Spaghetti Soup

I've gotten behind on my soup posts lately, but here's another good one!

Spaghetti Soup

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs lean ground beef

1/2 cup each, chopped: green pepper, onion, carrots

2 cloves garlic, minced

2.5 cups water

2 14oz cans petite diced tomatoes

1 jar spaghetti sauce

1 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp dried Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 oz dry spaghetti noodles, broken in 2-inch pieces

fresh basil, optional

Preparation:

Brown the ground beef in dutch oven or large stock pot with the chopped veggies and garlic. Drain grease if needed. Add remaining ingredients, except spaghetti. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, add spaghetti noodles and reduce to gentle boil until noodles are tender. This is great with a green salad and french bread. 

My notes:

Don't skip the green pepper unless you can't stand green pepper. It gives this soup amazing flavor! 

My favorite jarred spaghetti sauce for this soup is the Ragu chunky garden style. Typically I buy Muir Glen tomato-basil but for this soup, we like the Ragu best.

Enjoy!