Cheeseburger Soup
All the flavors of a cheeseburger in a creamy, comforting soup, topped with crisp bacon bits and hamburger bun croutons!
I love a good old fashioned cheeseburger just as much as the next person, but I can’t have it as often as I’d like or else I’d gain about 50 pounds. But when you serve it up in a bowl in the form of a comforting, cheesy soup – well, I think I could pretty much have that every single day of the week!
This cheeseburger soup has quickly become a number one favorite in our house. It’s loaded with so much goodness – from the ground up meat to the tender, crumbly potatoes. And you can’t forget the best part about the soup, which are, of course, the garnishes – the crumbled, crisp bacon bits, the extra cheddar cheese and the crunchy homemade hamburger croutons. You’ll want to pick off these garnishes one by one before stuffing your face with this soup!
Now isn’t this just so much better than an actual cheeseburger?

Cheeseburger Soup
Ingredients
- 3 hamburger buns, diced into 1-inch cubes
- 4 slices bacon, diced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 8 ounces ground beef
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 2 carrots, grated
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ cups chicken broth
- 2 cups milk, or more, as needed
- 2 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped chives
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spread bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet. Place into oven and bake until crisp and golden, about 10-15 minutes; set aside.
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until brown and crispy, about 6-8 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate; set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium high heat. Add ground beef and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the beef as it cooks; drain excess fat and set aside.
- Melt butter in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, celery, carrots and Worcestershire. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent, about 2-3 minutes.
- Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in chicken broth and milk, and cook, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in potatoes.
- Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 12-15 minutes. Stir in ground beef, cheese, salt and pepper, to taste. If the soup is too thick, add more milk as needed until desired consistency is reached.
- Serve immediately, garnished with croutons, bacon and chives, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
I was searching The Damn Delicious webpage and came across this recipe for Cheeseburger Soup. It looked really good. So on this cold and wet Monday I put this soup together and boy does it smell delicious. I cannot wait to try it. I think I will make a Spinach Quiche to go with it. Thanks Damn Delicious for the recipe.
so good- my high school class made this last week along with some other soups. everyone choose this soup as their favorite!
A family staple now this is one of our all time favourites!I double it for our family of 8. Thanks for sharing
My family was hoping for soup on this very snowy day. I’ve tried other cheeseburger soup recipes and been disappointed- not this time. This was delicious! I didn’t have celery and added a chopped jalapeño instead. Also added chopped picked as a garnish instead of chives. A keeper.
I have made cheeseburger soup recipes before and they fell short. That was not the case with this one. Follow the recipe as written and you will be so pleased with the outcome. Absolutely delicious.
I’ve made this soup twice now, following directions precisely it is delicious and oh so comforting! I haven’t tried a recipe on this blog that I didn’t like. My husband always tells people how much of a great cook I am. So it’s only appropriate I say a big Thank You to Chungah for making me look good 🙂
I have made this soup before exactly as written and it is amazing! So I had four leftover grilled burgers from Labor Day and decided to try to make this soup with them. I chopped them up and it really added a lot to the soup. The texture and grilled flavor reminded me of the old sirloin burger chunky soups we used to eat. I also didn’t have potatoes so I added about a cup of diced tater tots I had leftover , and a handful of dehydrated hash browns and it worked out great! The hash browns soaked up a lot of liquid and added a nice texture and thickness to the soup. I agree with one of Chungah’s earlier comments that the potatoes are a big part of this soup and if you don’t have them maybe you can get creative with substitutes. But definitely this is a go to recipe for leftover burgers it’s so good!
This sounds very very good and I intend on making it. There is one thing that I don’t understand and I’ve seen it in other recipes. Why do you add oil to cook ground meat? I never add oil to mine and there is no grease to drain off after it’s cooked.
You can omit the oil, if desired. 🙂
I have made this a few times-everyone loves it. Wanted to just give my experience of freezing as so many ppl commented about it. Made a double batch so I could try freezing some for my daughter to take to Uni. I froze in plastic solo cups for easy portions. Re-heated brilliantly! Highly recommend.
I love this soup very much. I make it many times over the winter. True comfort food. I just got an Instant Pot. Any idea how to convert this recipe? I’m still not confident enough to wing it. lol
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
Love the way you put croutons on top, it looks so attracting and tasty I often eat the cheeseburger soup with breads which is also delicious.
– Natalie Ellis
I love this soup! Have you ever had success making it in a crockpot?
I actually have not tried making this in the slow cooker!
Here we are years later from when you first published this recipe and I am making it…again. This is one of hose great go-to recipes for when you have a hankering for a cheeseburger, but don’t feel like going through that whole process and mess.
Hey! Could I substitute (or leave out) the carrots and celery? My husband claims he can’t stand the texture of them in other dishes. Thanks!
Yes, you can omit.
Just made this last night, it was delicious! And the whole family gobbled it up. Has anyone tried to reheat leftovers? Any tricks?
So every time I google a recipe for something that I think is a yummy combination or would make a good meal for my family,,, who comes up? YOU!!! We must have similar tastes. I really enjoy your recipes and this soup was a hit!!
Thank you for this recipe! I was lacking in some ingredients…I had half the potatoes, so doubled the hamburger. I had only half the milk, butter and cheese. I had to use onion powder instead of fresh onion, lol. Even so, this recipe was delicious and everyone just loved it. Thanks again. I love when recipes are flexible lol!
making super bowl sunday 2016! would it be ok to freeze?
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
I was going to make a big pot of chili this weekend but your recipe changed my mind. Looks delicious. I can’t eat a cheeseburger without mustard, pickles, and onions. I think I will dice some onions and pickles and add them and a small squirt of mustard to to the bowl of soup. Yum.
My family loves this soup!! However, I try to lower some of the fat in this recipe.
I use ground turkey and omit the bacon and butter. I also use low fat milk. The
soup is still excellent. You won’t regret trying this comforting soup.