Ya know what I’ve been thinkin’ about lately? How do people make soup that tastes EXACTLY like their favorite sandwich? I been pondering this since last Tuesday when my kitchen flooded after the upstairs neighbor’s bathtub overflowed. Standing in three inches of water, I realized life’s too short not to perfect my Cheeseburger Soup Recipe – Easy, Creamy Comfort Food masterpiece.
I’ve been cookin’ since I could reach a stove (or maybe not—my mom swears I didn’t boil water till college). Anyway, this soup is what I call a “spoon-burger”—my made-up term for anything that delivers classic burger flavors without needing to unhinge your jaw. The magic happens when you cheese-cloud the broth (another term I just invented), creating a silky texture that’ll make you question why you ever bothered with actual burgers.
This recipe ain’t your standard internet soup. It’s better. Like, WAY better. Trust me.
My Burger-to-Bowl Journey
So I was standing in the cereal aisle last March (or maybe February? The Easter candy was out, so who knows), contemplating why we don’t liquify more solid foods, when inspiration walloped me upside the head.
My first attempt tasted like sad dishwater with meat chunks. Brenda said it was “interesting” which everyone knows is the kiss of death. My second try had waaaaay too much cheese—actually, scratch that, there’s no such thing as too much cheese. The problem was the cheese-to-liquid ratio created what I now call “cheese cement” which nearly broke poor Uncle Jim’s dentures.
Growing up in south-central Wisconsin means I understand dairy on a spiritual level. We’d get blizzards that buried our doors, and Mom would just melt cheese on whatever was in the pantry. “Winter kitchen improv,” she called it.
The breakthrough came during attempt #7 when I was half-watching that documentary about octopuses (octopi? octopodes?) and accidentally doubled the Worcestershire. What shoulda been a disaster turned into the most transcendent soup experience of my life. That’s when my cheeseburger soup went from good to GET-IN-MY-FACE-NOW.
(I’ve got cheese remnants under my fingernails from developing this recipe. Worth it!)
Ingredients for Burger Bliss
- 1 pound ground beef (the kind with enough fat to make your cardiologist sweat—I use 80/20)
- 2 meaty stalks of celery, diced into precisely imprecise chunks
- 1 smallish-medium yellow onion, chopped while listening to 90s hip-hop for best flavor release
- ¾-ish cups carrots, slaughtered into ¼-inch cubes (optional if you’re veggie-averse)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced until you get bored of mincing
- 3 hefty potatoes (russets, obviously), peeled only if you’re feeling fancy and diced into McFry-sized bits
- 4 cups chicken broth (homemade if you’re showing off, boxed if you’re normal)
- 8 oz Velveeta, cubed (YES, VELVEETA. Fight me.)
- 1½ cups REAL milk (none of that skim nonsense—we’re making CHEESEBURGER SOUP here)
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour for thickening (or 3 tablespoons cornstarch if you’ve got gluten issues)
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (the secret burger-izer)
- A Kleinmann pinch of dried basil (a Kleinmann pinch = what fits between your thumb and first two fingers)
- Salt and pepper to taste (be generous—I’m watching you)
The Creation Method (Or: How to Souper-fy a Burger)
Step One and Three Quarters: Heat a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Brown your ground beef until it’s just barely not pink. Don’t you DARE drain that fat—it’s liquid gold and the foundation of all burger flavor. Remove about ⅓ of the meat and set aside for garnish if you’re feeling extra.
Step B: Toss your onions, celery, and carrots into the beef fat jacuzzi. Let them swim around until the onions go translucent-ish (about 5 minutes or the length of one good TikTok scrolling session).
Step Third: Add that garlic and cook until you can smell it from the next room, roughly 30-40 seconds. Any longer and it’ll bitter-bomb your soup.
The Fourth Dimension: Pour in the broth, then add potatoes and basil. Bring this whole situation to a gentle boil, then reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are fork-tender but not mushy. This takes about 12-18 minutes depending on your potato-cutting consistency and whether Mercury is in retrograde.
I should tell you that one time I left this simmering while I went to check the mail and got distracted by a wandering cat for 45 minutes. Came back to potato mush. Had to rebrand it as “Rustic Texture.” Check out my Potato Leek Soup for a more forgiving potato experience!
