Oh, you haven’t heard of Kansas City Steak Soup? If you love vegetable soup, you are going to love this! This hearty soup only takes about 45 minutes to make, but has a simmered-all-day taste. It’s a nice twist on a traditional vegetable beef soup. My Mom made this soup frequently throughout the winters for as long as I can remember.
Plaza 111 Soup
This soup is also known as Plaza 111 Soup, because it originated around 1963 from the Plaza III Restaurant in the Country Club Plaza district in Kansas City, Missouri. The Plaza (short for Country Club Plaza) was a privately owned shopping center that covered 15 blocks, and the last I heard there were 100 stores and 30 restaurants. The Spanish architecture and fountains were beautiful! When I was a teenager, the Plaza was my favorite place to be. The restaurant closed a few years ago, but this famous soup recipe lives on.
Kansas City Steak Soup came about as a means for the Chefs to use the quality meat scraps they had left after trimming steaks at the restaurant. They coarsely chopped the beef scraps or ground it up like hamburger. I found this recipe in a stack of recipes that Mom had clipped out of the newspaper. She always made it with ground beef, but I’m not sure if it was regular ground beef or ground steak. Since this was the first time I made it for Hubby, I splurged on ground sirloin. It was normally $4.98 a pound, but was discounted to $4.33.
As a side note, Hubby wasn’t impressed with the taste he had of the plain cooked ground sirloin. But he did love the soup!
This soup is ideal to make ahead and it’s also freezer friendly, if you want to stash some in the freezer for quick meals. Put cooled soup in freezer bags and freeze flat for quick thawing.
Be sure to read through the directions before making this soup. It is super easy, but there is a specific order to putting the soup together. It starts with making a Roux (pronounced rue, sounds like cue) and it’s used as a thickening for gravy, sauces, soups and stews. Seriously, it’s so easy
And then….when someone asks you for the recipe, you can sound all Top Chef contender-like and say “Well, first you make a roux.”…
Kansas City Steak Soup
Prep 10 -15 min Cook 30 min Servings 8 Print recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 20 oz (5 cups) beef broth
- 10 oz package (2 cups) frozen mixed vegetables
- 1/2 cup diced carrot
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 1/2 cup diced celery
- 1 1/2 tsp Kitchen Bouquet (Optional. See information below)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1# ground steak (or regular ground beef)
- 2 Tbsp cooking oil
- 8 oz can (1 cup) tomatoes, chopped (DO NOT DRAIN)
Directions
1. Make the Roux – In a soup pot or dutch oven, melt the butter, then stir in the flour until smooth. Stir over medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes.
2. Add all of the beef broth and stir until the soup base reaches a soft boil.
3. Add the vegetables, pepper and Kitchen Bouquet. Bring to a full boil, then reduce heat to medium-low.
4. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
5. While the soup is simmering, brown the beef in cooking oil in a medium skillet, then drain the meat.
6. Add the cooked meat and tomatoes to the soup pot.
7. Cover and simmer about 10 minutes until vegetables are tender.
Serve with hot crusty bread for a light, yet hearty meal. I buttered thin slices of Italian bread, then sprinkled with a little bit of dried Basil before toasting a couple of minutes.
Recipe Notes
- I used celery and tomatoes I had in the freezer, and my homemade broth.
- Leftover steak or roast can be cut up and used in place of the ground meat.
- An additional 1/2 cup of mixed vegetables could be substituted for the diced carrots.
This is my favorite stove top stock pot. Cook N Home 6.5 Quart Stockpot with Lid.
Kitchen Bouquet
Are you familiar with Kitchen Bouquet? It’s been around since 1873 and is used mainly as a browning and seasoning sauce for meats and gravies, but is often used as a flavor enhancer for soups, stews, roasts and meatloaf. I used it to make home-made gravy until I started making my own brown gravy mix.
Kitchen Bouquet is optional in this recipe, but if you would like to learn more about it, here is great link for information and substitutions, or directions to make a homemade version.
I hope you love this soup as much as I do!
Haphazard Homemaker 
This is a new recipe for me! I have never heard of Steak Soup!
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I probably wouldn’t have either, but I grew up in KC. Kansas City Steak Soup is the best! I am sure you will love it!
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Me too! Thank you!
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Definitely going to try this!! Thanks, Robin!!
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🙂
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I think I would, hmmm…comfort food 🙂
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Steak isn’t my thing, but you’ve made me homesick for the Plaza! I remember the Plaza III. I wish it was still there.
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I haven’t been there for at least 30 years or so, and then it was only a quick drive though. If you ever get back there, I read they opened a new location in Overland Park, KS. 🙂
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I absolutely love vegetable soup, so I will definitely be trying this recipe–thank you!!!
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Thank you!
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It’s an amazing soup. Hope you like it!
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Thank you! You are so kind! 🙂
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Thanks for the recipe, I’m going to make it on Monday with my leftovers from Saturday. Always looking for delicious ways to use my leftovers. It’s my thrifty side! Oh and I hope you don’t mind, but I’ll make it Whole 30 compliant! I’ll let you know how it turns out!
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Yews, please let me know how it turns out. We like to transform leftovers too.:)
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Hi I am fixing to make this soup right now and I am wondering if I can use a crockpot? Also, my dad has lot of can veggies and wants to k ow if he can use his can ones instead of frozen?????
Hope to hear back from u soon, beings my Daddy is getting anxious and hungry!:)
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Yes on both! 😊
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I also grew up in Kansas City! I remember going to Plaza III my freshman year before our homecoming dance. We started the evening with steak soup! Always a favorite of mine! Loved the Plaza and it is a beautiful sight during the Christmas season. Thank you for jarring my memories! Steak soup for dinner tonight!
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Thank you! I’m so glad! 🙂
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Oh my! I lived in Kansas City for many years and I used to go To parties at a particular person‘s house who always made Kansas City steak soup and I thought it was delicious. I also frequently ate at the plaza III where it originated. For all these years I wanted to make it again but didn’t have a recipe. I tried yours last night and it was spot on perfect! Thank you so very much I didn’t change a thing.
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Thank you, Diana! I’m so glad you liked the recipe and vouched for it, as well! And now you have the recipe for yourself! 🙂
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