Real Recipes From Real Home Cooks ®

peggi's italian soup with or without cheese

(1 rating)
Recipe by
Peggi Anne Tebben
Granbury, TX

I got the idea for part of this soup from a get together at an elderly woman's house about 30 years ago. I added Italian seasoning, tomato juice instead of just water and added cabbage, mushrooms, cheese and garlic and made it my own. My family loves it.

(1 rating)
yield serving(s)
prep time 20 Min
cook time 30 Min
method Stove Top

Ingredients For peggi's italian soup with or without cheese

  • 2 lb
    hamburger or deer burger (use either one by itself or a combination of either with bulk Italian sausage)
  • 4 Tbsp
    butter
  • 5 md
    red potatoes, cubed
  • 1 sm
    cabbage, cut into large pieces
  • 1 md
    onion, cut into thick slivers
  • 1/3
    stalk of celery, chopped
  • 6 md
    carrots, chopped
  • 10
    pieces fresh okra, chopped, optional
  • 10
    fresh mushrooms, halved
  • 1 qt
    tomato juice
  • 1 qt
    Italian-style stewed tomatoes
  • 5 clove
    garlic, minced
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 3 Tbsp
    Italian seasoning, or more to taste
  • 2 lb
    Velveeta cheese, cubed or sliced American cheese, torn into small pieces

How To Make peggi's italian soup with or without cheese

  • 1
    Melt 4 Tbsp butter in large skillet. Sauté onions, mushrooms, celery and garlic in a skillet until al dente. Salt and pepper to taste.
  • 2
    In another skillet, brown the burger.
  • 3
    In a 5 quart Dutch oven, bring the tomato juice, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, and okra to a boil. Add as little water as possible to just cover the mixture. Boil 10 minutes.
  • 4
    Add the stewed tomatoes, mushroom mixture and burger to the potato mixture and continue cooking over low heat for about 20 more minutes.
  • 5
    Turn off the heat and add the Italian seasoning and Velveeta. Just make sure all is hot. Do not cook very long or it will get mushy, about 30 minutes tops.
  • 6
    You can omit the cheese if you want, but adding it creates a whole new flavor. The picture shown is one bowl with cheese and one bowl without. I also use home canned tomato juice and stewed tomatoes, so if you use store-bought, use large cans of each.
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