Shipwreck Stew – a simple and economical comfort food full of ground beef, veggies, and beans. Don’t let this dish’s simplicity fool you!
Easy Soup Recipes
Some of my favorite recipes to share with y’all and some of my personal favorite recipes are easy soup recipes. There is something so comforting in a bowl of soup.
With the cooler weather upon us, it’s the perfect time to enjoy a bowl of this quick and easy Shipwreck Stew. A few common ingredients and about an hour of your time yields a soup so special and dear to my heart.
A hopeful reunion … someday
So, this is one of those posts that is extremely hard for me to write. Like so many other people, I came from a “broken home.” My mother and my biological father divorced when I was very young – around the age of 3 or so. Believe me, those scars run deep. It has affected so many other facets of my life. Needless to say, I never really knew much about my biological father or his side of the family, and I have very few memories from my childhood with him or his family in them.
My story
I was one of the lucky ones, you could say. I was adopted by my step-dad and grew up having a “normal” life. Some of those old wounds have been medicated by having him in my life. However, some will probably never completely heal this side of Heaven.
I have sat on this post for quite a while deciding how much I felt comfortable with sharing – or not sharing – because it is such an emotional one for me. The truth is, it’s not comfortable at all. It dredges up all of the pain, hurt, and rejection I’ve carried most of my life – for over forty years. After all of this time, the pain is still here.
Most days, I am ok. On an occasion, it really gets to me, and it puts me in a funk. Somehow, I feel like sharing this will take some of the burdens off of me because I know there are probably thousands and thousands of people out there who can relate.
After I became an adult, I made contact with my biological father and his side of the family. Before has passed away, I didn’t really have much contact with him. Between drugs, alcohol, and his own self-interest, I just couldn’t keep putting myself (or my kids) through the pain. However, I do keep in contact with some of my aunts, uncles, and cousins from that side of the family.
Some years ago, my aunt, Wanda, posted on Facebook that she was making something called “Shipwreck Stew.” I had never heard of this recipe or dish before. So I asked her about it. Apparently, it was something my grandma made. Maybe your family has a similar dish?
Y’all know I love to cook (and eat!), and I especially love how food has a tendency to bring people together.
What is Shipwreck Stew
It was quite obvious how fond my aunts, uncles, and cousins seemed of this dish. So many memories are made during a meal – whether we realize it or not. I wanted to feel some kind of closeness to the family I never knew, so, I asked Wanda for the recipe. Of course, she happily obliged . Thanks, Wanda! 😊
Shipwreck Stew is full of ground beef, potatoes, onions, celery, kidney beans, corn, tomatoes, salt, and pepper. One of the things I love most about this recipe besides the origin and how simple it is to make is how easy it is to switch up what you put in it! It’s a great way to use up some of those odds and ends veggies and you can easily play with the spices to add that extra bit of yum. But truthfully, this soup is perfect just the way it was given to me, too.
Although my Aunt Wanda didn’t list it in the ingredients list, I’m pretty sure there was an extra cup or two of love put in this dish – the comments about this Shipwreck Stew from the family told me so.
This dish is far from fancy, and being perfectly honest, it totally made me cry as I ate it. I feel like I lost so many potential memories with some very wonderful people. What can I say, I am a huge cry baby! (Even as I write this post, I have to dry my eyes.)
I may never have gotten the chance to share this with my grandparents, but if Heaven has a kitchen, something tells me there will be a bowl of this stew and a long-overdue reunion waiting for me.
What to serve with Shipwreck Stew
We usually serve some type of bread alongside this dish. Some of our favorites are Southern Cornbread, Jalapeño Cheddar Corn Muffins, BEST Garlic Bread, Herbed Dinner Rolls, No-Knead Bread, or Buttery Rolls.
Occasionally, we’ll make sandwiches to go along with our soup. Air Fryer Grilled Cheese and my Classic Ham Sandwich are two of our faves.
How to make Shipwreck Stew
- In a large pot, cook and crumble the ground beef over medium-high heat until no longer pink.,
- Drain, if necessary.
Layer in order:
- the potatoes, onions, celery, kidney beans, corn, and tomatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Cook on medium-high heat until the stew starts to boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Let simmer until all vegetables are tender, about 45 minutes.
- Cook covered and stir occasionally.
Shipwreck Stew FAQs
Yes, you can! This soup is perfect for making ahead and freezing! Once the soup has cooled, transfer it to freezer-safe containers or ziptop bags and freeze for up to 2-3 months. When you’re ready to eat, let it thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.
Once cooled, transfer the soup to an airtight container with a lid or a ziptop bag. Refrigerate and use within 3-5 days.
STOVETOP: Place the soup in a saucepan or Dutch oven and reheat over medium-high heat until heated through, stirring occasionally.
MICROWAVE: Microwave soup in a microwave-safe container that has some room at the top with a vented lid or plastic wrap for 2-3 minutes or until hot, stirring after each minute.
Recipe Tips
- According to my Aunt Wanda, this is a stew that gets better each time it’s reheated!
- Feel free to add other seasonings or spices.
