This easy and delicious Beef, Tomato and Acini di Pepe Soup is THE BEST SOUP RECIPE for kids and adults!!
Beef, Tomato and Acini di Pepe Soup
Beef, Tomato and Acini di Pepe SoupMy family DEVOURED this delicious bowl of soup made with ground beef, tomatoes, and tiny pasta. It’s warm and comforting, like a great big hug on a cold winter day. Kid-friendly, freezer-friendly! If you love acini de pepe (one of my favorite pasta shapes), I think you’ll also love this Chicken Soup with Spinach and Acini De Pepe or use it in place of orzo in the Italian Wedding Soup. You can also see more Soup Recipes here
This AMAZING soup was inspired from a small deli I visited after the funeral of a woman who was like a grandma to me, and this soup was aptly called Grandma’s Soup. I loved how the bits of meat tasted almost like meatballs, without having to do the extra work.
I recreated that at home and it’s become one of my most popular soup recipes!! Tommy and my oldest Karina like to top theirs with shredded mozzarella and grated Pecorino Romano with a slice of crusty toasted bread (they call it pizza soup). I like to top mine with grated Pecorino Romano and a dollop of ricotta, which is completely optional but SO worth it! Madison complained about the chunks of tomatoes (kids!) so I started making it with crushed tomatoes instead.
I decided to do this in my Instant Pot (affil link) because I love the saute feature and how quick it cooks and how tender the lean beef gets, but you can also make this on the stove, conventional pressure cooker or slow cooker – I’ve included directions below for all!
More Instant Pot Recipes You’ll Love:
- Carne Guisada (Latin Beef Stew)
- Instant Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage
- Instant Pot Chipotle Chicken Bows with Cilantro Lime Quinoa
- Beef and Mushroom Ragu with Spaghetti Squash
- Instant Pot Garlicky Cuban Pork
Beef, Tomato and Acini di Pepe Soup (Instant Pot, Slow Cooker + Stove Top)
Ingredients
- 1 lb 90% lean ground beef
- 1- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 1/2 cup diced celery
- 1/2 cup diced carrot
- 28 oz can crushed or diced tomatoes, I prefer crushed tuttorosso
- 32 oz beef stock*
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 oz small pasta such as Acini di pepei*
- grated parmesan cheese and ricotta, optional
- *check labels for gluten-free.
Instructions
Instant Pot Recipe:
- Press the saute button, when it's very hot add the ground beef and salt and cook until browned breaking the meat up into small pieces as it cooks. When browned, add the onion, celery and carrots and saute 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, beef stock and bay leaves, close and using pressure cooker press soup (35 minutes).
- After that use the quick release, once the pressure is out open, add the pasta and stir, cover and press manual pressure 6 minutes (I did half the time directed on package of pasta). Remove bay leaves and serve.
Stove top directions:
- In a large pot or Dutch oven, saute the beef and salt on high heat until browned, breaking the meat up into small bits. Add the onion, celery and carrots and saute 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, stock and bay leaf, cover and cook low until the beef and the vegetables are tender, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours (you may need to add more broth or water if it evaporates too much).
- Add the pasta, stir and cook according to package directions.
Slow Cooker directions:
- In a large nonstick skillet, saute the beef and salt on high heat until browned, breaking the meat up into small bits. Add the onion, celery and carrots and saute 3 to 4 minutes.
- Transfer to the slow cooker along with the tomatoes, stock and bay leaf, cover and cook low 8 hours.
- Just before it's ready cook the pasta on the stove according to package directions. Add the pasta, stir and cook according to package directions.
Very bland! Definitely does not taste like pizza! Very little flavor at all and I followed the recipe! Will not be making again!
Not sure why you thought it was supposed to taste like pizza. I didn’t see that description anywhere.
This is awesome, and one of my go-to meals in circulation. I try to always have it handy in either the fridge or freezer. I love that it contains all nutrients in one bowl (protein, carb, veggie), too. I use whatever ground beef I have on hand (sometimes it’s extra lean, other times it’s 85/15), and regardless of the type, it’s still so good and flavorful. My toddler loves it so much she *asks* for it. Thank you for this!
