved it! But I was In such a rush I was worried that I didnt save it and I would never find it again. Thank goodness for Screenshot! This is perfect for dinner, leftovers…this will become a staple at our house.
Thanks!!
Oh no! So glad you found it – a quick google search would have saved you:) Thanks for checking in!
This is a super easy but delicious recipe. I used vegetable primavera sauce and added sliced carrots. The kids loved it
Thanks Cal – this is such an adaptable recipe in that way!
This was a YUM, YUM, YUM! I doubled the onions, added several cloves of garlic. We don’t have that brand of sauce, so I used Kroger’s Private Selection. I used 1# of 100% grass-fed beef and crumbled in a little pasture-raised pork breakfast sausage I had cooked that morning. I added 2 stalks of celery chopped and a grated carrot to the vegetables and some ketchup and Worcestershire sauce. I couldn’t eat it when it was first made, so it sat a few hours and when I lifted the lid it had magically transformed itself from soup to goulash and BOY, WAS IT DELICIOUS!!! I thought, This is a great dish to take to someone when you need to take a supper, for a funeral, new baby, etc. I will make this again and again!! A real winner. Thanks!
Thank you Brenda! You can definitely use whatever sauce you have on hand, we use homemade sometimes too! I’m so glad you liked it, thank you for letting me know!
This soup was amazingg!! I added maybe 2 1/2 – 3 cups of stock instead of four, used chicken instead of beef, and added some sharp cheddar into it. I wanted a more thick & creamy than liquidy soup. It turned out amazing!!! Great recipe. Since my boyfriend & I aren’t living together, I’ll be eating this for the week, but I can’t wait to make it for him.
Sounds great! The soup is pretty thick as is, but the way you like it works best! I’m sure your boyfriend will love it too!
Made this to tonight and it was delicious. So easy and quick. Will definitely need to make it again!
Awesome – thanks for letting me know Robin!
I don’t like the pasta soaking up all the broth and turning flabby so in the past, I’ve subbed frozen corn for my grain serving. It won’t soak up the liquid or turn flabby and takes no time to cook.
Easy substitute.
Great idea – you could also cook the pasta separately and then add it to the soup when serving.
Great recipe! It was a winner with my 2 year old!
Can you freeze it? If you keep the noodles separate of course.
Exactly! We make a double or triple batch and freeze it in soup cubes, then add the pasta when we reheat it. So glad you and your 2 year old liked it!
I am making this now. Doing it in the Instapot. Browned the beef and onions and garlic. Added the rest and put it on soup mode for 10 minutes. It smells so darn good. The boyfriend is standing here practically drooling. Thanks so much for the recipe. I can’t wait to see how it turns out.
That’s awesome Deb – you’ll have to let me know how that turned out, I still don’t have one of those yet!
Delicious! My kids requested I make it again. I added carrots & spinach. Thanks for this great recipe!
Great Cristina! I love adding other vegetables, or whatever we have on hand in the fridge to soups like this!
This soup is awesome! I usually make soup on Sundays to take for my lunch during the week with a serving always set aside in the freezer for my 80 yr old father. I made this soup tonight after finding the recipe on Pinterest. My husband decided to try it after the aroma drew him away from the TV and into the kitchen…..I may have to make another batch tomorrow as it’s not going to last long. Also, it’s perfect for my dad as its not too spicy; I may make my dad his own batch. YUM.
Thanks Jean – I’m so glad you liked it! And what a nice daughter you are, I’m sure your dad appreciates it!
I made this soup tonight for my husband and I for work this week I used ground turkey in place of ground beef. It is delicious! I make a different soup almost weekly and this is a keeper. It was delicious before I put in the cream cheese so I may leave it out the next time just to save on fat and calories. I have never used the Rinaldi sauce before. Very flavorful. I couldn’t find the one stated in the recipe so i had to replace it with the green pepper and mushroom Rinaldi sauce Very good! Thanks for a delicious recipe!
Yes, you can use any spaghetti sauce you have on hand – or even a can of crushed tomatoes! I’m so glad you liked it!
the ‘make it your way’ soup was delicious. Used Johnsonville Italian sausage and added some frozen mixed vegetables, of which I Always have on hand in the freezer. No spaghetti sauce on hand so used some of my homemade pizza sauce
That’s great Colleen, as I’ve said in the past I love making recipes that are the “base” for what you’re going to make and then you should add whatever you have on hand! And I bet your homemade pizza sauce is delicious!
this sounds like an ultimate comforting souo!
It definitely is – thank you!
Looks wonderfully flavorful!
Thanks Megan!