Easy Italian Vegetable Soup Recipe – For A Tasty Low Carb Dinner!

This easy Italian vegetable soup recipe is a hot, steamy bowl of veggies and ground beef in a tomato broth full of Italian spice. Perfect for those days you are craving Italian food but want something lighter and low carb.  

You might also like this low carb low calorie vegetable soup.

This is an update of one of my first recipes. Originally it had more tomatoes and used frozen meatballs to make a really easy but tasty soup. Today I modified it to fit into my low carb diet but I’ll give you tips to make it easier further down in the post. 

This easy Italian vegetable soup is full of low carb veggies, ground beef and spices in a tomato broth. It’s something that I liked to eat when I’m craving Italian food. There’s something about soups that are so filling and with all the vegetables, this low carb soup is also healthy!

Low Carb Vegetables That I Used

One other reasons I’ve undated this post today is because I had a lot of vegetables in my refrigerator and didn’t want them to go bad. You can use whatever low carb vegetables you want but today I used broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, carrots and celery.  Find more low carb vegetables and carb counts here.

Let’s Make Our Easy Italian Vegetable Soup

The first thing you want to do is start browning the ground beef with the spices. You can see below what it looks like. Next you want to add in all of the ingredients except garlic and parmesan cheese. 

 Bring the soup to a simmer then cover and cook for 15 minutes. Below is what it looks like before it’s cooked. 

When the vegetables are softened, add in the garlic and parmesan cheese. Stir and then let it cook a few more minutes. Just 1 or 2 minutes is all it needs. And that is all there is to it!

Vegetable Soup Shortcuts And Substitutions

The original version of this soup was a little different so below are my suggestions on how you can make this soup quicker and easier.

• If you don’t care about carbs you can use frozen meatballs instead of ground beef. So skip the ground beef part (but not the seasonings) and microwave the meatballs for a minute or two before adding them to the soup. 
• You can use any vegetables you have on hand. Again if you don’t care about carbs use what ever you like.
• I would keep the seasonings the same as they add the main flavor.  
• You can also use frozen vegetables if you want. Again whatever you have in the freezer. Make sure to defrost them first in the microwave.
• I love my Better than Bouillon but if you don’t have any use regular bouillon (beef, chicken or vegetable) with water. 
• Lastly if you want this to be more of a vegetarian soup just eliminate the meat but still add the seasonings. 

Well I hope you give this a try when you have a lot of vegetables hanging around your refrigerator. It’s really hearty and tasty and perfect for a lighter low carb dinner.

The nutritional information is:

165 cals / 9.3g fat / 7.5g carbs / 2.1g fiber / 12.5g protein = 5.4g net carbs

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Easy Low Carb Italian Vegetable Soup

Yield: 6

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

This easy Italian vegetable soup recipe is a hot, steamy bowl of veggies and ground beef in a tomato broth full of Italian spice. Perfect for those days you are craving Italian food but want something lighter and low carb.  

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Ingredients

• ½ lb ground beef
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon fennel seed
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon hot pepper flakes
• 6 cups water
• 1 tablespoon Better than Bouillon
• 1 cup zucchini sliced
• ½ cup carrot sliced
• ½ cup broccoli chopped
• ½ cup cauliflower chopped
• ½ cup celery chopped
• 4 tablespoons tomato paste
• ½ cup diced tomatoes (canned)
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• ¼ cup parmesan cheese, grated

Instructions

1. Heat olive oil in a stock pan. Add the ground beef and spices (except garlic and parmesan cheese). Cook until the meat is browned a little.
2. Meanwhile chop the vegetables.
3. When the meat is done, add in the vegetables, tomato products, water and Better than Bouillon.
4. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes.
5. Take off the cover and add the garlic and Parmesan cheese. Stir and let cook another minute or two.
6. Read post for shortcuts and substitutions.

Notes

The nutritional information is:

165 cals / 9.3g fat / 7.5g carbs / 2.1g fiber / 12.5g protein = 5.4g net carbs

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1 Servings
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 165