This is a versatile soup that can be customized to your liking. Change up the ground meat, beans, veggies or seasonings to your personal taste.
2 lb. lean ground beef (or ground pork, chicken, turkey or sausage)
2 medium onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 c. beef broth
2 - 14 1/2 oz. cans diced tomatoes, drained
2 - 15 oz. cans Ranch Style beans, undrained (or black bean, Great Northern, kidney or cannellini beans)
2 large potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 - 10 oz. cans diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
2 c. frozen corn
15 oz. can mixed vegetables, drained (or favorite veggies)
1 T. chili powder
1 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. black pepper
Heat a Dutch oven or large soup pot over medium heat; add ground meat and onions, breaking the meat up into crumbles while it cooks. When the meat is no longer pink, add garlic; cook for 1 minute. Discard excess grease.
Pour in the remaining ingredients; stir. We recommend draining the canned diced tomatoes to get rid of the juices, or the soup will have more of a chili vibe that takes away from the other flavors. Keep the juices in the Ranch beans and the tomatoes with green chilies, though, to make sure the dish has enough liquid. If you accidentally drained them, just add extra broth or water.
Bring the soup to a boil; reduce heat to a simmer. Cover; cook until potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork, about 10 to 15 minutes.
Serve.