- This soup is a great way to use up odds and ends vegetables!
- You can make this in a slow cooker too! Just brown the ground beef and add all of the ingredients to a slow cooker on LOW for about 6-8 hours.
Other recipes you may enjoy
Shipwreck Stew
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 5 – 7 potatoes peeled (if desired) and sliced thin or cubed
- 1 large onion sliced thinly or finely chopped
- 5 – 7 stalks celery chopped
- 2 cans dark red kidney beans, liquid included 15.5-16 oz. each
- 2 cans whole kernel corn, liquid included 15 oz. each
- 2 cans diced tomatoes, juice included 14.5 oz. each
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large pot, cook and crumble the ground beef over medium-high heat until no longer pink.
- Drain, if necessary.
Layer in order:
- the potatoes, onions, celery, kidney beans, corn, and tomatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Cook on medium-high heat until the stew starts to boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Let simmer until all vegetables are tender, about 45 minutes.
- Cook covered and stir occasionally.
Notes
- According to my Aunt Wanda, this is a stew that gets better each time it’s reheated!
- Feel free to add other seasonings or spices.
- This soup is a great way to use up odds and ends vegetables!
- You can make this in a slow cooker too! Just brown the ground beef and add all of the ingredients to a slow cooker on LOW for about 6-8 hours.
Nutrition
Please note that the nutritional information listed on this page is an estimation based on the products I used. Ingredients and nutritional information can vary significantly between brands. Always be sure to read labels. Please verify that a recipe fits your needs before using it. Nutrition info may contain errors, so please verify it independently. Likewise, recipes may contain errors, so please use your common sense when following them.
Originally published on March 20, 2014. Updated on October 2, 2021.
Thanks for sharing your story, your pictures and your family's recipe. I think your Grandma would be proud to see her stew in your kitchen!!
{{hugs}} Jamie! Thank you for sharing your story. I do know it wasn't easy. Take comfort in knowing that yes, there will be a reunion table with a place saved for you. Also know that you are passing down this stew, made with your own love added, and the story behind it,to your children.
What a wonderful day that will be! Thank you for sharing your story. It helps all of us remember that no matter what the hurt, we all have them. We are affected by them and they shape our lives, but we are not defined by them. Just look at all the happiness you bring to us by sharing such wonderful recipes…many that warm our hearts with memories!
There is an essential oil blend that has been such a blessing to our family. It has healed a lot of hurts for us. http://heritageessentialoils.com/post-traumatic-stress.php
Jamie, what a difficult thing to carry. I really don't know what to say. I think we all have tendencies to sometimes focus on what could have been. It is nice, though, to have this family recipe. Now you can pass it to your children.
What a bitter sweet story and a great hearty recipe to go with it. Thank you for sharing it with us on foodie friday.
I'm so sorry you have been hurt, but how wonderful you've been able to connect with that side of your family now. I can feel the love coming out of this recipe.
Jamie,
I am so glad that you were able to share your touching story with all of us, now maybe you can begin to heal part of the pain that life and relationships bring sometimes. I feel that your Grandma would have been very proud of you and your Shipwreck Stew and I am happy for you that you could make it and somehow have part of your Grandma. I think your Grandma would be giving you a big ole hug and so am I!
Miz Helen
Thanks for sharing. It is funny how we connect food with memories. I will give this stew a try.
What a touching story behind this dish, Jaime. It looks super yummy and something my family would love to dig into. Thanks for sharing at Simple Supper.
Congratulations!
Your post is featured on Full Plate Thursday this week. Hope you have a great weekend and enjoy your new Red Plate!
Miz Helen
{{Big Hugs}} my friend, I know exactly how you feel. I contacted my birth father when I was in my twenties. He was excited at first, and then went back to being a deadbeat. Rejection Round Two! I could not get any information out of him at all! I know that I look exactly like one of his sisters, but I have no idea who or where she is. Well okay, she's in NY, but that's like a needle in a haystack! My step-dad has been more than awesome as a dad, but there is still a void that can never be filled. I'm glad you wrote this post, you need to get it out of your head so you can start to heal. 🙂 We seriously need to talk sometime, I think our lives are very similar. <3
Jamie, you know I love recipes with stories, even if the stories make me cry. Such a powerful way to express how food creates such wonderful bonds between people. Funny that the dish is called "Shipwreck"…kinda like how you feel about your dad sometimes…
Thank you for sharing a very important family recipe and a very important part of YOU. ♥
This Shipwreck Stew looks fantastic and the story is the best ever! I am adopted by my father too. My biological dad passed away when I was a baby and that part of my family is partially a mystery to me as well. You are lucky to at least have a picture or two of your grandparents on that side……….I don't even have that and because I was born nearly 20 years later than my nearest in age cousin, most are not even still living. Whether your parents are divorced or widowed, the scars of emotion are deep and can drive your kids crazy sometimes, can't they? If my daughter only knew why I acted the way I do sometimes……..:)
Tears are running down my face as I can relate very well. I am thankful for the few memories I have of us as kids before you guys moved. You and your brother were the only cousins I thought I had from that side of the family for many years. I’ll be making the soup tool and giving it a try! Hugs to you cousin ❤
Much love to you and Jamie. From another cousin!
