This cheeseburger soup is a creamy blend of ground beef, bacon, potatoes, vegetables and cheese, all finished off with your favorite burger toppings. A hearty dinner option that’s popular with both kids and adults alike!
When it’s cold outside, soup is on our dinner menu. Some of my favorites include cabbage roll soup, stuffed pepper soup and this super delicious cheeseburger soup.
This cheeseburger soup is comfort food at its finest. It really does taste like a loaded cheeseburger, all in the form of a hot bowl of soup! This soup is loaded with meat, veggies and potatoes and is sure to satisfy even the heartiest appetites.
This soup is perfect with side dishes and salads like tomato salad, homemade dinner rolls or three bean salad.
Cheeseburger Soup Ingredients
To make this cheeseburger soup you will need ground beef, bacon, onion, carrots, celery, dried parsley, garlic, potatoes, chicken broth, butter, flour, milk, Velveeta cheese, salt and black pepper. You will also want toppings for your soup like toasted hamburger bun croutons, diced tomatoes, diced pickles, cooked bacon and chopped fresh parsley.
How Do You Make Cheeseburger Soup?
This cheeseburger soup recipe starts with beef. Cook and crumble ground beef in a large pot with salt and pepper until cooked through. Set it aside. Next cook bacon in that same large pot until crisp and reserve it for later use. Next place chopped carrots, onion and celery in the pot with a little bacon grease. Cook the veggies until tender. Add minced garlic and dried parsley and heat it for 30 seconds. Add the cooked ground beef, potatoes and chicken broth to the pot. Everything simmers together until the potatoes get tender.
While the soup cooks, in a small pan melt butter and whisk in flour and heat it until bubbling. Add the flour mixture to the soup and boil for 2 minutes. Make the soup rich and creamy by adding milk and cheese cubes. Add some reserved bacon and cook for a few minutes. Finish off the soup with burger toppings such as more bacon, tomatoes, pickles and hamburger bun croutons and enjoy!
Tips For The Perfect Cheeseburger Soup
- Cut your carrots and celery about the same size and make them small enough to fit on a spoon.
- This recipe calls for Velveeta cheese, because it produces the creamiest end result. You can substitute shredded cheddar cheese or deli American cheese if you’re opposed to using Velveeta. Give the Velveeta a try because the texture is so much better in the finished soup.
- I use Russet potatoes in this soup, but yellow potatoes or red potatoes will also work if that’s what you have on hand.
- This recipe uses chicken broth instead of beef broth because the color and flavor of the soup will be better with chicken broth. The ground beef in the soup brings plenty of hamburger flavor!
Quick Tip
I typically use 90% lean ground beef. It’s got plenty of flavor but is not overly greasy. If you use meat with a higher fat content, be sure to drain off any excess grease before proceeding with the rest of the recipe.
How Do I Make Hamburger Bun Croutons?
To make the hamburger bun croutons, first cut sesame hamburger buns into cubes. Next you can either toast them for a minute or two in a toaster oven, or cook them with a little butter in a skillet until golden brown.
Recipe FAQs
Cheeseburger soup makes great leftovers and will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days. I don’t recommend you freeze this soup because it contains dairy, and dairy products can separate when frozen.
Cheeseburger soup is a cheese and potato soup that is flavored with crumbles of ground beef and bacon. It usually has burger toppings like diced tomatoes and diced pickles.
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Cheeseburger soup variations
There are so many different ways to customize cheeseburger soup to make it your own!
- Protein: Instead of ground beef, you can try using ground turkey or even mild Italian sausage for a different flavor.
- Vegetables: You can add other vegetables that you might find on a cheeseburger such as mushrooms or even bell peppers.
- Spice: Like spicy food? You can add hot sauce to taste, or a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes to the soup. Another option would be to stir in a cup of shredded pepper jack cheese along with the Velveeta.
- Thick: If you don’t want to make a butter and flour mixture to thicken your soup, you can thicken your soup with the same amount of sour cream or cream cheese.
This is one of my most requested soup recipes, I actually think it might even taste better than an actual cheeseburger! The soup is rich, creamy and loaded with different flavors and textures. This is definitely a must-try!
More Great Soup Recipes
Chicken Enchilada Soup
30 mins
Vegetable Beef Soup
1 hr 40 mins
Chicken and Rice Soup
35 mins
Olive Garden Minestrone Soup
40 mins
Love This Recipe?
Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
Cheeseburger Soup
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef I use 90% lean
- salt and pepper to taste
- 6 slices bacon chopped
- 3/4 cup onion finely diced
- 3/4 cup carrots peeled, quartered and sliced
- 1/2 cup celery sliced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon garlic minced
- 3 cups Russet potatoes peeled and cubed
- 3 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups milk I use whole milk or half and half
- 3 cups Velveeta cheese cut into small cubes
- toppings such as toasted hamburger bun cubes, diced tomatoes, diced pickles, cooked bacon and chopped parsley
Instructions
- Place a large pot over medium heat. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon, for 5-6 minutes or until the beef is no longer pink. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Remove the meat from the pot and set aside. Add the bacon to the pot and cook for 5-6 minutes or until crisp. Set the cooked bacon aside.
- Drain most of the bacon grease from the pot, leaving 1-2 teaspoons in the pot.
- Add the onion, carrots and celery to the pot. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until vegetables are just softened. Add the dried parsley and garlic and cook for 30 more seconds.
- Add the ground beef back to the pot, along with the potatoes and chicken broth. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
- While the soup is simmering, melt the butter in a small pan. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1-2 minutes or until bubbly and thickened.
- After the potatoes are tender, add the flour mixture to the soup and bring to a boil. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the milk to the pot, then stir well to combine. Add the Velveeta cheese and reserved bacon to the soup. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until cheese has melted.
- Serve the soup with assorted toppings such as hamburger bun croutons, tomatoes, pickles and more bacon.
Notes
- I use 90% lean ground beef. If you use meat with a higher fat content, be sure to drain off any excess grease before proceeding with the rest of the recipe.
- This recipe calls for Velveeta cheese, because it produces the creamiest end result.
- I use Russet potatoes in this soup, but yellow potatoes or red potatoes will also work if that’s what you have on hand.
- Directions for the hamburger bun croutons are in the post under the tips section.
Really don’t like to use Velveeta, would shredded cheddar acheese work??
It should work, it may have a different texture since it won’t melt as smoothly as the velveeta!
I’m giving it 5 stars because we loved this soup and it’s simple. If you have veggie “non-lovers”, when they’re cooked and before adding the other ingredients, chop the veggies up in a food processor (Ninja, etc.). You can a little of the chicken broth to make it chop finer. They add flavor and no one really notices them!
Great soup for those fall evenings!
Super fun new dish that my whole family loved.
This looks amazing! Do you think you could do this in the crockpot?
I think that would work fine!