Cheeseburger Soup
I was jonesing for a cheeseburger and I wanted some soup, and it would soon be suppertime. There’s only one way to satisfy that need and it’s to make cheeseburger soup – with bacon! A bacon cheeseburger is my favorite, so I set out to emulate that as closely as I possibly could. The flavor of a griddle fried hamburger has to be unmistakable and all the other ingredients contribute to the illusion.
How To Turn Your Cheeseburger Into Soup
My favorite burger has a griddle fried meat patty, a slice of onion and a slice (or two) of American cheese. Add two slices of bacon with condiments on a buttery toasted bun and that’s nirvana. All that remains is to deconstruct that and make some soup.
The ingredients identify themselves when you tear apart a cheeseburger. The meat patty turns into browned hamburger, the onion is diced and sauteed, the bacon fried and crumbled. Everything is combined with a lightly flavored broth, melted cheese and a few spices. That’s it.
Optional Ingredients
If you love tomato on your burger you may dice and fold them in at the end of the cooking process to keep them whole. A few sauteed mushrooms are acceptable, again adding them near the end to maintain their appearance. Beyond that things get dicey.
You don’t have to muck it up with a lot of other ingredients just because it’s soup, and you shouldn’t. Say no to the temptation of potatoes, celery and carrots if you want to maintain the integrity of its name.
Finally, the toasted bun translates into buttery ritz or saltine crackers and don’t forget a dollop of sweet relish, ketchup and mustard. Yes, they are the ultimate trio of flavors guaranteed to make you think – cheeseburger!
Ingredients
- 1 lb hamburger meat
- 1 cup onion – diced
- 8 slices bacon – crisped and crumbled
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 lb velveeta cheese – cubed
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 cloves garlic – minced
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup flour
- 3 TBL butter
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- Sweet pickle relish – garnish
- Ketchup – garnish
- Yellow mustard – garnish
- Ritz or saltine crackers – on the side
Instructions
- Brown the hamburger in a big heavy bottom pot and season with salt and pepper while doing so, then set aside on a paper towel to drain
- Fry the bacon in the same pot until crisp enough to chop and crumble and set aside to cool and drain
- Save 2-3 TBL of the grease and pour off any excess, then sautee the onion until soft
- Add the garlic and sautee another 1-2 minutes
- Pour in the chicken broth and scrape the pan bottom to deglaze all the good bits off the bottom
- Add the cayenne pepper and hamburger meat to the pot and bring to a simmer
- In a separate pan cook the flour in the butter 2-3 minutes, then stir into the soup
- Add the velveeta and slowly stir until melted and incorporated
- Stir in the sour cream and then the crumbled bacon
- Adjust the salt and pepper to taste
- Thin with more chicken broth – if necessary
- Serve in a soup bowl and garnish with a small dollop of relish, ketchup and mustard with crackers on the side
I made this delicious soup today and it was delightful. Used hot dog relish as garnish since this is what my husband puts on his real hamburgers and it was perfect. Very quick and easy to prepare for a cold day.