Love you too, Karen! ❤
Great post.
I love those wonderful pictures. They are very special. Your recipes are a big help to me.
God bless you, dear Jamie.
Thank you so much for stopping by, Kathy!
Jamie, thank you for sharing your story and this wonderful recipe for all of us to make and enjoy. I am so impressed with your sweet spirit and am glad I found Love Bakes Good Cakes.
God bless you for sharing your story. I had a great childhood, but many of my friends didn’t. They shared similar stories. It is good that you found some family members on your father’s side to love and be loved by them.
Can you cook this in a crockpot?
Absolutely!
Saw this and knew it was a gone run right off the bat! It is delicious and definitely gets better with reheating after being frozen! I made a couple of additions and it simply couldn’t be any better! I also added a large bottle of spicy V-8 and a few dashes of Tobasco sauce because my husband likes spicier food! Making it again tonight! Thanks for your story and recipe!
*going to be a home run*
What a wonderful story
Question: Do I layer the potatoes, etc. OVER the browned beef in the same pot?
Yes, that’s right. 🙂
This is so crazy! My sisters and I are getting together and decided to have a dinner in honor of my mom. Our plan was to have some meals that our mom made when we were younger. Shipwreck Casserole was our choice. we had trouble finding her exact recipe so opted for something else. This looks and ingredients sound like the one she made only difference is she made homemade biscuits and baked on top. I think we should try this one!! Thank You!!
This looks really good. What size cans of kidney beans and diced tomatoes ? I really want to make this. TIA
I use 15 oz cans – I hope that helps.
I made this soup tonight and it was absolutely delicious !! I love how easy it was too. Thank you !!
Thank you for sharing your story and recipe ,
I am cooking this right as I write this and can’t wait
to try this tonight.
All the best to you.
Did anyone add any other spices or seasoning? I tend to add more than just salt and pepper when making stew and didn’t know if this recipe needs more seasoning or not.
This is surprisingly tasty without a lot of other spices, maybe the undrained veggies. I only added garlic powder because….garluc.
Yes I did. I added Worcestershire sauce and celery seeds, smoked paprika, beef broth, just the one can of beans. My hubby always adds green chili to his bowl.
I drain my corn and beans and add beef broth. Also use seasoning salt.
Jamie, Thanks so much for sharing your family recipe and your story, as uncomfortable as it may be. I too, can identify with some similarities in my family dynamic, and no one makes biscuits and gravy better than grandma!
Do you add any kind of broth or water or does it make its own. I plan on making it in the slow cooker.
No extra water or broth – only what’s stated in the recipe card above.
This was very good. I cut everything in half, as it’s only me and my hubby. I didn’t have any celery snd only a small can or corn and it was fine. I felt it needed more liquid, so I added half a can of V8 juice. So easy to make! Maybe I’ll try the crock pot next time. Also, substitute a can of tomatoes with chili’s for the can of tomatoes. It was delicious without the substitution!! Many thanks!!
I made this and its so good!! I put leftovers in Mason jars and freeze. Thank you for sharing recipe and your story. I grew up on this calling it hamburger soup.
I hope you find peace regarding your Dad. I loved your recipe. If I might add, I found the soup tasted very strong of kidney beans. Next time I will make the recipe as is except I will drain and rinse the kidney beans. I added a little worcestershire sauce.
We love this recipe. We seasoned the beef up, added a can of diced alapenos (with liquid) and about a cup of vegetable stock. Came out amazing!
Jalapenos*
I was looking up shipwreck recipes and I found this post. I too grew up in a split family and we were VERY broke, my mother did what she could and would make a very similar thing that was baked, that we loved as kids and all of us kids have talked to each other about how she use to make it at different times over the years, but could never get it down like she did. 🤷♂️After reading this it brought me back to my childhood when it didn’t matter what you had but more of who you have and cheap easy meals are the ones that have the most impact on one. I’m definitely making this!
Just made this for the first time tonight! OH MY GOSH! It was delicious! What a bittersweet story. Thank you for sharing this story and recipe.
Hi Jamie. Thanks for this fabulous recipe. My family doesn’t care for kidney beans. Will it work if I use chili, pinto or black beans?
Hello, Norma! Yes, you can swap out the beans and it will still be fine! I hope y’all enjoy the recipe!
I can totally relate to your story. My parents divorced when i was 3, my brother was 1. My mother married a man in the navy and we moved all over the world, so my brother and I never really had the chance to know our fathers family. As an adult I met a half-sister and we are still close to this day. I have found out that my biological grandfather was quite the baker who shared his baked goods with family and friends. I love to bake and sometimes imagine the memories that could have been made over shared baking. Like you I believe if there is a kitchen in heaven I will get that meeting over baked goods. 🙂
Love the recipe but holy h, you have ads on ads on ads. Takes forever to find what I needed amongst the sea of garbage. I know you have to make money but this isn’t the way. Experience is awful.