Satisfying in everyway!
This is an easy, delicious and satisfying recipe. We garnish with Parmesan and serve with delicious bread. Fantastic!
Surprisingly yummy. Stupid easy.
This is my favorite lunchtime soup. I do ground turkey and pearled couscous. Delicious!
We love this beef, tomato & Acini di Pepe soup!!!!! I double it and freeze half. Then, I share it with two other people!!!!! I’ve never even made a salad, or, had it with crusty bread. Full Meal Deal!!!!💜
It is a family favorite on a old wintry evening and I love the leftovers for lunch!
Easy and yummy. I change it up sometimes and add garlic and/ or Parmesan cheese rind. This soup is Grandma good!
One of my favorite soups! So easy and quick to make and absolutely delicious. Thank you Gina for all the great recipes : )
Forgot the stars 🙂
This is one of our all time favorites. I have made it with both lean ground turkey and beef and once doubled the recipe with 1# of each. The outcome each time has been 5 star. I always at least double the carrots and celery – just my personal preference, and it increases the number of servings with no additional WW points.
I am a relatively successful cook, but this recipe elicits multiple complements from my family. Touche’.
Tried this at last! Easy dutch oven method. It was even better on day two!
Another great recipe!!! I only had about 1/2 lb ground beef and it was plenty. This is so easy and delicious. No expensive ingredients. I would highly recommend 😋
I wondered about that! Thanks.
Easy, fast, and delicious! Freezes well.
So yummy. My picky kids loved it as well. Good flavor and so simple to make.
This was easy to on the stovetop and delicious! I couldn’t find Acini di Pepe at the grocery store so I subbed it with Orzo. And the dollop of ricotta on top make it perfection!
This was just what the weather ordered.  It’s been so rainy in SoCal that I needed something that I could throw together without having to go out. This was it!  I do have tomatophobics in my house so I used the suggestion of crushed tomatoes. Also, as above mentioned, I did not want to go out in the rain so I used salad macaroni. It was a win all the way around. Leftovers tonight (still raining) we’re outstanding!
Sounds perfect!
This was absolutely delicious! Â I will definitely make it again. It was the perfect dinner for a cold windy day.
One of my favorites!
I made this soup again it’s truly amazingly delicious… What I do is because I cannot stand any oil visibly in my plate from what the meat releases so before I put the pressure on I let it come to a boil and skim the oil off the top then pressure cook. I also add two extra cups of broth so by the time it sits and the pasta soaks up a little bit of the broth and it’s not too dry and it comes out perfectly delicious, I also add 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning but even without it as per Ginas ingredients it’s delicious.
I made this today and we love it! So easy and delicious!
Made this for Sunday Supper with home made focaccia bread. It was delicious and everyone that had it, loved it too. Thank you for an easy recipe, without cream and without lots of veggies and beans. A keeper!!
I’ve made this 3 times in the past month! Â So delicious! Â I’ve subbed Italian sausage for the protein and reduced the salt to 1/2 teaspoon–game changer!
My patents are 90 and don’t cook much anymore. I am always looking for easy, nutritious recipes to make and take to them. I make them the chunky beef cabbage soup and the Quinoa Enchilada bake which they enjoy. Made this soup tonight (using crushed tomatoes and in a stockpot) and my folks LOVED it. So did I. Absolutely delicious and easy to make! Thank you for your great recipes.
I love this soup so much. I have stew meat to use before I move, do you think that will work?Â
Sure
Has anyone made this with tomato purée instead?
I make this with tomato purée as we don’t like chunks of tomatoes and it’s absolutely delicious.
This is delicious and so, so easy! BUT it makes way more than 6 cups. I’d say more like 9-10 cups. Which is great! More soup for me! LOL I’m just not sure about the actual WW points for me, but that’s okay. It’s so good, I don’t care!
This was absolutely delicious and so easy to make. I made one substitution by using 93% ground turkey instead of beef, otherwise I stuck to the rest of the recipe. I would just like to know if the leftovers are freezer friendly and if so, for how long?
I made a batch and froze individual servings to take to work. It was around 6 months before I made it through all of them. They were great