Step Whatever-Comes-Next: In a separate bowl, whisk together milk and flour until no lumps remain. Or rather, until you’re bored of whisking and decide the remaining lumps add “character.” Slowly pour this mixture into your soup, stirring continuously. This is where the cheese-clouding happens!
Final Cooking Step: Add your cubed Velveeta and stir until melted. NOW add the Worcestershire sauce. Don’t add it earlier—I did that during The Great Soup Disaster of 2021 and the results were… educational. Simmer for another 5 minutes to marry the flavors (a shotgun wedding, not a planned ceremony).
Recipe Notes & Pro-Tips That’ll Make Your Spoon Happy
• The soup will look slightly curdled if you boil it after adding cheese. THIS IS NOT FIXABLE. Prevention is key, people! Keep that heat low and slow after the dairy goes in. Learn more about preventing soup curdling at Serious Eats!
• For best results, shred your own cheddar if using instead of Velveeta. Pre-shredded has anti-caking agents that make your soup texture weird af. I call this “powder coating sabotage.”
• CRITICAL WARNING: Never, ever, EVER add the pickles directly to the soup. I did this while half-asleep and created something my daughter still calls “The Incident.” Instead, offer dill pickle chips as a topping.
• Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days. The soup gets thicker overnight due to what I call “midnight potato expansion.” Just add a splash of milk when reheating.
• My grandmother Lutie taught me to add a shot of hot sauce to leftover soup before refrigerating. The woman never explained why, but darnit if it doesn’t work magic! Check out my Spicy Taco Soup which uses this same technique!
Kitchen Arsenal (the tools you actually need)
DUTCH OVEN WITH PERSONALITY ★★★★★
Mine’s named Bertha and has burn marks that tell stories of dinners past
I dropped this thing on my toe in 2018 and still have the scar to prove it
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000N501BK
IMMERSION BLENDER (OPTIONAL) ★★★★★
Useful for partially blending the soup if you want it smoother—ignore manufacturer warnings about hot liquids
I once accidentally turned this on outside the pot and redecorated my kitchen ceiling
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ARQVM5O
Variations & Substitutions For The Culinarily Adventurous
For a Philly Cheesesteak Soup variation, swap the ground beef for thinly sliced ribeye and add sautéed bell peppers. Top with provolone instead of cheddar. It’s absolutely divine when you’re feeling fancy but not TOO fancy.
My Breakfast Cheeseburger Soup sounds ridiculous but tastes like heaven—add cooked, crumbled breakfast sausage instead of beef and top with a tiny fried quail egg. My ex-boyfriend called it “disturbingly delicious” before we broke up (unrelated to the soup).
For dairy-free folks: Honestly, just make a different soup. I tried this with coconut milk once and created something that should be classified as a war crime.
During summer months, I cool this down by adding extra broth and serving it lukewarm with extra pickles. My neighbor Tito calls it “summer burger soup” and requests it every July despite my protests that hot soup in summer is perfectly normal.
The One Thing Nobody Tells You (FAQ)
Q: Can I make Cheeseburger Soup – Easy, Creamy Comfort Food in a slow cooker?
A: You can, but should you? According to my grandmother’s secret technique called “flavorburst timing,” slow cookers actually diminish the burger essence by about 37%. The key is the quick-sear followed by the cheese-cloud method. If you must use a slow cooker, brown the meat separately first, then add everything except dairy products. Add the milk mixture and cheese in the final 30 minutes. The texture will be slightly more glunky (that’s the technical term), but still delicious.
Final Burger-phany
So there you have it—Cheeseburger Soup Recipe – Easy, Creamy Comfort Food that’ll make you rethink your relationship with both burgers and soup. I’ve served this at three family reunions and one very awkward funeral reception (long story).
Will this replace actual cheeseburgers in your life? Who are you, really? What does soup mean in the grand scheme of existence?
I’m already working on a pizza soup that my daughter has preemptively banned from the house. Stay tuned for that catastrophe/masterpiece! And remember—soup is just a smoothie that somebody took too seriously.
This recipe won me third place in the “Unconventional Comfort Foods” category at the totally real County Soupfest last year, losing only to Doreen’s Lasagna Soup and some guy who made Cotton Candy Gazpacho (which was CLEARLY a violation of the rules).
Until next time, keep your spoons ready and your broths brave!
Chef Margie “The Soup Whisperer” T.
