This Creamy Beef and Tomato Noodle Soup is a quick and easy recipe packed with ground beef, noodles and tons of flavor! It’s a family favorite!
This soup is INCREDIBLE. Not only is it super easy to make, it’s also one of the tastiest soups in my repertoire!
This creamy tomato noodle soup with a dedicated “lasagna soup” vibe is less cheesy than the classic lasagna soup, a lot more down-to-earth and super family-friendly!
Prepare creamy tomato noodle soup
This soup starts by cooking ground beef and onions, then adds:
- crushed tomatoes
- Tomato sauce
- broth
- dried basil + dried oregano + garlic + thyme
A few notes: you can definitely omit the minced meat for a meatless soup. Also, I prefer an ultra-smooth texture over the soup, so I run the chopped tomatoes through a blender before using (but that’s not necessary if you’re okay with a “tomato-like” texture).
The perfect pasta for this soup
This creamy beef and tomato noodle soup calls for a short, squat pasta.
Like Ditalini (my favorite pasta for this soup). Or elbow macaroni. A great option!
Even small clam noodles would work well here.
Tips for a perfectly smooth creamy soup
Cream cheese gives this soup the creamy factor.
If you’ve ever placed a block of cream cheese in a hot liquid, you know there’s a good chance you’ll end up with little chunks of cream cheese that WON’T GO AWAY.
To prevent that, let’s control the fate of our creamy soup by taking a few simple additional steps.
- Place the softened cream cheese in a bowl.
- Scoop in 1-2 cups of the hot broth from the soup (try to avoid the pasta and ground beef – but it’s okay if a few find their way in – it doesn’t have to be perfect)
- Let everything rest for a minute or two so that the cream cheese melts.
- Whisk everything together like your life depends on it and stir back into the soup.
If you want to live on the edge You can skip the step above and just toss the cubes of softened cream cheese into the soup, let sit for a minute, then whisk the soup (ground beef, pasta and all) until it’s as smooth as possible.
I made this soup a lot and tried everything so that the cream cheese goes as smoothly as possible into the soup.
I happened to learn a lot about my personality in the process. For example, I find it well worth the extra steps of whisking the cream cheese in a separate bowl so I don’t have to sit and stare at my soup obsessing over the little blobs of cream cheese in every bite.
But by all means do you! In fact, I hope not everyone is like me. 😉 No matter how you choose the soup with cream cheese, in the end it will be delicious!
The soup will continue to thicken as it simmers…and as it cools.
For a thicker soup, remove from heat and let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.
One last note on taste: For anyone worried about the cream cheese overwhelming the soup, it doesn’t really add a strong cream cheese flavor to the soup. In fact, I suspect most people who eat this without making it don’t even know that they owe the creaminess to cream cheese.
A perfect soup
I don’t know what this soup is all about, but while over here I’m just trying to get through each day, this soup is living its best life, gaining new friends and fans every time it’s served.
So many people I’ve made this for over the past few months have raved about it and immediately asked for the recipe.
It also makes a fantastic family-friendly take-out meal! Throw in a batch of breadsticks to serve alongside the soup and you’ve got an absolute slam dunk of a meal on your hands.
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Creamy beef and tomato noodle soup
- 1 to 1½ lb lean ground beef (see note)
- ½ Cup finely chopped onion
- salt and pepper
- 1½ teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- Pinch of dried thyme
- 6 cups Chicken stock or broth (I use low-sodium)
- 1 (28 ounce) can tomato passata (see note)
- 1 (15 ounce) can Tomato sauce
- 8th ounces Cream cheese, light or regular, softened to room temperature
- 2 cups (8 ounces) short tube pasta, like ditalini or elbow macaroni
- Freshly grated parmesan to serve
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Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat and add the ground beef, onion, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook the meat in small pieces until the meat is no longer pink and the onions are translucent, 4-5 minutes. Drain excess fat.
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Add the basil, oregano, garlic powder, thyme, broth, tomato passata, and tomato sauce. Mix well.
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Bring the soup to a boil and add the noodles. Simmer until pasta is just al dente (according to package directions). Stir occasionally to prevent sticking and reduce (or increase) the heat if necessary to maintain a gentle simmer without burning.
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Place the softened cream cheese in a bowl and ladle in 1-2 cups of the hot soup (do your best to avoid scooping up the noodles and small bits of ground beef—it doesn’t have to be perfect). Let the cream cheese and hot soup sit for a minute or two to allow the cream cheese to melt, then beat until creamy, smooth, and well combined.
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Add the cream cheese mixture back into the soup and stir until evenly combined. Simmer for an additional 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently, until the soup is bubbly and slightly thickened. The soup will thicken as it cools (so if you want a thicker soup, let the soup sit for 5-10 minutes).
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Serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese.
Tomatoes: I prefer an ultra-smooth texture over the soup, so I run the chopped tomatoes through a blender before using (but that’s not necessary if you’re happy with a “tomato-like” texture). Different brands of mashed tomatoes vary in texture.
Portion: 1 portion, Calories: 429kcal, Carbohydrates: 53G, Protein: 30G, Fat: 11G, Saturated Fatty Acids: 5G, Cholesterol: 67mg, Sodium: 1628mg, Fiber: 6G, Sugar: 13G
Recipe Source: Inspired by this recipe (used tomatoes + spices instead of the pasta sauce, changed the amounts of most of the ingredients, and changed the cooking method to make it a little easier and avoid lumps of cream cheese)
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