Hamburger Soup Recipe- Balancing Motherhood (2024)

This hamburger soup recipe is a quick and easy dinner that’s a family favorite. It’s packed with ground beef, vegetables and seasonings. It’s perfect for a big family meal, a get together, or when you’re having company over!

This soup recipe comes together quickly and makes an entire meal in no time. Serve it with a nice crusty bread, and a simple side salad and you have a gourmet meal.

In our family we love to eat different kinds of soup in the winter time. Some of our favorites have always been homemade chicken noodle and corn chowder.

Hamburger Soup Recipe

This soup has been in my husband’s family for a long time and is one of the recipes I’ve inherited and love. It’s a perfect meal to give someone who might be sick or going through something. It makes a big batch that can be frozen which is helpful when giving. The recipient can keep it in the freezer until a day when they need a meal.

It’s called hamburger soup because it uses hamburger meat (aka ground beef). If you like cooking with ground beef, try our hamburger casserole.

This soup is hearty and full of flavor. It’s a great recipe to make when you have guests over.

One of the things I love about this soup is that it uses ground beef so you get bite sized pieces of meat instead of large chunks of meat that might be hard to chew. Because it’s ground hamburger meat, it’s soft and breaks apart easily.

This hamburger soup recipe is so easy to make and tastes delicious. It is the perfect soup recipe that only takes a few minutes to prep, simmers for a bit then you are ready to serve!

Easy Hamburger Soup Recipe

I love it because it only takes a few minutes to prep and then I get to just let it simmer for an hour or two leaving me time to get something else done, without spending too much time in the kitchen.

The smells from this hamburger soup recipe smell heavenly. In fact, everyone kept coming into the kitchen asking when it was time to eat because it smelled so good.

I also love this hamburger soup recipe because it is easily adaptable to a crockpot hamburger soup recipe on those busy days and nights.

Hamburger Soup Ingredients

• Ground beef – Ground beef is a staple when making hamburger soup. I usually get a leaner blend of hamburger like a 90/10. If you opt for a different blend you will just want to be sure you drain the grease from the hamburger after browning it. If you would like to use ground turkey or another type of ground meat it will work perfectly for this recipe.
• Onion – I like to use a sweet yellow onion when making this easy hamburger soup. The onion adds a beautiful flavor to this soup.
• Canned whole tomatoes – When picking up your whole tomatoes at the store, opt for canned ones. These are prepped, skinned, and ready to go perfect for soup. Be sure to grab some without added seasonings and flavors.
• Beef consume – this ingredient is key to this soup. It adds a depth of flavor you can’t get with just beef broth.
• Water – Don’t skimp on the water. Although you have added liquid with the beef consume, the soup needs the water to be able to simmer for the needed time to really meld the flavors together.
• Carrots – I love adding carrots to make this beef soup with vegetables. When adding the carrots be sure you chop them rather than dice them. Dicing them will make them become mushy.
• Celery – Celery is another great vegetable to add to this soup recipe. Chop the celery in at least ¼” pieces to make sure they do not become mushy.
• Bay leaf – The bay leaf is a powerful addition to hamburger soup. It helps transforms the flavor and really ties the flavors together. It also adds a sweetness to the soup you won’t get without it. Be sure to remove the bay leaf prior to serving the best hamburger soup.
• Parsley flakes – Parsley flakes give another depth of flavor to this classic soup recipe.
• Salt and pepper – Don’t skimp on the salt and pepper. Although salt and pepper are simple ingredients, they add so much flavor to this easy hamburger soup.

Making the Best Soup

Making the best hamburger soup is easy. With a few minutes of prep and some simple ingredients you will have a perfect home cooked meal after it simmers to perfection.

How to Make Hamburger Soup

• In a large pan, you will want to brown your ground beef. Once browned, drain the excess grease.
• Next, add the chopped onion and saute. Cook the onion until it is translucent.
• Dump, the cooked ground beef and onion into a large stock pot.
• Add all remaining ingredients and stir.
• Place lid on the pot and let simmer for 1 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
• Remove from heat.
• Discard bayleaf and serve.

Tips and Notes for This Soup Recipe

Mix up the meat. If your family is not a fan of ground beef, use a ground turkey or ground pork. Really any type of ground meat will work great with this recipe.

Don’t forget to spoon off the grease after you brown the meat. If you forget to drain the grease your hamburger soup will become greasy and not have the flavor or texture you are hoping for.

Don’t skimp on simmering. I know 1-2 hours seems like a long time when you are in a hurry, but this time is needed to really allow the flavors to mix together. If you must, you CAN eat it right away, but it will be better if you wait.

How Can I Adapt this Hamburger Soup Recipe to a Crockpot?

It is easy to make crockpot hamburger soup in the slow cooker. First, you will brown the meat and saute the onions in a pan on the stove. Once browned, you will add them to the crockpot with all the other ingredients and give it a stir.

Once stirred, go ahead and set your crockpot to low for 6 hours or high for 4 hours. This will blend the flavors perfectly.

Can you Freeze Hamburger Soup?

I love freezing soups because it makes such easy meals for lunches or dinners in the future.

To freeze this soup you will want to freeze it in small batches in freezer safe containers. You will want to make sure it is completely cooled prior to placing it in the freezer.

When you are ready to enjoy your hamburger soup, place it overnight in the fridge and warm up in a microwavable safe container.

What Can I add to Hamburger Soup?

• Vegetables – Different types of vegetables are a great addition to hamburger soup.
• Meat – Different types of ground meat change the flavor of hamburger soup to give it a whole new taste. Experiment the ground meat you love when making hamburger soup.

What Toppings Can I add to Hamburger Soup?

Hamburger soup needs no toppings, but if you love to top your soup you can add some

• Cheese
• Fresh parsley.

What Should I Serve with Hamburger Soup?

This easy hamburger soup recipe is perfect on its own, but it is also great with:

• Side salad
• Loaf of crusty bread or dinner roll

More Soup Recipes we Love

Sausage Tortellini Soup
Loaded Potato Soup
Corn Chowder
Slow cooker chili