Ultimate One Pot Cheeseburger Soup

The Ultimate Cheeseburger Soup recipe is filled with ground beef, potatoes, cheese and frozen veggies for an easy, hearty take on a cheeseburger – you'll love this creamy soup!  

How to make cheeseburger soup

This soup is all made in one pot and can be on the table in about 45 minutes. It's a super easy dinner idea! Here's how to make it step-by-step:

1. Brown the ground beef
2. Add onion and celery
3. Add potatoes and seasonings
4. Add diced tomatoes and broth and simmer for 25 minutes
5. Stir in frozen vegetables and cook for five more minutes
6. Stir in cheese after removing from heat

Ingredients and substitutions

• Extra-lean ground beef – use ground chicken or turkey instead of ground beef.
• Yellow onion – red onion, white onion or Spanish onion will also work.
• Celery – use carrots or another vegetable of choice. Leave out altogether if you’d like. 
• Russet potato – I recommend using a Russet potato for this soup. This big mealy potato will soak up lots of flavor from the broth.
• Garlic – use fresh or jarred minced garlic in this recipe. In a pinch, garlic powder can also be used.
• Dijon mustard – use honey mustard or brown mustard as a replacement to dijon mustard. Feel free to leave out altogether in a pinch.
• Worcestershire sauce – soy sauce with ketchup or hoisin sauce can be use to replace Worcestershire sauce. 
• Thyme – oregano, marjoram, basil or Italian seasoning can also be used. 
• Salt & pepper (to taste) 
• Diced tomatoes – fresh tomatoes or crushed tomatoes can be used in place of diced tomatoes.
• Beef broth – use vegetable broth in place of beef broth. If using ground chicken, then use chicken broth.
• Frozen veggies – use any blend that appeals to you.
• Shredded cheddar cheese – any shredded cheese blend that you like can be used in place of cheddar cheese. Feel free to add in sour cream as well. 

Making crock pot cheeseburger soup

You can make this soup in your crock pot as well.

I do recommend that you brown your meat before putting it in the crock pot. This is something you can meal prep ahead of time though. You can do this up to four days before you plan to make the soup.

All the other ingredients can be tossed in the crock pot and allowed to cook for four hours on high or six hours on low.

Making this soup in the Instant Pot

If you use an Instant Pot, this is still a one pot meal and done in much less time.

1. Thanks to the saute feature on the Instant Pot, you can brown the meat in the same pot that you will cook the rest of the soup.
2. After browning the meat, put all the other ingredients in the Instant Pot and set the timer for five minutes.
3. Allow the pressure to release naturally for at least ten minutes. Soup will produce a foam in the Instant Pot, and this foam could shoot through the valve because of the amount of pressure in the pot.
4. Add cheese just before serving.

What to serve with cheeseburger soup

Of course, I automatically think of serving bread with soup. Cheesy bread tastes great and reminds me of the missing bun for the cheeseburger. But if you want something lighter, try one of these sides:

• Salad
• Steamed broccoli
• Roasted  carrots
• Kale salad

Making the soup thicker

The potatoes release a lot of starch into the soup, thickening it nicely. But if you want it thicker or if you are leaving out the potatoes to make it lower carb, try some of these methods of thickening your soup:

• Add flour or cornstarch. Add it when you are sauteing the vegetables though so it doesn’t clump up. Instead it will stick to the veggies and thicken the soup as it cooks.
• Add sour cream at the end of cooking.
• Use Velveeta cheese, or simply double the cheese suggested below.
• Use another potato.

Storing and reheating

You can store the fully cooked soup in the refrigerator for five days.

When you are ready to eat it, you can reheat it in the microwave for 2 minutes (add extra shredded cheese melted on top for extra flavour!). You can also reheat in a saucepan on the stove top for 5 minutes for a fresher flavour.

This recipe is also great for meal prep. It makes six servings so you can divide this cheeseburger soup into single serving containers. It’s a great warm lunch on a cold winter day!

Freezing cheeseburger soup

You can freeze this cheeseburger soup recipe for up to three months. I recommend storing individual servings in glass bowls with lids for easy reheating as this soup is the perfect last minute lunch or dinner idea.

Thaw the soup in the refrigerator the night before you want to eat it, or reheat your individual portion in the microwave for 6-7 minutes, stirring halfway through.

You could also brown the ground beef and store it in the freezer for up to three months. This would make it quicker to cook fresh, no matter what method you chose.

More hearty soup recipes

• Slow cooker turkey chili
• Chicken enchilada soup
• Alphabet vegetable soup

Meal prep tools for this recipe

• Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on turning this soup into your weekly lunches.
• I get all my grass-fed ground beef from Butcher Box, conveniently delivered to me frozen.
• Freeze this recipe in glass microwave-safe bowls up to 3 months