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This is our favorite cheeseburger soup recipe! Ground beef, carrots, celery, potatoes and more, plus cheddar and herbs – oh my. It’s cozy, comforting and the perfect chilly night dinner!
Want to make the best soup this weekend?!
This cheeseburger soup is loaded with carrots, potatoes and ground beef, lots of melty cheese and tastes just like the name suggests – a delish burger!
We make this dish constantly and everyone goes wild. It’s a surprising favorite in our house.
No one is more surprised than me!
This is one of those recipes that I heard about for years and it never sounded appealing to me. And then, one day, it did.
This sort of thing happens to me ALL THE TIME, which is why I like to keep all my (pen and paper) recipe lists and logs going back 15 years. Something that didn’t sound so great seven years ago? I now love.
And so on.
Anyway! I started making it a few years ago. Here’s the thing: I have tried to photograph this for you for YEARS so I could share my version of the recipe. And every time, I dislike the photos so much.
This is not an attractive recipe. It never looks super delicious.
In fact, I don’t even LOVE these photos. But this is as good as its going to get, because we make this all the time.
In the cooler months, I often make this every other week. We all ADORE it. It has a little something for everyone and it is such a cozy dish.
If you enjoy potato soup, you’ll probably love this. If you like chili or taco soups, you’ll also probably love this! It is chock-full of so many of my kids favorite things. They especially love carrots, so I double up on those in this soup. They even love celery!
One reason I hesitated with this soup? THE DISHES.
There are a good amount of dishes and cutting boards with this recipe. I manage to keep it in two pots – one soup pot and a skillet. But it also takes a lot of dicing, chopping and mixing.
Once you’ve made it a few times, it barely matters. It’s made with easy ingredients – familiar ones, in fact. I highly suggest chopping everything and measuring everything out ahead of time. It will make the process so much smoother.
This is what goes into our soup!
Lean ground beef or turkey. I brown it first and then use the same pot for the soup, so the layers of flavor just keep building and building.
A mix of diced onions, celery and grated carrots. I love to use large carrots and grate them myself. The texture is so good once they cook in the soup.
Petite golden potatoes! I don’t even bother peeling them. I quarter them and toss them directly into the soup.
Chicken stock. Make it a good, rich, golden chicken stock.
A roux that cooks separately in a different pan. I know! This is a crazy way to thicken the soup, especially since, if anything, I use a slurry that I can shake together in a cup. But this makes ALL the difference. I have tried this soup many different ways and cooking the roux in the skillet until it’s golden, then adding it directly to the pot? Brilliant.
Some milk to add a creamy factor.
Cheese! I like to use freshly grated sharp cheddar. I usually use Tillamook – it’s my favorite and I can find it at my local grocery store. I’ve seen some recipes that also suggest velveeta.
Finally, some sour cream. This is one of my favorite soup tricks of the trade. Stirring in some sour cream right before serving ups the richness and the creaminess and really makes a difference here. It is fantastic.
If you would have told me five years ago that my family would love this soup, I would have been shocked. I’d have thought you were crazy. Eddie usually doesn’t love creamy soups and I never thought all these ingredients in a pot would turn out so well. It gave me casserole vibes, which aren’t usually what we make for weeknight dinners.
But!
This is the ultimate comfort food. A perfect dish to head into the chillier months. It tastes incredible and the leftovers are just as great. Reheating this takes no time at all and like chili, it gets even better as it sits.
We love to serve it with tortilla chips or fritos. I’ve seen others top it with fries or onion rings! It’s excellent on its own but I’ve never kicked a crunchy topping out of bed.
Really, the options are endless!
Our Favorite Cheeseburger Soup
Our Favorite Cheeseburger Soup
This is our favorite cheeseburger soup recipe! Ground beef, carrots, celery, potatoes and more, plus cheddar and herbs – oh my. It’s cozy, comforting and the perfect chilly night dinner!
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Season the ground beef all over with salt and pepper. Heat a large stock pot over medium heat and add beef. Brown the beef, using a meat chopped or wooden spoon to break it into small crumbles.
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Once browned, remove the beef with a slotted spoon and transfer it to a plate.
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Add the olive oil to the same skillet. Add in the onions, carrots, celery and garlic with a big pinch of salt and pepper. Add the oregano. Stir. Cook, stirring often, until the veggies soften, about 5 to 6 minutes.
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Add in the potatoes and 4 cups of chicken stock. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook until the potatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes.
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Heat the butter in a separate skillet. Once melted, whisk in the flour to create a roux. Whisk and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until the color is golden and the mixture is fragrant.
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Use a spatula to scrape the roux right into the soup pot. Bring the mixture back to a boil. Boil for 1 to 2 minutes. Add in the milk and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes.
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Reduce the heat to low and stir in the cheese. Stir until it is all melted. At this point, you can add in the additional cup of chicken stock or not. Sometimes I like to add it before I pack the soup up for the fridge since it thickens more as it sits. Taste and season the soup with more salt and pepper if necessary. Stir in the sour cream. Once melted, serve! Top with fresh chives to serve, or chips if desired.
Now that’s a hug.